adminIn fact, for the second year in a row, a Bradley soccer defender has claimed Bradley University’s most prestigious athletic department award.
Machingauta of Marondera in Zimbabwe was announced the winner of the 63rd Charles Orsborn Award during the annual Senior Send-Off and Athletic Awards Banquet, presented by OfficeMax, on Monday night at Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria.
Machingauta’s honour capped Bradley’s annual Senior Sendoff and athletic awards banquet at Renaissance Coliseum as he beat out the two other “Ozzie” finalists — baseball’s Mike Tauchman and men’s tennis player Juan Diego Cuadrado.
Last year’s winner, Bobby Smith, also came from coach Jim DeRose’s successful squad.
The Ozzie recognises a graduating student-athlete who combines athletic and academic success with community service.
And tall defender Machingauta could not hide his excitement after receiving the award which he described on Monday night as “the biggest achievement in my life thus far”.
“This just sums up a lot of hard work, perseverance and commitment,” Machingauta said. “It sums up a huge dream of mine. Kids in my country are usually pushed to academics or soccer.
Luckily, my parents always pushed me to do both. This award epitomises what my parents tried to teach me so many years ago.”
In other awards presented on Monday night, women’s golfer Lauren Niemiera earned the Carl Grose Service Award, runner Chelsea Griffin the Megan C. Fong Inspiration Award, women’s basketball player Brooke Bisping and runner Jon Richards the female and male recipients of the Coach Joe Stowell Award and pioneering women’s track and field competitor Dr. Carol Coram ’72 the Orville Nothdurft Lifetime Achievement Award.
As has become custom, Monday’s awards ceremony also included the introduction of the candidates for the Male and Female B-Club Most Outstanding Athlete Awards, which will be determined after the conclusion of the 2012-13 athletic year later this spring.
The Charles Orsborn Award is the highest honour Bradley University bestows upon a graduating senior student-athlete and recognises the ability of the winner to combine athletic and academic success with community service.
Machingauta, a former pupil of Prince Edward High School in Harare, Zimbabwe, was selected the winner of the 2013 Charles Orsborn Award from a trio of finalists that also included men’s tennis player Juan Diego Cuadrado of Almeria, Spain, and baseball player Mike Tauchman of Palatine. — Pjstar.com.
Online Reporter