BU Announces This Year’s Top Athletes

Bloomsburg University has announced its top male and female student-athletes for the 2009-10 sports season as well as the most valuable players of its sports teams.

Named the Senior Scholar-Athlete for the 2009-10 year is Dan Latorre (Elysburg, Southern Columbia) from the Huskies football team. Latorre posted a GPA of 3.78 as a graduate student at Bloomsburg after posting a GPA of 3.69 as an undergrad earning three degrees. He led the Huskies to an 8-3 record in 2009 after completing133-232 pass attempts for 1,712 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also rushed for 152 yards and four touchdowns. Latorre was named first team All-PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) East and third team All-Super Region One for his play.

For his work in the classroom he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II football first team and to the PSAC Fall Top 10 team in 2009. He finished his career at Bloomsburg second in school history in passing yards with 7,370 and passing touchdowns with 60, and first in completion percentage with 58.1 and yards per completion with 15.0. Latorre also set a school record for career rushing yards by a quarterback with 887 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. He was named first team All-PSAC East twice in his career and was the 2006 PSAC East Rookie of the Year. Latorre led the Huskies to the NCAA playoffs twice including a berth in the national semi-finals in 2006 and the regional finals in 2008.

Named the winner of the Eleanor Wray Award as the top Senior Female Athlete and the MVP in field hockey is Chelsea Due (Pen Argyl, Pen Argyl). The senior midfielder capped a tremendous career by being named the national Player of the Year by women’s field hockey.com and also the 2009 PSAC Field Hockey Athlete of the Year. Due helped lead the Huskies to their fourth straight Division II national title scoring eight goals and adding five assists. Her play in the midfield contributed greatly to the Huskies allowing just 19 goals in 23 games on the year. She was named first team All-American for the third straight year by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association and first team All-PSAC for the fourth time in her career. As a freshman in 2006 she was also named the PSAC Rookie of the Year and finished her career at Bloomsburg with 33 goals and 25 assists, 10th all-time in school history.

Named the winner of the Robert B. Redman award as the top Senior Male Athlete and the MVP for wrestling for the third straight year is Matt Moley (Phoenixville, Spring-Ford). The senior capped his brilliant career by making his third straight trip to the NCAA Division I national championships narrowly missing out on All-American honors. Moley posted a record of 28-5 on the season and was ranked in the top 10 of his weight class the entire season. Of his 28 wins, 21 came by fall, technical fall or major decision. Moley was also selected to participate in the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic in Fullerton, CA, an event that featured some of the top wrestlers in the country. He also won his second Eastern Wrestling League championship this season and was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the PSAC Championships after picking up three first period pins in the tournament. Moley was twice named the EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) Wrestler of the Week and picked up the honor once from the PSAC. He ended his career with a record of 125-39, third on the school’s all-time win list. He was also a two-time winner of the Underclass Male Athlete of the Year at Bloomsburg.

Named the winner of the Joanne McComb Award as the top Female Underclass Athlete and the MVP of softball is Shavaun Fisher (Coplay, Allentown Central Catholic). The junior leads the Huskies with a record of 26-4 with an ERA of 1.04. Fisher has struck out 237 batters and walked just 44 this season, while helping the Huskies to this weekend’s PSAC championship round. During the season Fisher has tossed two no-hitters and two one-hitters for the Huskies. She has struck out more than 10 batters in a game nine different times, including a tying her career-high of 14 in one game. Fisher, who earned the PSAC Central Division Pitcher of the Week award five times during the year, had her best outing against divisional-rival IUP. In a matchup of the top two teams, Fisher threw a 13-inning, eight-hit shutout while striking out nine and working out of two bases loaded jams.

Named the winner of the Danny Litwhiler Award as the top Underclass Male Athlete is Juan Castaneda (Shamokin, Shamokin Area) from men’s swimming. The junior became the first BU men’s swimmer in 12 years to win a conference championship when he took first in the 100-fly with a time of 50.03 seconds. The time broke his own school record set in the morning preliminary round and fell just .04 shy of achieving an NCAA “A” qualifying time. He finished the season ranked 18th in the 100-fly according to the NCAA Division II rankings. At the Zippy Invitational in December, Castaneda took third losing to two Division I athletes. In dual meet competition, Castaneda lost just twice in the 100-fly. He ended the season with three new school records in the 100-fly, 200-medley relay and 400-medley relay. Castaneda is currently ranked first in the 100-fly, third in the 200-fly and fifth in the 200-IM on Bloomsburg all-time top times list.

Named the MVP of baseball is Joey Ianiero (Bloomsburg, Central Columbia). The junior, who transferred to Bloomsburg from Rutgers, had his season cut short due to an injury, but topped the Huskies in several offensive categories. Ianiero led the Huskies in hitting with a mark of .400 and at the time of his injury in RBI with 37, hits with 58, total bases with 81 and was tied for the team lead in doubles with 15. He finished the season with two homers and was 13 of 14 in stolen base attempts. He was second in slugging percentage with a mark of .559 and was third in on-base percentage at .468. During the season he had 17 multi-hit and 13 multi-RBI games.

Named the MVP of men’s basketball is Ruben Britt (Voorhees, NJ, Eastern Regional). Britt led the Huskies and was 18th in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. He reached double-figures in scoring 19 times and scored at least 20 points seven times, including a career-high 30 against Edinboro on January 3. He upped his game during the conference schedule, scoring 16.9 points per contest, shooting 48.0 percent from the floor, including 45.3 percent from three-point range. And as the Huskies fought for a PSAC tournament berth down the stretch, he averaged nearly 19 points a game and hit on more than half of his shots from the field. An all-around player, Britt also led the Huskies in assists with 66 and was second in rebounding with 5.5 per game and steals with 37. He also converted on 84.5 percent of his free throws, second in the PSAC.

