Bloomsburg Honors 2004-05 MVP's

BLOOMSBURG- Bloomsburg University announced the 13 student-athletes that have been named the MVP for their sport, as well as the top male and female student-athletes in the entire sports program for the 2004-05 sports seasons.

2004-05 Bloomsburg Most Valuable Players

Named the winner of the Senior Scholar-Athlete Award is Matt Fisher (Cogan Station/Jersey Shore) of the men's basketball team. Fisher, a business education major with a 3.98 GPA, is a three-year member of the Huskies and made starts in 10 games this season while seeing action in 23. Fisher, who also played on a summer all-star team that toured Europe last summer, led Bloomsburg in blocked shots and was fourth on the team in rebounding. He is also both a Bloomsburg and a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Scholar-Athlete.

Named the winner of the Eleanor Wray Outstanding Female Senior Award winner and MVP for field hockey is Sharla Partlon (Langhorne/Neshaminy). Partlon capped an outstanding career by being named the Division II Field Hockey Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards. She is now on the ballot for the Division II Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award which will be announced in June of 2005. In addition, Partlon was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division II Player of the Year along with being a member of the ECAC D-II All-Star team.

Among the other honors for Partlon this season have been being named an STX/NFHCA Division II All-American; the womensfieldhockey.com Player of the Year; the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Athlete of the Year; first team All-PSAC and twice being the PSAC Field Hockey Player of the Week.

Partlon finished the year tied for the team lead in goals scored with 13, while leading the team in assists with eight for 34 points. She finished her career with 25 goals and 17 assists.

During her career she helped the Huskies to a four-year record of 80-6 (.930) and three NCAA and PSAC championships. She was the PSAC Rookie of the Year as a freshman and was three times named first team All-American and All-PSAC. For her efforts in the classroom where she has posted a 3.63 GPA, she has been named to the 2004 PSAC Fall Top 10 team honoring the top scholar-athletes from the fall season and is also a three-time selection to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Academic Squad and has three times been named a Bloomsburg and PSAC Scholar-Athlete.

Named the winner of the Robert B. Redman Award as the Outstanding Male Senior Athlete and MVP for wrestling is Bryce Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin). Hasseman capped off his career by posting a mark of 38-6 and qualifying for the NCAA Division I championships where he finished in the top 16 in his weight class. Along the way Hasseman claimed both an Eastern Wrestling League and PSAC championship and helped the Huskies win their first PSAC team title in 15 years. His 38 wins and 10 major decisions led the team this year. Prior to his senior year Hasseman also had the honor of representing both himself and Bloomsburg at the United State Olympic Wrestling trials.

Named the Danny Litwhiler Award as the Outstanding Underclassman Male Athlete of the Year is Jahri Evans (Philadelphia/Frankford) from football. Evans had a spectacular season which was capped off by being named to the 2004 Associated Press (AP) Little All-American Football team as a second team selection. The AP Little All-American team consists of players from NCAA Division II and III squads.

Evans was also named first team All-American by American Football Coaches Association and a second team All-American by Don Hansen's Football Gazette. He was named to the first team Daktronics All-Northeast Region and was a finalist for the inaugural Gene Upshaw Offensive Lineman of the Year Award presented by the Manheim (PA) Touchdown Club. Evans was also a first team All-PSAC East selection for the second straight year and was named All-Northeast Region by d2football.com.

A two-year starter for the Huskies at offensive tackle, Evans helped pave the way for Bloomsburg to lead the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in rushing with 299.4 yards per game (nearly 40 yards more per game than the second place team). The Huskies also had a 1,000 yard rusher for the season as well as another back with 991 yards. During the year, the Huskies had individual players gain more than 100 yards in a game 13 times.

Bloomsburg also had three games with more than 400 yards rushing and one game with over 500 yards on the ground.

As an individual, Evans graded out at over 90 percent for the year and averaged over four pancake blocks per game. He was also outstanding on his downfield efforts on second and third level blocks and was a member of the team's kickoff return squad.

Evans was the top voter-getter at his position in the Daktronics balloting which is done by Sports Information Directors in the Northeast Region.

Named the winner of the Joanne McComb Outstanding Underclassman Female Athlete of the Year is Tracey Hudak (Sweet Valley/Lake-Lehman) from field hockey. Hudak was brilliant in goal for the Huskies and helped the team to a NCAA national championship with her play. During the year she stopped 112 shots for a saves percentage of .848. She also allowed just 20 goals on the year for a goals against average of 0.80 and posted nine shutouts. She was named second team All-American and first team All-PSAC and also earned MVP honors for her play in the PSAC championship victory over Indiana (Pa.). She was also named to the NCAA Division II National Championships All-Tournament team.

