Redbird Seniors Honored At Annual Awards Banquet

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NORMAL, Ill. – The annual Illinois State Credit Union Senior Student-Athlete Banquet serves as the culmination for Illinois State senior student-athletes, as each receives his or her completed medallion after being handed the first half at the Walk of Champions as a freshman. The 2017 Redbird senior class was honored Wednesday evening in Redbird Arena to recognize all the accomplishments and accolades the class achieved during its time at Illinois State.

As a group, the 76 seniors have helped lead their teams to more than 600 victories, seven regular-season conference championships, five conference tournament championships and 11 postseason appearances.  In addition, the seniors have tallied six conference player of the year awards, 16 individual conference championships, 22 have appeared as individuals in postseason competition, 60 have earned first-team all-conference selections and three athletes were named All-Americans. 

This group has also been busy in the classroom and community.  During their tenure, Redbird Athletics has experienced exceptional academic success and over the last nine semesters, more than 60 percent of this class has appeared on the AFNI Athletics Honor Roll during each semester. This class posted a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) greater than a 3.00, which helped the athletic department as a whole set a new grade-point average record with a 3.23 GPA in the Spring 2016 semester, then match it in the Fall to continue a streak of 17 consecutive semesters with a department GPA greater than a 3.00.  This graduating class has helped establish a culture of academic and athletic success. The group also helped the department complete more than 2,500 community service hours in each of the last four academic school years. 

The football and men's basketball television voice of the Redbirds, Kurt Pegler, served as the emcee for the event.  Illinois State Director of Athletics Larry Lyons also spoke to the seniors, their coaches, families and friends and thanked them for all their hard work, dedication and commitment to Redbird Athletics. Swimmer Laura Paskoff was chosen to speak and give a moment of reflection on her time in a Redbird uniform, before dinner was served.  

After dinner concluded, senior gymnast Samantha Ward was presented the Laurie Mabry Award.  The honor is given to a female student-athlete who exemplifies the positive values and attitudes that can be learned through athletics and is a person who appreciates the opportunity she has received through participation in the athletic program.  The award is named after Mabry, who helped Illinois State's women's sports become a major national program as director of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics from 1960-80.

Former Redbird soccer standout KellyAnne Bernard then took the stage representing the RB4L club, stressing the importance of staying connected to the athletics program after graduation and supporting the University.  Illinois State University President Dr. Larry Dietz followed and wished all of the seniors well in their future endeavors and talked about how much he enjoyed watching them compete in his time as president. That led to the presentation of the senior plaques, as each senior was called to the stage to receive their finished medallion affixed to a plaque noting all of their accomplishments as Redbird student-athletes.

Football standout Kyle Avaloy and softball standout Annie Heineman closed out the night with a message for the senior class.

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