Senior Athletes Inducted Into N Club

June 1, 2001

EVANSTON, Ill. -

The N Club held its annual Induction and Senior Recognition banquet Thursday night at the Omni Orrington Hotel in Evanston. The N Club is a collection of Wildcat letterwinners and honorary inductees dating back as far as 1914. In all, 72 athletes, six cheerleaders, two Ladycats, one student trainer, one student manager and two honorary inductees were recognized as the 2001 members of the N Club.

The Northwestern Alumni Association presents an award to the top graduating scholar-athlete from each varsity team. To qualify for the award, a senior must possess at least a 3.0 grade point average. The 2001 recipients were:

BASEBALL -- Joseph Hietpas
W.BASKETBALL -- Chala Holland
CROSS COUNTRY -- Carley Jurishica
FENCING -- Monica Rani
FIELD HOCKEY -- Colleen Hotz
FOOTBALL -- Rashad Morton
MEN'S GOLF -- David Shaffer
WOMEN'S GOLF -- Kristen Beystehner
MEN'S SOCCER -- Chris Berlin
WOMEN'S SOCCER -- Erin Ekeberg
SOFTBALL -- Stacey Austin
M. SWIMMING -- Stephen Henry
W. SWIMMING -- Krista Puttler
VOLLEYBALL -- Jen Armson
WRESTLING -- Tom Ciezki

Along with the induction into the N Club and the Alumni Association awards, 11 seniors were honored for their athletic and academic achievments as a student-athlete.

N CLUB PERFORMANCE AWARD

This award is presented to one male and one female student-athlete in recognition of "spectacular and outstanding" athletic performance by a graduating senior and letter award winner.

Tashiana Bohm - Swimming

Tashy was a three-time Big Ten Champion in the 200 backstroke and is the NU record holder in this event with a time of 1:57:34 which she set at the 2001 NCAA Championships. She also accorded honorable mention All American honors the past two seasons in the 200 back stroke. Tashy won first-team All-American honors in the 400 medley relay, helping to establish another school record. At the 2000 Olympic Trials, she participated in the 100 and 200 backstroke. She is an Economics major from McPherson, Kansas.

Luke Donald - Golf

Donald, the second of our double award winners, will graduate from Northwestern as one of its most decorated student-athletes of all time. Luke is NU's all time leader in tournaments won and set the lowest stroke average (70.94) in school history. In the Big Ten, he was a four-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year and a two-time Big Ten Champion. Luke led his team to three-consecutive Big Ten championships and in doing so, helped set the lowest team stroke total in conference history. He also established a Big Ten records stroke average of 70.1.

Nationally, Luke won 13 tournaments, including a collegiate best five victories in 1999 and this year won an astounding four-straight titles. Amazingly, he finished in the top 20 in all but two of the 51 tournaments he played in during his four years.

He is a three-time first-team All-American, a recipient of the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards as the nation's top collegiate golfer and twice finished the year ranked No. 1 in the country. In 1998-99, Luke broke Tiger Wood's Golfstat Cup record for the lowest stroke average in collegiate history (70.45) and led the Wildcats to a third- place finish at the NCAA tournament, while winning the individual NCAA Championship crown.

N CLUB ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award is given to the student-athletes (one male and one female) who have exhibited the qualities of good citizenship, significant academic achievement, and outstanding athletic performance. The first recipient of this award is:

Brooke Siebel - Softball

Due to injury, Brooke missed the 2001 season, but she leaves NU as one of its most highly decorated softball players. She was named the Big Ten player of the year in 2000, the Big Ten Freshman of the year in 1998 and first team All-Big Ten in 1998,1999 and 2000. Brooke graduates first on the school's all time hitting list with a .348 average and she holds single-season records with 39 RBI set in 1999 and 13 doubles in 1998. She is a communications major from Brentwood, Tennessee.

Joseph Hietpas - Baseball

Joe, one of two athletes to win two awards, is an economics major from Appleton, Wisconsin and has amassed a long list of awards during his playing career at Northwestern. He was second-team All-Big Ten in 2001 and third team in 2000. Academic awards were outstanding from three-time Academic All-Big Ten to numerous academic district awards to this award tonight. Joe finished his career at NU second in RBIs with 158, second in total bases with 379 and third in home runs with 27. In addition, he finished with a career batting average of .327.

