Aggies honored at annual Cameron University Athletics Awards Banquet
Nine of the ten Aggie seniors who were given the "Time-to-Go" Award.
LAWTON, Oklahoma (May 2) – Cameron University and the Aggie Athletic Department gathered at the CU Fitness Center last Friday to reminisce on the 2006-2007 season, and to honor the numerous student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who deserve recognition. The banquet is an annual event that serves as a yearly wrap-up for the department. Boosters, representatives of the local media, and select faculty and staff members are all invited to the event.
“I think it’s important to have an athletic banquet at the end of the year to wrap everything up and to thank the athletes for what they do for the university,” Cameron Athletic Director Jim Jackson said. “I thought the banquet was very good and the evening was very pleasant. We accomplished what we set out to do: to come together as a department in order to recognize the accomplishments of our student-athletes and coaches.”
Each coach addressed those in attendance and gave a summation of their respective program’s 2006-2007 season. They also provided a look into next season and mentioned each of their student-athletes individually as they were called to the front. Each student-athlete was then recognized by the crowd, and given a unique Cameron Aggie gift based on their tenure at the university.
Freshmen student-athletes were awarded certificates of competition. Sophomores were awarded a deluxe Cameron Athletics pen and pencil set. Juniors were awarded a limited edition Cameron Aggie wristwatch. Seniors were awarded a very nice Cameron Athletics stadium blanket.
“We wanted to do something different and substantial for the athletes,” Jackson said. “Through my experience of being a student-athlete many years ago, I covet my letter jacket and really enjoy my senior watch. You can give student-athletes scholarships and all of the other perks they get while they are participating, but years after the fact when they put the jacket on or look at the watch it really means something to them. These kind of awards bring back memories.”
There was also a special award given to those student-athletes who had competed at Cameron for each of their four years of collegiate eligibility. These ten seniors were given the “Time-to-Go” award, which was a luxurious clock with their names and respective sports engraved into the front.
“We think it’s special when someone comes to Cameron as a freshman and spends all four years here,” Jackson said. “It’s time to go out in the real world after a good career as an Aggie, and spread the word about Cameron.”
The event was also the first opportunity to introduce new head coaches Robin Martin (cheerleading) and John Haroun (volleyball) to the entire Cameron Athletic Department and the many boosters.
In addition, the annual Awards Banquet is the time when the department honors the Male and Female Athletes of the Year, as well as the Coach of the Year. This year, Athlete of the Year honors went to a pair of shortstops as senior B. J. Cole (baseball) won the Male Athlete of the Year award, and senior Stephanie Bour (softball) won the Female Athlete of the Year award.
Cole started at third-base in 2006 and at shortstop in 2007 for CU after transferring from Central Arizona Junior College. As the clean-up hitter, he has batted around .350 each of his two seasons at Cameron and hit an outstanding 24 doubles and 65 RBI in 2006.
Cole was named to the Lone Star Conference All-Conference First Team and the All-Region Second Team in 2006, and was voted the LSC Preseason Player of the Year before this season. Cole was also named to the 2007 All-Conference First Team when conference awards were handed out this week.
Bour has had an outstanding final season with the Aggies. She came to Cameron from Central Arizona Junior College as a sophomore in 2005 and has been rewriting the Cameron softball record-books ever since. As of last Friday’s banquet, Bour was nationally ranked at #10 for batting average, #15 for homeruns/game, #11 for doubles/game, #5 for walks/game, #4 for slugging percentage, #22 for runs/game, and she is the #17 hardest batter to strike out.
As Cameron’s leadoff hitter, she also currently leads the entire Lone Star Conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, doubles, homeruns, total bases, walks, assists, and has fielded the second-most double-plays. In 2006 and 2007 she was named to the LSC All-Conference First Team, and was named the LSC Player of the Year this season.
The Coach of the Year award went to head women’s golf coach Rick Goodwin, who was also awarded the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year award after leading his program to a 2007 Conference Championship. The women’s golf program is only in its second year of existence.
To wrap up the evening, Jackson honored Associate Athletic Director Kim Vinson and head men’s golf coach Jerry Hrnciar. Both Vinson and Hrnciar were selected as part of the Lone Star Conference 75th Anniversary Team which was comprised of seventy-five of the most influential people in LSC history.
“This is a really high honor that the (Lone Star) Conference is celebrating its 75th Anniversary and that Kim (Vinson) and Jerry (Hrnciar) are considered in the Top 75 people based on their accomplishments while in the conference,” Jackson said. “Both (Kim and Jerry) are well-deserving and represent Cameron University in a positive way through their past years of coaching and administrating, and also for what they’ve done for the university and the conference.”
Jackson presented them with special awards to recognize their selection to the conference anniversary team.
In his 33-year tenure at CU, Hrnciar has been named the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year three times, NCAA Region Coach of the Year four times, and has coached an amazing 23 different golfers to All-American status a total of 34 times. He has also coached 13 different golfers to Academic All-American status a total of 17 times and has led his team to the NCAA National tournament 8 times.
Vinson has served as head softball coach, head volleyball coach, professor, director of the Cameron University Fitness Center, Senior Women’s Administrator, Compliance Officer, and both Assistant and Associate Athletic Director. As volleyball coach, Vinson won nearly 300 career matches and was named the LSC Coach of the Year four times. She also took the Aggies to a Lone Star Conference Championship in 1998.
As final exams wrap up this week, four of the Aggie athletic programs are still in action in the postseason. The Cameron men’s and women’s tennis teams are competing in the NCAA Division II National Championship tournament in Winter Park, Florida later this week, while the Aggie men’s golf team is participating in the NCAA Division II Super Regional golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Muscle Shoals, Alabama early next week. The Aggie softball team is the other program currently in the playoffs, as they compete in the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament in Irving, Texas later this week.
The next Cameron Aggie regular season event does not come until August 24th when the CU Volleyball team kicks off their 2007 season by participating in the St. Mary’s University Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.
Stay tuned to goaggies.cameron.edu for the latest in recruiting updates, offseason news, and summer camp information for each of the Cameron athletic programs.
