CMU Athletes of the Year
Male Athlete of the year: Dan LeFevour
Following an injury-plagued 2008 season, senior quarterback Dan LeFevour said he wanted to stay healthy and lead his team back to the Mid-American Conference Championship.
He accomplished both feats with ease and padded his resume in other regards before he finished his illustrious career at CMU. LeFevour finished his season completing 69.7 percent of his passes for 3,438 yards with 28 passing touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
He also led the Chippewas with 713 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.
In CMU’s 29-27 upset win against Michigan State, the senior completed 33-of-46 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns, including going 3-of-3 on the final drive to set up senior kicker Andrew Aguila’s 42-yard field goal to win the game.
Adding to his aura, the one game where LeFevour had health concerns and was largely ineffective (migraine headache), the team was unable to pull out the win against Boston College.
In the MAC Championship game against Ohio, LeFevour combined for more than 300 offensive yards and passed for two touchdowns, while rushing for 51 yards.
His second touchdown pass allowed the CMU quarterback to move into sole possession of the top spot of the MAC’s passing touchdowns list, moving ahead of former Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington.
The touchdown pass also allowed LeFevour to break the FBS record for total touchdowns in his career with 148 (101 passing, 46 rushing and one receiving touchdown).
Female Athlete of the Year: Shay Mannino
The junior goalkeeper earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and a First-Team All-MAC selection with her play this year.
Mannino led a Chippewas defense that did not give a goal in conference play. The Chippewas had a shutout streak that lasted 1,238 minutes and 23 seconds and catapulted the team to its first-ever NCAA tournament bid in the program’s history after CMU defeated Miami (OH) in the MAC Championship.
There, Mannino shut out No. 24 Purdue as CMU advanced to the second round before being eliminated by No. 5 Notre Dame.
Freshmen of the Year: Scotti Sentes and Kristin Teubner
Wrestling at the 125-pound spot, Sentes placed seventh at NCAAs and became the first true freshman in the program’s history to earn All-America honors.
He also won the MAC Championship at 125, the first CMU true freshman wrestler to do so since Ryan Cunningham accomplished the feat in 1997.
Sentes pinned Nic Bedelyon from Kent State in 13 seconds, which ties for the fifth-fastest fall in school history.
The freshman from Denver, Col., was named the MAC Freshman of the Year after a body of work that includes a 9.85 floor routine at the MAC Championships in Muncie, Ind.
With the score, Teubner won the MAC Championship for the floor exercise, gaining All-MAC honors in that category.
Coach of the Year: Tom Anagnost
In his first year as the permanent head coach, Anagnost delivered a MAC Championship. And he did so with his players.
Anagnost brought in 10 freshman (not including one redshirt freshman) and relied on them heavily in critical situations. Freshman Bailey Brandon has developed under Anagnost, being awarded the MAC Freshman of the Year for her defensive prowess.
Another freshman, Laura Twidle, led the team with 16 points despite struggling down the stretch. Developing recruits is a testament to a coach’s ability, and he gets the nod just before Butch Jones, Tom Borrelli and Jerry Reighard.
