Inaugural Golden Bruiser Awards a Big Success
5/2/2018 9:35:00 AM | General
Monday night's awards show spotlighted Baylor's best and brightest and even included the student-athletes as presenters.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Typically, end-of-the-year awards banquets can be a little stale and maybe even boring.
Nothing about Baylor's inaugural Golden Bruiser Awards Show was boring. From ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla as the emcee, to Terry Maston's scene-stealing car karaoke, to Marciel Whitehurst's "Boomers vs. Millennials" game show, to the celebration of all the award winners, this was definitely a night to remember.
"We wanted to make sure we celebrated our student-athletes and the great success they've had on and off the field, in the classroom and in the community," said Marcus Sedberry, Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Success. "But, we also wanted it to be a fun night. And when you sit back and reflect afterward, I feel like we did those two -- we celebrated our student-athletes and we made it a fun, engaging and entertaining night for everybody who was there."
Throughout the planning and preparation and the event itself, which was held Monday night at the Ferrell Center, awards show committee chair Hannah Fluegel from volleyball said she "felt like we were super cared-for and loved" by the Baylor athletic administrators and staff.
"I wasn't nervous at all about the show, because I just know how much work the administrators had put into it," she said. "I really saw through this that they really care about us and they put a lot of effort into making the show the best it could be."
Monday night was the culmination of a yearlong process that began last April, when Director of Athletics Mack Rhoadesmet with Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President Jimmy Bendeck from tennis and "sort of put a vision in my head of what the awards show could be."
"At first, it was Mack saying, `Hey, we've got to make this a really good awards show,''' Bendeck said. "And then Marcus and the administrative committee really pushed us and guided us. Besides the awards show committee, a lot of SAACmembers participated in voting on the food, the design of the award, creating the script, stuff like that. It was a really, really good experience, and I was really happy with how it went."
Patterned after the major awards shows -- the Oscars, Emmys and ESPYS -- the Golden Bruiser Awards Show spotlighted Baylor's best and brightest and even included the student-athletes as presenters.
"It's easy for us as administrators to want to jump in and take over," Sedberry said. "In one way, you don't want them to have the burden of putting on the event, you want them to sit and enjoy it. But, I think there's a way to do both. You can still wrap your arms around them to help bring it to fruition, but really include their ideas, and include them in the actual execution of the show. This lets us keep all the focus on the student-athletes. Ultimately, that's what we're here to do. We're here to support them, provide them great opportunities, and then celebrate them when they do well."
It was also a nice mix of academic and athletic achievement awards, capped by women's soccer and men's golf being named the teams of the year.
Ending the 2017 year ranked 11th nationally, coach Paul Jobson's soccer team won its second Big 12 tournament title, advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in program history and had a 3.57 cumulative GPA. Soccer also won the Comeback Award for its second-round game against defending national champion USC, when Sarah King netted an equalizing goal with just 16 seconds left in regulation and then scored the clincher in a 3-0 penalty-kick shootout victory over the Trojans.
Men's golf earned its first-ever No. 1 national ranking, won four tournament titles and reached the NCAA match-play quarterfinals while earning a 3.62 cumulative GPA.
Additionally, golfer Cooper Dossey won Male Rookie of the Year Award honors over a strong field that included track All-American Maxwell Willis, baseball catcher Shea Langeliers and football quarterback Charlie Brewer. Dossey was a third-team All-American and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
Senior golfer Matthew Perrine shared the Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award with baseball pitcher Troy Montemayor. Perrine was named a GCAA All-America Scholar, as well as all-region, all-conference and Big 12 all-tournament.
Montemayor was a NCBWA All-America second-team pick last season, helping baseball get back to the NCAA regionals for the first time in five years, and is now one shy of the career saves record with 36.
"I would just like to thank my parents for their constant love and support; my coaching staff and my teammates; and Baylor University for the opportunities that they've given me," Montemayor said.
Redshirt senior Katie Staiger of the volleyball team was named the Female Student-Athlete of the Year, while Lauren Coxfrom women's basketball and baseball's Richard Cunningham were named the Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Cox was a first-team All-Big 12 and honorable mention All-America pick and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District, Dean's List and Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team honors. Cunningham was Baylor's first Big 12 Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a Big 12 Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship honoree and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.
"Younger athletes, cherish this, hang on to this. It's such a special ride being a Baylor Bear," Cunningham said. "Praise God, guys, that we get to go to a place like Baylor University. I have a lot of gratitude in my heart for my time here."
Other academic honorees included track's Leila Rohde and Paul Gaschen sweeping the Academic Champions awards for highest GPA at 3.98 and 3.90, respectively; and women's golf (3.58) and men's cross country (3.60) for the Highest Team GPA during the voting period.
Volleyball's Jana Brusek and Fluegel swept the Unsung Hero and Sic `Em Award, respectively. Brusek was a seven-time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection, while Fluegel is the "biggest cheerleader for her teammates and she has a joy and competitiveness that inspires them all."
Goose McGlaun's three-run homer in the seventh inning of a 6-5, Game 3 victory over second-seeded Arizona in the Tucson Super Regional was voted the Play of the Year, while men's basketball's 80-64 win over 10th-ranked Kansas was named the Team Performance of the Year.
Other winners were women's basketball freshman Alexis Morris, Female Rookie of the Year; softball sophomore Madi O'Neal, Acts 20:24 Award, for commitment to spiritual growth and mission work; senior song leader Madison Horn, Outstanding Spirit Award; and John Westbrook Award winners Sahara Reiz from equestrian and King McClure from men's basketball for their courage and perseverance.
A senior, Reiz overcame a severe concussion and memory loss to earn Dean's List and APHA Honor Roll honors. "I just want to thank my teammates, coaches and athletic staff who helped me through my injury and turned it into a blessing, an opportunity to spend another year here," she said.
Initially told that his basketball career was over when he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a condition that affects the muscle of the heart, McClure has rebounded to play the last three seasons and lead the Bears to two NCAA tournaments and this year's NIT.
He thanked God, "first and foremost," and also to Scott Drew and the coaching staff for "everything y'all did for me. A lot of people would have given up on me and not give me this opportunity. I love y'all."
Finally, football earned the CHAMPS Cup Award. Coach Matt Rhule's team has completed over 600 hours of community engagement this year, working with Church Under the Bridge, Fuzzy Friends, Mission Waco, Pack of Hope, Red Cross, Share the Harvest, the Veterans Administration hospital and a local YMCA.
Leaving the awards show Monday night, Bendeck said he quickly jotted down some notes on what they can do better the next time.
"For the first time, it was incredible," he said, "but it can still be so much better. Now that it's structured and we have an idea of what we want, building upon that is going to be way easier than, `OK, we're creating this from scratch.' . . . Next year is going to be way, way better, and then the following year is going to be way, way better, because the potential is going straight up."
Players Mentioned
