General 8/27/2023 9:20:00 PM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Drenth and Senkus Voted 2022-23 Student-Athletes of the Year

DETROIT -- Wayne State University Director of Athletics Erika Wallace announced the 2022-23 Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year earlier today at the 2023 Warrior Rise Seminar. Candidates were judged on academic distinction, athletic accomplishments, individual involvement and University and community service, as well as coaches' recommendation.

Junior women's diver Mikaela Senkus (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Academy for International Studies (Eisenhower)) and sophomore men's tennis player Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) were selected as the 2022-23 female and male Student-Athletes of the Year after being nominated by their respective coaches with voting by the athletic department's coaches and administrative staff.

In the diving well, Senkus was a two-time All-American, earning a pair of First Team honors by finishing as the runner-up in both the one meter (470.95) and three meter (479.70) competitions. In fact, she scored a total of 34 points, which would have placed 22nd in the team standings by herself. The six-time GLIAC Diver of the Week, Senkus was selected GLIAC Diver of the Year after winning both the one meter (430.80) and the three meter (479.75) events.

Senkus, who is majoring in Civil Engineering, has earned a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) all six semesters at WSU, including four 4.0 terms. A First Team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA), she also received First Team CSCAA Scholar All-America accolades.

Drenth earned two All-American certificates from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as a singles All-American (ranked 10th in the country) and as a doubles All-American (he and partner Daniel Grey were ranked No. 2 nationally). The GLIAC Player of the Year, he also earned All-GLIAC First Team honors. Drenth posted a 25-12 overall singles record, including a 22-9 dual match ledger helping the Warriors finish tied-for-fifth (NCAA Quarterfinalist) at the national championships. He recorded a 35-10 doubles record, including a 24-8 dual match mark. The 35 doubles victories set a WSU single-season record.

Academically, the Management major has earned a 4.00 term GPA all four semesters at WSU and was selected as the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Division 2 Men's Tennis Academic All-American of the Year and First Team Academic All-American. Drenth was also named an ITA All-Academic Scholar-Athlete.

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This is the 20th year of the WSU Student-Athlete of the Year award since two years were skipped (2019-20 and 2020-21) due to reduced athletic competition because of COVID.

The first recipients in 2001-02 were softball outfielder Kelly Kashmerick and hockey goalie David Guerrera, while cross country runner Shelly Vickery and hockey forward Dustin Kingston were the 2002-03 honorees. The first four honorees have since been inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

The 2003-04 student-athletes of the year were women's hockey forward Kim Spaulding and swimmer David Lutz. Lutz became the first two-time winner in 2004-05 along with Anna Vinnikov, a member of the women's fencing squad. The 2005-06 recipients were diver Erika Barczak and swimmer Nick Ingrao, while the 2006-07 recipients were Anna Garina, a national champion fencer, and Kris Krzyminski, an All-American basketball player.

All-American baseball pitcher Anthony Bass and Barczak were selected following the 2007-08 school year, with swimmers Ashley St.Andrew and Sean Smith being voted for the 2008-09 season. Softball pitcher Casey Hanes and swimmer Cauli Bedran were the 2009-10 recipients, while baseball catcher Mike Wiseman and tennis student-athlete Sharon Gill were honored following the 2010-11 school year. A pair of All-Americans, swimmer Catherine Leix and football running back Josh Renel, were selected as the 2011-12 Student-Athletes of the Year. Leix helped lead the swimmers to a national title, while Renel's play helped the football team participate in the national championship game. Barczak, Bass, St.Andrew, Smith, Hanes, Bedran, Wiseman, Gill, Leix and Renel have all been inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

The 2012-13 recipients were eight-time diving All-American Carly Sevald, and men's basketball student-athlete Ian Larkin. Larkin was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection as well as a 2012 GLIAC Commissioner's Award recipient. He was only the third player in 96 years of WSU basketball to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots. Both Larkin and Sevald were inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

The 2013-14 awards went to softball outfielder Logan White and men's diver Dylan Szegedi. White was named to the NFCA All-Midwest Region Second Team for the third straight season and was a three-time GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team selection. An eight-time All-American, Szegedi was a two-time GLIAC Male Diver of the Year and was the national champion on the three-meter board with a school record score of 587.65. White was a 2020 WSU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, while Szegedi was selected in 2021 (ceremony held in 2022 due to COVID).

The 2014-15 recipients were women's basketball standout Shareta Brown and football All-American Nores Fradi. Brown was the consensus NCAA Division II National Player of the Year after averaging 22.0 points per game, and leading the country in rebounds per contest (14.7) and field goal percentage (64.9%). Fradi was the GLIAC Defensive Back of the Year (linebackers and defensive backs) and led Division II with 28.5 tackles for loss (24 solo, 9 assisted) during the regular season to earn AFCA All-America Team honors. Brown was inducted the same year as Szegedi.

In 2015-16, men's swimmer Ben Winn and softball player Lyndsay Butler were the honorees, while Butler and men's basketball forward Michael Lewis were the recipients for the 2016-17 academic year. Butler became just the third person in the history of the award to be a two-time recipient joining men's swimming standout David Lutz (2003-04, 2004-05) and diver Erika Barczak (2005-06, 2007-08). Lewis spent the entire 2016-17 academic year in graduate school, while Butler earned her bachelor's degree in December of 2016 and will be inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame this October (2023).

Men's fencing national runner-up Ziad Elsissy and track All-American Karrington Seals were the 2017-18 honorees, while All-American baseball pitcher Hunter Brown and diving All-American Amanda Hurchalla were the 2018-19 recipients. Last year's honorees were swimmer Jordan Fox and men's tennis standout Dom Spicer.

In fact, of the first 16 years of the award (29 recipients since Lutz, Barczak and Butler are two-time honorees), 24 have been selected for induction into the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame.

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey: 6' 0"; Senior

Dom Spicer: 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Jordan Fox: Back/Free; 6' 0"; Graduate Student

Mikaela Senkus: Diving; 5' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth
: 6' 2"; Junior

Daniel Grey
: 6' 0"; Senior

Dom Spicer
: 5' 11"; Graduate Student

Jordan Fox
: 6' 0"; Graduate Student
: Back/Free

Mikaela Senkus
: 5' 9"; Senior
: Diving