Baseball | 7/22/2021 6:00:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University athletic department is excited to announce its six major postseason award winners for the 2020-21 season. The awards consist of the Danny Litwhiler Underclass Male Athlete of the Year, the Joanne McComb Underclass Female Athlete of the Year, the Robert B. Redman Senior Male Athlete of the Year, the Eleanor Wray Senior Female Athlete of the Year, and the Outstanding Senior Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

JOANNE MCCOMB UNDERCLASS FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Courtney Hubric (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) – Women's Swimming

Despite an abbreviated season in the pool, Hubric shined for the Huskies. The sophomore led the team with five All-Conference accolades during the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship meet. Hubric accounted for 64 team points to help BU to second-place finish at the championships.

Hubric claimed an individual title in the 50-yard freestyle and then was part of four All-PSAC relays. Two of those - the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard medley relays - took first while the 400-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay foursomes placed second. The team's time in the 200-medley and 200-free relays were both BU team records. During the season, Hubric hit a 22.94 50-yard freestyle split in a relay, the fastest split in BU history.

During the season, Hubric collected two BU team records, two BU All-Time top-10 times, three lifetime best performances and was a BU Scholar Athlete and a member of the BU Dean's List. Hubric was named to the PSAC Scholar Athlete list for the second-straight season.

Outside of the pool, Hubric holds a 3.70 GPA while majoring in nursing.

DANNY LITWHILER UNDERCLASS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Andy Thomas (Harleysville, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) – Men's Swimming

Thomas led the Huskies to their first PSAC Championship in program history after a fantastic first season in the pool for BU. Thomas was named the PSAC Swimmer of the Year and was the second men's swimmer at Bloomsburg to earn the league's Athlete of the Year honors as he joins Sam Feiser who garnered the award following the 2017-18 campaign.

Thomas swam in ten total events against outside competition during the year – and won ten times – including joining Feiser by winning seven conference titles in seven events at the PSAC Championships in April. The sophomore won four individual titles - the 50-yard freestyle, the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke, and the 100-yard backstroke - and was a part of three relay-winning foursomes - the 200-yard medley relay, the 800-yard freestyle relay, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. He broke two meet records and one conference record in the process.

His second individual victory of the conference meet came when he shattered the meet record in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:35.53 – the previous meet record was 1:37.36 which was established in 2014. It also blew away the Bloomsburg record as the previous mark was 1:37.28 set by Thomas, earlier this season.

Thomas won the 100-yard freestyle, shattering his own conference record in the process with a time of 43.35. His previous conference record came earlier this season when he posted 44.20 at the PSAC Invitational. He then anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay team that touched the wall first in 3:01.27 to complete the historic seven-for-seven effort.

Earlier in the year, Thomas swam three races while competing at the PSAC Invitational and at the Last Chance Meet, hosted by IUP. He won three times between the two meets with three NCAA B cuts. He won the 100-yard freestyle with a then BU-record time of 44.20 then won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.13. During the IUP Last Chance Meet, Thomas posted his lifetime-best time of 54.94 in the 100-yard breaststroke to win his third event of the day.

ELEANOR WRAY SENIOR FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Lauren Hoelke (Blackwood, N.J./Highland Regional) – Women's Soccer

Hoelke was the Joanne McComb Underclass Female Athlete of the Year following the 2019-20 season. During just three seasons with the Huskies, Hoelke helped BU to back-to-back Atlantic Region Titles and two consecutive trips to the NCAA Elite Eight. Bloomsburg's 18 wins in 2019 tied the program record for most victories in a season, which was initially established in 1996 when the Huskies went 18-3-1 under Hall of Fame coach Chuck Laudermilch. Meanwhile, the Huskies' 35 wins over the last two seasons established a new program record. The Huskies finished ranked in the top six in the country in both 2018 and 2019.

Hoelke has had a decorated Bloomsburg career and adds to her list with her first CoSIDA Academic All-District® selection. In 2019, Hoelke was named a D2CCA Second Team All-American and a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-American after earning First Team All-Region honors from both organizations. She also earned All-PSAC East First Team accolades after establishing career-highs in goals (13) and points (36) to lead the team in both categories. Her 13 goals were the most by a Huskies' player since 2010 while her 36 points tied for eighth-most in program history and were the most by a Bloomsburg player since 2001.

