Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Lycoming Football - Tanner Troutman is the fourth straight football player to earn the Most Outstanding Male Athlete Award

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Junior football player Tanner Troutman (Hegins, Pa./Tri-Valley) and senior women's basketball player Julia Antonelli (Hanover, Pa./New Oxford) were named the Lycoming College Male and Female Outstanding Athletes, respectively, at the college's Honors Convocation on Sunday, April 13, at Lamade Gymnasium. Junior football player Craig Needhammer (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) also picked up a top honor, earning the Sol "Woody" Wolf Award, and senior cross country runner Cory Trego (Pottstown, Pa./Coventry Christian School) received the prestigious Chieftain Award.

Troutman is the fourth straight football player to earn the Most Outstanding Male Athlete Award. He finished his junior year tied for the national lead with eight interceptions, helping him earn First Team D3football.com All-American honors. The First Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference pick and Third Team Beyond Sports Network All-American also finished with 58 tackles, including 0.5 for a loss. The ninth defensive back in program history to earn All-American honors, Troutman earned two D3Football.com Team of the Week and Beyond Sport Network Team of the Week accolades, posting two interceptions in a win over nationally-ranked Delaware Valley and a school-record three against Stevenson. He also broke up six passes on the season, helping him tie for the league lead with 14 passes defended (interceptions plus breakups) en route to earning D3football.com's East Region Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Antonelli is the first women's basketball player to earn the Most Outstanding Female Athlete Award winner since 2004 and the 16th in the program's history. Antonelli, who was a first-team pick in 2011-12 and 2013-14 and a second-team selection in 2012-13, is only the third player in school history to earn three all-conference accolades in a career. The guard/forward enjoyed her finest season as a Warrior as a senior, as the versatile player finished fifth in the Commonwealth Conference in scoring (14.4), third in rebounding (8.9), sixth in field goal percentage (.520), 15th in assists (2.5), 11th in free throw percentage (.724), seventh in steals (1.8) and 11th in blocked shots (0.8). She also left her mark on the Lycoming record book, finishing with the top field goal percentage in school history (.508), while also sitting second in free throws made (276), third in free throw percentage (.784), third in rebounds (747), fifth in points (1,170), sixth in field goals made (447), and ninth in blocked shots (46) and steals (140). She set the school record by earning four conference player of the week awards during her career, winning two as a senior.

Needhammer is the second straight football player to earn the Sol "Woody" Wolf Award, which is given to a junior who has shown the most improvement in the intercollegiate competition in his/her first three years at the college. He was a Third Team D3football.com All-East Region and Capital One Academic All-District selection. The First Team All-MAC running back finished third in the MAC, averaging 118.4 yards per game, and he tied the school record with 14 touchdowns scored. He also averaged 153.9 all-purpose yards per game and ran for 100 yards seven times, one less than the school record set by Brian Thompson over a 13-game campaign en route to the national championship game in 1997. The physics major has earned two MAC Academic Honor Roll selections and made an appearance on the Academic All-MAC team in 2013.

Trego was given the college's top honor, the Chieftain Award, which recognizes the graduating senior who has shown the utmost dedication and leadership qualities while at Lycoming and whose academic rank is above the median of the preceding senior class. Trego joined the cross country team as a senior and immediately became a member of the team's scoring five. He finished fourth for the team at the NCAA Mideast Regionals, running a career-best 31:19 on the 8K course. He also earned a slot on the MAC Academic Honor Roll. Trego is the fourth straight athlete to earn the Chieftain Award, joining Rebecca Spencer '11 (women's basketball), Joe Andrie '12 (men's swimming) and John Ryan Wolff '13 (men's basketball).