Florida Tech Names Swimmer Victor Rocha Furtado, Women’s Lacrosse Player Sara Grenier Athletes of the Year

women's soccer team repeats as team of the year

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA–  The Florida Tech athletic department held its 46th Athletic Awards Banquet at the Clemente Center to commemorate the 2017-18 athletic year on Wednesday evening. 

Former Florida Tech student-athlete and coach, Bino Campanini, emceed the annual event, while Athletics Director Bill Jurgens handed out a vast array of awards to recognize all the excellent achievements reached by the Panthers’ 23 sports teams.

The women’s soccer team repeated as Panther Cup Champions, which is a points-based competition among Florida Tech’s varsity teams. Women’s soccer received the award for their academic and athletic performances, personal and career development, community involvement and support for other teams through the year.

The men’s cross country team was awarded the Male Team GPA Award for the sixth year in a row, posting the highest cumulative GPA among Florida Tech’s men’s sports through the fall 2017 semester at 3.496. For the seventh straight year, the women’s tennis team had the highest cumulative GPA among FIT’s women’s sports at 3.653.

The Andy Seminick Sportsmanship Award went to men’s lacrosse’s Nate Howard and the Martha Work Sportsmanship award was bestowed to Olivia Hersey of the volleyball team.

Jessica Callahan of the softball team and Romell Guerrier of the football and men’s track & field teams were the recipients of this year’s Comeback Player of the Year honors.

The Athletic Director’s Leadership Award was claimed by Allie Wood of the women’s lacrosse team, who is the Vice President for both the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Student Government Association.

Thomas Steenberg of the men’s swimming team received the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year went to Marina DeBiasi of the women’s cross country and track & field teams.

Finally, earning the Male Athlete of the Year award was junior swimmer, Victor Rocha Furtado, while Sara Grenier, a senior on the women’s lacrosse team, was named the Female Athlete of the Year.

In addition to the overall awards that were presented for Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a member of each team was recognized as being an Athlete of the Year for their sport.

Earning the honor from the men’s sports were Shanren Brienen (Men’s Golf), Nicardo Cameron (Men’s Track & Field), Carson Clough (Men’s Lacrosse), Ty Cohen (Baseball), Richard Coil (Men’s Basketball), William Dietrich (Men’s Rowing), Evan Enders (Men’s Soccer), Jimmy Hinel (Football), Tjimon Louisy (Men’s Tennis), Tyler McCabe (Men’s Cross Country), and Thomas Steenberg (Men’s Swimming).

Receiving female Scholar-Athlete of the Year on behalf of their sport were Gabriela Acevedo (Cheerleading), Maia Carter (Women’s Track & Field), Mariana Castaneiras (Women’s Tennis), Marina DeBiasi (Women’s Cross Country), Leah Dunn (Women’s Lacrosse), Kelly Germain (Volleyball), McKenzie Krutsinger (Softball), Federica Pala (Women’s Rowing), Neta Saar (Women’s Swimming), Tereza Sedlakova (Women’s Basketball), Elin Svensson (Women’s Soccer) and Lauren Watson (Women’s Golf).

A member of each team was also presented with an Athlete of the Year Award.

Earning the honor from the men’s sports were Addison Abramson (Men’s Lacrosse), Jacob Buser (Baseball), Nicardo Cameron (Men’s Track & Field), Aria Canadell Solana (Men’s Tennis), Adonis Davis (Football), Jordan Majors (Men’s Basketball), Tucker Melles (Men’s Cross Country), Max O’Hagan (Men’s Golf), Victor Rocha Furtado (Men’s Swimming), Brandon Smalley (Men’s Soccer) and Zilvinas Visockas (Men’s Rowing).

Receiving Female Athlete of the Year on behalf of their sport were Natalia Arasa Bonavila (Women’s Rowing), Savannah Brennan (Women’s Swimming), Juliana Burgos (Cheerleading), Erin Egoroff (Women’s Tennis), Sara Grenier (Women’s Lacrosse), Lia Hanus (Women’s Cross Country), Maria Munoz (Women’s Soccer), Melanie Murphy (Softball), Paola Ortiz (Women’s Golf), Kiersten Rosa (Volleyball), Alexis Santiago (Women’s Track & Field) and DeLise Williams (Women’s Basketball).

Awards were also presented to 102 Panther seniors and certificates were given for the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

In total, 252 Panthers were named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for achieving a 3.2 cumulative GPA through the fall 2017 semester.

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