RedHawk Skaters Honored at Annual Awards Banquet
4/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Synchronized Skating
April 24, 2010
OXFORD, Ohio-Miami University's synchronized skating teams gathered with friends and family Saturday evening at the Shriver Center to celebrate the 2009-10 season at the annual postseason banquet.
Ten RedHawk skaters received awards at the banquet. Each team had a skater named outstanding skater, most improved skater and also awarded a spirit award. The senior and collegiate teams also had awardees for rookie of the year and outstanding senior.
Three RedHawks were multiple award winners with sophomore Martha Buckley (Essex, Mass./Manchester Essex Regional) earning three awards between the junior and collegiate teams and senior Katie Bowling (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and senior Samantha Rinella (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) earning two apiece from the senior team awards and collegiate team awards, respectively.
Bowling, a four-year member of the senior team, was named the Outstanding Skater while also being named the Senior of the Year for the senior team. For a second consecutive year, junior Kelly Critchfield (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd) earned the senior team's Spirit Award. Rounding out the senior team awards, freshman Bianca Pomponio (Livonia, Mich./Mercy) was named the Most Improved Skater, while sophomore Christina Lee (West Orange, N.J./Mt. St. Dominic Academy) and junior Lauren Leonard (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd), both in their first seasons on the senior team, were named Co-Rookie of the Year.
Rinella, in her second stint on the collegiate team, earned both the Senior of the Year and Outstanding Skater awards. Freshman Aziza Alaoui (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall) was the collegiate team's Rookie of the Year, while sophomore Emily Stephenson (Troy, Mich./Troy) was the collegiate team's Most Improved Skater. The RedHawk collegiate team won the program's sixth consecutive and 12th overall national title in the division.
Buckley skated on both the junior and collegiate teams this year after skating on the junior team during her first year at Miami. She earned the Spirit Award for both the junior and collegiate teams while being named the junior team's Outstanding Skater. Sophomore Jaime Mariage (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) was the junior team's Most Improved Skater.
Three skaters also made remarks during the awards portion of the program. Buckley spoke on behalf of the junior team, senior Ashley Korn (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda) spoke on behalf of the collegiate team and senior Jessica Swartz (West Jefferson, Ohio/West Jefferson) spoke on behalf of the senior team.
RECAP OF AWARD WINNERS:
Senior Co-Rookie of the Year - Christina Lee
Senior Co-Rookie of the Year - Lauren Leonard
Senior Spirit Award - Kelly Critchfield
Senior Most Improved Skater - Bianca Pomponio
Senior of the Year - Katie Bowling
Outstanding Skater - Katie Bowling
Junior Spirit Award - Martha Buckley
Junior Most Improved Skater - Jaime Mariage
Junior Outstanding Skater - Martha Buckley
Collegiate Rookie of the Year - Aziza Alaoui
Collegiate Spirit Award - Martha Buckley
Collegiate Most Improved Skater - Emily Stephenson
Collegiate Outstanding Skater - Samantha Rinella
Collegiate Senior of the Year - Samantha Rinella
Players Mentioned
