Hartford's Brandon, Boston U.'s Women's Soccer Team Honored for Sportsmanship - AmericaEast.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- University of Hartford’s Kevin Brandon and Boston University’s women’s soccer team were named the 2011-12 America East Sportsmanship Award winners, the league announced this evening at its annual awards dinner in Annapolis, Md.
This year’s winners, which were determined in a vote by the America East Sportsmanship Committee, are now automatically eligible for the NCAA Sportsmanship Awards, which the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct will determine in July.
To be nominated, an individual or team must have demonstrated consistently the values of caring, fairness, civility, honesty, integrity and responsibility in his or her daily participation in intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete or team nominees must be a member of an intercollegiate athletics team during the 2011-12 academic year.
Brandon, a senior track & field athlete, earned the Male Award by displaying the essence of sportsmanship during his final collegiate meet. Despite being one of the fastest runners on his team, Brandon surrendered his spot on the Hawks’ 4x800-meter relay squad at the New England Championships to a sophomore. Brandon, a team captain, felt that giving a younger teammate the chance to run would help build continuity which would help the team going forward and that benefit was more important than his desire to run. The Hawks ended up placing eighth and earning All-New England status.
Boston University’s women’s soccer team, the Female Award winner, showed that it is possible to win with class. The Terriers, who went 19-3-1, won their fifth straight America East title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, did not receive any disciplinary cards, yellow or red, in any of their 23 games. The Terriers were one of just 13 men’s and women’s programs nationwide to receive the NSCAA Gold Certificate for zero cards.
America East began awarding a conference Sportsmanship Award to a male and female student-athlete for the 2005-06 academic year based on the same principles and criteria as the NCAA Sportsmanship Awards. The 2008 female recipient, Hartford’s Latasha Jarrett, went on to be named the NCAA’s Division I Sportswoman of the Year.
All-Time America East Sportsmanship Award Winners
Male Female
2012 Kevin Brandon, Hartford Boston U. Women’s Soccer Team
2011 Albany Men’s Basketball Team America East Swimmers & Divers
2010 Stephen Marino, Stony Brook Lindsay Makowicki, Hartford
2009 Rich Lieberman, Hartford Maine Softball Team
2008 Cavell Johnson, UMBC Latasha Jarrett, Hartford
2007 Ross Lohr, Boston U. Kristin Drabyn, UMBC
2006 Chris Spivey, Hartford Rachel Laws, Binghamton