LANGHORNE, PA - The Cairn University Department of Athletics hosted the 8th edition of the Highlander Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards (HESPYs) on Sunday night, April 28, 2024, held for the second year in a row inside the William F. Chatlos Chapel.
 
The HESPYS honored multiple career and season accomplishments as well as team recognition and annual awards for the 2023-2024 academic year and athletic season.
 
Highlighting the event was the awarding of Cairn's five traditional senior awards, one of the most time-honored traditions of Cairn Athletics. Receiving one of these five senior awards is the highest honor of a Highlander's career. (David C. Unger Award for Service, Randy Ostien Award for Courage and Perseverance, Dan Richner Athletic Leadership Award, Clarence E. Mason Award for Athletic Excellence, Martha MacCullough Award for Athletic Recognition).
 
The David. C Unger Award for Service was presented to men's soccer senior defender Kolby Bills (Lancaster, PA / Pequea Valley) for his service to Cairn University Athletics as the inaugural president of Cairn Athletics' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as well as at the conference level, serving as the chair of both the Colonial States Athletic Conference and United East Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committees. Outside of the athletic sphere, Bills was elected Student Body President, and for his work, awarded the Student Life Outstanding Student Award. The David C. Unger Award for Service is presented to the senior student-athlete who has contributed most to their athletic program through service, faithfulness, and spirit, with a true love of participation, sacrifice, and commitment to Highlander Athletics. 

The Randy Ostein Award for Courage and Perseverance went to women's volleyball senior setter Olivia Zepp (Westminster, MD / Francis Scott Key) who battled ACL and meniscus injuries at the end of her COVID-shortened freshman season, overcoming the setbacks of those injuries to reach 1,957 career assists, be recognized three times as an All-Conference setter, and lead the conference in assists and assists per set in three seasons, looking to continue to set herself apart on the career leaderboard as she returns for a graduate season. The Randy Ostein Award recognizes the senior student-athlete who demonstrated the highest level of courage, perseverance, and consistent loyalty to their program, no matter what adversity he or she faced.
 
The female recipient of the Dan Richner Athletic Leadership Award was women's soccer senior goalkeeper Isabelle Portis (Midland Park, NJ / Eastern Christian) who has defended the net for the Highlanders for four seasons, being named All-Conference twice and holding the record for most career shutouts (17) and tied for the most career wins (27). Her consistent character and leadership was on display at the end of the 2023 season where she scored a penalty kick herself and held off the Wilson Phoenix with a crucial save to send the Highlanders to a United East Skye Division Championship match in upset fashion.
 
The male recipient of the award was baseball fifth year outfielder Tyler Fox (Boyertown, PA / West-Mont Christian), a career .321 hitter over five seasons in 141 games and an All-Conference selection. His strength of character and leadership by example has earned him the title of Team Captain for two seasons, leading Bible study, and pursuing excellence in the classroom as he will graduate with two degrees in the School of Education.
 
The Richner Award is presented to both a male and female senior student-athlete who compete with an attitude of Christ-like leadership, exhibit the highest degree of sportsmanship, are both teachable and coachable, and demonstrate dedication, commitment, and responsibility.
 
The female honoree for the Clarence E. Mason Award for Athletic Excellence was women's soccer senior midfielder Becca Marzinke (Quakertown, PA / Upper Bucks Christian), over her 73 career games, has scored 21 goals (T-8^th most all time) and collected 18 assists (2^nd most all-time), totaling 60 points (7^th most all-time) with 8 game-winning goals (4^th all-time) earning her two-time recognition on All-Conference teams. Her athletic excellence has propelled Cairn Women's Soccer to four-straight postseason appearances.
 
Men's basketball senior forward Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) collected the honor on the men's side. Bradford was a two-time All-Conference athlete while at Cairn, a 2024 D3hoops.com All-Region selection, 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District, and the 2024 United East Men's Basketball Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year. On the court, Bradford scored 1,488 career points over five seasons, this year leading the United East Conference in field goals made and leading his team in minutes (937), rebounding (251/9.3), steals (44), with a 41-point game on January 3 against Keystone College, a true demonstration of athletic excellence.
 
The Mason Award for Athletic Excellence recognizes one male and one female student-athlete who have each made the greatest contribution to their athletic programs through a high level of competition, leadership, and sportsmanship.
 
