Pirate Blue Senior Awards Banquet
5/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | General
MAPLEWOOD, N.J. - The Seton Hall University Department of Athletics hosted its second-annual Pirate Blue Senior Awards Banquet on Tuesday, May 7, at the Maplewood Country Club in Maplewood, N.J.
The event was introduced in 2012 and aims to provide a platform to recognize the seniors from all 14 of Seton Hall's varsity athletic programs for their outstanding achievements as student-athletes in front of their coaches, teammates, family and friends.
The marquee awards of the night honored Seton Hall’s Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year. The 2013 recipients were Brittany Morris (Raleigh, N.C.) of women’s basketball and baseball’s Jon Prosinski (Skillman, N.J.).
Morris took a tremendous step forward as an individual in her final season at The Hall, the culmination of a career in which she steadily improved from year to year. A starter in all 31 games for SHU in 2012-13, Morris led the Pirates in scoring and established herself as one of the most dynamic guards in the conference, capturing Second Team All-BIG EAST and Second Team All-Metropolitan honors at year’s end. Over the course of the season, she was the Pirates’ high-scorer on 19 occasions highlighted by a career-high 28-point performance in an upset victory over St. John’s on Senior Day. Morris will leave South Orange as the program’s all-time leader in three-pointers and ranks 20th in school history with 997 career points.
On the diamond, Prosinski has continued to cement his status as one of the most prolific hurlers to don a Seton Hall uniform. The Skillman native has more than lived up to his distinction as BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year, taking the ball each Friday and delivering with unrivaled consistency en route to a 7-2 record. With the season yet to conclude, Prosinski has already ascended to the top of the program’s all-time games started, innings pitched and shutout lists, and is poised to stake claim to the records for strikeouts and wins as well. Named New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Pitcher of the Week three times and BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on April 29, Prosinski enters the final weeks of the regular season ranked among the top-25 in the nation in four major statistical categories and is a recurring presence on nearly all of the league’s statistical rankings.
In addition to these two awards, Brittany Hammer (Manheim, Pa.) of softball was selected to receive the second-ever Student Most Valuable Pirate Award.
Every year at the SAAC Awards Banquet, a member of the Athletics staff is given the Most Valuable Pirate Award in recognition of their service to the department. The Student Most Valuable Pirate Award highlights a senior student-athlete who has displayed leadership and dedication, and made exemplary contributions not only in the field of competition, but also in the classroom and in the Seton Hall community.
The banquet also included academic recognition from Director of Academic Support Services Matthew Geibel. In addition to recognizing Hammer, Alexandra Maseko (Harare, Zimbabwe) of women's basketball and Prosinski as Seton Hall’s BIG EAST Scholar Athlete of the Year nominees, Hammer and Ryan Sullivan (Stony Point, N.Y.) of baseball were honored as SHU’s Scholar Athletes of the Year, a distinction given to the female and male senior student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPAs.
Geibel also announced Seton Hall's 26 recipients of an Academic Merit Award, given to senior student-athletes who have maintained at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average.
| 2013 ACADEMIC MERIT AWARD WINNERS | ||
| Name | Sport | Major |
| Cristina Barthel | Women's Soccer | Biology / Physical Therapy |
| Christina Chafos | Women's Cross Country | Nursing |
| Karina Cordero | Women's Tennis | Diplomacy & International Relations |
| Cashel Gaffey | Softball | Sociology |
| Mike Genovese | Baseball | Liberal Studies |
| Brittany Hammer | Softball | Marketing |
| Cory Hellwig | Men's Cross Country | History |
| Hannah Hugeback | Volleyball | Criminal Justice |
| Alyssa Kelly | Women's Soccer | Accounting (Graduate) |
| Marigot Lustyk | Women's Cross Country | Political Science |
| Kalie Marshall | Volleyball | Biochemistry |
| Alexandra Maseko | Women's Basketball | Political Science |
| Taylor Mims | Women's Soccer | English |
| Brittany Morris | Women's Basketball | Sport Management & Marketing |
| Marielle O'Connor | Women's Swimming | Psychology |
| Brenna O'Keefe | Women's Swimming | Biology |
| Kelly Palma | Volleyball | Biology |
| Jennifer Pettigrew | Women's Soccer | Sport Management |
| Jon Prosinski | Baseball | Accounting |
| Hughnique Rolle | Women's Cross Country | Finance |
| Andrea Shuba | Women's Swimming | Diplomacy & International Relations |
| Kyle Smyth | Men's Basketball | Strategic Communications (Graduate) |
| Ryan Sullivan | Baseball | Broadcast & Visual Media Production |
| Olivia Trudeau | Volleyball | Sociology |
| Rebecca Warrington | Women's Soccer | Elementary Special Education |
| Alie Zelenky | Women's Swimming | Social & Behavioral Sciences |
