Lieber and Lewerke Receive Top Honors at Yellowjacket Awards(4/29/07)

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings student-athletes Michelle Lieber and Ben Lewerke were named the 2006-2007 Female and Male Athletes of the Year at Sunday night’s annual award presentation.

Lieber is a senior women’s basketball player from Gillette, WY.  She was also named the Yellowjackets’ Female Athlete of the Year as a junior.  Lieber received a host of honors throughout the year, including four conference player of the week awards.  She was named the 2007 Heartland Conference Player of the Year, an award she won for two-straight years, and was also selected to the Daktronics All-South Central Region Second Team.  She was also named to the Division II Bulletin All-American honorable mention team.  Lieber led the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 68.1 percent for the season.  In her three-year career at MSUB, Lieber became one of only seven players to amass over 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds.  She finished with 1,115 points and 740 rebounds, ranking seventeenth and sixth in school history respectively.  Her 66.45 percent career field goal percentage broke the old school record by nearly six points; she set the top three single-season marks for field goal percentage at MSUB in her three years.

Lewerke is a senior baseball player from Mason City, IA.  After battling injuries in his junior season, Lewerke became the ace of the Jackets’ pitching staff this season.  He posted a 7-1 record in his first eight starts and entered the final two weeks of the season with a 1.40 ERA, the best in the Heartland Conference and the 10th-best all NCAA Division II.  A two-time Heartland Conference pitcher of the week, Lewerke was instrumental in keeping the Yellowjackets near the .500 mark all season, just the program’s second since reinstating baseball after a 30-year absence.  Against the Heartland’s top three teams, Lewerke earned wins and prevented sweeps at Incarnate Word, at St. Mary’s, and at home against St. Mary’s.

2006-2007 Yellowjacket Team Awards
Baseball
Most Valuable Player – Ben Lewerke/Jake Samuelson/Kyle Pryor
Offensive Player of the Year – Kyle Pryor/Matt Schoonover
Pitcher of the Year – Ben Lewerke
Newcomer of the Year – Matt Schoonover

Basketball, Men’s
Most Outstanding Player – Jonathan Wiley
Most Outstanding Offensive Player – Jeff Miner
Most Outstanding Defensive Player – Jonathan Wiley
Most Improved – Troy Ruff
Academic Excellence – Mike Barton
Academic Excellence – Jeff Miner
Academic Excellence – Jonathan Wiley

Basketball, Women’s
Most Valuable Player – Michelle Lieber
Defensive MVP – Shantell Marquis
Offensive MVP – Alira Carpenter
Most Inspirational – Jetton Meadors
Most Improved – Kayla McPherson/Dani Henderson
Yellowjacket Award – Jennifer Skrifvars
Yellowjacket Key Contributor Award – Jackie Christiansen

Cross-Country, Men’s
Most Valuable Runner – Jarred Rensvold
Scholar Athlete – Jarred Rensvold

Cross-Country, Women’s
Most Valuable Runner – Teri Lea McCormick
Scholar Athlete – Tiffany Piplica

Golf, Men’s
TBA

Golf, Women’s
Most Valuable Player – Emily Maag
Scholar Athlete – Halley Montalban
All-Iron Woman Award – Amy Nordeen

Soccer, Men’s
Most Valuable Player – Tom Milroy
Freshman of the Year – Jeremy DeHerrera

Soccer, Women’s
Most Valuable Player – Ally Stroup/Megan Plank
Scholar Athlete – Ally Stroup
Newcomer of the Year – Samantha Boehm
Jenny Moellendorf – Quest for Excellence

Softball
Golden Glove – Aysha Maddox
“Pitcher’s Nightmare” Award – Terina Stacks
Academic Excellence Award – Terina Stacks
Most Improved Player – Jenna McCartney
“Dumbell” Ironwoman Award – Mandy Schaapveld/Lorel Palmer
“Stronger, Longer” / “Extra Degree” Award – Megan Moeller

Tennis, Men’s
Scholar Athlete – Jarrett Rummell/Paco Sanchez/Tytus Stempeniwicz

Tennis, Women’s
Scholar Athlete – Brianne Roney/Heidi Lehman/Jenna Baltrusch/Marta Borges/Victoria Fernandez

Volleyball
Most Valuable Player – Ali Watson
Most Improved Player – Jessica Lechner
Teammate Award – Alexis Sandru