The senior award recognition culminated with the presentation of the Martha MacCullough Award for Athletic Recognition was awarded to men's lacrosse senior attacker Jonathan Balsamo (Long Island, NY / Eastport South Manor), the greatest lacrosse player in program history, holding the mark in single-game goals (7), single-season goals (45), career goals (110) and career points (137) through the first four seasons of existence for Cairn Men's Lacrosse. Balsamo led his team to a conference championship game three years into the program's existence and has been recognized five times as Conference Player of the Week as well as a 2024 United East All-Conference selection. The MacCullough Award is bestowed upon a senior student-athlete who by his or her outstanding athletic achievements over multiple seasons, has brought the highest level of regional and national attention to their athletic program.

Additionally, the following individual career accomplishments were acknowledged:​​​​​​
- Men's basketball's Derian Bradford (1,488), Owen Bradford (1,002), and women's basketball's Taylor Hinson (1,201 as a junior)
- Baseball Head Coach Brett Marks reaching the most career wins as a Head Coach in program history
- Women's cross country's AyliGrace Munro breaking Ellen Squier's 6K program record
-Softball's Evelyn Johnson reaching 100 career strikeouts

The following is a list of all the other awards presented at the HESPYs ceremony:
 
Department Awards:

Male Rookie of the Year:
Baseball freshman pitcher Mikey Gutierrez (Cooper City, FL / St. Thomas Aquinas) was named both Cairn Athletics Rookie of the Year but also the United East Baseball Skye Division Rookie of the Year. He finished the season with a 2.93 ERA through thirteen appearances and eleven starts. Gutierrez struck out 57 batters, two shy of tying the single-season program record, however, he did set the program record for single-season wins (7) and was named First Team All-Conference.

Female Rookie of the Year:
               Women's basketball freshman guard Makayla Raines (Jonesboro, GA / St. Mary's Academy) set the pace for the program in her first year, playing 27 games averaging 20.3 points (2^nd most single-season), with 549 points scored (4^th most single-season), 2.9 rebounds per game, 2.8 assists per game, 63 steals, a 41.9 FG%, 30.9 3PT %, with the two top spots for single game points scored (47 & 43) in program history. She led the United East in points per game, coming a point shy of leading the conference in points scored. Her scoring record of 47 points was the third most in a single game during the 2023-24 season in NCAA Division III. For her work, she was named United East Women's Basketball Skye Division Rookie of the Year as well as First Team All-Conference.

Male Breakout Athlete of the Year:
                Men's basketball senior guard Aytor Alberto (Willemstad, Curaçao / University of Valley Forge) was named the department's male breakout athlete of the year. A First Team All-Conference selection, Alberto, led the conference in scoring average (22.0) and second in points scored by a single point (550), led team to the highest-paced offense in the Skye Division, averaging 82.0 points as a group. During the season, he had 5 double-doubles, 5 30-point games while leading the team in, made 3-point shots (6 games with 6 3PTM), FT% (77.3%). He was recognized as the Skye Division Player of the Week three times, once as both the top Offensive and Defensive performer in the same week, a two-time Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association Player of the Week - Honorable Mention, a member of D3Data's Men's Hoops All-Star Team, one of the top ten players out of over 4,000 votes and the first Highlander to average 22.0 points per game in a season since John Fea in 1987-88.

Female Breakout Athlete of the Year:
                Women's volleyball's junior opposite hitter Hendryl Peabody (Bensalem, PA / Faith Baptist) received her first First Team All-Conference selection in 2023, playing in 85 sets with 250 kills, 279.5 points, 49 blocks, leading the team in block assists (39) and blocks while second on team in points, points/set, kills, and kills/set. Her breakout season came after doubling her offensive production from 2022 to raise the bar in 2023 as a Skye Division Player of the Week and record holder for the second-most kills in a three-set match (18).

Male Scholar Athlete of the Year:
               Men's basketball senior forward Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) was the 2024 United East Men's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year in addition to a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree. On the court, Bradford was named First Team All-Conference, a 2024 D3hoops.com All-Region selection, leading the United East Conference in field goals made and leading his team in minutes (937), rebounding (251/9.3), steals (44), with a 41-point game on January 3 against Keystone College.

