General | 7/17/2024 4:14:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University athletic department is excited to announce its seven major postseason award winners for the 2022-23 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
Junior Bella Culp
Field Hockey/Softball
Bella Culp enjoyed a breakout season for the Huskies' field hockey and softball programs. She helped the field hockey team to a 14-5 overall record and an appearance in the PSAC Tournament. For her efforts, she was named a first-team All-PSAC midfielder and a second team NFHCA All-American, the first of her career. During softball season, Culp led Bloomsburg to a 33-24 overall record, a trip to both the PSAC and NCAA Tournament. The NCAA tournament berth for the Huskies was the third-straight year for Bloomsburg.
Culp excelled in the classroom as well as she was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District teams for both softball and as an at-large representative for field hockey. She later earned third-team Academic All-American honors, which was the first of her career and the first Academic All-American for the field hockey program since Sam Peters in 2017. She is also a three-time NFHCA Scholar of Distinction, three-time member of the NFHCA National Academic squad, and a three-time PSAC Scholar Athlete.
Culp recorded a career-high 11 assists and 19 points in 2023 with at least one point recorded in four-straight games (9/16 vs Mercyhurst – 9/26 vs West Chester).
In 55 games played for the Huskies, Culp has posted 5 goals and 15 assists while playing in the midfield.
Culp also served as a key piece of the Bloomsburg softball team, leading the team in batting average (.359), runs (44), hits (69) and triples (6).
DANNY LITWHILER UNDERCLASS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Sophomore Kody Besser (Lacey Township, N.J./Lacey Township)
Men's Soccer
Kody Besser (Lacey Township, N.J./Lacey Township) enjoyed a tremendous year in the backline for the Huskies this season. He helped Bloomsburg to an 11-4-5 overall record and a 7-2-3 slate in conference play. The Huskies earned the No. 2 seed in the PSAC Tournament and tied West Chester in the opening round game.
Bloomsburg earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2014 and its third overall. The Huskies defeated Southern New Hampshire University 2-1 for the first program win in the tournament. Besser had the game-winning goal in the 77
th minute to lift Bloomsburg to victory.
The Lacey Township, N.J. native finished the 2023 season tied for the team lead in points (11) and goals (5) and helped Bloomsburg to back-to-back double-digit win seasons and PSAC Tournament appearances since 2014 and 2015. Anchoring the backline, Besser guided the Huskies to their third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, scoring the game-winning goal in Bloomsburg's first win in the tournament in program history.
For his prowess on the field, Besser earned All-PSAC East First Team honors, United Soccer Coaches Secon Team All-Region accolades and D2CCA All-Region recognition. He was twice PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week.
ELEANOR WRAY SENIOR FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Madison Coyle (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown)
Women's Lacrosse
Madison Coyle (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) has been a mainstay on the Bloomsburg lacrosse's midfield for the last four seasons. She has played in 65 games in her career and made 40 starts. She has amassed 88 goals and 14 assists in her career for 102 points. Coyle finished her career with 102 ground balls, 71 caused turnovers, and 167 draw controls.
Coyle capped her career with her first PSAC East honor as a first-team midfielder following a banner year for the senior. Coyle led the Huskies with a career-best 54 points, including 47 goals and seven assists. Two of Coyle's goals were game-winners and four came while the Huskies were playing a woman up and one while they were down a player. She was second on the team with 62 draw controls and led Bloomsburg with 48 ground balls and 38 caused turnovers. The Williamstown, N.J. native was fourth in the PSAC with 2.94 ground balls per game and fifth with 2.24 caused turnovers per game. Coyle finished the year eighth in the conference with 2.76 goals per game for the season.
She was named All-PSAC East First Team midfield for her efforts this season.
The Huskies finished the regular season ranked number one in NCAA DII in caused turnovers per game (15.29) and ground balls per game (25.24) and are receiving votes in the final IWLCA poll of the regular season.
Bloomsburg went 10-7 under 10
th-year head coach
Shannon Hertz and went 5-7 in PSAC East action.
Coyle excelled in the classroom as well earned PSAC Scholar Athlete honors following the 2020-21 season.
ROBERT B. REDMAN SENIOR MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Nick Fiddler
Men's Swimming
Nick Fiddler was a consistent presence on the Bloomsburg men's swimming teams for the last three seasons. He is a two-time PSAC champion (one individual title, one relay), and finished in the top three times.
Fiddler won the 100-butterfly during the 2021-22 PSAC Championships and helped the 200-medley relay to a gold medal. He finished second in the 200-fly that season as well.
The senior and team captain ended his season with his second CSC Academic All-District Team honor following the 2023-24 academic year. The mathematics major finished his season at the PSAC Championships where he competed in the 50-freestlye, 200-butterfly, and 100-butterfly. He walked away with 17.00 total points. He placed eighth in the 200-butterfly, 11th in the 100-butterfly, and 32nd in the 50-freestyle.
Fiddler currently appears on Bloomsburg's All-Time Top Ten List six different times. He currently sits third all-time in the 100-butterfly, second in the 200-butterfly, 5th/8th/9th as part of three different medley relays, and ninth as a part of the 400-medley relay.
Fiddler is a three-time PSAC Scholar Athlete, two-time D2ADA Academic Achievement honoree, and a four-time Bloomsburg scholar athlete.
OUTSTANDING SENIOR FEMALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Amanda Stoll
Women's Soccer/Lacrosse
Amanda Stoll has been a powerhouse on and off the field for both the Bloomsburg soccer and lacrosse teams over the last four years.
On the soccer pitch, Stoll has started in 54 games in three seasons, making 27 starts, after losing a year to COVID. She has nine goals and one assist with two game-winning goals.
On the lacrosse field, she played in 64 games for the Huskies and made 47 starts. Stoll has 75 goals and 28 assists for 103 career points. She was the top draw control specialist for the Huskies over the last two years with 84 draw controls in 2023 and 77 in 2024. She finished her career with 241 DCs. Stoll had 89 ground balls and 64 caused turnovers in four years.
Off the field, Stoll graduated from Bloomsburg with a biology/pre-medical sciences degree and posted a 3.78 grade point average.
She is a four-time PSAC Scholar Athlete and a three-time D2ADA Academic Achievement honoree. Stoll was named to the CSC Academic All-District team for soccer in 2022.
OUTSTANDING SENIOR MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Andrew Basile (Easton, Pa./Easton Area)
Track & Field
Andrew Basile (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) has been a part of the Bloomsburg track & field program since the 2021 outdoor season.
Andrew majored in statistics at Bloomsburg with a minor in Data Science.
Basile is a multiple-time PSAC qualifier in the 4x4 relay, 4x1 relay, and DMR. He earned a second-place podium finish at the 2023 PSAC Outdoor Championship in the DMR. Basile has helped the 4x1 relay team and the 4x40 relay team to a combined 11 first place finishes over the last three seasons.
Individually, he has finished as high as second in the 400-meter dash, running a 54.33 at the Maroon & Gold Invite in 2021 to take second. Basile posted his career-best time in the 400 at 51.37 in the Bucknell Team Challenge on April 22, 2023. He ran a career-best time of 23.10 in the 200-meter dash at the Shippensburg Mid-Week Meet on April 19, 2023. Basile posted a time of 2:04.81 for his career-best time in the 800-meter run at the 40
th Millersville Metrics on April 1, 2023.
Off the track, Basile is a member of the Board of Governors Program and the Bloomsburg Honors College. He is a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and a three-time D2ADA Academic Achievement honoree.