BILLY McKINNEY AWARD

This award is presented to a male student-athlete who has exhibited exemplary leadership qualities, constant (110 percent) effort, and a positive attitude that, in his coach's estimation, makes him a "coach's dream. There are two recipients of this award in 2001:

Rashad Morton - Football

Rashad played in every game during his first three years on the team and in 1999 was third on the team with 103 tackles. A back injury hampered his playing time but despite missing four games, he finished sixth on the team with 60 tackles. At the conclusion of the 2000 season, Rashad received the Marcel Price Award as the player who best exhibits the enthusiasm and dedication to the Wildcat program. His major was civil engineering and in June he will receive his master's degree in project management.

Brad Erickson - Tennis

Brad was the team captain and two-time All-Big Ten selection in 2000 and 2001. He played No. 1 singles for the last two seasons and recorded 70 victories at that position. In 1999, Brad received the Vandy Christie Award for outstanding loyalty and dedication to NU tennis. Brad is from Eugene, Oregon with a major in economics.

LISA ISHIKAWA AWARD

This award is presented to a female student-athlete who has exhibited outstanding leadership ability and selfless dedication to team goals. Her determination and positive attitude led her to perform above and beyond the expected. This year we have a tie for this award. The first recipient is:

Shannon Duffy - Tennis

Shannon missed part of the spring with mononucleosis, but still recorded a record of 27-11. In dual matches, she went 19-4 and had an impressive mark in Big Ten play this spring. In the fall, she won the Flight A singles title at Vanderbilt. Shannon was All- Big Ten in 1999 and 2000 and in 2000 went 10-0 in Big Ten play, one of just three unbeaten players in the conference. She is a journalism major from Plano, Texas.

Krista Puttler - Swimming and Cross Country

Krista came to Northwestern from Hawaii to major in English and decided to walk-on to the swim team in 1997. In addition, since she had too much time on her hands, she ran cross county for the Wildcats in 1999. This post season, Krista swam in the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the Big Ten championships. She is also a three-time Academic All- Big Ten.

DIRECTOR'S AWARD

This award is presented to a senior male and a female student-athlete, graduating with the highest cumulative grade point average of all graduating student-athletes.

Erin Ekeberg - Soccer

Erin started every game in goal for the last three years and played 5,206 minutes in her career, which is second all-time at Northwestern. This past year, she had 119 saves which is third on NU's single-season best list. In 1998, Erin played a major role in leading the team to the third round of the NCAA tournament. She is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and is an environmental sciences major.

Joseph Hietpas - Baseball

NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR

This award recognizes individual excellence in three areas: athletics, academics and community service. One graduating senior at each NCAA institution who participates in the 1999-2000 academic year will be recognized as the "NCAA Woman of the Year" and will automatically be eligible for state selection.

Carly Wells - Fencing

Carly won the Midwest Conference sabre title in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and also competed in two NCAA Championships, helping lead the Wildcats to a sixth place finish in 2000 and an eighth place finish in 2001. Her overall career record stands at a very impressive 247-59. She was second-team All-American in 2000 and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection the past two years. Carly is an English major from Arlington Heights.

BIG TEN MEDAL OF HONOR

This award is given annually to one male and one female student-athlete of outstanding academic and athletic talent. Our two Northwestern recipients of this award will automatically be nominees for the all-conference Big Ten Medal of Honor.

Colleen Cheng - Tennis

Colleen was All-Big Ten in 2001 and competed in the NCAA Singles Championships this year. She went 30-13 overall, including 18-8 in dual matches and 10-1 in Big Ten matches. Colleen played No. 1 singles for this year's team which went undefeated in Big Ten play. In her career at Northwestern, she was a member of three Big Ten championship teams. Her 117 career wins is a school record.Colleen is a computer science major from Hillsborough, California.

Luke Donald - Golf

Luke Donald, the second of our double award winners, will graduate from Northwestern as one of its most decorated student-athletes of all time. Luke is NU's all time leader in tournaments won and set the lowest stroke average (70.94) in school history. In the Big Ten, he was a four-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year and a two-time Big Ten Champion. Luke led his team to three-consecutive Big Ten championships and in doing so, helped set the lowest team stroke total in conference history. He also established a Big Ten records stroke average of 70.1.

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

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