Men’s soccer player Cory Elenio (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and women’s basketball standout Rebekah Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) have been selected as the University of Evansville’s most outstanding athletes for the 2007-08 school year in a vote of UE’s head coaches. Elenio, a current member of Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, received the William V. Slyker Award as UE’s top male athlete, while Parker garnered her second-straight Ida M. Stieler Award as UE’s top female athlete.
The Slyker Award was presented each year from 1954 through 1984, then reinstated in 1986. The Stieler Award has been presented each year since 1986. The Slyker and Stieler awards are given primarily on the basis of athletic achievement, with leadership and scholarship also part of the criteria.
Elenio earned the Slyker Award after being named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America all-Midwest Region first team and the all-Missouri Valley Conference first team for the second year in a row this past fall. He became the first Evansville soccer player to earn back-to-back first team all-region honors since goalkeeper Trey Harrington in 1991 and 1992 by leading the Aces in both goals (seven) and assists (nine) for 23 points. Elenio ranked second in the MVC in assists, third in total points, and fifth in goals during his senior season. Elenio was voted the Integra Bank Most Valuable Player by his teammates, and finished his career ranked 18th all-time in UE history in career scoring before being drafted by the Columbus Crew in the second round of the 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft.
Parker, meanwhile, earned her second consecutive Stieler Award after helping the UE women’s basketball team to a 21-12 overall record, a share of its first MVC regular-season title, and a second-round appearance in the 2008 Postseason WNIT as a first-team all-MVC selection. Parker led Evansville in scoring as a senior at 14.5 points per game, while ranking among the MVC’s leaders in nine different statistical categories. She leaves Evansville as the only basketball player in school history, male or female, to record over 1,400 career points, 600 career rebounds, 400 career assists, and 175 career steals. Parker earned Lowe’s Senior All-America first team honors along with such players as 2008 Wade Trophy Award Winner Candice Wiggins of Stanford, National Defensive Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles of LSU, and consensus All-Americans Crystal Langhorne of Maryland and Jackie McFarland of Colorado this past April, while also being named to the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete team. Parker also was named as UE’s Lois D. Patton Award winner, as the school’s top female scholar-athlete.
Other finalists for the 2007-08 Slyker Award included swimmer James Nash (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado), golfer Kyle Reddington (Evansville, Ind./Central) and men’s basketball player Jason Holsinger (Lapel, Ind./Lapel). Softball player Brittany Herald (Old Hickory, Tenn./Ezell-Harding Christian), volleyball player Julie Walroth (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills), cross country runner Andrea Sonnenschein (Poy Sippi, Wis./Berlin), golfer Crissy Higgins (Santa Claus, Ind./Heritage Hills), tennis player Kate Chybowski (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) and swimmer Christina Schmidgall (Golden Valley, Minn./Robbinsville Cooper) were also finalists for the Stieler Award.
UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
William V. Slyker Award Winners
(the Slyker Award was presented from 1954 through 1984, then reinstated in 1986)
1986: Andy Haas, swimming
1987: Dan McHugh, soccer
1988: Marty Simmons, basketball
1989: Scott Haffner, basketball
1990: Rob Paterson, soccer
1991: Scott Cannon, soccer
1992: Graham Merryweather, soccer
1993: Pat Schulz, baseball
1994: Hanz Hoag, football
1995: (co-recipients) Andy Elkins, Reed Jackson, basketball
1996: Jamey Carroll, baseball
1997: Ryan Brownlee, baseball
1998: Sean Bennett, football
1999: Marcus Wilson, basketball
2000: Phil Broshears, baseball
2001: Wes Carroll, baseball
2002: Steve Obenchain, baseball
2003: Luke Miller, baseball
2004: Cody Strait, baseball
2005: (co-recipients) Nick Waninger, cross country, and Erik Lis, baseball
2006: Kasey Wahl, baseball
2007: Nick Waninger, cross country
2008: Cory Elenio, soccer
Ida M. Stieler Award Winners
1986: Laura Seib, volleyball
1987: Debbie Bajovich, softball/volleyball
1988: Debbie Roberts-Shultz, basketball
1989: Kim Horvath, cross country
1990: Shannon Cook, tennis
1991: Tricia Berger, swimming
1992: Kelly Watson, swimming
1993: Christy Greis, basketball
1994: Jennifer deDoming, swimming
1995: Eileen Mortensen, tennis
1996: Cindy Reed, swimming
1997: Nicole Farris, softball
1998: Karen Black, tennis
1999: Mattie Ross, softball
2000: Krissy Meek, soccer
2001: Kim Dodson, swimming
2002: Kim Dodson, swimming
2003: Andrea Werner, golf
2004: Jessica Jetton, tennis
2005: Jessica Jetton, tennis
2006: Megan Liffick, basketball
2007: Rebekah Parker, basketball
2008: Rebekah Parker, basketball