Earning MVP honors in women’s basketball for the second straight year is Kelsey Gallagher (East Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg South). Gallagher, a three-time PSAC East Player of the Week recipient, finished the season second on the Huskies and 10th in the PSAC in scoring with 15.3 points per game and led the team with 6.3 rebounds per game and 36.0 minutes per game. She recorded three double-doubles during the season and helped Bloomsburg reach the PSAC tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season, playing Kutztown in the quarterfinals. Gallagher, last year’s PSAC East Freshman of the Year, reached double-figures in scoring 21 times and scored 20-plus in eight games, including a career-high 28 points against Goldey-Beacom on December 29. By the end of the season, Gallagher had moved into seventh place all-time in school history with 108 career three-pointers after making 48 this season.

Named the MVP in women’s soccer was Kelly Modes (Langhorne, Neshaminy). The senior led the Huskies in scoring with seven goals and three assists in 2009. She was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) Division II All-Region team and the PSAC Eastern Division Athlete of the Year, while earning All-PSAC East first team honors for the fourth straight season. Modes finished her career 10th all-time in career scoring at Bloomsburg with 21 goals.

Earning MVP honors in football was Anthony Smith (Pottstown, Pottstown). A linebacker, Smith was named the PSAC Eastern Division Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the Daktronics All-Super Region 1 first team. Smith led the Huskies and ranked second in the conference in tackles with 114. He added 3.0 sacks and had a team-high two interceptions. Smith led the team in tackles in six games this season, registering double figures six times. He had a career-high 19 tackles in a win over C.W. Post and was named the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week three times in 2009.

Named the MVP of women’s cross country was Angela Borealo (Easton, Easton). Borealo earned NCAA All-Regional honors after taking eighth place the NCAA Regional championships in a time of 21:45. She also earned All-PSAC honors with a ninth place finish at the PSAC Championships. Borealo’s top finish of the season was at the Leopard Invitational hosted by Lafayette College. On the 6k course, she paced all women runners finishing first with a time of 21:48. She also finished 11th at the Lehigh University Paul Short Run with a time of 22:00.

Named the MVP of women’s swimming is Allie Reed (Selinsgrove, Selinsgrove). The fifth-year senior returned from near career-ending surgery to reach the PSAC finals in three events, finishing third in the 200-free, sixth in the 100-free and eighth in the 50-free to earn All-Conference honors in each event. Reed, who was the top scorer for the women’s team at the PSAC Championships, posted three NCAA “B” cut times and ended her career with lifetime best performances in every event. Despite missing time this year due to an injury, Reed was still unbeaten in dual competition in both the 50- and 200-free. Six times in dual meets she was a multiple-winner and ranks second all-time in school history in the 50- and 100-free and is fourth in the 200-free. She is part of two record setting relay teams and was an NCAA All-American in 2007.

Named the MVP for swimming is Jeremy Frey (Pipersville, Central Bucks East). At the PSAC championships, Frey saved his best for last breaking a 16-year old school record in the 200-back lowering the mark to 1:54.25 and taking fifth to earn All-PSAC honors. The record setting performance was one of six times during the season that Frey broke school records. Three times he set new standards in the 200 IM, lowering the mark to 1:54.19 in posting a second place finish at the championships. Twice he lowered the mark in the 400 IM, shaving six seconds off the former record set last year. Frey ended the season with three NCAA “B” cut times and qualified for the PSAC finals in three events finishing second in the 200-IM, third in the 400 IM and the fifth in the 200-back. He was the team’s top scorer at the PSAC championships as well as during dual meet competition. During the season, Frey had four multiple-win meets, two of which he won three individual events to lead the Huskies.

Named the MVP for men’s cross country was Bobby Furman (Broomall, Marple Newtown). Furman led the team in four of six races this past season. The sophomore was the Huskies top finisher at the PSAC championships with a 23rd place finish and was second for Bloomsburg at the NCAA regionals in 21st position. His breakout race happened at the Brooks Paul Short Invitational hosted at Lehigh University, where he finished 5th out of 332 runners. His time for the 5-mile course was 25:16 averaging just over 5:03 per mile. His performance helped the Bloomsburg men to finish within three points of the Big East’s University of South Florida. At the Leopard invitational, Furman was the top-PSAC finisher. Also defeating athletes from UCONN, Rutgers and a host of other Division I competitors.

Named the MVP for the men’s soccer was David Leiendecker (Easton, Easton) A goalkeeper, Leiendecker, led the Huskies to a berth in the PSAC playoffs in 2009 after making 112 saves and posting a goal against average of 1.16 in over 1,600 minutes of play. He allowed just 21 goals with a saves percentage of .842, while recording five shutouts. One shutout was a 1-0 overtime victory against East Stroudsburg where he made nine saves, while the other was a two-overtime win against the District of Columbia where he stopped five shots. Twice he made 10 saves in a game and only once all season did he allow more than two goals in a game. For his efforts, Leiendecker was named second team All-PSAC East for the second straight year. He finished his career fourth on Bloomsburg’s all-time shutout list with eight.

Named the MVP for lacrosse is Allie Kakareka (Royersford, Spring-Ford). Kakareka has been the Huskies dominant force offensively all season scoring a team-high 50 goals and is second in assists with 24 for a team-high 74 points. She has helped the Huskies score 263 goals in 2010, just six shy of the school record set a year ago. She has twice been named the PSAC East Player of the Week and scored a career-high six goals in a win over Millersville earlier this season.

The MVP’s for men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s track will be announced at a later date.

All photos courtesy of Bloomsburg University Sports Information.

 

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