Bull Run Awards - Day 3: Recapping the Best of Spring Sports

You know the drill by now. Spring was the busiest time of the year, and so we've got a lot of awards to dish out here. It's all fresh in our minds, so maybe it's less fun than the fall and winter posts, but tomorrow and Friday are when the good stuff comes down.

Softball Bull of the Year - Alexis Curtiss

MG: Curtiss may have been the second-easiest pick of this whole exercise. In a clear transition year for Softball. Curtiss was one of the few left over from the strongest offensive season in program history, and one of just three seniors on the squad at all.

Curtiss had a year to remember and was a bright spot on a young team that clearly needed more time to come together. She led the team in every hitting category except walks, only struck out six times in 168 at bats, and set school records for hits and doubles both in a season and in a career, breaking the program hits record in her final at bat of the year. Following the season, Curtiss was named First-Team All MAC, NFCA Mideast All-Region First Team, Academic All-MAC, and Capital One Academic All-District. She's just the second player in program history to twice appear on the All-MAC First Team

Honorable Mention: Hayley Barrow, Savanna Norcio, Bobbi Langlois

Baseball Bull of the Year - Nick Sinay

JM: On a rebuilding and youthful team where consistency on offense, fielding and pitching was an issue throughout the season - Nick Sinay was a model of consistency throughout and it showed on the stat sheet.

While Sinay was never known as a power hitter, he developed his swing to make more consistent contact than in years past resulting in a team leading 60 hits in 184 at bats for a team high .326 batting average. Sinay was also the only Bull to bat above .300 this past season; but, while Sinay improved his hitting, he was at his most dangerous stealing bases. Sinay set the UB school record for bases stolen in a career, was third in the nation with 39 bases stolen this season, and was one of the most dangerous players in the MAC when on base.

For his efforts on the field, Sinay was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 22nd round of the MLB draft.

Honorable Mention: Bobby Sheppard, Ben Vey, Ben Haefner

Men's Tennis Bull of the Year - Pablo Alvarez

MG: Individually, the top of UB's lineup had a rough go this spring, in the end doing just enough to claim their first conference championship. Despite an 0-5 singles record in MAC regular season play, Alvarez was named Most Outstanding Player of the conference tournament, and considering his strong doubles record and stellar fall the junior was an easy choice.

After a slow start to nonconference play with UB struggling to consistently earn the doubles point, Alvarez paired with newcomer Amar Hromic to go 3-1 in doubles play during the MAC schedule. On the year, Alvarez was 20-14 in doubles, second only on the team to Arevalillo. He was also twice named MAC Singles Player of the Week, and was 2-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles in the MAC Tournament.

Pablo's finest moment, though, may have been in the fall season, where he advanced to the Round of 16 in both the singles and doubles brackets of the ITA Northeast Regional tournament. He was the first Bull ever to advance to that round of the singles bracket. He also earlier in the fall won his bracket of the Princeton Ivy+ Invitational.

Honorable Mention: Jonathan Hannestad, Sergio Arevalillo

Women's Tennis Bull of the Year - Tanja Stojanovska

Another exceptional freshman who stepped right in and contributed in a big way for the Bulls Women's Tennis team was Stojanovska. Stojanovska, the number one ranked women's tennis player in her native Macedonia, was 20-9 in singles competition with her 20 victories leading the team; she also competed at the 1 and 2 spots all year long in singles competition. On the doubles side, Stojanovska was 15-7, still well above .500 for the season and very impressive.

For her exceptional efforts on the court, Stojanovska was named the MAC Freshman of the Year, and named to the All-MAC First Team. She was the first Bull since 2008 to earn the Freshman of the Year award.

Honorable Mention: Margarita Kotok, Laura Holterbosch, Dayana Agasieva

Men's Track and Field Bull of the Year - Jon Jones

He won the National Championship.

Honorable Mention: Mike Morgan, Ryan Billian

Women's Track and Field Bull of the Year - Meg Manley

MG: Meg Manley did not win a National Championship, but she was the lone Track and Field Bull other than Jones to claim multiple conference championships this year, taking on all comers in the half mile both indoors and outdoors. Women's Track and Field showed a good amount of depth for the future this year, but no one else - not even speedster Camaria Long - managed two MAC Championships, and that sets Manley apart.

Honorable Mention: Camaria Long, Melinda Wheeler

Women's Rowing

For Women's Rowing we weren't able to pick out a single person to give the award to because it's hard to judge individual performances in the sport, where UB most frequently competes in groups of eight. But, we also want to recognize the team for their season, which ended with a third-place finish in the CAA Championships.

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It's Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Clutch Moment of the Year tomorrow. Go Bulls.