30th Annual Athletic Awards Banquet

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The Barry University Athletic Department celebrated its 30^th Annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, April 22 at Jungle Island in Miami. Awards were presented to athletes from every sport.

Adam Svensson was named the Athlete of the Year. The sophomore, who won the Phil Mickelson Award in 2013 as the top freshman in NCAA Division II, has produced one of the best seasons in D-II history. He has won seven of 10 tournaments entered, firing par or better in nine of 10 starts. He currently is ranked first in the country in the GolfStat Cup, signifying the top golfer among all divisions. He set Barry records this season for most wins in a season and career, lowest stroke average in a season, lowest round both by strokes and in relation to par with a 61 at the Buccaneer Invitational, and finish percentage, having beaten 96.4 percent of opponents.

The women’s award was split between basketball’s Tyler Hardy and Emma Onila of women’s tennis.

Hardy was named the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, just the third Buccaneer to win the award, and was a fourth-team All-American according to Division II Bulletin. She was second in the league in both scoring (20.0 points per game) and rebounding (8.7 per game). She was seventh in field goal shooting and 10^th in free throw shooting.

Onila was a doubles All-American in 2013 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and has led the Bucs to a #1 ranking this season. She carries an 8-3 mark in singles, mostly from the top flight, and a 12-2 mark in doubles. She and partner Linda Fritschken, the 2013 Barry Female Athlete of the Year, won the NCAA Division II doubles title in the fall and became the first Buccaneers in history to win the ITA Super Bowl and earn a bid to the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships.

The Professor Neill Miller Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award was given to the male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA while meeting specific criteria for academic progress and athletic participation.

Baseball senior Tyler Kellmann won on the men’s side. He carries a 3.807 average in criminology. He has been the start at first base this season for the Bucs, leading the team in RBI and tying for second in homers. He had a team-best 16-game hitting streak earlier this year and reached base safely in 28 of the first 30 games.

Soccer junior Natalie Diaz was the winner on the women’s side. She has a remarkable 3.975 GPA in sociology. Diaz was a starter in the defensive third for the Bucs aas they won the Sunshine State Conference regular season title and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. She contributed three goals and an assist and helped the team post the best goals against average in the conference.

Akemi Maehama of women’s tennis earned the Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin Service Award. Vice-President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, she has been very active in coordinating, leading and participating in the service initiatives for the women’s tennis team. In addition to working at Camillus House on a regular basis, she participated in Miami Shores Community Day, Gobble Wobble 5K, Community Fest, Light the Night Walk, the holiday party for H.A.N.D.Y., MLK Day of Service and the Buc Walk Challenge. She conducted tennis clinics for Japanese. Her biggest project was an initiative to end hunger called Food for the Poor. Food For The Poor is the largest international relief agency in the United States.

Women’s tennis made it back-to-back wins of the CHAMPS/Lifeskills trophy, which had previously been dominated by softball and women’s soccer. Softball finished second, while men’s soccer placed third.

A list of all award winners is listed below: