By Aaron Eshelman, Staff Writer
The Jetspy awards are a Newman staple, an annual celebration of Newman’s best Jets and one last fun event with fellow Newman athletes before the end of the school year. Obviously with the COVID-19 outbreak, many events and games have been cancelled this year, and the Jetspy Awards are no exception.
While SAAC is still hashing out a way to make up the celebration and still honor winners, there will be no traditional Jetspys this year, so I have taken it upon myself to hand out my own awards in their place.
DISCLAIMER: I have not been at every game or event for every sport. I will give each award to the Newman athlete who I view deserves it the most. This is just my opinion.
Play of the Year: Women’s Basketball Buzzer Beater vs. Emporia State
On Homecoming night vs. Emporia State, the Jets had the ball under their own basket with 1.2 seconds left, down by 1. Michaela Mack inbounded the ball to freshman Madison Birnbaum, who was streaking toward the basket after being freed up by a Kaitlyn Potter screen. Birnbaum made a layup as time expired to beat ESU by one, prompting Newman’s Homecoming crowd to storm the court in celebration.
Team of the Year: Men’s Bowling
The men’s bowling team finished the year ranked the No. 19 team in the country, according to collegebowling.com, and had a real shot of making the national tournament before the season was cut short.
Comeback Player of the Year: Jacob Birnbuam- Men’s Basketball
Birnbaum played in all 28 games as a freshman for the Jets in 2016-2017, but just five games into his sophomore season, he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Injury also sidelined him for the entirety of his junior season, forcing him to redshirt. But this season Birnbaum played in 26 games, starting 10, and was second on the team in blocks with 10.
Men’s Athlete of the Year: Kameron Frame- Wrestling
Frame was named an All-American after finishing the season 21-4 with five tech falls. He was the fourth seeded wrestler in the 157 pound weight class at the national tournament, which he earned after defeating fellow All-American Ty Lucas from Central Oklahoma in the regional tournament.
Women’s Athlete of the Year: Lacey Colvin- Softball
Through 25 games Colvin was hitting .423 with a remarkable OPS of 1.132. This was helped by her power hitting with a third of her hits being extra base hits including two long balls. She also walked 13 times and struck out only five.
