Missouri S&T Sweeps 2013 GLVC Richard F. Scharf Paragon Awards
S&T soccer's Spencer Brinkmeyer and volleyball's Jennifer Costello named GLVC's Male and Female Athletes of the Year
Jeff Smith, GLVC Assistant Commissioner/John Kean, Missouri S&T Sports Information Director
INDIANAPOLIS – The Missouri University of Science and Technology has swept the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s most coveted honor as senior soccer standout Spencer Brinkmeyer and senior volleyball star Jennifer Costello have been named the 2013 recipients of the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Awards, the league office announced Wednesday.
The awards are bestowed annually by the GLVC to one male and one female athlete that display academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character and leadership. It is named in honor of the Commissioner Emeritus of the GLVC and former coach and director of athletics at Saint Joseph's College.
Brinkmeyer and Costello will be recognized Tuesday, May 21, at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Awards Banquet at the Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Mo., the same night former Lady Miner Kandi Wieberg Spraggs will be inducted into the GLVC’s Hall of Fame.
Costello and Brinkmeyer are the second and third student-athletes from Missouri S&T to win the Scharf Paragon Award, following Jordan Henry in 2009, and it marks the third time since the GLVC began the award in 1991 that the same school had the winner of both awards. The others were Saint Joseph's in 1993 and Lewis in 2007.
Costello earned numerous honors throughout her volleyball career at Missouri S&T, topped by being chosen as the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year award winner for Division II volleyball. She was the third student-athlete in school history to earn the nation's top academic award that is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
In addition to that honor, Costello was also named as the GLVC’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2012 volleyball season. The St. Louis, Mo., native will be graduating May 19 with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering.
Costello was named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team for the second year in succession and earned first-team All-GLVC distinction for a second straight season. She is a three-time Academic All-GLVC selection (will be four after the 2012-13 season ends) and three-time academic all-district choice, having been named to the second team in 2010.
During the 2012 season, Costello – a two-year captain for S&T -- helped lead the Lady Miners to their second straight GLVC West Division title and the semifinals of the conference tournament. She finished third in the GLVC in assists per set and ranked 13th in all of Division II averaging 11.23 a set. As a team, S&T finished 20th in the nation averaging 12.74 set assists per set. She had eight matches this past season with at least 50 set assists including a season-high 61 in a five set win over Upper Iowa on Sept. 7.
She was chosen to the American Volleyball Coaches Association's All-Midwest region team for the 2012 season.
In 2011, she was a key member of the Lady Miners' first team to win the GLVC West title, earn a spot in the GLVC Tournament, win a game at the conference tournament and reach the NCAA Division II Tournament in just its fifth season of existence. She set a school record for assists in a season with 1,436 as S&T went 24-10.
Costello finished her career with 4,361 set assists, 923 digs, 444.5 points scored, 270 kills, 182 total blocks and 80 service aces. During the three seasons in which she was a starter for the Lady Miners, the team posted a record of 58-36 and went 30-6 in the GLVC over the last two years.
Off the field, she served as president of Missouri S&T's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in the 2012-13 academic year after spending two years as secretary and has been a local and national member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She did internships with Afton Chemical in Sauget, Ill., in the summer of 2010 and CVR Energy in Coffeyville, Kan., in the summer of 2012, while spending the summer of 2011 in a project called Energy Research with a Global Reach at Washington University in St. Louis. That included a trip to Hong Kong and China to learn about alternative energy sources from top researchers in those countries.
She has also served as a volunteer swimming instructor and volleyball coach and private lesson instructor, as well as being selected to take part in the Regional Business Council's Mentor Network program, a highly competitive cohort of students receiving exclusive connections to St. Louis regional business executive and professional development opportunities.
Brinkmeyer completed his brilliant career with the men's soccer team, which included earning All-America honors, during the 2012 season by being selected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's All-Midwest Region first team.
