The Tufts University Athletics Department held its annual awards ceremony on Friday night, honoring eight of its brightest student-athletes, as well as the best sportswriter of the year and University of Houston basketball coach Tom Penders, who began his career at Tufts in the 1970s.
For the second year in a row, senior lacrosse player Bryan Griffin won the Clarence "Pop" Houston Award, given to the best male athlete of the year. It is the first time an athlete has won the award in back-to-back years since 1958.
"I'm very honored by it," Griffin said. "There are a lot of great athletes at Tufts, so I feel very honored and fortunate to be surrounded by very good teammates."
Griffin also won the NESCAC and New England Player of the Year awards in each of the past two seasons. Heading into this year's season, Griffin has 184 career points and is poised to eclipse the all-time Tufts scoring record, which stands at 191.
The senior has been a huge component of the Jumbos' recent rise up the national rankings, and has his sights on another successful season this spring.
"I don't want to get complacent," Griffin said. "There's a lot more I want to do, a lot more I want the team to do. I can't be satisfied after a good sophomore and junior year."
Jess Trombly (LA '04) received the Hester L. Sargent Award for the best female athlete of the year. Like Griffin, Trombly also won the award in 2003, and became the only the second Jumbo in the award's history of the award to win in consecutive years.
Trombly excelled in a multitude of events for the track and field team, winning the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA outdoor championships last spring and setting six school records last year. Trombly also played forward for the soccer team in the fall, and was second on the team in scoring, assists, and total points as she received first team All-NESCAC honors.
The track program had a strong showing at the awards ceremony. In addition to Trombly, the Rudolph J. Fobert Awards for best multiple-sport athletes who maintain a good academic average went to two track and cross country runners. Senior Nate Brigham won the award for the men and Lauren Caputo '04 received the female award.
Both Brigham and Caputo competed year round for the Jumbos, running cross-country in the fall, indoors in the winter, and outdoors in the spring. Brigham led the cross-country team to a NCAA New England championship in the fall. and was the Div. III 5000m indoor champion.
Caputo qualified for the NCAA cross country national championship race, where she finished 71st. In the indoor season she was the New England Division III champion in the 3,000m, and in the spring Caputo won the NESCAC title and earned All-American honors for her performance in the 3,000m steeplechase.
The women's half of the W. Murray Kenney Awards recognizing positive attitude and persistence was shared by swimmer Mika Sumiyoshi ('04) and basketball and track athlete Kate Gluckman ('04). Football player Tim Mack ('04) won the award for the men.
Sumiyoshi fought through an acute case of asthma throughout her competitive career to become one of Tufts' most successful athletes, producing five All-American awards and seven broken records for the Tufts swimming program.
Gluckman was nominated for the award by three different coaches. She was one of the most outspoken leaders on both the basketball team and the track team, for which she was one of the squad's leading throwers.
Mack was one of the key weapons for the football team last year, playing both wide receiver and running back as the senior captain led the Jumbos to a 5-3 season. Mack's leadership was evident from the weight room to the practice field, and he was one of the most respected members of the team.
The annual Timothy J. Horgan Award, presented to the top student sportswriter, was received by Kathleen Kavanagh ('04), who wrote for the Tufts Daily, and now works for the Boston Globe.
Penders, the current coach at Houston, annual Distinguished Achievement award. Past winners include current Patriots owner Bob Kraft and Celtics legend Red Auerbach.