Named MVP of the football team was Paul Linn (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin). This past season Linn earned first team All-PSAC honors after leading the Huskies in tackles with 65, 28 of them solo. Linn also had three tackles for loss, two sacks, three pass breakups and one interception. Linn had three games with 10 or more tackles, including 11 in the season opener against Slippery Rock.

Named MVP for men's soccer was Greg Pompei (Andover, NJ/Newton). This season Pompei was named first team All-PSAC for his play. He led the team with 14 goals this season, the sixth highest single-season mark in school history. Pompei had five multi-goal games this season and finished his career ranked fifth all-time in goals scored in a career with 27 and sixth all-time in career points with 61.

Named the MVP for women's soccer is Lindsay Knupp (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City). Knupp was named first team All-PSAC for her play as a defender this past season. She was consistently given the job of shutting down the opponents top forward, a challenge she met. Knupp was also a large part of the 2002 PSAC Championship team and this year's team which made it to the PSAC semifinals.

Her physical presence; her one-on-one defense and lightning speed were the main reason for the low goals against average for Bloomsburg this year. She also helped the team by scoring three goals and assisting on another. Over the last three years she has started in 58 of 59 games, playing nearly every minute in those games.

Earning MVP honors from women's basketball is Michelle Albanese (Wilmington, DE/St. Marks). Albanese, named first team All-PSAC for the second straight year, finished fourth on the Huskies in scoring and rebounding this season with averages of 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She also led the Huskies in assists (8th in the PSAC) with 4.2 per game and in steals with 1.9 a game. In three-point shooting, Albanese was second in three's made with 45 and led the team in three-point percentage (11th in the PSAC) with a mark of 34.6 percent.

Named the women's swimming MVP was sophomore Ashley Yelinek (Youngwood/Southmoreland). Yelinek was a key performer at the PSAC championships for Bloomsburg by finishing fourth in the 1,000-free in 10:31.66; fourth in the 500-free in 5:10.66; and third in the 1650-free in 17:35.65. She also posted the team's top times this season in the 500-, 1000- and 1650-free events as well as being part of the team's fastest 800-free relay team. Yelinek is also a Bloomsburg University Scholar-Athlete.

The men's swimming MVP award this year goes to Chris Rumfelt (Shamokin/Shamokin Area). Rumfelt posted the top times for Bloomsburg in five events during the year; the 100-, 200- 500-, and 1000-freestyle events as well as the 200-fly and the 400-IM. He also finished fifth at the PSAC championships in the 200-free and was part of the third place team in the 800-free relay. In all he scored 40 points at the PSAC championships by himself and narrowly missed going to the NCAA championships in four events. During the dual meet season, Rumfelt finished first a total of 16 times during the year.

Earning the MVP award for men's cross country and track is Justin Shepherd (Cranberry Twp. /Seneca Valley). In cross country, Shepherd earned All-PSAC honors this season after finishing 10th out of 118 runners at the PSAC championships. He also earned All-East Regional honors after finishing eighth out of 185 runners at the NCAA East Regional championships. During the regular season, Shepherd won the Slippery Rock meet, took second at the Husky Invitational and had a ninth-place finish at Bucknell.

In track, Shepherd qualified for both the 3000 and 5000 meter events at the PSAC Indoor Championships. At PSAC championships he was ninth at 3000-meters and was fourth at 5000-meters. In the outdoor season he has qualified at both 5000 and 10,000 meters. He also has been accepted to compete at the Penn Relays on Thursday night in the men's College Championship division of the 10,000 meters.

Named the MVP for both women's cross country and track is Amber Hackenberg (Middleberg/Middleberg). As a freshman, Hackenberg earned All-PSAC honors after finishing 11th out of 111 runners at the PSAC championships and followed that up with a 10th place finish out of 172 runners at the NCAA East Regional championships to earn All-Region honors. During the regular season her highlights included a first in the Slippery Rock meet as well as at the Husky Invitational. Her finish at the Husky Invitational also earned her PSAC Runner of the Week honors. She also turned in a second place finish at Bucknell in her first-ever collegiate race and was the first Division II finisher (58th overall) at the Penn State National meet.

In track, Hackenberg qualified for both the 3000 and 5000 meter races at the PSAC Indoor Championships despite having never run indoors during high school. At the championships she was sixth at 3000-meters and third place at 5000-meters to earn All-PSAC honors. In the outdoor season so far she has qualified at 1500, 3000 and 5000 meters. She is the second fastest in the PSAC so far this season at 5000 meters and has provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships at that distance. She was also accepted to compete in the College Women's Championship division of the 5000 meters at the Penn Relays on Thursday evening.