In 2018, Hoelke led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points on three goals and a career-high 12 assists. Her 12 helpers tied the school record for most assists in a single season and also tied for the PSAC lead. She was named the PSAC Tournament Most Valuable Player as she assisted on both goals during Bloomsburg's 2-1 overtime victory over East Stroudsburg in the title game. She scored nine points on three goals and three assists as a freshman in 2017.

All told, Hoelke has scored 19 goals and 25 assists for 63 points in her collegiate career.

In the classroom, Hoelke boasts a 3.63 cumulative grade point average while majoring in early childhood and special education. She was named a United Soccer Coaches Second Team Scholar All-American in 2019 after earning First Team Scholar All-Region honors earlier that year. She has also been a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and earned D2 ADA Scholar-Athlete honors following the 2019-20 academic year.

OUTSTANDING SENIOR FEMALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Anna Dempsey (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) – Lacrosse

Dempsey capped her spectacular career at Bloomsburg with the Outstanding Senior Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Following the season, Dempsey was named to the All-PSAC East First Team and to the IWLCA All-Atlantic Region First Team.

Dempsey picked up her first career all-region honors this season after earning her second All-PSAC nod as well. This season, she was second on the team in scoring with 40 points behind 36 goals and four assists. Her 36 goals this season was a career-best for Dempsey. She also won 33 draw controls, picked up 24 ground balls and had 11 free position goals.

Dempsey finished her time at BU with 82 goals, 16 assists for 98 total points. She hit the 100-draw control milestone during her junior season and has collected 152 DCs in her four years. She has 87 career ground balls as well.

In the classroom, Dempsey was a four-time PSAC Scholar Athlete. She completed her master's in information technology with a 4.00 GPA during her final season with the Huskies after completing her undergraduate degree in mathematics with 3.43 GPA in the fall of 2020.

ROBERT B. REDMAN SENIOR MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Noah Cancro (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford) – Men's Swimming

Cancro helped the men's swimming team to its first-ever PSAC championship in 2020-21 after an illustrious career with the Huskies.
This year, Cancro earned five All-Conference nods. Cancro took second in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 200-yard individual medley and then was part of three relay victories - the 800-yard freestyle relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. For the meet, Cancro earned 62 team points for BU.

In his career, Cancro is an 11-time All-Conference swimmer and a five-time PSAC champion. In 2019-20 season, Cancro was a part of the NCAA championship relay team. He owns 13 BU All-Time top 10 times. He won a PSAC championship in each of the four PSAC Championship meets in which he swam.

Outside of the pool, Cancro is a four-time PSAC Scholar Athlete, member of BU's Dean's List, and a BU Scholar Athlete.

Cancro carried a 3.68 GPA while majoring in criminal justice and accounting.

OUTSTANDING SENIOR MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) - Baseball

Swiger wrapped up his sensational collegiate career with the Huskies by helping the squad to its second consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title and its third straight trip to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional tournament. He finished the season batting .287 (37-of-129) with seven home runs and 34 runs batted in with his RBI total ranking second on the team. Swiger also ranked fourth on the team in runs (29), hits (37), and home runs (7).

Swiger is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American following the 2020 season.

The outfielder also had a flair for the dramatics during the Huskies' improbable postseason run. His tenth-inning single in game one of the best of three series at Millersville in the PSAC Semifinals propelled Bloomsburg to a 7-6 win and then his two-out, two-strike, two-run home run in the eighth inning against Charleston in the opening game of the Atlantic Regional tournament tied the game at 2-2. Bloomsburg went on to win the opener by a 3-2 final.

Swiger will go down as one of Bloomsburg's best all-around players - statistically - in program history. All told, he is a .302 lifetime hitter with 199 hits in 658 at-bats. He ranks second all-time in home runs (28) and RBI (156), third all-time in runs scored (156), fifth all-time in doubles (47), sixth all-time in hits (199), and ninth all-time in stolen bases (38).
 
The senior outfielder earned All-PSAC East Second Team honors in 2018 after batting a career-best .339 while also posting career-highs in runs scored (50), hits (62), and doubles (18). In 2019, Swiger established new career-highs in home runs (8) and runs batted in (47). He was off to a strong start in 2020 by going 10-of-31 (.323) with a team-high ten runs scored through the first ten games. He also was tied for the team lead in home runs (2) and was second in runs batted in (9) before COVID shut down the remainder of the season.

Swiger finished his undergraduate studies with a 3.55 grade point average while majoring in finance. He posted a 3.83 grade point average while fulfilling his requirements towards a Master's degree in business administration. He has been a five-time PSAC scholar-athlete and a three-time D2 ADA scholar-athlete.