DETROIT (4/15/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy Department of Athletics held its annual awards night in a new format as the unveiling of the new Tommy's was held on Sunday night on campus in the Student Union Ballroom. 

The night not only featured the 2019 athletic and academic awards, but a brand new tradition in honoring all the seniors with graduation cords in the Titan colors of red, white and blue. 

Softball's Jordan Manno and cross country and track and field standout Ben Kendell were honored with the department's highest accolade in the President's Award. 

The award is presented annually to the outstanding male and female seniors who best typify the image of the complete student-athlete and have been true Titans in every way, exhibiting great character and leadership along with pride in their team and their teammates, as well as academic and athletic success, during their careers.

Manno has been one of the top Titans, helping the team rise to championship contenders in her four years. She is a four-year starter at catcher and is the leader behind the plate who energizes the entire team with both her enthusiasm on the field and with her clutch hits at bat. She's a two-time All-League player and currently leads the Titans in batting average, hits and RBI.  She's also a two-time Horizon League All-Academic Team honoree and holds a 3.96 GPA in Bio-Chemistry. 

Kendell has a long list of academic and athletic accolades in his five years with the Titans. In cross country, he was a four-time All-League performer who won the Horizon League Championship and then nearly won the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals as a senior, finishing runner-up and becoming the first Titan male cross country runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships. In track, he holds a few school records and has won five conference titles and placed 20th in the NCAA Championship Preliminary Rounds in the 10,000-meters as a junior. He is also a five-time Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Season award-winner with a 3.903 GPA in Engineering. 

The Titan Club Award - presented to a male and female student-athlete who has achieved academic and athletic excellence during their Detroit Mercy careers - was received by softball's Ashley Mauser and Matthew Vangalen of men's lacrosse. 

Mauser has been a dominant presence in the circle as a senior hurler for softball and has cemented her place in history as the most prolific strikeout pitcher in program history. She already holds the career marks in single-game strikeouts, single-season strikeouts and career strikeouts, having just crossed the 400-strikeout mark in her Detroit Mercy career, and is a standout in the classroom with 3.99 GPA as a nursing major.  

Vangalen is a two-time All-Conference selection who has already set a new school record in career assists and is approaching his career-high of 51 points, which is also a school record. He is also third in school history in both goals and points and was named a Senior Class Award candidate earlier in the season. The team captain carries a 3.96 GPA in Business. 

The Father Norbert Huetter Award - presented to a male and female student-athlete who has demonstrated leadership, dedication, cooperation with teammates and coaches, pride in team achievements, determination to excel, and graciousness in victory or defeat - went to Morgan Girardi of women's lacrosse and Algird Szumlas of men's fencing. 

Girardi has been an integral part of the Titan women's lacrosse team in all four seasons and has started all but one game in her Titan career, spanning 68 games overall. She has been a stalwart at midfield throughout her career and is a team captain this season as a senior. 

Szumlas has been a consistent, steady force on the Titan men's fencing team ever since he set foot on campus in 2015. He's a leader on the squad and has shown his dedication to getting better each and every year, reaching the NCAA Championships as a sophomore in 2017. 

The Horizon League Raise Your Sights winners - given to the two Detroit Mercy Athletic Squads with the highest GPAs - were earned by the men's soccer and women's golf teams.  The Titan men's soccer team is consistently among the national leaders in GPA and this school year sported a GPA of 3.52. 

Along with earning the Horizon League Raise Your Sights honor for 2018-19, the women's golf team was also the recipient of the 2018-19 Team Excellence Award, for sporting a cumulative grade point average of 3.66. 

The athletic department also recognized the student-athletes with the highest GPAs at the University in Claire Kendell and Kayla Hughes of the women's track and field and cross country team, who both have perfect 4.0's, along with Vangalen, who has a 3.96 GPA. 

The Dad Butler award - presented to the male and female student-athletes who show dedication to practice and having the ability to rehabilitate an injury to his or her fullest capabilities - was won by women's soccer's Rachel Russo and men's lacrosse's John Kailunas III. Russo came back from a season-ending knee injury as a freshman to tie for second on the team with four goals and third with eight points, while Kailunas sustained an injury over the summer while competing in the FIL World Lacrosse Championship for Team Latvia and returned for the spring campaign. 

The Larry Bleach award - presented to a male and female student-athlete who sets the strength and conditioning standards for other student-athletes to follow - went to Marina Manzo of women's soccer and men's lacrosse's Brent Lubin. Both work extremely hard and are intense competitors in the weight room, understanding the importance of strength and conditioning in their performances. 

The first ever Athletic Communications' Top Performance of the Year honor went to the women's soccer team for its school-record shutout streak that propelled the team to the playoffs and to Kendell's run at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship, where he qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships by finishing in second place with a time of 31:11. 

The Spirit Award was presented to Kayley Lazarski from the cheerleading squad. She was a four-year member of the team and a leader as a senior, helping choreograph many of the routines this year for the year. 

The Titans would like to thank all the student-athletes who put in the time and effort every day both in the classroom and in competition and recognizes all of them as true winners.