SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Three-time MAC Commonwealth Baseball All-Star and football starter Andy Berwager of Hanover (South Western H.S.) is the recipient of Susquehanna University's Blair Heaton Award as the school's top senior male scholar-athlete, while three-time MAC Commonwealth Women's Basketball All-Star and four-time conference jumping champion Karyn Kern of Brodheadsville (Pleasant Valley H.S.) is the Outstanding Senior Women's Scholar-Athlete Award recipient.
Kern will be returning to Susquehanna next year to use an additional year of eligibility, granted by the NCAA following a serious knee injury which cut her senior athletic year short in the fifth game of the basketball season. While she will be back for the additional year, she is graduating with the senior class on Sunday, making her eligible for the award.
The two were presented their awards Friday at the university's annual Senior Awards Luncheon. Berwager and Kern top a group of senior athletes who helped the 22 Crusader varsity sports teams combine for a 145-131-1 record (.525) with one MAC championship (golf), one Commonwealth League championship (football), and athletes from three teams making their respective NCAA Division III Championships (field hockey, golf, men's track and field) this season.
ANDY BERWAGER
Berwager has recently been selected to both the MAC Commonwealth Conference First Team Baseball All-Stars as a utility player, and the 2000 GTE Academic All-America College Division District II Baseball Team as an infielder. He previously was a MAC Commonwealth All-Star second-team pick at shortstop as a sophomore and junior.
The 6-1, 197-pounder didn't play football in his freshman year, but came on to earn the starting punter job in his first season, eventually starting two games at quarterback that season. He went on to be a starting quarterback in each of the next two seasons, also seeing time as both a split end and punter this season.
On the baseball diamond, he was the only player on this season's team to start all 30 games — either playing at shortstop or pitching while being the team's lead-off hitter. He led the team in home runs with six, tying for the sixth most in a season at Susquehanna while ranking third in the Commonwealth Conference in per-game average (0.20). Berwager batted .336 (40-for-119) and scored 34 runs as he also led the team in at-bats, hits and runs — tying for the sixth most at-bats while recording the eighth most runs in school history. Berwager's .546 slugging percentage was third highest among the regulars this season, and his on-base percentage was .392. Defensively, he led the team with 89 assists for the second most in a season at Susquehanna, missing the record by just four (Record: 92, Jim Hanlon, 1988), and compiled a solid fielding percentage of .934.
On the mound, he was first on the team in wins (5-4), strikeouts (54) and innings (63) — ranking fourth in the Commonwealth Conference in strikeouts per nine innings (7.71). His 4.57 earned-run average was second best among the regular pitchers and included eight complete games in his nine starts, with just 24 walks in the 63 innings (3.43 per game).
Berwager finished his career second all-time at Susquehanna in career assists with 243 (Record: 257, Gregg Mills, 1990-93), tied for seventh in doubles (23), and tied for ninth in hits (109). He batted .341 while compiling a .427 on-base percentage and .478 slugging percentage in 99 career games. On the mound he was 9-11 with a 3.98 ERA in 25 career appearances.
"Andy was one of our senior leaders and really was a guy who held us together. His ability to play a bunch of different positions helped us throughout the year, and earned him some MVP votes from the conference coaches too," said second-year Susquehanna head baseball coach Tim Briggs, who led the team to a 13-16-1 record — finishing second in the Commonwealth Conference while making the MAC Tournament for the first time since 1995.
Berwager was the football team's starting quarterback for the first four games this season, and then moved to split end where he played the final four games — starting vs. Albright. He completed 36 of 69 passes (52.2%) for two touchdowns and three inteceptions as a quarterback, and caught four passes for 95 yards (23.8 avg.) as a receiver in the championship-clinching win at Albright.
In just three years of football, he finished eighth all-time at Susquehanna in career pass efficiency rating at 111.28 – completing 122 of 249 passes for 1,676 yards with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The starting punter in his freshman year, Berwager also was ninth in career punting average at 34.1 in 47 punts. He also had 265 yards rushing during his career.
"Andy was the epitome of a winner. He had an unfortunate experience in football when he lost his starting job at quarterback this season, but still found a way to contribute at split end. He's the type of young man you always remember and I know he will be successful in whatever he does in life," said 10th-year Susquehanna head football coach Steve Briggs, who guided this year's team to its second-straight MAC Commonwealth title and 14th-straight non-losing season while finishing 7-3 overall, 4-1 in the league.
Berwager has earned MAC academic honors four times thus far as a finance major — twice in the fall and twice in the spring. He is nominated again this spring.
He is the son of Timothy and Sheri Berwager of Hanover.
THE BLAIR HEATON AWARD
Berwager earned the Blair Heaton Award, which is given annually to the senior man who best typifies the devotion to scholarship and athletics, and displays the same kind of self-discipline and courage shown on the playing field by the late Blair Heaton. A 1942 Susquehanna graduate, Heaton starred in football and track and later returned to Susquehanna as a mathematics major and coach. He died in 1960 at the age of 41.
