Montclair, NJ (5/18/05) - Montclair State University soccer standouts Mike Hogan (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippnay) and Stephanie Sabaliauskas (Edison, NJ/Mt. St. Mary Academy) were named Male and Female Outstanding Athletes of the Year, respectively as the Red Hawk Athletic Department announced its 2004-05 award winners.
Hogan was named Third-Team All-American and was arguably the top defensive player in the New Jersey Athletic Conference as he led the Montclair State men's soccer team to a 14-4-2 record and berth in the NJAC Tournament. Hogan also contributed offensively as well finishing second on the team in scoring with five goals.
Sabaliauskas put the finishing touches on an outstanding career for the Red Hawk women's soccer team guiding MSU to its first NJAC Championship and NCAA Division III Tournament berth. She led the team in scoring for the third straight season and finished as the third all-time leading scorer in program history.
The seniors were two of 14 athletes to be honored.
On the male side, senior Travis Yancey (Philadelphia, PA), who was named Outstanding Athlete at both the NJAC Indoor and Outdoor Track Championships this year, was named the Senior Male Athlete of the Year while Gabby White (Garwood, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson), the 2004 NJAC Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year, was chosen as the Senior Female Athlete of the Year.
Safety Troy Bishop (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) and pitcher Athanasia Totaro (Roseland, NJ/West Essex) took home top honors in the junior class. Bishop was an All-NJAC and All-Region selection for the MSU Football team while Totaro led the Red Hawks to their sixth consecutive ECAC Division III Southern Softball championship as she was named the Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year.
All-NJAC soccer selection Ryan Morgan (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) was named the Sophomore Male Athlete of the Year. Morgan, who was also named All-Region, led MSU in scoring for the second straight year. Kristen Kuhmann (Beachwood, NJ/Toms River South) was the Sophomore Female recipient after helping both the MSU women's soccer and lacrosse teams to a pair of firsts during the year. Kuhmann was the goalkeeper as Montclair captured its first NJAC Women's Soccer crown and NCAA Tournament berth in the Fall. Kuhmann then earned All-Knickerbocker honors in goal as she was an integral part in helping the MSU women's lacrosse program's first ECAC Tournament appearance.
Dual-sport standout Jennifer Tanis (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson) was selected as the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year as she earned NJAC Field Hockey Rookie of the Year honors while also finishing as the fourth-leading scorer on the Red Hawk women's lacrosse aquad. Tony Williams (Newark, NJ) was named the Male recipient. Williams, was the Outstanding Athlete at the NJAC Indoor Championships in February. The freshman awards are named after highly-successful MSU Track and Field head coach Gerald "Bennie" Benson, who passed away in 2004 after a tremendous nine-year tenure.
Also honored were softball senior Joelle Fata (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield), who was named the Scholar-Athlete Award winner while women's tennis junior Margaret Tarabokjia (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) was the recipient of the Highest GPA Award. Gian Paul Gonzalez (No. Haledon, NJ/Manchester Regional), an All-NJAC pick in men's basketball, was presented with the James J. Poet Sportsmanship Award while swimmer Mark Jamieson (Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City) was named th TALON Award winner for his outstanding leadership and contributions to the community. The department also handed out its Team Academic Achievement Awards to the male and female teams with the highest team cumulative grade-point average. The softball team took the female honors while the Men's Swimming Team earned the male award for the second consecutive year.
