ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell seniors
Alyson Intihar (Zelienople, Pa.),
Troy Nickerson (Chenango Forks, N.Y.) and
Ryan Wittman (Eden Prairie, Minn.) were recipients of the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award on Monday evening at the school's annual senior athletics banquet.
Kerry Quinn (Havertown, Pa.) and
Liz Zorn (Churchville, N.Y.) both earned the Ronald P. Lynch Senior Spirit Award, given to student-athletes whose leadership on and off the field models the ideals of the Big Red athletics department.
Colin Greening (St. John's, Newfoundland) was recognized with the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Leadership Award for most embodying leadership, athleticism and a strong work ethic.
Intihar, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year in softball, helped the Big Red to a pair of Ivy League titles and NCAA tournament appearances. The three-time first-team All-Ivy pick and a three-time NFCA all-region selection, Intihar established 12 single-season and career records while starting all 205 career games for the Big Red. She will graduate as the school and the conference's career leader in hits (257) and runs scored (175) and in the top 10 in batting average (.377) and doubles (47). Intihar is also widely regarded as one of the top defensive players at any position in the Ancient Eight. The two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team member batted .367 with 69 hits, 42 runs scored and a .406 on-base percentage. The team captain slugged seven doubles and a pair of home runs while driving in 18. Intihar was the toughest player in Division I to strike out this season, going down just twice in 188 at bats. She led the conference in hits, finished second in runs, third in batting average, fifth in total bases (84) and seventh in on-base percentage.
Nickerson was an NCAA champion as a junior, a two-time NCAA finalist and four-year All-American and a member of four Ivy championship teams. The three-time EIWA champion received the prestigious Fletcher Award in 2010 as the senior who contributes the most team points at the EIWA tournament throughout his career. With a 97-8 career record, Nickerson ranks sixth all-time in winning percentage at Cornell in a career (.924). A four-time first-team All-Ivy pick, he earned EIWA Wrestler of the Year accolades in 2009. Nickerson was a two-year captain and finished with 38 pins, second in school history, and received the 2009 Sheridan Award given to the wrestler that wins the most matches by fall in the least amount of time at the EIWA meet. He has the two fastest falls in school history, including a record-setting 13-second win during a dual meet against Eastern Michigan as a junior. As a freshman, Nickerson burst onto the scene, winning Ivy League Wrestler and Rookie of the Year, the first male athlete in any Ivy sport to capture both awards in the same season. He also was EIWA Freshman of the Year in 2006.
Wittman, an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in men's basketball as a senior, became the third Cornelian to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors, doing so unanimously, and was picked to the first team by each of the Ivy coaches for the third straight season. The school's career scoring leader (2,028 points) became the Ivy League's fifth 2,000-point scorer with his 24-point effort in the NCAA tournament win over Wisconsin. He holds school and Ivy records for 3-pointers in a season (109 in 2009-10) and career (377) and was named to the collegeinsider.com's Mid-Major All-Decade team. Wittman helped the Big Red to three Ivy titles, three NCAA tournament appearances and the school's first-ever spot in the Sweet 16 during his final campaign. The USBWA and NABC first-team all-district pick averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists while setting an Ivy League record with his 109 3-point field goals as a senior. The eight-time Ivy League Player of the Week during his career was the MVP of the Legends Classic Regional and an all-tournament pick at the MSG Holiday Festival in 2009-10. He ended his career as a three-time NABC and two-time USBWA all-district honoree after capturing Ivy League Rookie of the Year accolades in 2006-07.
Quinn was the coxswain for the 2008 national championship lightweight rowing team. A member of the U.S. national team, he was part of a silver medal-winning team at the World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland in the summer of 2009. The president of the Red Key Athletic Honor Society, Quinn is the team captain of the 2010 squad. Quinn has spent three summers assisting in the restoration of Philadelphia's historic Memorial Hall initially built for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition as an intern. A first-team All-Ivy selection in 2008, he is a three-year letter winner. Quinn's commitment to community service through his leadership in Red Key has also been substantial.
Zorn served as team captain of the 2009-10 women's ice hockey team that won the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League titles and finished as the national runner-up. On the ice, she saw action in 121 career contests and compiled 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points and helped Cornell turn around a program from one that went 4-23-2 as a freshman to a school-record setting 21-9-6 mark in her final campaign. She earned the team's Rookie of the Year award in 2007 and was the squad's Unsung Hero winner in 2010. Off the ice, Zorn was actively involved in helping better the lives of children in Tompkins County. Zorn helped organize a yearly picnic and walk-a-thon to benefit the local FoodNet chapter. She has been a Big Sister for the local Cub Club program helping mentor young girls in the county. Zorn aided the Adopt-A-Family program with the Salvation Army and visited the local Boces School to talk to students about hockey and learn about their special needs. She worked with the Early Childhood Center at Cornell as an assistant teacher and was a volunteer with the Special Olympics.
Men's ice hockey was represented by
Colin Greening, the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner. A second-team Academic All-American as a junior, he garnered the ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year award in 2010. The first-team All-Ivy League honoree also was named second-team All-ECAC Hockey and was a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award as a senior. Greening finished the 2009-10 season with 35 points in 34 games, scoring 15 goals and adding 20 assists. Six of his goals came on the power play, while three were game-winners. The St. John's, Newfoundland, native appeared in 137 consecutive games over the course of his Cornell career, one shy of tying the school record. He finished with 118 career points, tying him for 33rd all-time at Cornell. Following the season, Greening, who was a 2005 draft pick of the Ottawa Senators, signed a contract with the NHL club and will begin his professional career in the fall of 2010. His off-ice activity was even more impressive. A two-year captain, Greening is a member of the Red Key Athletic Honor Society. A two-year winner of the Joe DiLibero/Stan Tsapis Award for efficiency, dedication and hard-nosed application for the Big Red, Greening has spent countless hours volunteering his time within the Cornell and Ithaca communities. Examples of his service range from reading at area elementary schools to working with area hockey teams and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs. He has volunteered his time working at the Franziska Rackers Centers, assisting people with special needs, and participated in the local "Walk for Breast Cancer." Greening worked with the Porte De Belen Foundation's trip to the Dominican Republic in June 2009, spending a week working to build facilities and helping improve quality of life in the area. He was one of 25 students campus-wide to be named a Cornell Campus "Changemaker." Along with teammate
Ben Scrivens, he played a large part in the fourth-annual Cornell Hockey Teddy Bear Toss which raises money for the Franziska Racker Centers and donates stuffed animals to the Ithaca Cops, Kids and Toys program. For all of his efforts, Greening was named Cornell's Richie Moran Award Winner as the senior student-athlete member of the Red Key Society who has distinguished themselves through "academics, athletics and ambassadorship."