Timberwolves Varsity Athletic Banquet Award Winners
Timberwolves Honor Athletes and Coaches at Awards Banquet
Petoskey, MI - North Central Michigan College’s Athletic Department hosted their second annual awards banquet on Thursday night, spending the evening celebrating the student-athletes and coaches for their numerous achievements. With the teams, coaches, faculty members and donors in attendance, awards were presented to recognize some of the great athletic accomplishments from this year.
To start the night off, the coaches from each of the individual sports presented awards to their team members.
Cross Country
Guts & Determination Award – Rachel Descamps
Pack Award – Emily Danks & Liam O’Hare
MVP – Emma Duncan & Zach Maendel
Volleyball
Defensive MVP – Makenzie Castle
Offensive MVP – Camille Wardin
Pack Award – Alana VanderMeer
MVP – Analiese Fredin
Women’s Basketball
Pack Award – Caley Zukowski
MVP – Lindsey Cross
Men’s Basketball
Most Improved Award – TyeMier Moore
Pack Award – JJ Weber
MVP – Andrew Johnson
Esports
Pack Award -Ethan Ashley
MVP – Colt Reid
Next, the Athletics department recognized both teams and individuals who stood out during their respective seasons with specific awards.
Dr. Finley’s Trooper Award – Alana VanderMeer
In recognition of Alana stepping up to give the Women’s Cross Country team a full roster to compete at the NJCAA Region XII and MCCAA Championship, North Central’s President, David R. Finley, presented the Trooper Award. A captain of the volleyball team, Alana, was sidelined with an injury that would keep her out of volleyball for her final season – however it did allow her to run. Dr. Finley spoke of being in attendance as Alana competed for the Timberwolves in her first cross country race and what it meant to the Women’s Cross Country team, NCMC Athletics and North Central as a whole.
Breakthrough Athlete of the Year – Camille Wardin (Women’s Volleyball & Basketball)
A freshman who earned Honorable Mention All-MCCAA Northern Conference honors, Camille made her mark known as a dominant middle blocker for the Timberwolves this season. She appeared in 24 matches and 78 sets and registered 101 kills on the season (1.29 kills/set). Her .90 blocks/set ranked her 4th in the full MCCAA and 1st in the MCCAA Northern Conference.
Camille joined the Women’s Basketball team for the final 6 games of the season so the Timberwolves could complete their conference schedule. During that time, she proved that she is just as strong at blocking on the basketball court as the volleyball court. She set the record for most blocks in a game (5) as well as most rebounds in a game (15). She was named the MCCAA North Player of the Week for the last week of the season, marking the first time a Timberwolves Women’s Basketball player has earned this award.
Best Moment – First Timberwolves Appearance at a National Championship (Men’s & Women’s Cross Country)
Three cross-country student athletes from NCMC qualified and competed at the biggest stage during the first season in which the Timberwolves were eligible for postseason competition. Zach Maendel, Rachel Descamps & Emma Duncan are the first ever National Tournament participants for North Central Athletics. The three individual runners and coaches traveled to Huntsville, Alabama to participate in the event. They were joined by the families of Maendel, Decamps and Duncan who all made the long trip to support their loved ones.
Comeback Athlete of the Year – Andrew Johnson (Men’s Basketball)
With only one season left of athletic eligibility, Andrew Johnson, came to NCMC in our inaugural season but opted to red shirt and use the season to work toward graduation, academic eligibility and his game. Despite being eligible for the winter semester of last year he continued as a red-shirt so that he would have a full season to compete as a Timberwolf. After not playing in a competitive game since March 2022 he appeared in every game for the Timberwolves and had more starts (25) than any other men's basketball player. He ended the season as the leading scorer with 433 points and was named to the MCCAA All-Northern Conference Third team. He received the MCCAA North Player of the Week honors on February 27th.
