Highlanders Name Champions of Character Award Winners
(Houghton,
N.Y.)—Houghton College has named the winners of the “Champions of
Character Outstanding Athlete Awards,” the highest honor the college
gives to current athletes.
The Highlanders gave soccer midfielder Ernie Walton the “Dr.
Marvin H. Eyler Outstanding Athlete Award.”
The women’s award—the “Velma H.M. Hewson Outstanding Athlete
Award”—went to three women: track and field’s Naomi Christensen, field
hockey player Elizabeth Mueller and basketball player Ashley Scudder.
The Alumni Office sponsors the awards, with the winners selected
by the Athletic Department. The honorees must be varsity letter winners,
preferably seniors, who routinely demonstrate respect, responsibility,
sportsmanship, integrity and servant-leadership.
Athletics Director H. “Skip” Lord made the presentations at the
Highlanders Athletic Banquet recently. Lord noted that members of the
athletic department “voted several times trying to narrow our selection
down to one deserving winner.…On the women’s side, ultimately our
efforts proved futile and we happily agreed to name more than one
winner.”
“That’s good news because
it emphasizes the number and quality of our student-athletes,” said
Lord, “We are obviously very proud of all of the young men and women who
participate in our program and it is a privilege to recognize these
award winners.”
Those honored are chosen for their ability to encourage others to
better performance and to accept gracefully the results as they happen
during the contest. They are chosen on the basis of the respect they
have earned on campus as exemplary representatives of Houghton College.
The awards recognize athletic excellence as well as Christian character
blended to yield “the ideal Houghton athlete.”
Walton, a native of Zionsville, Pa., who attended Emmaus High
School, played midfield and was a captain on the soccer team. In his
career he scored seven goals and had eight assists. He earned
all-conference honorable mention twice and was an NAIA scholar-athlete
twice.
Christensen, who attended Houghton Academy, has set nine Houghton
track and field records—and her senior season is not yet complete. She
has made two trips to the indoor national meet and will return for her
second outdoor nationals later in May. She has earned All-American
honors and twice been named an NAIA scholar athlete.
Mueller was a sweeper and captain on the field hockey team,
scoring 13 goals and eight assists in her career, and leading a defense
that gave up less than three goals a game in the 2007 season. The
Lancaster, Pa., native earned scholar-athlete status twice, as well. Her
teammates voted her “Teammate of the Year,” and she earned the MVP at
Houghton’s post-season tournament.
Ashley Scudder, who attended Fredonia High School, was a captain
of the women’s basketball team all four years, averaging seven points
and five rebounds per game. She started every game of her career,
earning all-conference honorable mention three times. She has also been
an NAIA scholar-athlete.
“All of our winners were senior captains, the cumulative GPA of
the group is 3.9, they include all-conference representatives and NAIA
All-Americans,” said Lord, “they have all been actively involved in
sports ministry at home and abroad and each would have preferred to see
a teammate receive this honor in his or her place.”
At the banquet, all of the Highlanders’ seniors were honored for
their careers at Houghton. Two senior leaders—Scudder and Tyler
Haggerty—participated in a ceremony where they passed a baton
symbolizing leadership by example of the Highlander ideal to two junior
leaders, Mandy Lewandowski and Dan Ballard.
Four seniors were selected to speak at the banquet as well. Jesse
Braswell shared about the lessons he’s learned, Christensen talked about
the educational value of athletics, Walton shared his experiences in
sports ministry and Scudder discussed the relationships she has built
through her athletic experiences.
