Sports Release
May 3, 1999

JULIE SMITH NAMED GREATEST ZIA; MICHAEL WALTON CHOSEN GREATEST GREYHOUND
PORTALES, NM — Senior basketball point guard Julie Smith (5’8”, Albuquerque, NM/ Eldorado and junior football linebacker Michael Walton (5’10”, 210 lbs., Earth, TX/Texas Tech) received the top awards at the Eastern New Mexico University awards banquet, Monday, May 3 at the Campus Union Ballroom.

Sports Celebration 1998-99 was highlighted by Smith receiving the Greatest Zia Award and Walton receiving the Greatest Greyhound Award.

Smith lettered four seasons in women’s basketball and two seasons in softball. She recorded 148 assists during the 1998-99 season, an average of 5.5 assists per game. She committed just 57 turnovers in 27 games, and placed second in the LSC in both assists and assists-to-turnover ratio. She concluded her career with 396 assists, just 64 short of the ENMU record.

Smith led the Zias with 55 steals this season, and finished her career with 141 steals. She played in 109 basketball games in her career, and played on three winning teams and one team that finished at .500. Smith achieved a .329 batting average on the 1998 softball team, while playing second base. She also was a member of ENMU’s inaugural softball team in 1997. She was named Second Team All-LSC South in softball in 1997 and was an Honorable Mention All-LSC South choice in 1998. She was chosen Academic All-LSC South in 1997.

Walton has been a key player on the ENMU football team each of the past three years. He has started all 33 games since he joined the Greyhounds for the 1996 season. He recorded 96 tackles in 1996, then led the Lone Star Conference in tackles in 1997 with 155, and in 1998 with 117. He enters his senior season with an impressive 368 career tackles.

During the 1998 season, Walton recorded 24 tackles for losses, provided 7.5 sacks and forced four fumbles. He was named to four All-America teams including the Burger King All-America squad selected by NCAA Division II head coaches. He has been named First Team All-LSC South Division in 1997 and 1998, and was chosen LSC South Defensive Lineman of the Year this past fall. He received LSC South Division Player-of-the-Week honors with 17 total tackles in the Greyhounds’ 34-6 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma (Sept. 19, 1998). He has been voted to the LSC Academic All-Conference team two consecutive seasons and has earned a spot on the ENMU Athletic Honor Roll all six semesters at ENMU.

Special presentations were made to Winston Cox, Dr. Gordon Mack and Dr. George Mehaffy, who are retiring or leaving senior staff positions in the ENMU Administration this summer.

Several teams presented special awards to top performers during their respective seasons:
VOLLEYBALL
• Blue Collar Award — Defensive specialist Brendon Papenfuss (So., LaCenter, KY/Hot Springs H.S.) for hard work and determination
• Silver Spirit Award — Setter/defensive specialist Stephanie Pratt (So., Los Alamos, NM/Los Alamos H.S.)
• Most Improved Player — Middle blocker Maricela Santos (Jr., Laredo, TX/Laredo C.C.)

FOOTBALL
• Most Knockdowns — Center Nate Mastin (So., Odessa, TX/Permian H.S.) for effective blocking
• Hungry Hound Award — Linebacker Justin Stephens (Jr., Roswell, NM/Goddard H.S.) for success on special teams during the season
• Jack Scott Fighting Heart Award — Cornerback Adrian Thomas (Albuquerque, NM/Del Norte H.S.) as a freshman providing the Hounds with great effort and team spirit
• Co-Defensive-Players-of-the-Year — Linebacker Michael Walton (Jr., Earth, TX/Texas Tech) and free safety Tony Cavalier (Sr., Pampa, TX/Pittsburg State)
• Offensive-Player-of-the-Year — Tailback Dennis Beard (So., Albuquerque, NM/N.M. Military Inst.)

CROSS COUNTRY
• Promising Star Award — Amber Van Baalen (So., Albuquerque, NM/Eldorado H.S.) for commitment, effort and potential for future success
• Sweat Towel Award — Hawk Harris (Jr., Hobbs, NM/Hobbs H.S.) for 100% effort during the season

Note: Other teams either presented their awards earlier, chose not to give individual awards, or were waiting for postseason honors before presenting awards.

Senior Plaques, listing all achievements over the career of each senior were also presented at the Sports Celebration.

Seniors who concluded their collegiate careers in 1998-99 were:

Baseball
Slubby Bennalley (C, Kirtland, NM/Coll. of Southern Idaho)
Ryan Collins (RF, Hesperia CA/Victor Valley College)
Billy Fitzgerald (P, Yuma, AZ/Cibola H.S.)
Sam George (CF, Eau Claire, WI/N.M. Mil. Inst.)
Adrian Tapia (P, Sierra Vista, AZ/Cochise College)
Loren Wood (SS, Everett, WA/Skajit Valley CC).\

Men’s Basketball
Craig Ferris (F, Ethete, WY/Casper College)
Deron Rippey (F, Brooklyn, NY/East Carolina)
Byrone Williams (C, Chicago, IL/Alaska-Anchorage)

Women’s Basketball
Bria Norris (G/F, Amarillo, TX/Amarillo H.S.)
Julie Smith (F, Albuquerque, NM/Eldorado H.S.)

Football
Tony Cavalier (FS, Pampa, TX/Pittsburg State)
Danny Cummings (CB, Raton, NM/ Raton H.S.)
Ken Drake (CB, Joliet, IL/Joliet J.C.)
Doug Hall (DE, Albuquerque, NM/N.M. Military Inst.)
Brian Hulett (FS, Earth, TX/Cisco J.C.)
Carson Joachim (WR, Richmond, TX/Lamar Consolidated H.S.)
James Lawson (DT, Freeport, TX/Trinity Valley C.C.)
Chris Mathis (CB, Cuero, TX/Cisco J.C.)
Dan McNally (OT, Carrollton, TX/Colony H.S.)
Damian Norris (P, Albuquerque, NM/Hope Christian)
Jabe Riley (OT, Brownfield, TX/Cisco J.C.)
Todd Wallis (FB, Lewisville, TX/Marcus H.S.)
Eric Williams (DE, Odessa, TX/Permian H.S.)

Softball
Mystee Sarracino (Catcher)
Brandi Thomas (Utility)

Women’s Tennis
Rozlyn Gorski (#3 S, #2 D, El Paso, TX/Coronado H.S.)
Dena Boans (#6 S, #3 D, Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad H.S.)

Volleyball
Charlene Hunt (OH, Sacramento, CA/Sacramento City College)

Cross Country
There were no seniors on the men’s and women’s cross country teams.

A crowd of approximately 400 attended the event.