Best Record Breaking Performance – Emma Duncan, broke school record 4 times, final record of 20:00 in 5K (Women’s Cross Country)
Coming into the 2023-2024 season Emma Duncan was already the school record holder – but that wasn’t enough. She set (and met) her ambitious goals, becoming the first ever All-American at NCMC. This season she broke the women’s cross country 5K record FOUR TIMES! The former record, set on October 15th 2022 was 21:19. Duncan’s school records line up with her own personal records and she continued to grow and push herself throughout the season moving that bar each time.
Best Win – Volleyball beats Macomb 3-2 and wins the Buffalo Wild Wings & Corktown Pizza Quad
In the second tournament of the season the Timberwolves hosted a tournament at home for the first time. The second game of the tournament was the crucial game against a MCCAA Eastern Conference contender, Macomb Community College. After dropping the first set 12-25 the Timberwolves came out strong to take the second set 25-14. The third set would go to the Monarch’s by a narrower margin of 18-25. During intermission the Timberwolves gained the edge and came out to win the 4th set and force a decisive 5th set (25-21, 4th set score). The 5th set was a nail biter as the score was tied six times in the short set. Ava Wendel put the team up 13-11 from the service line with an ace and it took four more players for the Timberwolves to seal the victory 15-13. With this win the Timberwolves had the moment and finished their home quad sweeping the day when they defeated Alpena CC and went 3-0 at the tournament.
Coach of the Year – Rod Anderson (Men’s & Women’s Cross Country)
Each year Coach Rod Anderson has taken the Men’s & Women’s Cross Country teams on the next step forward – this year it was at the National level. To start the season, sophomore Emma Duncan set the goal of qualifying for Nationals after being on the cusp in 2022. Not only did Coach Anderson lead Duncan to qualify for the National Championship, the rest of the team flourished under Rod’s leadership and two other Timberwolves qualified for the National Championship as well. Even more impressive 11 out of 13 runners set a new personal record this season – proving the growth and development that Coach Anderson provides.
Outstanding Team of the Year – Men’s Basketball
- 10-17 overall record (7-7 MCCAA North)
- Finished tied for 3rd in the MCCAA Northern Conference.
- Qualified for the Region XII Great Lakes District Tournament (5th seed).
- Had 3 players named All-MCCAA Northern Conference (two - third team, one - honorable mention).
- One MCCAA North Player of the Week Award.
- Set new team records in:
- Rebounds in a game vs Kirtland CC (58).
Female Athlete of the Year – Emma Duncan (Women’s Cross Country)
- Qualified and competed at the NJCAA DII National Championship where she set a new school and personal record of 20:00 in the 5K race. Finished in 38th place out of 279 competitors.
- All-MCCAA
- All-Region XII
- All-American (NCMC’s first ever All-American)
- Signed to continue running at Ferris State University next year.
Male Athlete of the Year – Josh Adim (Men’s Basketball)
All MCCAA North Third Team
Led the team in:
- Points per game (15.7)
- 3-point field goal percentage (41.4%)
- Steals per game (1.7)
- Made 3 pointers (55)
- This year he broke school records in:
- Most 3 pointer field goals in a season (55)
- 3-point field goal percentage in a season (41.4%)– broke his own record from a year ago.
- Career points (695)
- Career field goals made (265)
- Career 3-point field goals made (99)
- Career 3-point field goal percentage (38.2%)
- Second highest points in one game with 31 at Southwestern Michigan College on November 4th
Fan of the Year – Susan Bowman
Susan Bowman was a passionate and loyal fan of the Timberwolves all season long. Not only would you see her cheering on the teams at home games, but she would also watch the away games on the livestreams, and send encouraging messages to the players as well! This award was presented to Susan by student-athletes Josh Adim & Raeann Hingston, who had the pleasure of taking her course and feeling her support during games.
As can be seen above, our athletes, coaches, and staff members put in a lot of hard work during their seasons as they attempted to win and improve in their respective sports. Overall, the Timberwolves Athletics program had a very rewarding and successful second year of competition, and will hope to keep improving in the years to come!
Story by: David Powell, NCMC Sports Information Intern