On Tuesday, April 23rd, in front of hundreds of students and faculty members, Marian University athletes and coaches were honored for their outstanding achievements at the fourth annual Sammy Awards. The ceremony and red-carpet snapshots took place at the Howard L. Sadoff Gymnasium. All sports teams began showing up as early as five P.M. in their Sunday best, something other than t-shirts and sweats. However, the men’s baseball team left a couple of empty chairs in the gym since they had an important game to play against Lawrence University.  

SAAC members and Sarah Angelos are the ones to credit for the award ceremony every year. “It takes about four months to prepare for the Sammy’s including getting ideas, videos, ordering the awards, and getting the red carpet and lights,” said Angelos. Although, rehearsal began only two weeks beforehand. SAAC consists of about 30 athletes who participated in the preparations which included setting up chairs, chair covers, and curtains. However, out of the 30 students who helped in the monthlong preparations, only 25 members were hosts or presenters that evening. Sarah made sure maintenance’s help didn’t go unrecognized too. She stated they “helped bring the stage, spotlight, and chairs to the gym.” 

The awards began with host Paul Kinder and Chris Deprez, two Marian hockey players. SAAC members presented the rest of the awards. Guests were entertained that evening with funny clips that ranged from student-athletes imitating their coaches and failing miserably in a Marian history trivia quiz. An honorable and very well-deserved goodbye was also given to Bryan Lidtke, who has been the Marian University Sabres announcer for the past four years. He (and his voice) will be truly missed on campus and at every sporting event.  

The ceremony was wrapped up with Athletics Director Jason Bartelt announcing some exciting news. Bartelt asked all guests to look down and take a look at the gym floor one more time because next fall the Sabres will have a new gym floor. The reparations are supposed to begin in early June. As if that wasn’t enough, he also announced the addition of a new turf field that will be ready to use next fall.  

 A complete list of the winners is below: 

Newcomer of the Year 

• Peyton Loesch 
• Nick Klotz

Community Service Athlete  

• Jayna Schmittinger 
• Brock Weston  

Community Service Team 

• Women’s Hockey  
• Women’s Soccer  
• Men’s Baseball  

Academic Team 

• Men’s Tennis  
• Women’s Softball

Scholar Athelete  

• Brock Weston 
• Rachel Soch 

Multisport Athlete  

• Alexis Peterson  
• Danny Roe

Manager of the Year  

• Mckenzie Hintz 
• Paul Kinder  

Play of the Year  

• Justin Davidson  

Unsung Hero of the Year  

• Hannah Rauhut  
• Marcus Kadinger 

Mr. & Miss Sabre of the Year  

• Alexis Peterson  
• Isaiahs Mena 

Faculty/ Staff of the Year 

• Ashley Peichl 

Joshua Stuhr Award 

• Meghan Batzner 
• Matt Nordlund 

Coach of the Year  

• Tony Draves
• Chris Frederickson  

Athlete of the Year  

• Ally Fox 
• Hunter Vorva  

Team of the Year  

• Women’s Softball  
• Men’s ACHA Ice Hockey  

Sabre Cup 

• Women’s Softball