2015 Terp Awards roundup
By Chris Bengel
With most sports wrapping up their inaugural Big Ten seasons, here’s our 2015 Terp Awards roundup for the 2014-15 season.
Awards were handed out on Tuesday for everything from Male Rookie of the Year to Male Athlete of the Year to athletes with the highest grade-point-averages. Coaches, student athletes, and teams were honored during the fourth annual ceremony. Below, we’ll go through the Terp Awards along with who was nominated and who came out on top.
John W. Guckeyson Award (Most Outstanding Male Athlete)
- Winner: Brad Craddock (kicker, football)
- Nominees: Kyle Bernlohr (goalie, men’s lacrosse), Mael Corboz (midfielder, men’s soccer), Mike Shawaryn (pitcher, baseball), & Dez Wells (guard, men’s basketball)
- Analysis: This may have been a surprise to some people, given the fact that kicker is not exactly a sexy position. However, Craddock had one of the most phenomenal seasons that any athlete can ever have. The Australian placekicker connected on 18 of 19 attempts and set the Maryland single-season record for field goal percentage (.947). The terrific season ended up netting Craddock the Lou Groza Award, which is annually given to the nation’s top kicker. After a rocky start to his career at Maryland, Craddock has turned out to be one of the top kickers to ever come through the program.
Suzanne Tyler Award (Most Outstanding Female Athlete)
- Winner: Taylor Cummings (midfielder, women’s lacrosse)
- Nominees: Lexie Brown (guard, women’s basketball), Maxine Fluharty (midfielder/forward, field hockey), & Amber Melville (jumps, women’s track and field)
- Analysis: The Maryland women’s lacrosse team recently received the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and for good reason. Taylor Cummings was one of the top factors in the Lady Terps having such a fantastic season. Cummings had a team-high 86 points (56, 30) and led the team in assists, ground balls, and caused turnovers. She won the Tewaaraton Award in 2014 and is a finalist once again in 2015.
Male Rookie of the Year
- Winner: Melo Trimble (guard, men’s basketball)
- Nominees: Jesse Aniebonam (defensive end/linebacker, football), George Campbell (midfielder/forward, men’s soccer), & Kevin Smith (shortstop, baseball)
- Analysis: There was never any question about this one. While the other three nominees all had spectacular freshmen seasons, Trimble took College Park and the entire college basketball landscape by storm. The Bishop O’Connell product scored the second-most points by a freshman in program history (568), which was just short of Joe Smith’s record (582). Trimble was a All-Big Ten First Team selection and was Maryland’s leading scorer with 16.3 points-per-game.
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Female Rookie of the Year
- Winner: Megan Whittle (attack, women’s lacrosse)
- Nominees: Hailey Murray (middle blocker, volleyball), Moira Putsch (forward/midfielder, field hockey), Ekaterina Tour, tennis), & Dominiquea Trotter (all-around, gymnastics)
- Analysis: The Maryland women’s lacrosse team has an incredibly dangerous one-two punch in Cummings and Whittle. Whittle registered a team-high 63 goals this season and is arguably one of the top players in the Big Ten. There really wasn’t much doubt about who this award was going to.
Men’s Team Coach of the Year
- Winner: Mark Turgeon (men’s basketball)
- Nominees: Sasho Cirovski (men’s soccer), Randy Edsall (football), John Szefc (baseball), & John Tillman (men’s lacrosse)
- Analysis: This was a relatively easy one to predict. Turgeon led the Terps to one of the best seasons in program history and completely transformed his squad into a Big Ten contender. Maryland finished second in the Big Ten and also won an NCAA Tournament game as a No. 4 seed. With the offseason additions of Diamond Stone and Rasheed Sulaimon, Turgeon definitely is making Maryland into a national title contender in a five-year period.
Women’s Team Coach of the Year
- Winner: Brenda Frese (women’s basketball)
- Nominees: Missy Meharg (field hockey), Brett Nelligan (gymnastics), & Cathy Reese (women’s lacrosse)
- Analysis: Frese has a proven track record of being a superb coach, but Maryland’s 2014-15 season was a thing of beauty. The Lady Terps achieved a 34-3 record and reached the Final Four for the second consecutive season. He was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading Maryland to regular season and Big Ten Tournament titles.
Terrapins Cup Team of the Year: women’s lacrosse
Founders Award: Stephanie Giameo (gymnastics)
Talbot T. Speer Award: Mike Shawaryn (pitcher, baseball)
Charles P. McCormick Award: Dani Kram (gymnastics)
James H. Kehoe Award: Sal Conaboy (center, football) & Malina Howard (center, women’s basketball)
Silvester Award: Dez Wells (guard, men’s basketball)
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