By Nicholas Huenefeld/OCCAC Sports Information
Springfield, Ohio---The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) has awarded five individuals as the Sportsperson of the Year in their respective sports as part of the conference's inaugural All-Sportsmanship team.
This year's Sportsperson of the Year recipients include Dylan Mutchler of the Clark State Community College baseball team, Jackson Pietrzak of the Sinclair Community College men's basketball team, Abbe Mowrer of the Lakeland Community College softball team, Annie Lindeman of the Owens Community College women's volleyball team and Lauren Roetgerman of the Sinclair Community College women's volleyball team.
DYLAN MUTCHLER: Mutchler, while compiling a 4.00 GPA, has participated in Clark County Service Day and Volley for a Cure. He was a two-time All-OCCAC academic team and Clark State athletics honor roll recipient this year.
JACKSON PIETRZAK: Pietrzak started his tenure with the Sinclair men's basketball team as a student-manager, as well as a student worker in the Sinclair equipment room. He worked his way to a non-scholarship spot on the roster and graduated with an Associate of Science (Engineering) degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.60. He was named to the dean's list both semesters this year and earned OCCAC All-Academic team honors twice. As a sophomore, he was one of the team's tri-captains, and he was always front and center during the team's many community service projects including a visit to the Vets at the Dayton VA, helping coach youth basketball once a month and spending Thanksgiving Day serving dinner to 6,000 people at the Dayton Convention Center. He will continue his education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
ABBE MOWRER: Mowrer transferred to Lakeland this past year from Marietta College. After tearing her ACL during her time there, she still wasn't ready to play softball this past fall. Despite that, she remained positive and even volunteered to chart pitches during those fall games. She also helped set up equipment during the fall season just to be involved. She battled her way back to appear in 32 games and produced 32 RBI and pitched 23 innings for the team. Away from the field, she commuted an hour and 15 minutes to Lakeland each day because of her love of the sport, and she maintained a 4.00 GPA.
ANNIE LINDEMAN: On the court, Lindeman improved her hitting percentage by .161 from her freshman year and even had a season-high 10 kills in the team's district championship win over Sinclair. Off the court, she earned a spot on the OCCAC's All-Academic team in the fall and spring semesters. Furthermore, she was the catalyst behind this year's team choosing "Children's Medical Missions West (CMM)" as its charity to raise money for this year. That organization provides free medical care to children who couldn't receive the care in the home country. Lindeman will continue her athletic and academic career at Shawnee State this fall.
LAUREN ROETGERMAN: Roetgerman, who was a member of the women's volleyball team the past two seasons and the women's basketball team this past season, has been to the local churches, served dinner on Thanksgiving Day, visited with the veterans at the VA and participated in numerous breast cancer awareness walks with her teams. She will be graduating with honors with a business degree after earning a spot on this year's OCCAC All-Academic team in the fall and spring semesters.
In addition to those five individuals, the 2016-17 OCCAC All-Sportsmanship team includes: Cody Dennis of Sinclair (baseball), Vejer Cox of Clark State (men's basketball), Johnnie Robinson of Columbus State (men's basketball), Cortez Allen of Cuyahoga (men's basketball), Nick Thompson of Edison State (men's basketball), Jamiri Bennett of Owens (men's basketball), Jazzlyn Petry of Sinclair (softball), Vicki Osborne of Columbus State (women's volleyball), Holly Hoffman of Cuyahoga (women's volleyball), Meg Reineke of Sinclair (women's volleyball), Marlena Channels of Clark State (women's basketball), Keyvona Davis of Columbus State (women's basketball), Carly Buzzard of Edison State (women's basketball) and Olivia Frost of Owens (women's basketball).
NOTES: This year's inaugural awards were intended to recognize student-athletes in OCCAC sports who best exemplify good sportsmanship. The award was open to student-athletes in sports that crown a conference champion this year and will expand next year to include one male and one female at-large candidate in other sports.