May 11, 2005

Moraga, CA - The Fifth Annual Gael Award Show was another success and a great night that honored seniors and top performances from the past athletic year held in the LeFevre Theatre at Saint Mary's College on Monday. The Athletic Department, which hosted the event, also named the Coach of the Year, Performance of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, to name a few awards.

The award show began with 2004-05 team moderators being honored for all 14 intercollegiate sports at SMC, followed by the presentation of the top 10 grade point averages by Gael student-athletes, with Kristin Hurst earning the highest at 3.91.

Taking home the first award of the night was the 2004 women's volleyball team, winning the Gael Cup Award for posting the highest winning percentage among all SMC teams. The volleyball team finished the season 25-4 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

A new addition to the Award Show was the Performance of the Year, which recognized an individual who had a performance during an event or game that stood out. Paul Marigney was the winner of the first award, for his 30 points, seven 3-pointer effort in a victory against No. 11 Gonzaga at McKeon Pavilion.

Lon Rork, a volunteer assistant on the men's basketball team won the Mike Gibbons Volunteer of the Year award, and Matt Carroll and Joe Kehoe won the Bryan Vargas Gael Spirit Award.

For the second straight year a men's soccer player won the Male Newcomer of the Year award, this year goalkeeper Brian Mason won the award. The Female Newcomer of the Year went to Missie Stidham for her spectacular season on the women's volleyball team.

The Male Player of the Year went to Daniel Kickert of the men's basketball team and Mandy Bible won the Female Player of the Year. Kickert led the basketball team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997 and Bible led the volleyball team to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

One of the most prestigious awards of the night, the Male and Female George R. McKeon Senior Awards went to Joe Lanza and Lindsey Bogason. Lanza was the first men's golfer to win the award and is the captain and leader on the most successful golf team in school history. Bogason is also the first volleyball player to win the award and is in the top 10 of several categories including kills per game, block assists, single season kills and single season aces.

Wrapping up the evening was the recognition of the Coach of the Year, which for the second time in five years went to Randy Bennett, head coach of the men's basketball team. Bennett is currently fifth in career victories at Saint Mary's with 68 in four years.