General Release - 2006 Nereus C. English Awards - Guilford College

  • SIX STUDENT-ATHLETES AWARDED GUILFORD'S HIGHEST ATHLETIC HONOR

 

      Greensboro, NC (2/21/06) -- Six elite Guilford College student-athletes received the 2006 Nereus C. English '26 Athletic Leadership Award at a banquet Tuesday night in Founders Hall on Guilford's campus. This year's English Award recipients were Rob Bittner, Jennifer Evans, Chelsea Glover, Lenny Niedosik, Jeff Osberg and Charlie Stroup. Since Guilford first presented the honor in 1977, 163 students have received the English Award.

 

      Named for one of Guilford's most loyal alumni, the annual English Award is the college's highest honor for athletic ability and leadership. The school's athletic staff members nominate and select the award winners who display the highest ideals of athletic accomplishment, leadership and academic achievement.

 

A three-year starter and captain of the coach Nick Black's baseball team, Bittner shared Guilford's Best Undergraduate Male Athlete Award last year. The senior first baseman won the team's Most Valuable Hitter and Most Valuable Player Awards in 2005 after attaining a career-best .403 batting average and 10 home runs, which led the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). Bittner was selected to the 2005 College Division all-state team by the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) and earned honorable mention American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division III All-South Region and All-ODAC honors. Bittner has led Guilford in home runs, runs batted in, total bases and slugging percentage the last two seasons and paced the 2005 Quakers in every offensive statistical category save runs scored, doubles and triples. He enters his senior season ranked sixth among Guilford's career leaders in home runs and 10th in RBIs. Bittner is a sport management major.

 

      A four-year starting pitcher and infielder for coach Ty Cook's softball team, Evans is Guilford's career leader in pitching wins (21), appearances (76), strikeouts (116), shutouts (5) and innings pitched (361.1). She ranked fifth on the squad in batting average (.299) and fourth in runs batted in (11) while serving as the number-two pitcher last season. Evans earned the win in four of the Quakers' eight conference victories to help Guilford to its second ODAC Tournament appearance in three years. The senior earned honorable mention All-ODAC laurels in 2003. A dean's list biology and health sciences double major with a chemistry concentration, Evans is a two-time Academic All-ODAC honoree and seven-time member of Guilford's Student-Athlete Honor Roll. Last year, she was inducted into Guilford's Scholarship Society.

 

Glover, a junior midfielder for coach Eric Lewis' soccer team, garnered Second Team All-ODAC laurels for the second year in a row in 2005. She also earned NCCSIA All-State honors (College Division) and finished third on the team with 13 points. The team captain helps the Quakers control play in the midfield and dictate the game's pace. With Glover showing the way, the 2005 Quakers enjoyed a record-setting year with a 13-6-3 record, 7-4 in the ODAC. The 13 wins broke the previous Guilford standard of 12, set in 2004. The Quakers reached the ODAC Tournament final for the first time in the program's history by virtue of a semifinal win at previously unbeaten Virginia Wesleyan. Glover received All-ODAC Tournament honors for her efforts. An accomplished student, she is a two-time Academic All-ODAC selection and dean's list criminal justice and peace and conflict studies double major.

 

      Niedosik (nih-DUH-shik), a 6-3 senior defender, captained the Quakers' men's soccer team that placed ninth in the ODAC and recorded three shutouts. He started 16 of Guilford's 17 matches and totalled one goal and two assists for four points. A two-year starter, Niedosik compiled six points (2g, 2a) in 53 career appearances. A five-time dean's list student, he is a double major in criminal justice and German. He has completed Officer Candidate School for the U.S. Marine Corps and will be commissioned as an officer with the Marines upon graduation. Niedosik has been on Guilford's Student-Athlete Honor Roll seven times and is a three-time Academic All-ODAC honoree.

 

After seeing limited varsity action with the Quakers' golf team in his first two years, Osberg has worked his way into one of the top student-athletes on the defending NCAA Division III national champions. He started the 2004 campaign on Guilford's 'B' team, but earned a spot on the 'A' squad in the spring. Osberg compiled five top-10 finishes in 2004-05, received PING All-South Region honors and was a First Team All-ODAC selection. The senior placed 32nd at the 2005 NCAA Championships, his second national tourney appearance, and has a 77.72 career stroke average in 52 rounds. Osberg won the 2004 Delaware State Amateur Tournament, a feat he shares with his father, Rick, and uncle, Jeffrey. An accounting and business management double major, Osberg is a two-time member of Guilford's Student-Athlete Honor Roll and represents coach Jack Jensen's golfers on Guilford's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

 

A four-year football letter winner, Stroup played linebacker and was the Quakers' long snapper. He enjoyed his best season this past fall with a career-high 44 tackles (25 solo) in 10 games, including six starts. The senior also made 3.5 tackles for loss for a total of nine yards. His play helped coach Kevin Kiesel's club enjoy its best season since 1997. The Quakers went 5-5, matched a school record with four ODAC wins and finished the year on a four-game winning streak. Stroup concluded his Guilford career with 112 tackles and two fumble recoveries in 39 games. As a long snapper, he helped punter Christian Adams '05 earn All-America honors in 2003 and 2004. Off the field, Stroup serves on Guilford's SAAC and is a four-time member of the school's Student-Athlete Honor Roll. He is a physics major with a minor in business.

 

      A native of Thomasville, NC, Nereus C. English graduated from Guilford in 1926, but maintained close contact with the college after graduation. His loyalty and genuine interest in its students led to the creation of the English Endowment Fund and the Nereus C. and Mae Martin English Scholarship Fund in 1965. With his brother, the late T.R. English, he made possible Guilford's English Hall dormitory in 1957. In 1962, Nereus English received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Guilford College Alumni Association.