During the past season, Brinkmeyer, who also served as a team captain for the Miners, was named All-GLVC for the third season in succession and was also chosen to the Capital One Academic All-District Four team last fall. He will be graduating May 19 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
Brinkmeyer was named second-team All-GLVC as a back, a position in which he was named to the first team as both a sophomore and junior. He finished the past year with three goals and an assist for seven points and anchored a solid defensive unit from his sweeper position that allowed only 13 goals in 17 games.
It was the third straight season in which Brinkmeyer has won an honor at the regional level, as he was selected to the Daktronics All-Midwest Region squad in 2011 and earned All-America honors from his position in 2010 when the Miners won a share of the GLVC regular season title and reached the championship game of the Midwest Regional.
Brinkmeyer scored his goals this season against Truman State, Kentucky Wesleyan and Rockhurst and finished his Miner career with 11 goals and five assists. The Kansas City, Mo., native is a three-time member of the GLVC's All-Academic team (will be four following the 2012-13 season).
Off the field, he served as president of Missouri S&T's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during the 2011-12 academic year and also served as a resident assistant for the residential life office on the S&T campus. During the summers of 2011 and 2012, he did internships with HNTB Corporation in Overland Park, Kan., working on projects such as designing taxiways and aprons for airports and being part of a design team to build the first design-build highway project in the state of Kansas.
ALL-TIME RICHARD F. SCHARF PARAGON AWARD RECIPIENTS
*Prior to the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award’s inception, from 1985-1989, the Paragon Award was the award given to the player of the year in each GLVC sport.
MALE
1990-91 Tom Schurfranz, Bellarmine
1991-92 Tom Schurfranz, Bellarmine
Todd Svoboda, Northern Kentucky
1992-93 Mark Scheidler, Saint Joseph’s
1993-94 Craig Martin, Southern Indiana
1994-95 Eric Berry, Ashland
1995-96 Jake Chapman, Saint Joseph’s
1996-97 James Limna, Lewis
1997-98 Andy Listerman, Northern Kentucky
1998-99 Scott Riggle, Indianapolis
1999-00 Kevin Listerman, Northern Kentucky
2000-01 Ronald Brooks, Bellarmine
2001-02 Arturo Cabral, Lewis
2002-03 Matt Spector, Quincy
2003-04 Logan Hughes, Missouri-St. Louis
Duncan Bray, Southern Indiana
2004-05 Matt Keener, Southern Indiana
2005-06 Nick Frederickson, Quincy
2006-07 Andy Tremble, Lewis
2007-08 Garrett Fischer, Rockhurst
2008-09 Jordan Henry, Missouri S&T
2009-10 Evan McDole, Northern Kentucky
2010-11 Jaime Villa Zapatero, Drury
2011-12 Braydon Hobbs, Bellarmine
2012-13 Spencer Brinkmeyer, Missouri S&T
FEMALE
1990-91 Jodi Ireland, Ashland
1991-92 Lisa Miller, IPFW
1992-93 Tia Glass, Saint Joseph’s
1993-94 Stacey Ferguson, Kentucky Wesleyan
1994-95 Jenny Boyd, Kentucky Wesleyan
1995-96 Amber Huse, Southern Indiana
1996-97 Marian LeAnn Freeland, Southern Indiana
1997-98 Eileen Weber, Southern Indiana
1998-99 Shannon Smith, Northern Kentucky
1999-00 Angie Hupfer, Saint Joseph’s
2000-01 Misi Clark, SIU Edwardsville
Elizabeth Ramsey, Indianapolis
Michele Tuchfarber, Northern Kentucky
2001-02 Michelle Cottrell, Northern Kentucky
2002-03 Shannon Wells, Southern Indiana
2003-04 Jenny Esker, SIU Edwardsville
2004-05 Stefanie Strauss, UW-Parkside
2005-06 Amanda Newton, Drury
2006-07 Mary Moskal, Lewis
2007-08 Molly Carter, Drury
2008-09 Jessica Keller, Quincy
2009-10 Kyleigh Turner, Indianapolis
2010-11 Torie Bunzell, Quincy
2011-12 Hope Christie, UW-Parkside
2012-13 Jennifer Costello, Missouri S&T