KARYN KERN
Kern suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and some cartilage damage to her right knee in the fifth game of this past basketball season, her senior year, forcing her to undergo reconstructive knee surgery and miss the remainder of the year.
She will graduate with her class Sunday with a bachelor's degree in psychology, but plans to return and pursue a second bachelor's degree in corporate communications. The NCAA hardship waiver for this past season will grant her the additional year of eligibility.
The 6-2 Kern posted five double-doubles in as many games prior to the injury last season — giving her 42 in her Susquehanna career. Prior to the ill-fated game, she was averaging a remarkable 29.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per game — earning Most Valuable Player honors at both the Susquehanna Varsity Club Tournament and the Rochester Chuck Resler Invitational. She had 14 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of the game vs. Messiah on November 30 when she suffered the injury. Her final numbers for the year were 26.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 1.8 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, shooting 64.5 percent from the field (49 of 76) and 78.6 percent from the foul line (33 of 42).
A Preseason All-American last season who was a first-team MAC Commonwealth All-Star as a junior, she led NCAA Division III in field goal percentage that season with a MAC record 65.0 percent (169 of 260). She is fifth on the program's career scoring list with 1,358 points, and fourth in career rebounds with 796. Kern is on pace to both surpass Megan Lytle (1991-95) as the program's career rebounding leader (Record: 996, 1991-95), and become the first 1,000-point scorer, and 1,000-rebounder in school history. She accomplished that feat at Pleasant Valley High School, scoring 1,360 points while grabbing 1,099 as she finished first in scoring and second in rebounding at the school.
"What Karyn did with our team as a leader on the court before the injury was remarkable this season. Her performance was amazing. After the injury, she continued to help our team however she could," said Susquehanna head women's basketball coach Mark Hribar, who completed his 13th year last season — guiding the team to 12-straight winning seasons. Hribar had directed his teams to 10-straight MAC playoff berths, seeing that end with last season's 13-11 squad — but only after it suffered back-to-back losses at the buzzer to end the season. The team started at 5-0 for the first time since 1994 before the Kern injury.
"She's a remarkable young lady and we are truly blessed to have her back for one more season."
Kern won the MAC outdoor triple jump championship for the third-straight year in 1999 with a jump of 35-9. She also finished second in the long jump for the second time in her career, coming within the final jump of repeating as champion with a leap of 16-7½. She also finished third at MACs in the high jump with the team's season best leap at 5-1.
She had hoped to make it to nationals in track and field this season, and will now get her chance in 2001. She had career best efforts of 35-11 (1997) in the triple jump, and 16-11 (1997) in the long.
A psychology major and speech communications minor, she is a five-time selection to the MAC All-Academic teams — earning honors three times in the winter and twice in the spring
She is the daughter of Carol and Peter Kern.
A complete list of all the Susquehanna University athletic team awardwinners follows.
FALL:
Field Hockey (15-4, 6-1 MAC CC - Head Coach Connie Harnum):
Best Offensive Players: Ali Hughes (Jr., W, Reading/Muhlenberg H.S.); Jeannie Yarrow (So., I, West Amwell, N.J./South Hunderton Regional H.S.)
Best Midfielder: Dani Wenger (Jr., M, Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg H.S.)
Best Defensive Player: Amanda Reigle (Sr., S, Middleburg/Middleburg H.S.)
Football (7-3, 6-3 MAC, 4-1 MAC CL - Head Coach Steve Briggs):
Most Valuable Player: Denny Bowers (Sr., DE, Westminster, Md./Westminster H.S.)
Best Offensive Player: Todd Werley (Sr., OG, Allentown/Allentown Central Catholic H.S.)
Best Defensive Player: Antonio Nash (Fr., CB, Wwashington, D.C./Spring Brook, Md.)
Bob Pittello Offensive Lineman of the Year Award: Dave Wonderlick (Jr., C, Shenandoah/Shenandoah Valley H.S.)
Best Offensive Scout Team: Craig Ulrich (Fr., QB, Milton/Milton H.S.)
Best Defensive Scout Team: Ryan McHugh (So., SS, Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day)
Coaches' Award: Casey Goff (Sr., DT, New Milford/Montrose)
Special Teams Award: Nash
Outstanding Football Cheerleader: Melanie Gresh (Jr., Northumberland/Shikellamy H.S.)
Men's Cross Country (10th/13 teams at MACs - Head Coach Craig Penney):
Most Valuable Runner: Mike Lehtonen (So., Laurens, N.Y./ Morris Central H.S.)
Men's Soccer (9-8, 4-3 MAC CC - Head Coach Jim Findlay):
Most Valuable Player: Chris Yearicks (Sr., F, National Park, N.J./Gateway H.S.)
Rookie of the Year: Mark Wells (So., D, Schnecksville/ParklandH.S.)
Most Improved: Brad Levine (So., M/D, Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah H.S.)
Women's Cross Country (4th/13 at MACs - Head Coach Craig Penney):
Most Valuable Runner: Erin Colwell (Fr., Belleville/Indian Valley H.S.)
Ashley Tomlinson Memorial Award: Sarah Costello (Sr., Palmyra/Palmyra H.S.)
