The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced its end-of-the-season awards, and Cleary University came out a winner.
Women’s Head Basketball Coach Kevin Mondro received Champion of Character Coach of the Year honors for representing the NAIA’s core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, servant leadership and sportsmanship. Mondro was hired as the first women’s basketball coach in Cleary’s history. He came from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti where he coached basketball for 11 seasons. Prior to Eastern Michigan University, Mondro coached basketball for three years at Loyola University in Chicago, IL, and 11 years at the University of Detroit Mercy. Cleary’s women’s basketball team was picked to finish last in the WHAC and surprised the entire conference with six wins and a successful first season.
Hayley Dann, Cleary’s head coach for the men’s and women’s bowling team, also earned WHAC’s Champion of Character Coach for the Cleary men’s bowling team. She demonstrated NAIA’s core values, which led to her receiving this honor.
Scott Gardiner, Cleary’s head coach for hockey, was named WHAC Coach of the Year. In his first full season as Cleary’s head coach, Cleary’s win total went from 11 to 16, and WHAC wins improved from 8 to 10, the highest in the school’s history. Gardiner’s record during his first year at Cleary is 22 wins and 29 losses overall, and 15 wins and 22 losses in the WHAC.
These Cleary athletes were named to WHAC’s Champions of Character team:
· Zachary DeLong, men’s bowling, a senior from Brighton
· Christian Hammond, men’s track and field, a sophomore from Howell
· Amelia Jason, women’s track and field, a sophomore from Howard City
· Ty Johnson, wrestling, a freshman from Grand Blanc
· Erica Pyden, women’s bowling, a senior from Commerce Township
· Mileisha Rodriguez, women’s basketball, a junior from Waterford
· Wes Smith, hockey, a senior from Brighton
· Ashton Tomassi, men’s basketball, a freshman from Brighton
WHAC named these Cleary athletic scholars to its All-Academic team for achieving at least a 3.25 GPA:
Bowling
· Zachary DeLong, a senior from Brighton
· Samantha Dulz, a junior from Armada
· Corey Goldsmith, a junior from Constantine
· Erica Pyden, a senior from Commerce Township
· Reis Stine, a junior from Almont
Hockey
· Marc Alexander, a junior from Detroit
· Joe Heinzelman, a junior from Las Vegas, Nevada
· Peter Houston, a junior from Port Hope, Ontario
· Ben Kozar, a sophomore from Milford
· Tyler Krasofsky, a junior from Commerce Township
· Derry MacBeth, a junior from Milford
· Brady Meyer, a sophomore from Howell
· Alessandro Nicastro, a junior from Maple, Ontario
· Justin Reddy, a junior from Lennon
· Wes Smith, a senior from Brighton
· Cam Thomas, a junior from Clarkston
· Erik Wafer, a junior from Commerce Township
Track and Field
· Logan Betke, a sophomore from Brighton
· Matt Booth, a junior from Warren
· Lauren Gores, a junior from Howell
· Christian Hammond, a sophomore from Howell
· Joel Hartleb, a senior from Brownstown
· Camden Staples, a senior from Commerce Township
Wrestling
· Ryan Weaver, a sophomore from Fremont, OH
And here’s more accolades for Cleary athletes this season:
Chris Williams, a Cleary freshman from Southfield, was named to the All-Freshmen WHAC men’s basketball team. He finished the season second on the team with an average of 10.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Williams started all 27 games of Cleary’s first ever basketball season.
Mileisha Rodriguez, a junior from Waterford and forward for Cleary’s first women’s basketball team in school history, finished the season averaging 11 points per game and 52 percent shooting, while grabbing an average of 9.3 rebounds per game. She ranked third on the team in points per game and led the Cougars in rebounds per game. Rodriguez tallied 10 double-doubles and holds the school’s record with 21 rebounds in a single game.
The Cleary Cougars women’s bowling team is proud to announce its best performance in program history! In a recent competition, the team knocked down 6,676 pins to finish in third place, the highest jamboree finish in Cleary women’s bowling history!
Wes Smith was named to the First Team All WHAC. He is the first Cougar in the school’s hockey history to be named to the all-conference team. Smith finished the regular season with 22 goals and 33 assists, totaling 55 points. Scoring 22 goals places him second all time in a single season for Cleary, and his 33 assists and 55 points are the most in a single season in Cleary history. Earning 55 points this season ranks Smith in a tie for 17th in all ACHA divisions and second in ACHA Division 1.
Note: Cleary basketball student athletes were not eligible for all-academic recognition for this season, as they had not attended Cleary for at least one full year.
