Slyker, Stieler Past Recipients
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Their respective teams at the University of Evansville were counting on baseball player Cody Fick and tennis player Kate Chybowski to be team leaders as seniors in 2010-11.  The pair did more than lead.  Fick and Chybowski put their names in the record books during their final year of collegiate competition, and as a result, they have been chosen by the UE coaching and administrative staff as the Aces’ most outstanding athletes of 2010-11.

Fick was chosen today as recipient of the William V. Slyker Award, and Chybowski for the second year in a row earned the Ida M. Stieler (pronounced ‘Steeler’) Award.  Other finalists for the Slyker Award included diver Andy Balczo and soccer player Robby Lynch.  Swimmer Christina Schmidgall was the other finalist for the Stieler Award.

Fick is one of only two players in Evansville baseball history to earn multiple All-America honors in the same season.  He was an ABCA/Rawlings first team All-America selection by the American Baseball Coaches Association, and was a second team Louisville Slugger All-American as selected by Collegiate Baseball.  The only other player chosen for more than one All-America team was pitcher Andy Benes in 1988, when he was the first player taken in the Major League Baseball draft.  Fick in 2011 hit .406 and was among the national leaders with 71 RBIs in 53 games. He topped the Aces in eight different statistical categories as a hitter and compiled a 7-4 record, 2.36 ERA, five complete games and a pair of shutouts in 11 starts on the mound.  Fick was also named Region V Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America and is a finalist for the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.  Fick graduated in May, and was drafted as a pitcher by the Philadelphia Phillies.  He is playing for the Williamsport Crosscutters in the New York – Penn League.

Chybowski is only the fourth person to win the Stieler Award more than once, joining swimmer Kim Dodson (2001, ‘02), tennis player Jessica Jetton (2004, ‘05) and basketball player Rebekah Parker (2007, ‘08).  The Stieler Award was first presented in 1986.  Chybowski shattered the records of Jetton and 1998 Stieler Award winner Karen Black in becoming Evansville's all-time leader in singles victories (107) and total victories (189).  Both records had stood since 1999.  Chybowski finished 17-3 at number one singles and 10-6 at number one doubles as a senior.  She received the Lois D. Patton Award in April for being the Aces' most outstanding senior female scholar-athlete, and in May was chosen as the Ohio Valley Region recipient of the Arthur Ashe Junior Leadership & Sportsmanship Award.  Earlier this month, Chybowski was chosen as an Academic All-American for the first time in her career, earning third team mention on the Women’s At-Large Academic All-America Team.  The three-time first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection graduated in May with a 3.92 GPA in Biology, and will attend the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in August.