Four RedHawks to be Honored at GCNKWSA Awards Banquet
4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
CINCINNATI - The Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Women's Sports Association (GCNKWSA) announced its annual award winners on Friday. The GCNKWSA honors the best female athletes in both the collegiate and high-school levels, along with honoring coaches for their service. For Miami, junior Pei Lin was named Diver of the Year, while senior Bea Dechant was named Field Hockey Player of the Year. In addition, field hockey head coach Inako Puzo was named the College Coach of the Year, while RedHawk volleyball head coach Carolyn Condit was named the recipient of the Lifetime Service Award.
Lin capped an impressive junior campaign with a pair of top-three finishes at the NCAA Championships. Lin placed second with a score of 399.40 in the three-meter dive, just narrowly missing first place by 5.30 points. She placed third in the one-meter dive, tallying 332.20 points. A four-time All-American in her RedHawk career, Lin was a two-time First-Team All-American with her finishes this season.
Dechant posted a career-best season statistically in 2015. She led the MAC with 31 points, scoring 12 goals and dishing out seven assists. For her efforts, just prior to the conference tournament, Dechant was tabbed the MAC Player of the Year. In addition, she was named a First-Team All-MAC selection for the fourth consecutive season, making her the first-ever field hockey player in MAC history to be named MAC Player of the Year, MAC Freshman of the Year and a four-time First-Team All-MAC selection. She was selected by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association as a Third Team All-American.
Puzo was named MAC Co-Coach of the Year after leading the RedHawk field hockey team to a share of the regular season MAC Championship. Miami finished the year 12-8 overall and 5-1 in the league. Puzo now has 50 wins in his career with the Red and White.
According to the GCNKWSA, "The Lifetime Service Award is presented to a local woman who has given many years of support, service, and enthusiasm to girls' and women's sports. She is a woman who has persevered tirelessly through the years so that girls and women today can enjoy the benefits of competitive athletics. She is a woman who has fought for equal opportunities in sports for girls and women when it wasn't popular to do so."
Condit has earned that Lifetime Service Award after recently concluding her 32nd season as Miami's head volleyball coach. With four years as Xavier's head coach before that, she has 36 years of service all in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. She is the winningest head coach at Miami in any sport with 563 victories, and has 662 wins overall in her career. She has led the Red and White to five MAC titles and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Most importantly, every female volleyball athlete that has completed their eligibility at Miami has graduated.
Lin, Dechant, Puzo and Condit will be honored at the 23rd annual Awards Banquet, People interested in attending the event can learn about individual and table reservation information at the website www.cincywomensports.org. Reservation forms must be returned by April 18, 2016. Please contact Anne Ernst at 513-321-0293 or email her at amernst@fuse.net with any questions.
Players Mentioned
