DETROIT (4/17/2024) -- It was a time to roll out the red carpet, hang out with your teammates as well as all the Titans student-athletes, share some laughs, and honor some of the best and brightest as the Athletic Department hosted the Tommy's on Wednesday evening.
Soccer seniors Marisa Silver and Luke Winters earned the top honor of the night in the President's Award, given to a male and female graduating senior who, during his/her tenure at Detroit Mercy, has shown academic and athletic excellence. These individuals are leaders on and off the field and represent the true essence of being a Titan student-athlete.
Silver, overcame a number of injuries in her career to lead the Titans to their best season since 2018. She was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team but played in just nine matches the next three years, dealing with various injuries and surgeries. As a senior, she posted two shutouts, 67 saves and eight wins, guiding the team to the Horizon League Championship semifinals. She ended her career in the top 10 in school history in saves, goals-against average, and save percentage. She is a four-time member of the Detroit Mercy Athletic Director's Honor Roll and the Horizon League Fall & Spring Academic Honor Rolls, a member of the HL All-Academic Team and the College Sports CommunicatorsAcademic All-District Team.
Winters played in 64 games with 54 starts in his Titan career and was a mainstay on the backline, helping the Titans to three straight playoff appearances. As a senior, he had two assists and was nominated for the Horizon League Sportsmanship award. He is also a standout student as a four-time member of the Detroit Mercy Athletic Director's Honor Roll and the Horizon League Fall & Spring Academic Honor Rolls, and a two-time member of the CSC Academic All-District Team.
The Titan Club Award (Male and female student-athlete on the merits of athletic performance and academic excellence)
Arturo Rangel – Rangel led the Titans at the NCAA Midwest Fencing Championships, recording four total wins to finish 16th in the epee. He led the squad with five wins, advancing in singles pool play to finish 11th at the conference championships, and had 52 total victories to top the squad.
Nina Pizzo – In cross country, Pizzo was among the top two on the season in all five races, leading the squad on two occasions. She lowered her 5k career-best three times, with her personal record of 18:47 for 20th at Louisville, and posted a career-low 6k of 22:42 for 34th at Bowling Green, just outside the top 30 in school history. In indoor track and field, she scored by running a leg on the fourth-place DMR and was also ninth in the mile. She tallied a career-low time in the mile at Michigan's Silverston Invite, taking eighth, and won the 3,000m in a career time at Saginaw Valley. At the end of the season, she was also voted the Sportsmanship Award winner by the Horizon League.
Reverend Norbert Huetter Award (Male and female student-athlete who sets an example for others by their display of attitude, dedication and leadership)
Ally Don Jean-Francois – A leader on and off the field, Jean-Francois has overcome a number of injuries to start for the Titans this year, until another injury ended his senior campaign. With all of those setbacks, he continues to lead the squad as one of the Titan captains, is involved in SAAC, and is a member of several organizations around campus.
Gracelyn Peebles – Another Titan who is overcoming an injury, Peebles is always there for her teammates. She works hard every day to overcome her injury and never misses practice. She is the first to support all of her teammates, and her leadership can be seen on a daily basis.
The Dad Butler Award (Awarded to a male and female student–athlete who has shown determination in the rehabilitation of an athletic injury)
Mak Manciel - We all saw the play at Ball State when Manciel dislocated his ankle in the fifth game of the year, and the thought was that he was out for the season. However, he worked hard and was dedicated to rehab and against all odds, he returned before the end of the season and averaged 10.0 points in his final six games.
Joyelle Washington - Washington arrived at Detroit Mercy after missing a year of soccer due to a knee injury. Throughout the season, she faced setbacks due to a concussion and patellofemoral pain in her other knee. Rather than allowing these challenges to derail her progress, she took charge of her rehabilitation with remarkable discipline. She remained steadfast in her commitment to staying on the field and contributing to her team's success, earning First Team All-Horizon League honors and leading the team in points.
Larry Bleach Award (Male and female student-athlete who sets the strength and conditioning standards for other student-athletes to follow)
Chase Mahabir – Mahabir is the true essence of what it means to be an "IRON" Titan, from his effort in his physical development to his ability to be a leader in all circumstances. He ensures those around him are locked in and ready to go, and once the job is done, everything is taken care of.
Claire Borg – Borg has been instrumental in a major leap competitively for softball this year. These results come from months of sharpening her craft, pushing to be the strongest on her team, and consistently coming in for extra work.
The Top Performance Award (Awarded to a male and female athlete or team and dedicated to the top athletic performance of the season)
Joshua Otten - Otten became the first Titan to ever win the mile at the Horizon League Indoor Championships, as he posted a wire-to-wire finish, taking gold in a time of 4:13.53.
Aaliyah McQueen - Rivalry games bring out some great moments, and for McQueen, she had a monster double-double with 21 points and 17 rebounds against Oakland, her former team, to lead Detroit Mercy to a 67-59 Metro Series win in the #MetroSeries.
The Instant Impact Award (Awarded to a male and female athlete who has made a great impact to the team. These can be transfers, redshirts or freshmen who are in their first playing season as a Titan)
Orlando Lovejoy - Lovejoy scored in double figures 24 times and grabbed at least three rebounds in 26 games and six on nine occasions. He had eight 20-point games on the season, tied for the eighth most in the HL. He led the team in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and minutes played.