Female Scholar Athlete of the Year:
               Women's tennis senior Rachel Campbell-Robertson (Richmond, VA / Veritas School) is a College Sports Communicators Academic All-America nominee and will be a United East Women's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year nominee. On the court, Campbell-Robertson went 10-0 in singles play and 11-1 in doubles play to earn her the recognition of First Team All-Conference in singles and Second Team in doubles.

Co-Male Athlete of the Year:
               Men's Soccer junior forward Moses Beers (Lancaster, PA / Manheim Township) once again had a standout season, scoring 11 goals with four assists for 26 points, earning him recognition as the United East Men's Soccer Skye Division Player of the Year, to receive conference player of the year honors in back-to-back seasons, in addition to First Team All-Conference. He led Cairn Men's Soccer in goals, points, shots, shots on goal, and game winning goals this season, currently sitting fifth all-time in career assists (30). For his performance both on the pitch and in the classroom, Beers was named a College Sports Communicators Academic All-American.
               Baseball junior first baseman Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) led all hitters in the United East with through the regular season with a .447 batting average, the 34^th highest in NCAA Division III along with 67 hits (most in United East), 15 doubles and 49 RBI, slashing .429/.508/.635 by season's end. He carried on a 38-game hitting streak, breaking the program record in 2023 and setting the benchmark as his streak came to an end on March 11, 22 games shy of the NCAA Division III record and two games shy of an entire 40-game season. For his efforts, Warr was named the United East Baseball Skye Division Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference. Warr is an ABCA and D3baseball.com All-Region nominee. His 175 hits rank second in program history as he eyes up the program record of 253 (Caleb Lang – 2013-16)

Female Athlete of the Year:
               Women's soccer graduate student defender Rachel Yoder (Telford, PA / Messiah) was the United East Skye Division Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference as the back line defender in 2023. Yoder played in every minute of all but one game in the 2023 season, deflecting and clearing hundreds of passes as well as moving the ball to the offensive midfielder to get the Highlander offense running, showing her offensive abilities as well as she scored five goals with six assists. She was also named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District.

Student-Worker of the Year:
               James Wtulich (Vernon, NJ / Vernon Twp.) was honored as the Student-Worker of the Year as he led Athletic Laundry Operation during the 2023-24 athletic year. Accumulating approximately 483 hours in the laundry facility, Wtulich took pride in being responsible for providing all 13 Highlander varsity teams with clean uniforms for their performances on the field and court. He also served in several roles for Gameday Operations including the everyday game clock operator for basketball, ball runner/roller for soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse, as well as in many other capacities as needed.
            
Student-Worker Legacy Award:
               Stefanya Barron was recognized with the inaugural Student-Worker Legacy Award, a previous Student-Worker of the Year in 2021-2022. Barron was the the senior member of the Athletic Communications Photography Staff for the past two athletic seasons and a member of the staff for four years, capturing key moments of all 13 Highlander teams in action. Her work was recognized by the United East Conference as the runner-up for 2023 Photo of the Year. 

Four-Year Seniors:
From baseball: Tyler Fox, Sam Spadea, Joe Greenwood, Harrison Green, Eli Schooley
From men's basketball: Josh Forker, James Patterson
From men's cross country: Nicholas Palladino
From men's lacrosse: Jonathan Balsamo, Daniel Mwangi, Chaz Cotton, 
From men's soccer: Elijah Morrison, Ben Noble, Kolby Bills, Jake Tolar, Aaron Campbell, Easton Shelley, Jake O'Brien
From women's soccer: Grace Miller, Becca Marzinke, Hannah Franchois, Theresa Lee, Ashanley Philippe, Rachel Yoder, Micaela Prate, Savannah Luce
From softball: Adrianna Shannon, Katie Fauske
From men's tennis: Michael Wilson, Joel Kim, Timthy Robinson, Jr.
From women's tennis: Abby Horning, Gabriella Hurst, Rachel Campbell-Robertson
From men's volleyball: Joe Poirier, Will Nase
From women's volleyball: Olivia Zepp

Team Awards:
 
