Kean Athletic News
Kean Honors Student-Athletes, Coaches at Annual Awards Banquet
UNION, N.J. (4/29/08) - The Kean University Department of Athletics celebrated one of the most successful years in recent history at its annual Spring Sports Awards Banquet on Tuesday, April 29. During the evening, the department presented its annual D'Angola Awards, Scholar-Athlete Awards, Big Blue Award and Hoffman Memorial Award, while also honoring the Kean Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches of the Year. In addition, the University also awarded its athletic letters and most valuable player awards to the winter and spring athletes.
Kean honored a pair of four-year starters and record breakers as its Male and Female D'Angola Awards, the highest honor presented as recognition of outstanding individual performance within the team concept that contributes to the enhancement of the team, the department of athletics and Kean University.
Senior Chari' Cooper of the women's basketball
team was named the female D'Angola award winner after closing out
her illustrious career in the Elite Eight for the second straight
seasons. For the second straight year, senior A.J.
Roque of the football team earned the 
male D'Angola award following his record-breaking career on the
gridiron.
Cooper (Paulsboro, N.J.) capped a brilliant career with Kean's second straight New Jersey Athletic Conference championship and run to the Elite Eight. She became just the third player in school history to score 1,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds. A four-time NJAC all-star, she closed our her career with 1,519 career rebounds, the third highest total in NCAA Division III history and tied for 11th all-time among NCAA Division I, II and III. She also earned WBCA State Farm and D3hoops.com Honorable Mention All-American honors and was named a NJAC, ECAC Metro Region and All-Met First Team All-Star this season.
Roque (Matawan, N.J.) helped resurrect a football program, leading the Cougars to back-to-back non-losing seasons for the first time since 1992 through 1994 and for just the third time in the program's 38-year history. The 2006 and 2007 NJAC Offensive Player of the Year, he became the NJAC's all-time passing leader in the final game of his career, throwing with 8,443 passing yards and a school-record 65 touchdowns in 40 career games under center. A NJAC and ECAC Southeast Region First-Team All-Star, he holds the program record in 12 different categories, including the top eight single game passing marks in school history.
Senior Johanna Hedler (South Plainfield, N.J.) and
junior Tom Eller (West Caldwell, N.J.) were
honored with the Scholar-Athlete Awards. An early childhood
education major, Hedler is a four-year starter and four-time NJAC
all-star on the softball team. A two-time recipient of the
scholar-athlete award, she broke the program record for career runs
scored and ranks in the top five in four other career
categories. Eller has been a key member of the defensive that
has helped the Cougars win at least 10 games in each of the last
three seasons for the first time since the early nineties.
Senior Andrew Brown (Pennsauken, N.J.) of the
football team received the Hoffman Memorial Award, an honor
presented to the senior student-athelte whose enthusiasm for
athletics and spirit on the playing field best exemplifies Kean
University Hall-of-Famer Andrew Hoffman's love of sport. An
offensive lineman, Brown was the consummate team player and earned
Most Improved Offensive Player honors during his career.
Angela Ortiz, Executive Assistant to the Vice President of University Relations, and Kevin Bartolotti, Graphic Design, both received the Big Blue Award, presented annually to a person who contributed greatly to the Department of Athletics. Ortiz has been instrumental in the day-to-day functions of the department, while Bartolotti has greatly assisted in the design and production of the athletic-related materials.
After guiding their teams to the NJAC playoffs for the first time in their coaching careers, Head Softball Coach Margie Acker and Head Men's Basketball Coach Rob Kurzinsky were honored as Kean's Head Coaches of the Year. Assistant Softball Coach Megan McDonnell and Assistant Baseball Coach Jack Nagy both received Assistant Coach of the Year Awards.
Acker is in the midst of her finest season as a head coach, guiding
the softball team to a 28-12 regular season and the fifth seed in
the NJAC tournament, as the Cougars reached the playoffs for the
first time since 1992. In his first year as head coach at
Kean, Kurzinsky led the Cougars back to the NJAC playoffs for the
first time since 2000-01 after taking over Summer 2007.
A former four-year letterwinner under Acker, McDonnell is in her third year as an assistant coach and has helped lead the Cougars to more wins than the previous year in each of her three seasons. A long-time assistant to Head Baseball Coach Neil Ioviero, Nagy has been a vital part of the coaching staff since Ioviero began at Kean and in helping lead Kean to the 2007 NCAA Division III National Championship.
Following is a list of the Kean University team MVP award winners for the winter and spring sports:
BASEBALL - Derek
Gianakas (Sr., OF, Edison., N.J.)
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Chari' Cooper (Sr., C,
Paulsboro, N.J.)
MEN'S LACROSSE - Dave Nichols (Sr., GK, Florham
Park, N.J.)
WOMEN'S LACROSSE - Allison Green (Sr., M, West
Deptford, N.J.)
MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD - Jason Staggers
(Jr., Jackson, N.J.)
MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD - John Badala
(Fr., Scotch Plains, N.J.)
WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD - Erin Jones
(Jr., Upper Saddle River, N.J.)
WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD - Demeka
Pressley (Jr., Trenton, N.J.)
