Mankato, Minn. - The men’s basketball team gathered with family, friends and fans at Charley’s Restaurant on Sunday, March 25th for the program’s annual Senior Recognition and Awards Banquet.
At the banquet Coach Dave Balza announced the naming of two of the team’s awards after Bethany’s legendary coaches, Ron Younge and Art Westphal.
Junior forward Gavin Kroehler (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) received the team’s top honor earning the Coach’s TEAM Award, recognizing the student-athlete who best exemplifies what it means to be a Bethany Viking.
Junior co-captain Pat Garvin (Jackson, Minn./Jackson County Central) won the Leadership Award. Fellow junior co-captain Derek Peterson (St. Paul, Minn./Tartan) was named the Ron Younge Defensive MVP while junior Alex Weldon (Marion, Iowa/Linmar) was recognized as the inaugural Art Westphal Offensive MVP.
Other award winners included:
Academic Achievement Award – Derek Peterson
Charge Leader Award – Gavin Kroehler
Leading Rebounder Award – Pat Garvin
Free Throw Award – Garrett Benson
Heart & Hustle Award – Deon Wright
Most Improved – Josh Allen
In addition to the team’s awards, conference award winners were presented with plaques recognizing their accomplishments. Kroehler was the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Co-Player of the Year. He and Peterson were both named First Team All-Conference and made the All-Defensive Team. Weldon earned Second Team All-Conference honors while Garvin made All-Conference Honorable Mention and was recognized on the UMAC’s first-ever Sportsmanship Team.
Senior speeches were made by seniors Josh Allen (Fairmont, Minn./Fairmont), Dionte Foster (Crystal, Minn./Cooper) and Assistant Coach Aaron Mantey. The banquet concluded with the first viewing of the team’s highlight video and the presentation of the 2011-12 UMAC Regular Season Championship trophy to the team.
The Vikings finished the season 16-11 overall and 13-1 in the league in route to winning the conference championship, the first such championship in any sport in school history. Additionally, BLC hosted the UMAC Post-Season Championship game for the first time.