Most Improved Player:
From baseball: sophomore pitcher Greg Jessup (Tyler, TX / McKinney Christian) – 1^st Team All-Conference
From men's basketball: senior guard Aytor Alberto (Willemstad, Curraçao / Clarks Summit University – 1^st Team All-Conference
From women's basketball: freshman forward Dezaray Bright (Keystone Heights, FL / Keystone Heights)
From men's cross country: junior Avian Hall (Brooklyn, NY / Homeschool)
From women's cross country: sophomore Morgan Steele (Bowie, MD / Estele Christian Academy)
From men's lacrosse: sophomore defender Nicholas Kennedy (Hudson Valley, NY / Goshen Central)
From men's soccer: graduate student defender Jake Tolar (Fort Mill, SC / Nation Ford)
From women's soccer: senior midfielder Micaela Prate (Huntingdon Valley, PA / Calvary Christian) – 3^rd Team All-Conference
From softball: sophomore pitcher/infielder Sydney Wright (Souderton, PA / Souderton)
From men's tennis: sophomore Jacob Gossel (Allentown, PA / Covenant Christian)
From women's tennis: sophomore Tatiani Ipri (Mullica Hill, NJ / Gloucester County Christian School)
From men's volleyball: freshman outside hitter Jesse Stuart (Chattanooga, TN / Chiang Rai International Christian School)
From women's volleyball: junior opposite hitter Hendryl Peabody (Bensalem, PA / Faith Baptist) – 1^st Team All-Conference
 
Highlander Award (representing Christ-like leadership):
From baseball: senior pitcher Eli Schooley (Horseheads, NY / Horseheads)
From men's basketball: fifth year guard Josh Forker (Telford, PA / Faith Christian)
From men's cross country: senior Nicholas Palladino (Langhorne, PA / Homeschool)
From women's cross country: senior Jordan Harvey (Chichester, PA / The Christian Aademy)
From men's lacrosse: junior goalkeeper Nico Cione (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury) – 2^nd Team All-Conference
From men's soccer: senior midfielder Ben Noble (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ / Atlantic Christian)
From women's soccer: senior goalkeeper Isabelle Portis (Midland Park, NJ / Eastern Christian)
From softball: senior centerfielder Adriana Shannon (Marlton, NJ / Cherokee)
From men's tennis: senior Joel Kim (Harrington Park, NJ / Black Forest Academy)
From women's tennis: freshman Reagan Griffith (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East) – 1^st Team All Conference/Rookie & Player of the Year
From men's volleyball: freshman setter Jireh Ang (Singapore / Dalat International School)
From women's volleyball: sophomore outside hitter Abigail Di Sipio (East Earl, PA / Homeschool)
 
Team Most Valuable Player:
From baseball: junior first baseman Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) – 1^st Team All-Conference/Player of the Year
From men's basketball: senior forward Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) – 1^st Team All-Conference
From women's basketball: freshman guard Makayla Raines (Jonesboro, GA / St. Mary's Academy) – 1^st Team All-Conference/Rookie of the Year and junior forward Taylor Hinson (Carney's Point, NJ / Collingswood) – 2^nd Team All-Conference
From men's cross country: freshman Danny Kushay (Cinnaminson, NJ / Calvary Christian)
From women's cross country: sophomore AyliGrace Munro (Bar Harbor, ME / Mount Desert Island) – 1^st Team All-Conference and freshman Clarisse Hayden (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School) – 1^st Team All-Conference/Rookie of the Year
From men's lacrosse: senior attacker Jonathan Balsamo (Long Island, NY / Eastport South Manor) – 2^nd Team All-Conference
From men's soccer: senior defender Joshua Smith (Attleboro, MA / Homeschool) – 1^st Team All-Conference
From women's soccer: graduate student defender Rachel Yoder (Telford, PA / Messiah) – 1^st Team All-Conference/Defensive Player of the Year
From softball: sophomore catcher Myiah Petroro (Long Island, NY / Liberty University Online Academy)
From men's tennis: senior Michael Wilson (New Hope, PA / New Hope-Solebury)
From women's tennis: junior Ersy Neal (Wayne, PA / Delaware County Christian) – 1^st Team All-Conference Singles/Doubles
From men's volleyball: graduate middle hitter Jake Tolar (Fort Mill, SC / Nation Ford)
From women's volleyball: senior setter Olivia Zepp (Westminster, MD / Francis Scott Key) – 1^st Team All-Conference