bolmanski sampson student athletes of year

General Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Bolmanski, Sampson Named Athletes of the Year at End of the Year Celebration

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon University athletic department held its 13th Annual Student-Athlete End of the Year Celebration on Monday night in the Grand Ballroom of the Erie Bayfront Convention Center. The event honored Gannon's over 700 student-athletes while also handing out season-ending awards. Coaches from each of Gannon's 26 sports gave a brief wrap-up of their season.
 
The highlight of the evening was the announcement by Director of Athletics Lisa Goddard McGuirk of the 2021-22 Senior Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year. Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) was named the Female Student-Athlete of the Year while Robert Bolmanski (Fairview, Pa./McDowell) took home the Male Student-Athlete of the Year award. (NOTE:  In an odd fact, both Sampson and Bolmanski wore uniform number 8)
 
Finalists for the awards included women's soccer student-athlete Taylor Lewis (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek), women's basketball student-athlete Tori Obenrader (Fryburg, Pa./North Clarion), women's swimming & diving student-athlete Silvija Taraska (Wickliffe, Ohio/Lake Catholic), and Sampson for the women.
 
On the men's side, the finalists included baseball student-athletes Deven Judy (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon Area) and Eric Sapp (Deerfield, Ohio/Southeast), wrestling student-athlete Freddie Nixon (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute), and Bolmanski.
 
Sampson was a standout on the Gannon volleyball team that reached the Elite Eight for the third time in team history. She earned a host of honors as Gannon finished with a 32-7 record. The Golden Knights reached the Final Four for the second time with a win over Hillsdale before falling to eventual national champion Tampa in the semifinals.
 
The native of Hilliard, Ohio was accorded honorable mention AVCA All-American honors for the second time as a senior and was a first team All-Atlantic Region selection by the AVCA and D2CCA. She was named the PSAC West Volleyball Athlete of the Year and was a first team All-PSAC West selection. Sampson was a three-time All-PSAC selection, earning first team honors in 2018 and 2021 and second team in 2019. In addition, she was the 2018 PSAC West Freshman of the Year. She previously earned honorable mention AVCA All-America honors in 2018 and was an All-Region pick in 2018, 2019 and 2021. She was a two-time member of the Atlantic Regional All-Tournament Team (2018 and 2021) and was named to the 2021 Elite Eight All-Tournament Team
 
In the classroom, Sampson maintained a 3.916 grade-point average as a Biology major. She was named a third team CoSIDA Academic All-American, becoming just the third Gannon volleyball athlete to earn All-America and Academic All-America status in the same season. She was also named to the PSAC Fall Top 10.
 
Sampson finished her career with 1,286 career kills, which ranks 10th in program history. As a senior, she ranked 26th in the country in kills per set and was a three-time PSAC West Athlete of the Week while totaling a team-leading 420 kills. She ranked third on the team in blocks with 58 and contributed 211 digs.
 
Bolmanski became just the third Golden Knight to earn first team ACWPC All-American honors. Zarko Sadikovic received the award in 2017 and 2018, while Marjanovic was a first-team honoree in 2019. He helped lead Gannon to its best finish ever at the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championships. The Golden Knights reached the MAWP tournament for the third time in team history after winning the Mid-Atlantic Western Region Championship courtesy of a 15-13 win over McKendree.
 
Seeded seventh in the MAWPC Conference Championships, Gannon's sixth-place showing was its best ever as the Golden Knights ended the year with a 14-10 record.  Gannon had earlier won the CWPA Division II Championship thanks to a 14-9 triumph over Salem as Bolmanski contributed three goals and an assist.
 
A former standout at nearby McDowell High School, Bolmanski enjoyed an outstanding senior campaign. He would finish as Gannon's fourth-leading scorer with 32 goals, but it was his all-around play and ability to facilitate the attack that earned him a spot on the first team All-America unit.
 
Bolmanski was named the MAWPC West Region Most Valuable Player in addition to earning first team all-conference honors and was also selected the MVP of the CWPA Division II Championship. He contributed five goals and two assists as Gannon handed McKendree a 13-11 defeat in the first game of the CWPA Championship and totaled 10 goals and four assists in the three wins. He is a two-time all-conference selection. He topped the career 100-goal plateau at the MAWPC Conference Championships, finishing with 101 goals. That is good for 18th all-time.
 
As a freshman, Bolmanski totaled 30 goals and 34 assists for 64 points in 2018. That was followed by a 23-goal, 8-assist campaign in 2019. In an abbreviated 2020 campaign that featured a nine-game schedule, he had 16 goals and eight assists.
 