Gabriella Tapp - Tapp played in six events as a Titan and currently leads the team in scoring average. She has led the squad twice this season, along with registering three top-20 efforts. She has also carded scores in the 70's on seven occasions.
The softball team was the winner of the Titan Cup, a competition that encourages teams to support their fellow student-athletes and department. Teams earned points by attending games, community service events and student athlete development.
Men's Soccer won two awards in the Earl Cureton Community Service Award and the 2025 Team Excellence Award. The Earl Cureton Community Service award was reestablished in 2024 to honor a student-athlete or program for excellence in community service. It is named after the late Titan Hall-Of-Famer and two-time NBA champion Earl Cureton, who served as the Detroit Pistons' community ambassador and was involved in numerous community service projects and initiatives. The men's soccer team did a great job reading to the community and with their team impact member Adam.
The squad also boosted a cumulative grade point average of 3.52 for the past academic year.
The women's basketball team earned this year's Spirit Award, given to the team or member who encourages, supports, and assists student-athletes in their athletic journey.
56 Titan seniors were recognized and received their graduation stoles, while 34 student-athletes earned the Academic Excellence Award for earning at least a 3.0 GPA for every semester they participated in college athletics.
Graduation Stoles
Luke Adamczyk - Men's Track & Field
Zain Akeel - Men's Soccer
Latifa Amzil - Women's Basketball
Katie Anderla - Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
Ashley Bates - Women's Soccer
Hannah Benford - Women's Fencing
Katie Bilello - Women's Lacrosse
Aidan Bishop - Men's Lacrosse
Leah Bodnar - Women's Lacrosse
Josiah Burr - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Maddy Camm - Women's Lacrosse
Samantha Ceballos - Women's Soccer
Sophie Davis - Women's Lacrosse
Alex Diac - Men's Soccer
Jasmine Edwards - Women's Basketball
Nicholas Fringer - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Rusti Glenn - Softball
Nolan Graalman - Men's Lacrosse
Billy Hart - Men's Lacrosse
Jakob Hemme - Men's Lacrosse
Sean Henige - Men's Lacrosse
Fisher Hudak - Men's Soccer
Tia Jokic - Women's Soccer, Women's Track & Field
Connor Joyce - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Stephen Kosto - Men's Soccer
Emmanuel Kuac - Men's Basketball
Kenny Lashaway - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Ashlee Lewis - Women's Track & Field
Zoe Madden - Women's Track & Field
Chase Mahabir - Men's Lacrosse
Mak Manciel - Men's Basketball
Will Marshall - Men's Lacrosse
Hailey Matthews - Women's Lacrosse
Raeed Monnan - Men's Track & Field
Adriana Mroz - Women's Soccer
Eoghan Mullett - Men's Lacrosse
Lukas Nilsen - Men's Lacrosse
Danica Paesano - Women's Soccer
Brooke Parrillo - Women's Lacrosse
Ashwin Philip - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Nina Pizzo - Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
Sydnie Redovich - Women's Golf
Ryan Richters - Men's Lacrosse
Amanda Schick - Softball
Joey Schmaltz - Men's Lacrosse
Matthew Schultz - Men's Golf
Marisa Silver - Women's Soccer
Chloe Spitzer - Softball
Xavier Sterling - Men's Fencing
Gabe Sucevic - Men's Lacrosse
Erica Toupin - Women's Soccer
Jackson Towers - Men's Soccer
Alize Tripp - Women's Basketball
Luke Winters - Men's Soccer
Evie Wright - Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
Olivia Zulewski - Women's Soccer
Academic Excellence Award
Luke Adamczyk - Men's Track & Field
Latifa Amzil - Women's Basketball
Aidan Bishop - Men's Lacrosse
Leah Bodnar - Women's Lacrosse
Maddy Camm - Women's Lacrosse
Samantha Ceballos - Women's Soccer
Sophie Davis - Women's Lacrosse
Alex Diac - Men's Soccer
Jasmine Edwards - Women's Basketball
Nicholas Fringer - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Rusti Glenn - Softball
Nolan Graalman - Men's Lacrosse
Sean Henige - Men's Lacrosse
Fisher Hudak - Men's Soccer
Tia Jokic - Women's Soccer, Women's Track & Field
Connor Joyce - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Kenny Lashaway - Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Chase Mahabir - Men's Lacrosse
Raeed Monnan - Men's Track & Field
Adriana Mroz - Women's Soccer
Eoghan Mullett - Men's Lacrosse
Lukas Nilsen - Men's Lacrosse
Danica Paesano - Women's Soccer
Nina Pizzo - Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
Sydnie Redovich - Women's Golf
Amanda Schick - Softball
Marisa Silver - Women's Soccer
Xavier Sterling - Men's Fencing
Gabe Sucevic - Men's Lacrosse
Erica Toupin - Women's Soccer
Jackson Towers - Men's Soccer
Alize Tripp - Women's Basketball
Luke Winters - Men's Soccer
Olivia Zulewski - Women's Soccer
