Wayne State University Director of Athletics Rob Fournier announced today the 2009-10 Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year. Candidates were judged on academic distinction, athletic accomplishments, individual involvement and University and community service, as well as coaches’ recommendation.
Senior swimmer Cauli Bedran (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) and senior softball pitcher Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) were selected as the 2009-10 female and male student-athletes of the year after being nominated by their respective coaches with voting by the athletic department’s coaches and administrative staff.
In a year celebrated with great accomplishments, the successes of Casey and Cauli epitomize the individual sacrifices necessary to achieve team success,” said Fournier. “Both demonstrated the hard work it takes both on and off the field and in the classroom to be the best. And each time, regardless if it was practice or competition, they gave their best. They are fitting examples of how we expect Wayne State student-athletes to represent the University.”
Bedran (pictured left) earned seven First Team All-America honors at the 2010 NCAA Championship helping the Warriors to a third-place team finish. At the GLIAC Championship, he collected five conference titles including two individual championships. Bedran finished first in the 50 free (20.64) and 100 free (45.82), placed second in the 100 back (50.50) and anchored three first-place relays. In addition, he received the GLIAC Winter 2010 Commissioner’s Award for academic and athletic excellence.
A political science major with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.62, Bedran was also selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV At-Large Second Team for the second consecutive year. He earned a spot on the WSU academic honor roll all eight semesters, while also serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Hanes, a First Team All-American by both the NFCA and Daktronics, was the national leader in ERA (0.58) from all three NCAA Divisions. She finished second in NCAA Division II in strikeouts (366), wins (42) and shutouts (19), and third in fewest hits (3.72 per seven innings). Hanes, who had winning streaks of both 10 and 14 games during the 2010 campaign, helped WSU to a GLIAC regular-season title, an NCAA Regional and Super Regional title, and the school’s second appearance in the NCAA College World Series.
The CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American selection, Hanes maintains a 3.93 cumulative grade-point average in WSU’s sports administration master’s program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing in the spring of 2009. Hanes was a recipient of the 2010 GLIAC Spring Commissioner’s Award for academic and athletic excellence. She earned a spot on the WSU academic honor roll all six semesters in Detroit.
This is the ninth year of the WSU Student-Athlete of the Year award. The first recipients were softball player Kelly Kashmerick and hockey player David Guerrera, while cross country runner Shelly Vickery and hockey player Dustin Kingston were the 2002-03 honorees. The 2003-04 student-athletes of the year were women’s hockey player Kim Spaulding and swimmer David Lutz. Lutz became the first two-time winner in 2004-05 along with Anna Vinnikov, a member of the women’s fencing squad. The 2005-06 recipients were diver Erika Barczak and swimmer Nick Ingrao, while the 2006-07 recipients were Anna Garina, a national champion fencer, and Kris Krzyminski, an All-American basketball player. All-American baseball player Anthony Bass and Barczak were selected following the 2007-08 school year, with swimmers Ashley St. Andrew and Sean Smith being voted for the 2008-09 season.