Bluffton University presented its top athletics awards April 18 to standout athletes in basketball and track and field.
CHECK THE ALL-TIME AWARD WINNER LIST ATTACHED -
Trey Elchert of Jackson Center, Ohio, accepted the A.C. Burcky Award as senior male athlete of the year, while Terrill Webb of Kenton, Ohio, won the Kathryn E. Little Award as outstanding senior female athlete. Elchert, an early childhood education major, is the son of Scott and Leisha Elchert. Webb is an exercise science major. She is the daughter of Doug and Lynn Webb.
Trey Elchert
Elchert’s maturity and leadership with the team proved him worthy of being voted team captain both his junior and senior years.
Elchert was named to the McDonald’s of Bluffton Holiday All-Tournament Team. He was also responsible for hitting the game-winning buzzer-beater at Franklin this season.
While still in season, Elchert completed his student teaching requirements at Bluffton Elementary School. His hard work is shown in his stellar academic standing. He is a member of the National Basketball Coaches Association Honors Court and has been named All-Academic HCAC for three years.
“Trey Elchert possesses and demonstrates as much positive character on a daily basis as any player I have had at Bluffton,” said Guy Neal, head men’s basketball coach. “Trey maintained a mature attitude and helped the team in any way he was called upon.”
A.C. Burcky Award
The Burcky Award is named for the late professor of physical education and coach who served Bluffton from 1922-68. He was inducted into the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1970, the A.C. Burcky addition to Founders Hall was dedicated in his honor.
Terrill Webb
In track and field, Webb was a standout pole-vaulter and relay member. She was also a member of the soccer team during her freshman and sophomore years where she was the leading scorer in both seasons.
She was the first female athlete to represent Bluffton at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA National Track and Field Championship meets where she vaulted two All-American clearances. At the indoor meet in 2016, Webb placed sixth, and set the current indoor school record of 12 feet and 5.5 inches. At the 2016 outdoor meet, she tied for third and set the current outdoor school record of 12 feet and 9.5 inches. She was also a 2017 indoor qualifier.
Throughout her college career, Webb has claimed three indoor HCAC pole vault championships, as well as two outdoor pole vault championships. During her freshman year, Webb broke the HCAC Championship meet record for both indoor and outdoor pole vault and has reset them multiple times. The HCAC honored Webb twice as the Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, and
in 2016, she was named HCAC Female Athlete of the Year.
Webb is also an outdoor All-Ohio champion and indoor runner-up, as well as a two-time Great Lakes All-Region honoree. She was first in 2016 and fourth in the most recent indoor season.
In addition to her pole vault accomplishments, Webb has been a member of three relay teams and holds the school record for an individual event. She participates in the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x200 meter relays. The 4x200 meter relay team holds the school record. Individually, Webb hold the school record in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.94 seconds.
“In this capacity throughout her career,” said Karen Brandt, head track and field coach, “she has contributed significant points at conference championships in addition to what she has earned for the women’s team in vault.”
Kathryn Little Award
Webb’s award is named for Kathryn Little, who served in Bluffton’s health, physical education and recreation department and in athletics from 1958-74. She was a member of the first class inducted into the Bluffton Athletics Hall of Fame.
Mike DeCourcy, featured speaker
Speaking on the subject of sportsmanship during the program was Mike DeCourcy, a 35-year sports journalist, who has spent nearly all of his career devoted to covering college athletics.
DeCourcy started his presentation with a recent example of unsportsmanlike behavior. During game two of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Matt Howard of the Columbus Blue Jackets ended the game by breaking his stick over the shoulder and neck of Pittsburgh Penguins’ player Tom Kuhnackl. “There was nothing accidental about it because Calvert looped around on his skates and threw a forearm into the player’s face as he was doubled over in pain,” said DeCourcy. “Yet, they’ll still end the series with a handshake line.”
DeCourcy explained that the handshake line is something that players is a tradition in hockey that players have been doing since before the NHL existed. “Even the really dirty players are devoted to this,” said DeCourcy. “The players say this is a really nice show of sportsmanship after a hard-fought game of hockey. I agree with that. It’s a show. It’s a show like ‘Modern Family’ is a show or like ‘NCIS’ is a show. It’s scripted and it’s fake.”
Through the years, DeCourcy, who has spent eight seasons as a basketball analyst at the Big Ten Network and has written about college basketball for Sporting News magazine and SportingNews.com for 22 seasons, has called for an end to the handshake line. He says every time he gets criticized from coast to coast.
“It’s forced and it’s phony and it’s not real. I don’t think a true act of sportsmanship would end with one coach trying to get past the other coach so fast you’d think he morphed into Usain Bolt,” said DeCourcy.
One of the main criticisms he receives is that ending the handshake line would send the wrong message to children who play sports. But, even as a child playing baseball, DeCourcy said he realized the handshake line was just, “a ritual I had to go through win or lose.”
He has a simple formula for true sportsmanship. “It’s respecting your opponent and respecting the game.”
DeCourcy says, if you look hard enough and in the right places, examples of true sportsmanship can be found. He cited an example from the Big East semifinals which were played in March when a player named Angel Delgado for Seton Hall missed an easy layup that would have tied the game against Villanova and could have led his team on to the championship game. “He’s a great player. He’s played tough all year. His team loses and he’s heartbroken. He’s on the ground crying, and an All-American for Villanova, instead of celebrating with his teammates, stops, taps Delgado on the chest and tells him he’s a great player. Real sportsmanship is in moments like that.”
