Randolph-Macon Athletics Caps off 2008-09 with Yellow Jacket Club Champions Dinner

ASHLAND, VA - The Randolph-Macon College Athletic Department capped off its 2008-09 year with its yearly Champions Dinner sponsored by the Yellow Jacket Club on May 16, 2009. The event paid tribute to R-MC's 60 senior student-athletes, post-season award winners, and the Yellow Jacket ODAC Champion women's basketball and football teams.  

Three special individual awards were given out as Amanda Hiltunen and Justin Short were named senior student-athletes of the year and Pedro Arruza was honored by his peers with the Hugh Stephens Coach of the Year Award.

The Susan Locke deNagy Award is presented to a senior female student-athlete in recognition for her outstanding athletic accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership, and sportsmanship.

The deNagy award is just the latest in a long list of post-season awards Hiltunen has garnered for her work in the classroom and on the court. She was named Honorable Mention All-American by the WBCA, All-ODAC First-Team, and ODAC All-Tournament Team. She was a Jostens Award Finalist and the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second straight year.

Hiltunen learned in early May that she has been awarded a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Postgraduate Scholarship. The award is a $7,500 scholarship for academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student. Hiltunen is one of 58 student-athletes (29 men and 29 women) from all NCAA Divisions to receive the scholarship after participating in a winter sport. The NCAA awards 174 scholarships annually in the fall, winter and spring seasons.

In the classroom, Hiltunen boasts a 3.82 grade point average while majoring in political science. She has been a member of the Randolph-Macon Dean's List each semester in Ashland, as well as a member of the ODAC's Academic Honor Roll. Hiltunen, who is a member of R-MC's Phi Beta Kappa chapter, was also named to the 2009 ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA First Team District 3 All-Academic Team earlier this year.

"The deNagy Award given to that student who excels in academics, athletics and the community as a whole is another significant award for Amanda this season," said R-MC Head Coach Carroll LaHaye. "With all that she has accomplished at Randolph-Macon, she truly exemplifies what the deNagy award represents."

On the court, Hiltunen captained R-MC to a 23-6 record and its third ODAC championship in four years. She emerged as one of the top guards in the nation this season. The senior ranked second in the country and first in the ODAC with a 90.6 free throw percentage. Her 4.9 assists per game ranked second in the ODAC, while her 1.7 assist to turnover ratio placed her fourth in the ODAC. She proved to be one of the best shooters in conference as well, connecting on 50.4% of her shots from the floor (fourth in the ODAC) and 40.9% from behind the arc (second in the ODAC).

Hiltunen will attend Virginia Commonwealth University's SportsCenter in the fall with the hopes of pursuing a career in sports marketing. She will also return to her alma mater, Hermitage High School, as an assistant coach on the girl's basketball staff.

The George P. Compton Award is presented to a senior male student-athlete in recognition for his outstanding athletic accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership, and sportsmanship.

Short is this year's recipient of the award after capping his stellar four-year career in Ashland with ODAC Player of the Year honors and a pair of All-American awards.

Short, a senior guard from Chesterfield, VA, averaged 19.5 points this season. He was a DIII News First Team All-American, NABC Third Team All-American and a D3hoops.com Second Team All-South pick. Short was also named First-Team All-State by VaSID. He was also named the ODAC's Player of the Year and a First Team All-ODAC selection.

Short finished 2008-09 as the ODAC leader in points, averaging 19.5 ppg. each time out. At the end of the regular season, the senior was sixth in assists (3.3 apg), third in the ODAC in minutes (32.8 mpg) and Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (1.45). He led R-MC in steals (34) and ranked 12th in ODAC in both 3pt FG % and steals per game and 11th in FT% (78.8).

"Being selected as the Compton Award winner is a tremendous honor for Justin, one that is very well deserved," said R-MC assistant coach J.D. Byers, who presented Short with his award. "Justin has worked extremely hard in the classroom and on the basketball court. His pursuit of excellence in both areas demonstrates the type of young man we had the luxury of working with over the course of the last four years"

For his career, Short scored 1,313 points, which ranks 19th all-time in R-MC men's hoops history. His 357 assists puts him in seventh-place in the Jacket record books, while his 585 points this season is the sixth-best single season mark in school history.

In the classroom, Short has a 2.91 GPA while majoring in accounting. He will begin work for Verizon in Chesapeake, VA following his graduation.

The Hugh Stephens award is given to the R-MC Coach of the Year and this year it was given to head football coach Pedro Arruza.

Arruza has resurrected the Yellow Jacket program, leading it to both South Region and National prominence in just his fifth season at the helm of the program.

This past season, following a 1-2 start to the Yellow Jackets' conference schedule, Arruza regrouped his squad and led them to four straight wins down the stretch, including three ODAC victories. The run helped clinch a tie for first place in the conference standings at 4-2, and R-MC's success against the other three tied teams propelled the Jackets into the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time since 1984. R-MC also secured its first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1996 & 1997 campaigns. This year marked the second straight strong season for R-MC football under Arruza as the program experienced the biggest turnaround in the nation in 2007, finishing with an 8-2 overall record and school-best five-conference victories. For his efforts, his peers recognized Arruza as the 2008 ODAC Coach of the Year.

-Yellow Jackets-