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Award Night Notes by MPG

I was waiting for last week's recruiting news to die down and Easter to pass, before sharing a few notes about the April 16 award night. Now the Dani Patterson news is breaking which means some incoming news must be coming, too.

What a difference a year and two points makes! Last year there were so many fans requesting an item to be autographed, that the ceremonies started 30 minutes late. This year the event started 15 minutes early.

The seniors divided speaking assignments among themselves:
Brianna Turner made mention of all those who support the players and the coaching staff.

Marina Mabrey mentioned each of the coaches, mainly with inside humor.

Jess Shepard and Maureen Butler took turns thanking the underclassmen. Jess grew emotional while talking about the juniors, Katie Cole and Jackie Young.

Arike Ogunbowale gave an exuberant thank you to the fans. She was the most upbeat person to speak.

Muffet made serious mention of each senior and repeated her reference to Jess Shepard as the best transfer a team could ever add. Muffet made some nice comments about Dani Patterson while awarding her the most improved player award. I now look back at that as a bittersweet moment.

Abby Prohaska received the loudest introductory ovation among the players scheduled to return for next year, and an even louder ovation when she won the spirit award!

Nicole Benz earned the student-athlete award with a 4.0 in computer engineering. Three cheers for Nicole!