FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletic Department celebrated its stellar – and still on-going – 2017-18 campaign Wednesday night in conjunction with the final week of classes during the annual Senior Send-Off and Awards Ceremony held on campus in the Cohen Center Ballroom.
 
Along with honoring the department's seniors, six different awards were handed out, highlighted by women's soccer defender Ashley Parks (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette HS) and baseball pitcher Mario Leon (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) winning the prestigious Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award, the highest honor FGCU Athletics bestows upon a graduating senior student-athlete. The award recognizes the ability of the winner(s) to combine athletic and academic success (minimum 3.20 GPA) with community service.
 
Parks is the third women's soccer player in the last three years to win the Eagle Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining a pair of former teammates in 2016: Emma Blackwell and Brittany Brown. Leon is just the second baseball player to win in the 16-year history of the award, joining Josh Chester in 2010.
 
More information about both Parks and Leon can be found below. Swimmer Sommer Harris (Richmond, Va./St. Catherine's School) and softball outfielder Kelsey Huff (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer HS) were also recognized as finalists for the prestigious award.
 
Five other annual awards were presented on the night, beginning with the Wings Up Team Spirit Award – previously the Eagle Team Spirit Award – which is given to the team which exemplifies Eagle spirit and team support. The 2018 honor went to the volleyball team. The award is based off six categories: Dirty Bird memberships, Wings Up app downloads, attendance at games, spirit displayed at those games, social media support of their own team and other sports and promotion and interaction with fellow students and community members.
 
The Stanley 'Butch' Perchan Award, previously named the Green and Blue Award, is annually bestowed upon a staff member(s) who personifies the proverbial definition of someone who bleeds Green and Blue. Three years ago, Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh announced that the award would be renamed the Stanley 'Butch' Perchan Award in honor of Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs Emeritus Butch Perchan. Perchan, via video, presented the 2018 honor to program-founding women's soccer head coach Jim Blankenship and his wife and athletics department administrative assistant Patricia Blankenship.
 
Blankenship started the women's soccer program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to 11 straight double-digit win seasons, culminating with ASUN Regular Season Championships in an incredible eight-straight years and six NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons of eligibility. Amongst her primary duties, Blankenship's wife, Trish, has worked directly with Kavanagh and the rest of the executive staff since 2008. The primary administrative contact for the department, she also serves in a liaison role for men's and women's basketball, volleyball and beach volleyball.
 
Women's tennis player Julianna Curtis (West Des Moines, Iowa/Allendale Academy) was the recipient of the Community Service Award, which is presented annually to the student-athlete who best exemplifies FGCU Athletics' dedicated commitment to volunteerism on campus and throughout the Southwest Florida community. Curtis has performed nearly 170 hours of community service during her time with the Eagles – more than double what FGCU requires to graduate – and has assisted at a myriad of events and organizations, including Project Life Movement, Lee County Parks and Recreation, Operation Christmas Child and Immokalee Middle School.
 
The Carl McAloose Spirit Award is given to at least one male and female student-athlete who best exemplify former Director of Athletics Carl McAloose's spirit and love for FGCU Athletics, as well as dedication to their team and teammates. Four recipients – two males and two females – won the award this year: men's tennis player Austin Bates (Marietta, Ga./Pope HS), men's soccer midfielder Miguel Jaime (Denver, Colo./Cherry Creek HS), softball infielder Brittany McGuire (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) and women's cross country runner Anita Munoz (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee HS).
 
The Most Inspirational Award, which was renamed the Duane Swanson Sr. Inspirational Award at the 2011 ceremony, was presented to women's basketball guard Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) and softball outfielder Natalie Lopez (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian HS).
 
Gradinjan overcame two ACL injuries to open her career to graduate magna cum laude and finish as the program's all-time leader in career games played (148). She also concluded her career 6th in points (1,237), 5th in field goals made (425), 2nd in 3-pointers made (300) and 8th in 3-point percentage (.373). Gradinjan is a three-time ASUN All-Academic Team member and landed a spot on the prestigious DI-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team earlier this month.
 
Lopez has also suffered multiple ACL injuries, overcoming those just as Gradinjan did before another setback unfortunately ended her senior year this season after just 10 games. Despite missing much of this season and needing to recover from earlier injuries, Lopez is a career .329 hitter who started 135 of the 169 games she appeared in, primarily as an outfielder. She is finalizing a biology degree, and currently boasts a 3.49 GPA as a seven-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll and a Dean's List recipient each of the previous three semesters. Additionally, she is a two-year representative on the Eagles Council (FGCU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee), and spent this past year as the secretary.
 
EAGLE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE WINNERS ASHLEY PARKS & MARIO LEON
 
ASHLEY PARKS: After graduating with a 3.48 undergraduate GPA in which she was named to the Dean's List four times and the President's List once, Parks is set to complete her Master's in Accounting and Taxation in just one year as she currently carries a 3.81 GPA. Among joining several prestigious professional societies, she has received nomination to become a Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society member, which is comprised of business students in the top-10 percent of their class. Additionally, Parks was recently named the Lutgert College of Business Graduate Student of the Year, was a two-time ASUN All-Academic Team member and a Female FGCU Athletics Student-Athlete of the Month selection.
 
Parks has volunteered at the Harry Chapin Hunger Walk, Habitat for Humanity, Spring Bling, Kowiachobee Animal Preserve and has planted trees as part of the Family Gardens Organization, among many other community service projects in Southwest Florida. On campus, Parks participated in Night at the Nest, women's soccer clinics and the Susan G. Komen fundraiser, in addition to tutoring accounting students and helping freshmen move in to South Village.
 
