Cougar sports services
Student-athletes from 10 different sports were honored Wednesday night at the University of Houston's fourth-annual spring athletics banquet at the Athletics-Alumni Center.
Team Most Valuable Player honors were handed to senior All-American Darius Pemberton in men's indoor track and freshman Jenny Adams in women's indoor track and field.
Pemberton won four individual events at the Conference USA indoor track and field championships to help lead the Cougars to the conference title - their first since 1978.
Adams was the Conference USA women's track and field Freshman of the Year and helped lead the Lady Cougars to a second place finish in the C-USA championships.
Other MVPs were junior Frank Porreco and sophomore Cilla Pettersson in cross country, junior Jennifer Jones in women's basketball, freshman Gina Gering in swimming, freshman Hillary Grivich in diving, junior Susanne Andersson in tennis, senior Nashika Stokes in volleyball and junior Victor Schwamkrug in golf.
Scwamkrug helped lead his team to a conference title and Stokes helped lead the volleyball team to a second place C-USA finish.
Academic honors for the athlete with the highest grade point average on each team went to freshman sports marketing major Shad Marshall in men's indoor track and field, sophomore university studies major Danielle Blackburn in women's indoor track and field, junior Alicia Rodriguez in women's basketball, senior biology major Kristen Paris in tennis, junior sociology major Emily Leffers in volleyball, junior bio-physics major Nicola Clegg in swimming and senior business major Jeff Burns in golf.
Basketball team honored
The UH men's basketball team held its own awards ceremony Thursday.
Juniors forward Galen Robinson and guard Damon Jones were named the winners of the "Elvin Hayes MVP" award.
Senior guards Kenya Capers and Willie Byrd won the "Clyde Drexler" coaches award.
Senior center Anthony Knox won the "Hakeem Olajuwon Defensive Player" award.
Freshman guard Steven Pratta won the "Ken Spain Academic Achievement" award. Senior forward Otis Grant won the "Otis Birdsong Most Improved Player" award.
Other winners included junior guard Shamahn McBride and freshman guard Segun Oduolowu, who won the "Guy V. Lewis Most Spirited Player" award and freshmen guards John Braxton and Willie Moore, who won the "Theodis Lee Most Dedicated Player" award.