UNF announces 2009 and 2010 athletic award winners

April Goode

Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

904-620-4026

The University of North Florida Department of Athletics held its annual Athletic Awards Banquet on Friday, April 23 at the University Center on the campus of UNF. Sophomore Aline Berkenbrock and senior Preston Hale took home Athlete of the Year honors while senior Lauren Maze and junior Kyle Groothuis were named Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

Berkenbrock, a sophomore from Joinville, Brazil, led the Ospreys to the 2010 Atlantic Sun Women’s Tennis Championship. She had an outstanding season, going undefeated with a perfect 21-0 mark and earning the 2010 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year. She had wins over ranked players from East Tennessee State, Central Florida and Purdue as well as picking up wins against the No. 1 players from nationally ranked teams, Stetson and College of Charleston.

In doubles, she and her partner, Raquel Castro, are currently ranked 66th in the nation and have tallied a 23-7 record dating back to the fall season. The pair went 18-3 during the spring and were a perfect 10-0 in the A-Sun and picked up a pair of wins in the conference tournament to remain undefeated against conference opponents.

Hale, a senior from Lakeland, Fla., leads the UNF baseball team in batting average, runs scored, hits, runs batted in, doubles, triples, total bases, walks and stolen bases. If that wasn’t enough, he also ranks in the top-5 on the team in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, homeruns, hit-by-pitch and sacrifice flies. He ranks in the top-25 in the country in hits, doubles and total bases and in the top-100 in doubles per game and runs batted in per game. He leads the Atlantic Sun Conference in hits and ranks in the top-10 in batting average and top-5 in RBIs, doubles and total bases.

Not only is he having a great season, but has had a great career as he ranks in UNF’s all-time top-10 in games played, batting average, at bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, homeruns, total bases and walks.

Maze, a senior from Melbourne, Fla., has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her four years as an international business major on the women’s soccer team. She was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN: The Magazine Academic All-District team for district three for her performance both on the field and in the classroom. She has earned President’s and Dean’s list honors every year during her time at UNF. Along with her many academic honors, she traveled abroad to Paris, France to study at the European Business School of Paris in 2008. She was also recently honored by the Beta Gamma Sigma International Society by being named the most outstanding undergraduate.

On the field, she has started in 51 of the 59 games in which she has appeared, scoring two goals, two assists and six points while taking 52 shots as an Osprey. She was also named to the Jacksonville Invitational All-Tournament team.

Groothuis, a junior from Chattanooga, Tenn., has accumulated a 3.96 grade point average over the past three years as a Transportation and Logistics major. The men’s basketball forward recently earned the L.L. Waters Scholarship for his performance in the classroom and became the first University of North Florida student to ever be recognized as an L.L. Waters Scholar. He has earned President’s and Dean’s list honors every year during his time at UNF. In addition, he has claimed Atlantic Sun Academic All-Conference honors every season.

On the court, he has appeared in 78 games for the Ospreys, having started in 28. He had a career-high 13 points against ETSU. 

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