STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton Athletic Department hosted its annual All-Sports Banquet Monday night at the David Tomlinson Pavilion on the campus of Tarleton State University.

All the sports and supporting groups were recognized for their efforts throughout the 2011-12 school year.  Coaches, administrators and student-athletes were in attendance as each team presented their team awards to their players.

The president of Tarleton, Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio, was also on hand to speak and show his support to Tarleton Athletics.  Dr. Dottavio and the Vice Presidents in attendance introduced the athletic council and along with Athletic Director Lonn Reisman, passed out the All-Purple Awards.  These awards are given out each year to those in the community that have dedicated their time and efforts to promoting Tarleton Athletics.  This year's recipients were Keith and Sonja Brown, Mike Tucker, Doug Montgomery and Jerry Graham.

The athletic department would like to thank the members of the Texan Club for catering and cleaning up after the event.

Each team also passed individual awards and discussed their season.  Head coaches announced the following awards seperated by sport.

AWARD WINNERS

Football
Offensive MVP - Nick Stephens, QB, Sr.
Defensive MVP - Marquis Wadley, LB, So.
Most Improved - Clifton Rhodes, WR, Fr.
Higgs Award - Dashaun Phillips, DB, So.
Fornes Award - Jason Billings, DL, Sr.
Zach Shaver Award - Cory Jackson, DL, So.
                                 - Cole Vitolo, DL, So.

Volleyball
MVP - Jessie Hartman, S, Sr.
Offensive Player of the Year - Stacie Murrah, OH, So.
Defensive Player of the Year - Emily Klein, L, So.
Newcomer of the Year - Nikki McNorton, MB, Jr.
TexAnn Award - Jessie Hartman, S, Sr.

Women's Basketball
TexAnn Award - Morgan Stehling, F, Sr.
                        - Tara Towns, G, Sr.
                        - Shelby Adamson, G, Sr.
                        - Lisa Parker, G, Sr.
MVP - Shelby Adamson
Defensive Player of the Year - Shelby Adamson
Offensive Player of the Year - Peyton Adamson, G, So.
                                             - Kiara Wright, F, So.
Free Throw Award - Peyton Adamson
Most Improved - Karli Moore, F, Fr.
Hustle Award - Shelby Adamson

Men's Basketball
Texan Award - Larry Petite, G, Sr.
MVP - Fabian Wilson, F, Sr.
Hustler Award - Coleman Furst, G, So.
Newcomer of the Year - Brian Word, G, Jr.
All-Academic - Zach Price, G, Fr.
Most Improved - Chris Harrell, G, Sr.
Leadership Award - Warren Webb, G, Sr.

Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine Athletic Training Award - Jonathan Tucker
Sports Medicine Comeback Athlete Award - Brian Ford
Tarleton Athletic Traniers' Association Award - Alex Medrano

Women's Cross Country
MVP - Lindsey Hinton, Jr.

Men's Cross Country
MVP - Tye Doty, Fr.

Women's Golf
MVP - Jacqueline Lau
         - Sharon Lau
Newcomer of the Year - Jessica Pickwick

Cheer
Newcomer of the Year - Hannah Leslie
Cheerleader of the Year - Dee Kelley
Cheerleader of the Year - Kyndal Horton
All-Around - Kelsie Warner
Most Spirited - Victoria Pearce

Iron Texan All-Star - Strength & Conditioning
Men's Basketball - Chris Harrell
Women's Basketball - Kimber Koonsman
Football Upper-Classmen - Jerrell Jones
Football Freshmen - Nick Perez
Volleyball - Katie Covell
Baseball - Colt Molloy
Softball - Alexandria Orf
Men's Track and Field - Gordon Alvarado
Women's Track and Field - Jenna Duncan
Cheerleading - Ashley Belk
Women's Golf - Sharon Lau
Cross Country - Hillari Raemsch
Tennis - Silvia Nieva


For more on the event, check out TarletonSports.com.