Best Male Athlete: Cyrus Mulitalo

The list of awards for Mulitalo is starting to grow. In only his second year, the sophomore middle linebacker led the Big Sky Conference in tackles (120) and was twice named Big Sky defensive player of the week for his 14-tackle performance against Eastern Washington on Sept. 30 and on a career-high 21-tackle performance against Northern Colorado on Oct. 28, one shy of the school record for most tackles in a single game.

Mulitalo showed he was a dominant force on the Hornet defense and was named to the all-Big Sky Conference second team. Mulitalo also had two sacks and an interception in the season and saw time in the team’s red-zone offense with four carries for 10 yards and a touchdown.

Best Female Athlete: Kristin Lutes

Senior Kristin Lutes was a key component to the success of the Sacramento State Hornets volleyball team, leading them to a 30-6 record this season. The Hornets were Big Sky champs and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Lutes, who was the Hornets’ captain for the past two years, was one of the four non-Pac-10 players named to the all-Pacific Region, named Libero of the Year for the third time in four years, second-team all-tournament for the second year, Big Sky Player of the Week (Sept. 4) and named to the all-tournament team at the Sacramento State Invitational. Lutes was a solid starter at the libero position, leading the Hornets with 768 digs, which marked a new Big Sky single-season record. Her 6.24 digs per game were a career-high. She posted double figures in 119 of 129 possible matches during her Sac State career, which includes 51 matches with more than 20 digs. She doesn’t just hold the record for single-season digs, but tops the Big Sky Conference and the school’s career record with 2,355 digs.

Best Sportsman: Tyson Butler

The four year veteran’s accomplishments don’t hold to just the football field. As a member of Sac State’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Butler has helped organize toy and can food drives, get-togethers for student athletes and visits to Shriners Hospital, an orthopedic and burn care center for children. Ending the season with three sacks and 78 tackles, Butler finishes seventh on the school’s career tackles record (202). Butler also holds the school record for most sacks in a single game (3.5). Brought into the school under the Mooshagian era, Butler has been the team’s captain and defensive leader.

Best Sportswoman: Kelly Novak

Senior forward Kelly Novak gave four years of her time to the women’s soccer team, but it was her accomplishments off the field that earned her the Sportswoman of the Year award.

Novak, a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, has done many things with the organization including visiting sick children at the Shriners Hospital.

“It made me realize that I could be a leader on campus,” Novak said. “I grew up a lot.”

Novak finished her senior season with three goals and four assists. She also scored the game-winning penalty kick in the team’s Big Sky Tournament semifinal match against Montana.

Best Male Recruit: Marcel Marquez

A transfer from the College of the Canyons, the junior quarterback became the offensive leader for the Hornets two games into the season. Marquez displayed a strong arm, but it’s his mobility and elusiveness that makes him one of the Hornets’ strongest offensive weapons. Named as an honorable mention to the all-Big Sky Conference team, Marquez was just one completion short of breaking the school’s single season record (143).

Marquez was named co-Big-Sky Offensive Player of the Week after the team’s 22-14 win over Idaho State, where he threw for two touchdowns and a career-high 396 yards. Marquez ended the season with 1,910 yards and 10 touchdowns and gained 338 yards on the ground.

Best Female Recruit: Beverly Goebel

When injuries changed the outlook of the season for the women’s soccer team, Goebel stepped up and became arguably the team’s most versatile player. Goebel played in all 21 games, starting 20, and instantly produced for the Big Sky runners-up. She tied for third on the team with 10 points (2 G, 6 A) including a game-winning header in double overtime against Cal Poly. She also led the team with 67 shots.

Whether she was creating scoring opportunities or pressuring opponents on defense, Goebel was rarely, if ever, seen standing still.

Best Male Scholar Athlete: Jesse Manton

Keeping true to the term “student athlete,” Manton’s accomplishments on the field match those in the classroom. The men’s soccer senior defender was named NSCAA Scholar-Athlete All-Far West Region second team for the second consecutive year. The business management major also earned all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation academic honors for his 3.6 GPA. This is the third consecutive season Manton has been given this honor. Playing 49 career matches and making 39 starts as a Hornet, he was also named to the ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District VIII first team in 2005.

Best Female Scholar Athlete: Lindsay Haupt

The middle blocker was named both to the first team all-Big Sky and the Big Sky Tournament MVP, for the second consecutive year. She was also named Big Sky Player of the Week twice this season.

She was 26th in the nation with 1.50 blocks per game and recorded a .335 hitting percentage, tying fellow middle blocker Michelle Franz. She averaged 3.07 kills per game and hit a league-high of .375, with 16 of her final 19 matches ending with at .348 or above. Haupt has recorded double figures in kills a career-high 24 times. She is seventh in Sac State history with 432 blocks.

Best Coach: Katie Poynter

In her third season at the helm of the women’s soccer team, coach Katie Poynter enjoyed her best season to date. Poynter guided the team to its best season in program history with a 10-7-4 record. The 10 wins marked a program high. The team made the Big Sky Tournament for the second straight year, coming just one penalty kick short of a championship.

Recruiting has improved each year Poynter has been in charge, including last season when the team added four major freshmen contributors: goalie Mandy Trojan, defender Katie Rorabaugh, midfielder Beverly Goebel and forward Kim Kemper.