SEASIDE, Calif. – The Cal State Monterey Bay Athletic Department celebrated another year of success at the Otters' year-end awards banquet at the University Center.

"The Athletic Banquet was a celebration of Otter Athletics and all our victories from this last year,” said CSUMB Director of Athletics Vince Otoupal. “We celebrated championships and we celebrated academic achievement. The program was longer this year because we had more to celebrate.  That being the case, we will look forward to an even longer program next May. It was truly a great night to be an Otter."
 
 Male Athlete of the Year: Brian Haggett - Baseball

Junior Brian Haggett (Hollister, Calif./San Jose CC), a kinesiology major, carries a cumulative 3.67 GPA and had a perfect 4.0 during the fall semester. He helped lead his team to its best season in school history. Haggett has a .333 batting average, 62 hits, 31 runs, and 33 RBIs.  He was named CCAA Player of the Week on April 2-8.  He led CSUMB in batting average and hits while having a team-best 19 multiple-hit games.

Co-Female Athlete of the Year: Courtney Soekland - Women's Golf
 
Senior Courtney Soekland (Santa Rosa HS), a business major, carries a 3.63 GPA and will be graduating in the fall. She currently leads Division II with a 74.48 stroke average. She finished in the Top 5 in six of seven tournaments this season, including wins at the Otter Invitational, the Western Washington Invitational and the Hawaii Hilo's Dennis Rose Invitational. She had four subpar rounds this season with a low off 66 at the Dennis Rose. She guided her team to its fourth NCAA Regional Appearance.
 
Co-Female Athlete of the Year: Nikki Smart - Water Polo 

Senior Nikki Smart (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan HS), a kinesiology major, carries a 3.35 GPA and is graduating in the fall.  She quarterbacked the water polo team to their most successful season in school history. Smart led both the team and conference in goals scored at 113 this season. She scored a season-best seven goals in a single game four times this year, earning an all-conference and all-tournament first team selection. Smart received the ACWPC All-American first team honors in 2011 and was CSUMB's first student-athlete to be named NCAA Division II Co-Player of the Years. With 332 goals, she finished her collegiate career as the program's second-highest scorer.

Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete Award: Hayley Tharp - Cross Country

Senior Hayley Tharp (San Jose, Calif./Willow Glen) graduated this past December, Summa Cum Laude with a 3.98 grade point average as a Kinesiology major.  Tharp recently passed the American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer exam. Tharp is finishing her last pre-requisite for entrance into graduate school in Occupational Therapy and has applied at Midwestern University as well as A.T. Still University for fall 2013, both located in Arizona. 
 
Tharp has been a four-year member of the CSUMB women's cross-country team. In addition to the athletic scholarship, Tharp received the 1st Sgt. Willie B. Smith Scholarship through the Fort Ord Alumni Association. She has been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the Student Fee Advisory Committee, and has worked in our Athletic Training Program as a student assistant.
 
Male Scholar Athlete of the Year: Brandon Ward - Men's Basketball

Junior Brandon Ward (Riverside, Calif./Woodcrest HS) is a business major with a 3.67 GPA. Ward earned All–CCAA second team honors after leading CSUMB in scoring and assists. He scored in double figures in 22 of 26 games while finishing his junior season No. 2 on the CSUMB career assist list (188).
 
Female Scholar Athlete of the Year: Marie Beard - Cross Country

Senior Marie Beard (Escalon HS), a four-year member of the women's cross-country team, graduated with a 3.93 GPA this past December with a business degree. She ran a career personal best of 26:12 at the CCAA meet this season.

CCAA Dr. Hal Charnofsky Male Award: Danny Nelson - Baseball
 
Senior Danny Nelson (Morgan Hill, Calif./San Jose CC), a kinesiology major, carries a 3.45 GPA and will graduate in this fall. In CSUMB baseball's best season to date, Nelson finished with a .268 batting average,  52 hits, 41 runs, and 17 RBIs. He was CSUMB's first-ever NCBWA Preseason All-West Region selection.  He is CSUMB's record holder with 29 in walks in a season. He ranked 18th in the nation in Toughest To Strike Out, fanning only nine times in 194 at bats. In his two years at CSUMB, he has been the starting second baseman, center fielder and third baseman. 

CCAA Dr. Hal Charnofsky Female Award: Melanie Lashbrook - Volleyball 

Senior Melanie Lashbrook (Truckee, Calif./Tahoe Truckee HS) graduated this past December with a 3.62 GPA, and a kinesiology degree. In her senior volleyball campaign, she had 294 kills and team-best 77 blocks. Lashbrook was selected All-CCAA second team for the second consecutive season. She tallied a program-best .275 career attack percentage and is ranked third in career blocks with a total of 203 in 293 sets. 

The CSUMB Athletic Department had two special presentations to conclude the 2012 banquet.

Otoupal presented gifts to outgoing sailing coach, Frank Degnan and President Dianne Harrison, who begins her new presidency duties at Cal State Northridge in June.