SPOKANE, Wash. - Men's soccer player Nick Hamer and women's basketball player Haiden Palmer were honored Monday as the Gonzaga University Male and Female Senior Athletes of the Year, respectively, as the third annual Evening of Excellence honored the Bulldog seniors and recognized and thanked all Gonzaga student-athletes as another year of competition comes to a close.
Men's basketball player Drew Barham and women's rower Naseeb Bhangal were the Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the year, respectively; baseball pitcher Karl Myers was presented the Leadership Award, and baseball and women's soccer teams shared the P.R.I.D.E. competition championship.
In addition, 20 student-athletes were inducted into Gonzaga University's chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma, the national college athlete honor society. Chi Alpha Sigma exists to encourage and reward high academic scholarship of college athletes at 4-year accredited colleges and universities, to recognize outstanding academic achievement by intercollegiate varsity letter winners and to encourage good citizenship, moral character, and friendship among the high academic achievers in college athletics. Founded in 1996, Chi Alpha Sigma has grown to more than 222 University chapters nationwide, comprised of members from all levels within the NCAA and the NAIA. The seniors inducted today have maintained a minimum 3.4 cumulative GPA while earning varsity letters in their respective sports. Gonzaga's inductees are Sarah Atkins (women's rowing), Drew Barham (men's basketball), Krista Beyer (women's cross country/track), Naseeb Bhangal (women's rowing), Brian Bhaskar (men's basketball), Meghan Blanchet (women's cross country/track), Shelly Davis (women's cross country, track), Scott Davis (men's cross country, track), Emily Eckmann (women's soccer), Brent Felnagle (men's cross country, track), Muzeen Ismath (men's tennis), Madison Keaty (women's rowing), Joe LaMontagne (men's cross country, track), Malori McGill (women's rowing), Pablo Mosquera Pérez (men's tennis), Karl Myers (baseball), Ali Ohashi (women's soccer), Andrew Owenson (men's soccer), Jordan Schroeder (women's rowing), Jennifer Wheeler (women's cross country, track).
The following is a look at this year's individual award winners.
Nick Hamer |
Men's Soccer | Male Senior Athlete Of The Year |
Nick Hamer is a homegrown product out of Spokane's Mead High. This past season he was named the West Coast Conference men's soccer Player of the Year in helping the Bulldogs to a 10-6-3 overall record and a 5-4-3 WCC mark as the Bulldogs finished third for their highest finish since 2008. He was also one of three Bulldogs named to the NCAA Division I All-Far West Region third team. One of four Bulldogs to start all 19 matches this season, he played and started all 69 of his career appearances. He scored three goals and had a team-leading six assists this season, all three of his goals and half of his assists coming in WCC play. He was a two-time All-WCC first team selection, was a second-team pick as a sophomore and was named to the WCC All-Freshman team in 2010.
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Haiden Palmer |
Women's Basketball | Female Senior Athlete Of The Year |
Haiden Palmer became Gonzaga's fourth All-American, being tabbed Associated Press All-America honorable mention in 2014. She ended her tenure as a three-time All-West Coast Conference and two-time WCC All-Tournament honoree. She was named the 2012 WCC Newcomer of the Year and the 2013 WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She ended her career ranked second in the Gonzaga career record book for steals with 286, 10th in field goals made with 550 and 11th in points, scoring 1,367. She led the Bulldogs to three straight WCC regular season titles, two WCC Tournament Championships and helped the Zags reach the NCAA Tournament each of her three years. She played in five NCAA tournament games, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in 2012. She was the 29th overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft, selected by the Indiana Fever, becoming the fifth player in history to be drafted into the WNBA.
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Drew Barham |
Men's Basketball | Male Scholar Athlete Of The Year |
Drew Barham joined Gonzaga's men's basketball team in the fall of 2012 as a graduate of the University of Memphis. He immediately made his presence known throughout the Spokane community, volunteering at numerous charitable events and in local schools and shelters. Academically, he elected to pursue his Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership, earning a perfect 4.0 grade-point-average twice in his four semesters at GU. A contributing member of the 2013 Gonzaga program, which went undefeated in WCC play and earned the program's inaugural No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, made appearances in all 35 games for the Bulldogs this past season, where he shot an astonishing 48 percent from beyond the arc in helping the Bulldogs to WCC regular-season and tournament titles as the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 16th straight year.
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Naseeb Bhangal |
Women's Rowing | Female Scholar Athlete Of The Year |
Naseeb Bhangal joined Gonzaga as a freshman in the fall of 2010. At Gonzaga, she set her sights high, declaring a double major in psychology and political science, while establishing herself as a leader within our student-athlete and campus communities. She has earned an impressive 3.95 cumulative GPA, receiving President's List honors every semester in attendance. She was inducted into the Gonzaga Chapters of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society, and the Gonzaga Multi-Cultural Honor Society as well as completing Gonzaga's Comprehensive Leadership program this past academic year.
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Karl Myers |
Baseball | Leadership |
This award was created to recognize a student-athlete who truly exhibits what it means to be a Zag by displaying excellence within their team, the classroom, on campus and in the community. The three nominees were voted on by their peers and team representatives from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the office of Student-Athlete Support Services.
As a natural leader on and off the field, Karl Myers excelled in all areas he pursued at Gonzaga. He is graduating in May with a degree in physical education and maintains a 3.46 cumulative GPA. He has been on the Dean's List three times and on the President's List twice throughout his career. During his five years as a member of Gonzaga's baseball team he established himself as a leader in the clubhouse, serving as a mentor for nearly three generations of Zag freshmen. He has logged more than 33 innings of work on the mound throughout his career, and has spent countless hours supporting the community outreach initiatives for his fellow teammates. Karl also assumed the role as SAAC President for the current academic year, and has been a driving force behind this group's record-breaking success this year- helping Gonzaga Athletics surpass the 2,600 community service hour plateau - a new milestone. He exemplifies the Jesuit philosophy of service to others with his commitment to volunteering with organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities, the American Childhood Cancer Organization, GAME, JDRF and all of the various SAAC Collections |
P.R.I.D.E. |
Baseball/Women's Soccer | |
P.R.I.D.E. is a friendly competition among Gonzaga's 16 varsity athletic teams meant to promote mutual support and fellowship amongst the athletic teams that make up the Zag family. Now in its sixth year, P.R.I.D.E. has grown to encompass more than 2,600 hours of community service, 6 community-wide charity collections, numerous events and sporting contests and the stellar academic achievement of all our athletic programs. P.R.I.D.E. recognizes student-athletes' commitment to Gonzaga's mission of creating a "mature concern for others" through community outreach and service. Each team has the opportunity to earn P.R.I.D.E. points by attending designated home athletic contests and Life Skills programs, participating in community outreach and from their fall semester team academic achievement. This year's competition was the most heated in the program's history, with the winner ultimately being decided on the final day of the contest. This year's winner donated more than 3,000 items in the yearlong Bring It Home campaign, accounted for nearly half of the monetary donations made in this year's JDRF walk, and logged over half of the community service hours earned through the Athletic Department for the year. For the first time in P.R.I.D.E history, we have co-P.R.I.D.E champions, with both women's soccer and baseball earning this year's honor.
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