On the field, Parks is one of the most decorated players in program history. A two-time ASUN First Team selection, she was named the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year this past fall as a team captain in addition to her second-consecutive All-Region Second Team nod. Parks was named to the ASUN All-Tournament Team on two occasions, received an ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honor as a sophomore and landed on the CoSIDA All-District IV First Team as a senior. She has been the anchor of an FGCU backline which in 2016 led the ASUN in fewest goals allowed with only 17, and this past year posted 11 shutouts – the 2nd-most in program single-season history. Parks has helped guide the Eagles to ASUN Regular Season and ASUN Tournament Championships in every year, and will graduate tied for the most appearances in program history with 84.
 
Head Coach Jim Blankenship On Parks:
"Ashley persevered through a devastating knee injury in her junior year and could have easily forgone playing an additional 5th year, but her will and determination prevailed. She has excelled athletically and academically, and is an incredible leader who is a deserving winner of this award. FGCU women's soccer will be forever grateful for her contributions."
 
MARIO LEON: Leon is close to completing a Master's degree after graduating with a 3.83 GPA and a communications degree. An eight-time Athletic Director Honor Roll selection (each of his undergraduate semesters) Leon was also a member of the Dean's List six times and a President's List recipient once. Additionally, he was a Student-Athlete Luncheon honoree four times, and the Male FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month twice.
 
A volunteer on campus for the FGCU Winter Games, Night at the Nest and baseball camps, Leon also completed an internship with the Athletics Communication Office. Throughout Southwest Florida, Leon has served at the Gladiolus Learning and Development Center, Read Across America, Radio Thank-A-Thon and been a guest speaker at little leagues and helped aid in Hurricane Irma relief. Additionally, Leon has been a two-year FGCU Eagles Council President and three-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), serving as FGCU's ASUN SAAC representative for each year.
 
On the mound, Leon has been a part of the first NCAA Regional appearance in program history last year following an ASUN Tournament Championship, in addition to an ASUN Regular Season Championship as a freshman. Last season alone as a midweek starter, Leon earned wins against #2 Florida, #21 USF and fellow in-state rival Miami – the latter of which earned him ASUN Pitcher of the Week honors. He also started and pitched four innings in helping the Eagles defeat #1 Florida State, 5-2. For his career, Leon ranks 5th in program history in strikeouts (205) and is tied for 10th in wins with 15.
 
Head Coach Dave Tollett On Leon:
"Mario exhibits five qualities that make him an outstanding and deserving winner of this prestigious award: a tremendous work ethic, an in-depth knowledge of his degree, unquestionable integrity, leadership among student-athletes and his love for FGCU. He truly cares about those around him. He is honest, fair and practical. Mario has represented FGCU in so many ways by leading us on the field, in the classroom and in the community."
 
2017-18 EAGLES CLUB MOST OUTSTANDING MALE AND FEMALE ATHLETES
Previously called just the Most Outstanding Male and Female Athlete Award, it was renamed to the Eagles Club Most Outstanding Male and Female Athlete Award at last year's ceremony. The Eagles Club is the official booster organization which helps financially support and raise funds for each of FGCU's 15 programs. The winners of this award will be announced at the 'Welcome Back Picnic' in August, as not all teams have finished their seasons at this time. All nominees have either earned First Team All-Conference or better (i.e. Freshman of the Year), swimmers who came in 1st at the conference championship meet or for baseball and softball that have not yet finished, are individuals whom are under strong considerations for such accolades.
 
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY: Carley Lutzow
MEN'S SOCCER: Nicolas Samayoa, Shak Adams, Albert Ruiz
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Ashley Parks, Melissa Weck, Lindsey Patton, Holly Fritz, Nikki Hudson, Marjorie Boilesen
VOLLEYBALL: Amanda Carroll, Snowy Burnam, Daniele Serrano
SWIMMING & DIVING: Hannah Burdge, Sommer Harris, Christina Kaas Elmgreen, Gracie Redding, Linda Shaw, Hannah Soutar, Elizabeth Zeiger
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Rosemarie Julien, China Down
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Brandon Goodwin, Zach Johnson
WOMEN'S TENNIS: Maja Ornberg, Julia Ascúa
WOMEN'S GOLF: Natalia Nassar
BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Karissa Rhoades, Katherine Puisis, Snowy Burnam
BASEBALL*: Gage Morey, Richie Garcia, Kohl Gilmore, Alex Brait, Justin Gill
SOFTBALL*: Riley Randolph, Kelsey Huff, Racquel Fournet
* Anticipated; ASUN honors not yet released
 
2017-18 FGCU ATHLETICS AWARD WINNERS
Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award: Ashley Parks (Women's Soccer), Mario Leon (Baseball)
Wings Up Team Spirit Award: Volleyball
Stanley "Butch" Perchan Award: Jim & Patricia Blankenship (Women's Soccer Head Coach; Athletics Administrative Assistant)
Community Service Award: Julianna Curtis (Women's Tennis)
Carl McAloose Spirit Award: Austin Bates (Men's Tennis), Miguel Jaime (Men's Soccer), Brittany McGuire (Softball), Anita Munoz (Women's Cross Country)
Duane Swanson Sr. Inspirational Award: Taylor Gradinjan (Women's Basketball), Natalie Lopez (Softball)
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 70 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 10+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just 6+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had 33 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a 3.27 GPA in the classroom and served an all-time high 7,200+ volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACAD Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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