Athletics honors standouts from 2004-05
by Paul Sweeney

Eight Jumbo standouts from the 2004-05 season received the Athletics Department’s annual achievement awards during ceremonies October 14 at Cohen Auditorium. The recipients are:

Reggie Stovell, A05, of the men’s basketball team capped a turn-around season for himself and the team by earning the Clarence “Pop” Houston Award as Tufts’ top male athlete. Tufts went from a miserable 8-17 season in 2003-04 to a 16-10 mark last year behind Stovell’s 18.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Softball player Courtney Bongiolatti, A05, who overcame injuries and illnesses during her Tufts career, including surgery for a lymph node removal and biopsy in January 2004, earned the Hester L. Sargent Award as Tufts’ top female athlete. Bongiolatti is the softball program’s first First Team All American after smashing a Tufts record 14 home runs—the most by a New England player since 2000. She hit .374 with 45 runs batted in, also a single-season record. The Jumbos finished at 27-8 and led the nation with 42 home runs.

This year’s Rudolph J. Fobert Awards, presented to the top multiple-sport athletes, went to Dana Panzer, A05, of the field hockey and lacrosse teams and Bryan McDavitt, A07, of the football and baseball teams. Panzer set field hockey’s single-season scoring record with 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists last fall. Last spring, she started every game in goal for the lacrosse team, despite having no prior experience at the position. Her 8.79 goals against average was fourth in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).

McDavitt pulled double duty as the punter and safety on the football team. He was named NESCAC Player of the Week when Tufts upset Amherst, 10-3. An All-NESCAC first team pick as a first baseman, he finished ninth in NESCAC with a .389 batting average. He led Tufts with 49 hits, two home runs and 25 RBIs.

The Rev. W. Murray Kenney Awards for athletes whose value to their teams go beyond statistics and All-Star status were presented to 2005 graduates Bob Kenny of the baseball team, Ali Sauer from volleyball and Abby Schlessinger from crew.

The Timothy J. Horgan Award, named after an alumnus who was one of the nation’s top sports writers during his career, is presented to the best student sports writer as voted by a panel, which includes Horgan. Alex Bloom, A08, a sports writer for the Tufts Daily, received the award.

Paul Sweeney is sports information director at Tufts. He can be reached at paul.sweeney@tufts.edu.