The banquet also recognized student-athletes for a variety of accomplishments, including the Doc Beyers Award, presented to a male and female student-athlete for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship and Athletics, along with the Team MVPs and the Play of the Year, which was voted on through social media.
 
Cheyenne Jess (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) was selected the female recipient of the Doc Beyers Award, while Aaron Hertel received the award for the men's sports. Jess is a goalie on the women's lacrosse team. She is a Psychology major and has a 3.911 cumulative GPA. Hertel competed at 141 lbs. for the men's wrestling team and maintains a 3.524 GPA as a Biology major. 
 
The team MVPs were:
 
2021-22 TEAM MVPS
Acrobatics & Tumbling – Abbie Hoffman (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc)
Baseball – Eric Sapp (Deerfield, Ohio/Southeast)
Men's Basketball – Demetrius Mims (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute)
Women's Basketball – Samantha Pirosko (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North)
Cheer – Gabe Hollenbeck
Men's Cross Country – Jake Lehotsky
Women's Cross Country – Meredith Morse (Rochester, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland)
Dance – Jillian Suhr (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster)
Football -- Nick White (Randallstown, Md./Milford Mill Academy)    
Men's Golf – Connor Bennink (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville)
Women's Golf – Maria Arenas (Bogota, Colombia/)
Women's Lacrosse – Emma Ivory (Cranberry Township, Pa./North Catholic)
Men's Soccer – Sergio Del Castillo (Madrid, Spain)
Women's Soccer – Taylor Lewis (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek)
Softball – Nicole Bush (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic)
Men's Swimming – Stephen McCallum (Cape Town, South Africa/Wynberg Boys')
Women's Swimming – Silvija Taraska (Wickliffe, Ohio/Lake Catholic)
Men's Water Polo – Drago Marjanovic (Belgrade, Serbia/North Allegheny (Pa.))
Women's Water Polo – Nicole Wiemken (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon)
Men's Wrestling – Joel Leise (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds)
Women's Wrestling – Julianne Moccia (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll)
 
Finally, the Play of the Year was selected from among the following plays that occurred during the 2021-22, as nominated by the teams:
 
Women's Soccer:  Taylor Lewis' (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) free kick goal vs. Clarion to take 4-0 lead.

Men's Soccer: Toby Gower's (Norwich, England/Long Stratton) volley ties the game at 1-1 in the PSAC semifinals vs. Seton Hill.
 
Women's Basketball: Emma Wright's (Fairview, Pa./Talawanda) late fourth-quarter block to help secure 60-56 win vs. Mercyhurst
 
Softball: Katie Sidare's (Rochester, N.Y./Victor Central) walk-off two-run home run to center field for 5-4 win vs. IUP
 
Women's Lacrosse: Macy Hepditch's (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) game-winning goal to make it 16-15 vs. Slippery Rock with 12.1 seconds to go in the fourth quarter
 
AND THE 2021-22 PLAY OF THE YEAR WINNER WAS … Women's Soccer: Taylor Lewis' (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) free kick goal vs. Clarion to take 4-0 lead.
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Joel Leise

Joel Leise

Redshirt Junior
184
Freddie Nixon

Freddie Nixon

Senior
197
Stephen McCallum

Stephen McCallum

Freshman
Tori Obenrader

#25 Tori Obenrader

G/F
5' 11"
Junior
Samantha Pirosko

#44 Samantha Pirosko

C/F
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
Emma Wright

#13 Emma Wright

G
5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
Maria Arenas

Maria Arenas

Sophomore
Biomedical Engineering
Silvija Taraska

#2 Silvija Taraska

UTIL
Senior
Sport and Exercise Science
Connor Bennink

Connor Bennink

Sophomore
Nicole Bush

#8 Nicole Bush

2B/SS/OF
5' 4"
Redshirt Senior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Joel Leise

Joel Leise

Redshirt Junior
184
Freddie Nixon

Freddie Nixon

Senior
197
Stephen McCallum

Stephen McCallum

Freshman
Tori Obenrader

#25 Tori Obenrader

5' 11"
Junior
G/F
Samantha Pirosko

#44 Samantha Pirosko

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
C/F
Emma Wright

#13 Emma Wright

5' 10"
Redshirt Junior
G
Maria Arenas

Maria Arenas

Sophomore
Biomedical Engineering
Silvija Taraska

#2 Silvija Taraska

Senior
Sport and Exercise Science
UTIL
Connor Bennink

Connor Bennink

Sophomore
Nicole Bush

#8 Nicole Bush

5' 4"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
2B/SS/OF