Men's Basketball | 4/10/2009 1:49:39 PM
MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Marquis Spas Athletes of the Year for Western Oregon University's four winter sports have been selected by their respective coaches. The honorees for the winter as well as the winners for the spring and the 2008-09 Athletes of the Year will be presented May 16 at the Wolfpack Athletic Auction at the Salem Conference Center.
This is the fourth year that Marquis Spas has sponsored the Athlete of the Year program. One person will be selected for each sport during the 2008-09 season to receive the award, and a Marquis Spas Male and Female Athlete of the Year will be selected at the end of the school year.
Annan Applebee was selected as the Marquis Spas Indoor Track and Field Female Athlete of the year. She represented Western Oregon University in the 800m at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where she finished 10th. The sophomore from Gladstone, Ore. (Gladstone High School), earned her trip to the championships with an NCAA automatic qualifying standard time of 2:11.86.
Travis Kuhns was selected the men's basketball Marquis Spas Athlete of the Year. He was named to the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference second team after finishing sixth in the league in scoring (17.2) and seventh in assists (3.78), while leading the Wolves in both categories. He scored in double-figures in 25 of 27 games and scored 20 or more points 10 times. He was also twice named the co-GNAC Player of the Week. Kuhns is a senior forward from Salem, Ore., (Sprague High School).
Katie Torland, a junior from Burns, Ore., (Burns High School), was a first team All-GNAC selection after finishing second in the conference in scoring (17.7), third in minutes (32.15), fifth in free throw percentage (.803), eighth in three-pointers per game (1.63) and ninth in rebounds (7.2). She started all 27 games for WOU, scoring in double-figures in 25 of them. She also led the Wolves in scoring in 18 of 27 games and scored over 20 points on 12 occasions.
Zeb Udell earned his second straight Marquis Spas Track and Field Male Athlete of the Year, and third overall. Udell helped lead the men's team to the GNAC indoor championship as he scored 19 points at the conference meet. He won the long jump with a meet-record leap of 23-0.75 (7.03m) while finishing second in the pole vault (15-3/4.65m) and eighth in the 60m (7.28). Udell is a senior from Dallas, Ore. (Central High School).
All Marquis Spas Athlete of the Year awards were selected by the coaching staffs of each sport. Each student-athlete's name will be placed on a perpetual plaque that will be on display in WOU's Physical Education Building.
