Senior men’s basketball player Greg Gantt and senior women’s swimmer Eszter Bucz were named Florida Atlantic University’s Outstanding Male and Female Athletes for the 2012-13 athletic season. The Department of Athletics presented 12 outstanding achievement awards at the Sunday, April 21 banquet. Graduates and academic honor society members also received recognition.

Gantt became the program’s all-time leading scorer and was a first-team All-District 24 selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches during the winter basketball season. The Gainesville native earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference (SBC) honors after averaging 21.2 points per game and tallying 20 or more points in 18 games, highlighted by a career-high 34 points against Stetson this past season.

Bucz became FAU’s first women’s swimmer to participate in the NCAA Championships since 2006, and was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Year after winning two events at the league championship meet. The Budapest, Hungary native participated in the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard breaststroke events at the national championships.

The Student-Athlete of the Year Awards was shared by senior baseball player Mark Nelson, with a 3.33 grade point average (GPA) in finance, and senior women’s golfer Marilyne Cadieux, with a 3.72 GPA in biology. Nelson has helped the baseball team capture two conference regular-season championships, was a preseason first-team All-SBC selection, and leads this year’s team with six home runs and 29 runs batted in this spring. Cadieux was FAU’s highest finisher in this year’s SBC Championships, shooting a two-over par 74 score in the final round.

Cross country runners Ryan Davis and Stacy Paton won the department’s Academic Achievement Award. Paton also competes for the women’s track and field team.

The women’s basketball team was honored as the Female Community Service Award winner for its outstanding community service under first-year Head Coach Kellie Lewis-Jay. The team volunteered time reading to second- and seventh-grade students at A.D. Henderson School, and conducted other community activities throughout the season.
Junior baseball player Geoff Jimenez received the Male Community Service Award after helping the baseball team assist the Boca Raton Little League each fall and spring.

The Sportsmanship Award winners were Chad Mills of the cheerleading squad and women’s tennis player Natasha Basma. Also, senior volleyball player Cintia Nightingale and men’s swimmer Sid Golliher were acknowledged as student-athletes affirming the dedication of FAU and showing support for other student-athletes by attending sporting events throughout the year.