Women's Soccer (7-9, 3-4 MAC CC - Head Coach Jim Findlay):
Most Valuable Defensive: NicoleForino (Sr., B, Reading, Reading Holy Name H.S.)
Most Valuable Offensive Player: Courtney Capaldo (Fr., F, Dillsburg, Pa./Trinity H.S.)
Rookie of the Year: Dorn McMahon (Fr., G, West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell H.S.)
Women's Tennis (4-7, 2-5 MAC CC - Head Coach Bob Jordan):
Most Valuable Player: Meghan McGinnis (Sr., Washington Crossing, Pa./Council Rock H.S.)
Women's Volleyball (17-13, 4-3 MAC CC - Head Coach Bill Switala):
Most Valuable Player: Sarah Lauro (So., MB, Collegeville, Pa./Villa Maria Academy)
Best Offensive Player: Jen Mitman (Sr., OH, Perkasie/Pennridge H.S.)
Best Defensive Player: Missy Kuruzovich (Sr., OH, Johnstown/Westmont Hilltop H.S.)
Most Improved Player: Jenn Ashton (Sr., OH, Whitesboro, N.Y./Whitesboro H.S.)
WINTER:
Men's Basketball (13-11, 6-8 MAC CC - Head Coach Frank Marcinek):
Most Valuable Player: Rob Makarewicz (Sr., G, Sugarloaf/Hazleton Area H.S.)
Best Offensive Player: Makarewicz
Best Defensive Player: Garrett Thompson (Sr., G, Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East H.S.)
Men's Swimming (5-4, 5th/10 at MACs - Head Coach Ged Schweikert):
Most Valuable Performer: Steve Fischer (Sr., Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood H.S.)
High Point Award: Fischer
Most Improved Swimmer: Greg Von Rump (Fr., Mystic, Conn./Robert E. Fitch H.S.)
Women's Basketball (13-11, 7-7 MAC CC - Head Coach Mark Hribar):
Most Valuable Player: Leslie Clementoni (Jr., C, Hughesville/Hughesville H.S.)
Best Offensive Player: Amy Harrington (So., F, Danville/Danville H.S.)
Best Defensive Player: Lisa Stack (Sr., G, Swoyersville/Wyoming Valley West H.S.)
Women's Swimming (7-3, 3rd/11 at MACs - Head Coach Ged Schweikert):
Most Valuable Performer: Katie McKeever (Fr., Norristown/Methacton H.S.)
Co-High Point Award: Michelle Badorf (So., Lancaster/Penn Manor H.S.) and McKeever
Most Improved Swimmer: Ellie McCutcheon (Fr., Orwigsburg/Blue Mountain H.S.)
SPRING:
Baseball (13-16-1, 8-6 MAC CC - Head Coach Tim Briggs):
Most Valuable Player: Andy Berwager (Sr., SS/P, Hanover/South Western H.S.)
Outstanding Pitcher: Berwager
Leading Hitter: Chad Walters (Sr., DH/1B/OF, Oley/Oley Valley H.S.)
Best Fielder: Lyle Hosler (Jr., 1B, Lititz/Manheim Township H.S.)
Golf (1-2, 1st/14 at MACs - Head Coach Don Harnum):
Low Stroke Average: Ryan Franks (So., Huntingdon/Huntingdon H.S.)
Men's Lacrosse (1-12, 1-7 MAC - Head Coach Scott Rynne):
No awards given
Men's Tennis (3-11, 1-5 MAC CC - Head Coach Gary Fincke):
Co-Most Valuable Player: Don Eckert (Jr., Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley H.S.); Rob Logan (So., Mountain Top/Crestwood Area H.S.)
Men's Outdoor Track and Field (2nd/11 at MACs - Head Coach Jim Taylor):
Outstanding Fieldman: Adam Ressler (Sr., Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser H.S.)
Outstanding Runner: Beau Heeps (So., Allentown, Pa./Parkland H.S.)
Most Valuable Athlete: Matt Fenstermacher (Sr., Watsontown/Warrior Run H.S.)
Softball (14-13, 7-7 MAC CC - Head Coach Vince Anselmo):
Most Valuable Player: Lisa Stack (Sr., , Swoyersville/Wyoming Valley West H.S.)
Leading Hitter: Shana Lalo (Fr., SS/1B, Bethlehem/Northampton H.S.)
Best Fielder: Shelly Zimmerman (So., 3B, Denver/Garden Spot H.S.)
Women's Lacrosse (13-3, 6-1 MAC - Head Coach Gina Lucido):
Scoring Record Award: Dana Makowski (Sr., AW, Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson H.S.)
Women's Outdoor Track and Field (6th/11 teams at MACs - Head Coach Craig Penney):
Outstanding Fieldwoman: Jess Ladd (Fr., Wyomissing, Pa./Talpehocken H.S.)
Outstanding Runner: Sarah Costello (Sr., Palmyra/Palmyra H.S.)
Most Valuable Athlete: Jen Becker (Sr., Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury H.S.)
