Voting open for 5th annual Buzzies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, April 6, 2017 Voting open for 5th annual Buzzies

Voting opens for the fifth-annual Buzzies, the annual awards ceremony for Yellowjacket Athletics, which is scheduled for April 27.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Voting is now open for the fifth-annual Montana State University Billings Buzzies, the official awards ceremony for Yellowjacket Athletics.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 27 at 7 p.m. in Petro Theater and is open to the public, free of charge.

Voting is open via the MSUB Sports Facebook page here, and will close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 20.

Below is a listing of the 2017 Buzzies nominees, as well as links to vote on Facebook in each category. For more information on the Buzzies, including a history of award winners and all-time standings, visit the Buzzies Home Page here.

Overall Awards Female Athlete of the Year – Vote on Facebook Tiana Hanson – Women’s Basketball Dana Lubieniecki – Women’s Soccer Heather Tracy – Softball Ashlynn Ward – Volleyball Male Athlete of the Year – Vote on Facebook Julien Dragomir – Men’s Soccer Casey Merritt – Baseball Caleb Stetzner – Men’s Golf Sam Zook – Men’s Track & Field Freshman of the Year – Vote on Facebook Chuck Carr – Men’s Track & Field Caje Golden – Baseball JD Hauenstein – Men’s Soccer Amanda Hemmen – Women’s Soccer Michaela Johnson – Women’s Track & Field Maddy Lincoln – Softball Caleb Stetzner – Men’s Golf Faith Taylor – Volleyball Newcomer of the Year – Vote on Facebook Julien Dragomir – Men’s Soccer Jalen Garcia – Baseball Casey Rich – Volleyball Grace Weeks – Women’s Basketball Breakout Player of the Year – Vote on Facebook Megan Dettling – Softball Jordan Devoto – Women’s Soccer Shealyn Hafer – Women’s Golf Joe Scott – Men’s Soccer Kamal Tall – Men’s Basketball Comeback Player of the Year – Vote on Facebook Jace Anderson – Men’s Basketball Casey Merritt – Baseball

Julien Dragomir (top), who led the GNAC in goals with 12 this year, is in the running for Male Athlete of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Men’s Soccer Player of the Year.

Game/Event of the Year – Vote on Facebook Baseball – Come-from-behind win over NNU after trailing 8-1 (3/24/17) Men’s Basketball – 100-93 road win over No. 19 Western Washington (12/31/16) Men’s Golf – Winning the Mike Grob Cup in the fall against Rocky Mountain College (9/16/16) Men’s Soccer – Home win over Seattle Pacific 1-0 (10/22/16) Softball – 10-run, game-tying bottom of the 7th inning vs. Western Oregon in Game 4 (3/19/17) Women’s Basketball – Road win over Central Washington (12/3/16)

Women’s Golf – Tournament victory at Beaver-Jacket Invite in Las Vegas (3/28/17) Women’s Soccer – 2-1 overtime win over Simon Fraser at home (10/27/16) Moment/Play of the Year – Vote on Facebook Baseball – Casey Merritt Walk-Off Triple vs. NNU at home (3/24/17) Men’s Basketball – Marc Matthews last-second, game-winning 3-pointer at home vs. Alaska Anchorage (1/12/17) Men’s Golf – School-record round of 269 with all five players sub-70 at RMC Invite (10/2/16) Men’s Soccer – Julien Dragomir equalizer against NNU at home in 89th minute (10/15/16) Men’s Track & Field – Sam Zook Wins 60-meter title at GNAC Indoor Championships (2/18/17) Softball – Cameron Cassinelli walk-off home run vs. CSU San Bernardino (2/9/17) Women’s Basketball – Tiana Hanson breaks MSUB career free-throw percentage record on Senior Night (2/25/17) Women’s Golf – Sammy Walter tying for 1st place at the WWU Fall Invite (10/11/16) Women’s Soccer – Hayley Warren game-winning overtime goal vs. Simon Fraser at home (10/27/16) Women’s Track & Field – Michaela Johnson earns All-GNAC w/3rd-place finish in 60-meter hurdles at GNAC Indoors (2/19/17)

Individual Team Player of the Year Awards Baseball – Vote on Facebook Bryon Baker Casey Merritt Zach Robinson Men’s Basketball – Vote on Facebook Jace Anderson Preston Beverly Marc Matthews Men’s Cross Country – Vote on Facebook Jorey Egeland Garrett Love Josh Panasuk Men’s Golf – Vote on Facebook Connor Miele Michael Porter Caleb Stetzner Men’s Soccer – Vote on Facebook Julien Dragomir Guillaume Kremer Oliver Posarelli Men’s Track & Field – Vote on Facebook Jorey Egeland Nels Flanagan Sam Zook

Senior Tiana Hanson’s record-breaking performance on Senior Night is among the Moment of the Year nominees, and the academic All-American is also up for Female Athlete of the Year.

Softball – Vote on Facebook Cameron Cassinelli Megan Dettling Heather Tracy Volleyball – Vote on Facebook Kylee Cornelio Stormy Siemion Ashlynn Ward Women’s Basketball – Vote on Facebook Tiana Hanson Rylee Kane Marissa Van Atta Women’s Cross Country – Vote on Facebook Nikki Aiken Bailey Bomar Rio Frame Women’s Golf – Vote on Facebook Bailee Dexter Haley Shackelford Sammy Walter Women’s Soccer – Vote on Facebook Amanda Hemmen Kari Kastelic Dana Lubieniecki Women’s Track & Field – Vote on Facebook Brenna Beckett Michaela Johnson Josey Smiedala

Amanda Hemmen, who earned honorable mention all-GNAC in her first year with the Yellowjackets, is up for Freshman of the Year and Women’s Soccer Player of the Year.

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