FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Last Friday, the Alaska Nanooks Department of Athletics celebrated the conclusion of the 2017-18 season for all 10 of its athletic teams with the annual All-Sports Award Banquet at the Schaible Auditorium on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The evening was highlighted by rifle senior Sagen Maddalena and men's ice hockey senior defenseman Zach Frye being named the Most Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year and Most Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year, respectively.

Maddalena was given the highest honor on Friday night by being named the Most Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year, while also being named Alaska rifle's MVP and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. At the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, Maddalena was named a Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association First Team All-American and an National Rifle Association First Team All-American in both smallbore and Air Rifle for a total of three All-America nods in her final season with the Nanooks.

Furthermore, Maddalena helped the Nanooks break three  program records in the team smallbore score, the team air rifle score and the team aggregate score. The Groveland, California native also tied her individual personal-best marks in smallbore (591), air rifle (599) and aggregate total (1189) multiple times throughout the season. At the NCAA Rifle Championships in March, Maddalena placed fourth in the air rifle individual finals and eighth in the smallbore individual finals, as the Nanooks placed fifth as a team overall.

Frye earned the honor of the Most Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year after a very successful season with the Alaska hockey team. The Spokane, Washington native was named to the All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association First Team as one of two defensemen before being named the team's MVP, Top Scorer, Top Defenseman and Top Playoff Performer at the end of the year banquet earlier last month. In his four years with the Nanooks, Frye appeared in 136 games, collecting 21 goals and 56 assists for 77 points.

In the 2017-18 campaign alone, Frye played in 35 games for the Nooks, tallying a conference-best 11 goals for defensemen and 23 assists for a career-high 34 points. Frye led all WCHA blueliners in goals per games played (0.31), shots on goal (120) and shots on goal per games played (3.43). Additionally, Frye led his teammates in all the same categories, as well as assists per game (0.66), points per games played (0.97), power play goals (4), power play assists (6), power play points (10), game-winning goals (2), plus (34) and blocked shots (54). Frye tallied 11 multi-point efforts throughout the season and was named a WCHA Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions and the WCHA Defensive Player of the Month for February.

The Nanook Athletics Advisory Committee (NAAC) Scholar-Athletes of the Year were awarded to Maddalena and cross country running's Lyon Kopsack and Carl Wahlin. Usually, there is only one female and one male selection, but Kopsack and Wahlin will share the award as co-honorees. The NAAC Scholar-Athletes were selected based on a combination of academic and athletic achievements, as well as their on- and off-campus leadership activities, dedication to community service and character. Maddalena, Kopsack and Wahlin were selected and vetted by a committee of University staff and faculty and were recognized at the UAF Awards Breakfast earlier last month.

Senior cross country runner and Nordic skier Sarissa Lammers was named the Bart LeBon Humanitarian of the Year after serving on the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the past two years, representing the Alaska Nanooks and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at the conference and national level for the past two seasons. The Bart LeBon Humanitarian of the Year award is presented to, "a student-athlete who embodies a positive athletic role model through selfless volunteer work in the community." LeBon played on UAF's NAIA National Championship men's basketball team in 1973 and became a Nanook booster in 1975. Today, Bart continues to give his valuable time and energy to support UAF, its student-athletes and numerous organizations around the Fairbanks community.

Nick Hinz, a senior on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, was given the Joe Tremarello Student-Athlete Sportsmanship award for his interactions with teammates and fellow competitors and his engagement in the community and on campus. The award is given to, "a student-athlete who competes with respect and acts in a professional manner." The late Joe Tremarello played men's basketball for the Nanooks from 1954-58 and coached the women's team from 1990-94.

The Harris Shelton Spirit of Competition award was presented to Alaska swimming junior Cassidy Heaton. After a stellar start to the 2017-18 season in the pool, Heaton was diagnosed with mono and couldn't compete for the majority of the fall semester. Heaton, a native of Fairbanks, worked tirelessly to return to the pool and eventually earned multiple NCAA "B" cut times through the second half of the season. The Harris Shelton Spirit of Competition award is given to, "a student-athlete whose 'never say quit' attitude is the finest amongst Nanooks." The award is named after Shelton, who was the UAF Vice Chancellor for student affairs from 1971-92 and became a tremendous advocate for student-athletes.

The Owen Tinker Fan of the Year award was given to Bert Ryan, who can be found at any of the Alaska volleyball, hockey and men's and women's basketball games with a popcorn and a soda right behind the home team bench. The award is given to, "a person who passionately supports UAF and its student-athletes in competition and in the community."

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Keith Champagne handed out honors to the top staff member and coach within the athletics department. Alaska hockey equipment manager Kevin Duffy was given the Staff Member of the Year award, while head cross country and Nordic skiing coach Nick Crawford was selected as the Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.

For the first time, the Linda Moffit Leadership in Courage award was given out to, "a female student-athlete whose actions have demonstrated leadership to promote social justice, equality, diversity and equal opportunity for women." In its inaugural year, the award was given to cross country senior Cheyenne Greenside for her service on the Title IX committee, representing student-athletes. Greenside will also be running from San Francisco, California to New York, New York for 50-straight days to promote young adult cancer awareness. The award is named after the late Linda Moffit, who was a student at UAF who wrote a letter to the Office of Civil Rights in Washington, DC in 1973 to report discrimination in the UAF athletic department. Linda's courageous action has had a positive impact for opportunities for women on campus and throughout the state.

In addition to the Alaska Nanooks department-wide awards, each sport recognized their Most Valuable Player and Dr. William Wood Scholar-Athlete of the Year. This Year's winners were submitted by their coaching staff and include:

Women's Basketball: Kyle Wallace (Scholar-Athlete) & Lexi Carpenter (MVP)

Men's Basketball: Zach Hatch (Scholar-Athlete) & Alex Baham (MVP)

Men's Cross Country: Lyon Kopsack (Scholar-Athlete) & Lukash Platil (MVP)

Women's Cross Country: Alex Bergholtz (Scholar-Athlete & MVP)

Hockey: Anton Martinsson (Scholar-Athlete) & Zach Frye (MVP)

Rifle: Sagen Maddalena (Scholar-Athlete & MVP)

Men's Skiing: Arnaud Guyon (Scholar-Athlete) & Seiji Takagi (MVP)

Women's Skiing: Kati Roivas (Scholar-Athlete) & Ann-Cathrin Uhl (MVP)

Swimming: Abby Blackstone (Scholar-Athlete) & Cassidy Heaton (MVP)

Volleyball: Maddie Davis (Scholar-Athlete ) & Rachel Nichols (MVP)

The 2017-18 Alaska Nanooks All-Sports Awards Ceremony Winners

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Sagen Maddalena (Rifle)

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Zach Frye (Hockey)

NAAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Sagen Maddalena (Rifle)

NAAC Co-Male Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Lyon Kopsack & Carl Wahlin (Cross Country)

Bart LeBon Humanitarian of the Year: Sarissa Lammers (Cross Country & Nordic Skiing)

Joe Tremarello Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award: Nick Hinz (Hockey)

Harris Shelton Spirit of Competition Award: Cassidy Heaton (Swimming)

Linda Moffit Leadership in Courage Award: Cheyenne Greenside (Cross Country)

Owen Tinker Fan of the Year: Bert Ryan

Staff Member of the Year: Kevin Duffy (Hockey Equipment Manager)

Coach of the Year: Nick Crawford (Men's & Women's Cross Country Running & Skiing Head Coach)

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