'Cuse Awards Celebrates 2013-14 Accomplishments

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Syracuse student-athletes, coaches and administrators gathered to celebrate their extraordinary accomplishments at the eighth annual 'Cuse Awards at the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center on Monday evening. Orange fans are invited to watch the 'Cuse Awards show in its entirety on www.Cuse.com.

The 2013 men's and women's lacrosse teams won the Team of the Year honors. The Orange men tied the school season wins record, finishing 16-4 and reaching the National Championship game for the 17th time in school history. The Orange, which was 7-1 against teams in the top 10, won a share of the BIG EAST Regular season title and won the BIG EAST Conference Tournament Championship.

The 2013 Orange women advanced to the Final Four for the second consecutive year after winning the program's third straight regular-season title and BIG EAST Tournament title. It was Syracuse's third Final Four appearance in the last five years and sixth league championship in the last seven seasons.

Leading scorer of the men's basketball team C.J. Fair won the Male Athlete of the Year accolade. He paced the team with 16.5 points per game and finished second in rebounding (6.4). Fair earned NABC Second Team All-America, USA Today Second Team All-America and All-ACC First Team honors. The senior was also a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Wooden Award. Fair ranks 15th on Syracuse's career scoring list (1,160 points).

Women's lacrosse senior Alyssa Murray earned the Female Athlete of the Year honor. Syracuse's second-leading scorer, Murray has 47 goals and a team-leading 33 assists. She earned 2014 All-ACC First Team and ACC All-Tournament Team honors. In 2013 she was named BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST. Murray ranks third on Syracuse's career scoring (332 points) and goals (208) record lists.

Stephanie Skilton and Tyler Ennis were named the Female and Male Rookies of the Year. Skilton led the women's soccer team in scoring with 19 points, including nine goals, three of which were game winners. She is just the fourth player in school history to record a hat trick, which she accomplished against Pittsburgh. During Syracuse's season, Skilton was called up to the New Zealand National Team. A USA Today Second Team All-American and NABC Freshman All-American, Ennis led the ACC in assists and steals average. The first-year guard was a finalist for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award and a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy.

Three coaches were honored with Coach of the Year awards. Women's basketball head coach Quentin Hillsman and lacrosse coach Gary Gait shared the Women's Sport Coach of the Year honor, while cross country/track & field coach Chris Fox earned the Men's Sport Coach of the Year award.

In his eighth year Hillsman led the Orange to an historic season. The Orange posted a 23-10 record, which marked the fifth straight year of 22 or more wins for the program. The squad earned an NCAA Tournament invitation for the second year in a row and won its first round game, both firsts in program history.

Gait directed the Orange to the Final Four for the third time in four years in 2013 after the squad won the BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament titles. The seventh-year Orange head coach has the 2014 Orange ranked second nationally.

Fox guided the 2013 Orange men to Syracuse's first ACC title in school history and earned the conference Coach of the Year honors. He then directed the Orange to the NCAA Northeast Regional championship and a 10th place finish at the NCAA Championship. It was Syracuse's best showing at the NCAA meet since 1957.

Head coach Chris Fox's women's cross country team earned the Most Improved Team honor. The 2013 Orange finished third at the ACC Championship and 22nd at the NCAA Championship. The invite to the national meet came after Syracuse missed the 2012 NCAA Championship race, which ended a four-year streak of appearances at nationals.

Emil Ekblom and Kayla Treanor earned the Performance of the Year awards. Ekblom set a Syracuse Soccer Stadium record with seven points (three goals and one assist) to lead the Orange to a 5-0 victory against North Carolina State. It was the 25th hat trick in school history and the first since 2008. Treanor scored a career-high seven goals in Syracuse's victory against top-ranked North Carolina. Her seven goals ties for second on the Syracuse single-game record list.

The football team earned the Play of the Year honor for quarterback Terrel Hunt's last-second touchdown pass to Josh Parris against Boston College. The win secured the Orange a bowl-game invitation for the second consecutive season. Hunt's 8-yard screen pass with six seconds left to play gave the Orange a 34-31 victory against the Eagles. The touchdown capped an 8-play, 75-yard drive. The Shot of the Year winner was the Tyler Ennis buzzer- beater at Pittsburgh that propelled the Orange to a 58-56 victory against the Panthers.

The Orange men's basketball 91-89 overtime thriller against Duke is the Game of the Year. Syracuse outscored Duke 7-2 during the final 71 seconds of play for the victory. C.J. Fair led the way with 28 points, while Jerami Grant had 24 and Tyler Ennis contributed 14 points and nine assists.

The 2014 Soladay Awards were presented to Rachel Blum (women's soccer) and Robert Molke (cross country). The award is the highest honor presented to a male and female senior student-athlete each year. The award is named in honor of longtime athletics administrator Doris Soladay.

Blum was the anchor on the back line for the Orange in 2013, as the two year captain provided defensive support and helped start the counterattack each week. The ACC All-Academic Team member played in every game throughout her four years at SU, starting all but one.

A senior leader on the first Syracuse team to capture an ACC championship, Molke finished eighth at the ACC's and fourth at the NCAA Northeast Regional. The 2013 All-ACC performer paced the Orange at the NCAA Championship with his 51^st-place finish. Molke was named to the 2013 Academic All-ACC team.

The female nominees for the 2014 Soladay Award were Suzannah Bailey (mascot), Amy Cross (women's lacrosse), Shirley Daniels (softball), Ashley Keyes (track & field), Sarah Pagano (cross country/track & field), Heather Pike (cheer), Margot Scharfe (ice hockey) and Miranda Williams (rowing), while the male nominees included Trevor Johnson (track & field), Macky MacPherson (football), Derek Maltz (men's lacrosse) and Jacob Martens (rowing).

Football quarterback Terrel Hunt was honored with the Ernie Davis Courage Award, an honor bestowed upon an individual who has overcome a disadvantaged background, a serious injury, or has demonstrated uncommon bravery or highly principled behavior in the face of adversity. . The Orange signal caller fought through the loss of both of his parents while he was in high school and won the starting spot four games in to the 2013 season. In addition, the women's soccer team earned the 'Cuse Cares award, and the tennis team was honored with the highest team GPA. The women's soccer team had a big presence in our community in 2013-14, including participating in Book Week at the SU Bookstore, the Student-Athlete Panel at LeMoyne College, the SAAC Toy Drive, the Student-Athlete Tailgate Party, the Special Olympics, Shooting for A's, Kicks 4 Kids and Easter Basket Delivery.

The men's lacrosse squad was honored for earning the highest number of points in the NACDA Cup standings. Leonie Geyer (field hockey), Tyler Ennis (basketball), C.J. Fair (basketball), Lauren Penney (track & field), Donald Pollitt (track & Field) and JoJo Morasco (lacrosse) were recognized for earning All-America honors, while Reed Kamyszek (cross country) and Kevin Rice (lacrosse) were honored for their NCAA Elite 89 Awards and Adrian Chambers (field hockey), Laura Hahnefeldt (field hockey) and Sarah Pagano (cross country) were commended for their earning ACC Postgraduate Scholarships.

Syracuse University Athletics

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