Wayne State Honors Top Wildcat Athletes for 2009-10

The Wayne State College athletic department recognized its top student athletes for the 2009-10 school year May 3 during its annual athletic honors banquet. Seven major awards were handed out at the Ameritas-sponsored banquet as Wildcat football player Silas Fluellen was named the Male Athlete of the Year while All-American volleyball player Jennifer Hefner received the Female Athlete of the Year honor. The Male Freshman Athlete of the Year award was presented to basketball player Amry Shelby while Savannah Wakeley from women’s track and field received the Female Freshman Athlete of the Year award. The sixth annual Wildcat Inspiration Award was given to football player Nick Hope. The featured speaker for the evening was Jamie Vaughn, a 1997 Wayne State graduate who serves as associate athletic director for compliance at Kansas State University.

Senior basketball player Brian Metz and junior volleyball player Jennifer Hefner also received the Bob Cunningham Scholar-Athlete Awards. The Cunningham Awards, named after longtime supporter Bob Cunningham, are presented to the department’s top male and female scholar athletes.

	Fluellen, a senior quarterback from Bellevue, Neb., set nearly every passing record in his four years with the Wildcats. He became the NSIC all-time leader this season in career passing yards (8,996) and total offense yardage (10,170) and is just the 19th player in NCAA Division II history to throw for more than 10,000 career yards. Fluellen was named the winner of the 2009 NSIC Glen Galligan Award, given to a student-athlete who is academically superior while making a positive contribution to his institution.
	Hefner, a junior from Archer, Neb., earned AVCA Second Team All-American honors this past season for the Wildcats after averaging 3.72 kills and 1.22 blocks per game for Wayne State.  She helped the 29-8 Wildcats reach the NCAA National Tournament for the fifth straight season.  Hefner also became Wayne State’s first ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American volleyball player this past season with a 3.96 grade point average majoring in applied human and sport physiology. She is a two-time NSIC All-Academic selection and a First Team All-NSIC performer on the court the past two seasons.
	Shelby, a freshman from Marion, Iowa, had an excellent freshman season for the Wildcats, averaging a team-high 13.8 points per game. He scored 10 or more points in 20 games this season for WSC, shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free throw line while ranking in the top 15 in five major categories for the Wildcats.
	Wakeley, a freshman from Wausa, Neb., was a national qualifier in the high jump for the Wildcats during the indoor track and field season, finishing in a tie for 12th at the national championships. In the current outdoor season, Wakeley ranks second in the NSIC in the high jump after clearing 5’6” for a first place finish at last weekend’s Howard Wood Dakota Relays.
	Hope, a senior from Avoca, Iowa, went from a walk-on placekicker to start his career to finishing his senior season as Wayne State’s all-time leader in scoring with 245 career points. He was a First Team NSIC South Division All-Conference kicker as a junior and senior and was one of 10 finalists this season for the Fred Mitchell Award, given to the nation’s top placekicker in NCAA Division II and III. He ended his career making 71 percent (36 of 51) of his field goals and 94 percent (137 of 146) of his PAT kicks, including a school record 53 straight PAT kicks from Oct. 11, 2008, to Oct. 17, 2009.
	Metz, a senior from Keswick, Iowa, was a two-year starter for the WSC men’s basketball team, earning Second Team All-NSIC honors as junior.  He excelled in the classroom, sporting a stellar 3.93 grade point to earn NSIC All-Academic honors three years while also being selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII Second Team as a junior and senior.

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