DETROIT (7/31/2014) -- The tradition of recognizing top student-athletes continues with the 2014 Coach's Awards for the University of Detroit Mercy men's indoor and outdoor track and field teams as awarded by UDM Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Guy Murray.

This year's award winners had no individual taking more than one award.
 
For the indoor track and field season, Eric Lewis was named the MVP, Austin Wigent was recognized with the Student-Athlete Award, Derek Gielarowski earned the Coach's Award, Sam Felton was the Most Improved, and Khalil Parris and Brandon Wilks shared Rookie of the Year honors.
 
The outdoor track and field season saw Charles Anthony capture MVP honors, Steven Ivanics took home the Student-Athlete Award, Martin Nelkie and Joe Raffin shared the Coach's Award, Colin Cashner won the Most Improved, and the Rookie of the Year was shared by Ryan Leahy and Ilia Panev.
 
Lewis was named the team MVP after a second place finish in his bid to three-peat as the Horizon League indoor champion in the weight throw. Lewis posted his season-best weight throw of 18.78m (second-best of his career) at the Big Meet at Grand Valley State and also took first place at the Youngstown State National Invitational. Lewis also earned two first place finishes at IPFW in both the shot put (13.41m) and the weight throw. 
 
Wigent, a business major, has an overall GPA of 3.83 and took in a 3.9 in the 2014 spring term earning the Student-Athlete Award. He was seventh in the 3000m at the indoor championships and capped off the distance medley relay team's second place finish running the 1600m portion. Wigent also moved into the No. 5 spot on the Titan all-time 3000m list with a run of 8:32.28 at the Grand Valley State Big Meet Invite.
 
Gielarowski had a fourth place finish in the 5000m distance event at the HL Indoor Championships and ran the No. 9 all-time Titan mark of 8:42.57 at the YSU National Invite as the indoor winner of the Coach's Award.     
 
Felton was the Most Improved with a time of 9:00.39 in the 3000 meters and a mark of 15:48.35 in the 5000 meters distance run at the HL Indoor Championships. Felton's all-time best of 15:24.10 in the 5000m came this year at the Grand Valley State Big Meet.
 
Parris and Wilks were both named Rookie of the Year. Parris was third in the 400 meters (48.89) and anchored the 4x400 meter relay that finished second. Parris was also on the distance medley relay team that was second. Wilks finished a close second in the 60 meter dash and was the top qualifier for the 60m heading into the finals. Wilks had a mark of 6.95 just off the winning time of 6.94 which placed Wilks as the fifth-best Titan run. He was also sixth in the 200 meters and joined Parris on the 4x400m relay second place squad. With his run in the 60m, Wilks now sits in the No. 17 spot on the all-time Titan list.
 
In the outdoor campaign, Anthony was named MVP after winning the 200 meters and helping the 4x100 meter relay team to a second place finish and the No. 2 all-time Titan best 4x100m relay run. Anthony was also second (10.72) in the 100 meter dash. In the 100m preliminaries, he was the top qualifier heading into the finals.
 
Ivanics, who studied electrical engineering at Detroit, finished with an overall GPA of 3.22 to claim the Student-Athlete Award winner for the outdoor campaign. Ivanics holds the Titan all-time best mark in the 110 meter hurdles, set a year ago, at 14.62 and placed fourth at this year' HL outdoor championships. He also joined Anthony on the 4x100m relay team that was second on the Titan all-time list.
 
Nelkie and Raffin shared the Coach's Award after Nelkie earned first 10 place points in the 10000 meter distance race and fifth in the 5000m run. Nelkie's 10k run of 30:50.55 is second on the all-time Titan list while his 5k run of 15.01.55 is ninth. Raffin was part of the second place 4x400 meter relay team and returned for his final outdoor season to run a season-best of 49.63 in the 400 meters at the Oliver Nikoloff meet in Cincinnati.
 
Cashner had a career season for the Titans as the thrower participated in the NCAA Championship Preliminary Round in the East Region in Jacksonville, Florida for the first time as one of the top 48 male throwers in Division I. His throw of 59.89m that gave him his second place finish at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships placed him 45th overall heading into the NCAA competition and he went on to finish 33rd overall.
 
Lastly, the Rookie of the Year honors were shared by Leahy and Panev. At the outdoor championships, Leahy was fourth in the 10000 meter distance race and helped the Titans claim four of the top six scoring positions in the event. Leahy set two UDM rookie records with his 15:02.55 mark in the 5k and his time of 31:32.91 in the 10k run. Panev was sixth in the 110 meter hurdles as he became the eighth Titan to record a time of under 15 seconds with a mark of 14.94 in qualifying and then lowered it to 14.84 in the finals. In the 400 meter hurdles, Panev was third.

This year, the men placed fifth overall at both the Horizon League Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
 
Men's Indoor Awards
MVP - Eric Lewis
Student- Athlete - Austin Wigent
Coach's Award - Derek Gielarowski
Most Improved - Sam Felton
Rookie - Khalil Parris and Brandon Wilks
 
Men's Outdoor Awards
MVP - Charles Anthony
Student-Athlete - Steven Ivanics
Coach's Award - Martin Nelkie and Joe Raffin
Most Improved - Colin Cashner
Rookie - Ryan Leahy and Ilia Panev
 
Varsity Letter Winners
4 Year: Charles Anthony, Anthony Donald*, Steven Ivanics, Eric Lewis, Martin Nelkie, Joe Raffin*
3 Year: Colin Creagh, Ryan Hofsess, George Holman
2 Year: Ylli Alla, Joshua Carolin, Colin Cashner, Derek Gielarowski, Jake Millyard, Alex Wesche, Colton Wirgau
1 Year: Sam Felton, Joe Harmon, Dylan Kruis, Ryan Leahy, Ilia Panev, Khalil Parris, Austin Wigent, Brandon Wilks
*-Indicates 5 Year Award