Best Male Athlete: KirylHarbatsiuk

Senior men’s tennis player Kiryl Harbatsiuk had one of the best playoff runs in Sacramento State history. On Oct. 19 Harbatsiuk became the first Sac State player to win the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northwest Regional Championship title. He went 6-0 throughout the tournament and found himself going to Flushing, N.Y., to play for the National Championship.

“The few seconds right after the match when I won I thought, “I’m going to New York!,'” Harbatsiuk said. “It means a lot to me. It means I’m doing everything right and I’m on the right way. It felt great because I was working hard.”

Harbatsiuk’s time in playoffs did not end there. While at the ITA National Championships, Harbatsiuk knocked off the No. 4-ranked and No. 20-ranked players to make it to the top-8 quarterfinal match. He eventually ended his impressive championship run at quarterfinals.

Harbatsiuk also won the Hornet Award for “Best Male Athlete” in spring 2010.

Best Female Athlete: Leah Larot

Senior forward Leah Larot of the women’s soccer team knows what it like to go out on top. Larot led the team with 10 goals and 21 points and was to the named First Team all-Big Sky Conference as a forward.

“Being my last year and knowing that my effort has made a big enough impact for me to get something like that is just really an honor,” Larot said. “Knowing four years of experience of what to do, knowing when to implement and when to start training really hard was just from experience.”

Larot led the Hornets to a 2-1 comeback victory in the Big Sky semifinal match against Portland State University and went on to win the conference championship for her second time in four years.

“My senior game wasn’t pretty outside at all, but that’s how you go out when it’s just pouring outside playing the game that you love,” Larot said.

Best Male Freshman: Cesar Castillo

Sacramento State freshman goalkeeper Cesar Castillo is ranked first in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for saves and was also named Freshman All-America Team on Goal.com after the completion of his rookie season.

Castillo helped Sac State reach an overall record of 11-5-7 this season, which highlighted the Hornets as the MPSF tournament champions and a first round win over Santa Clara University in the NCAA tournament.

“Hopefully next season I will maintain a starting position and continue to have the same hunger to win another championship,” Castillo said.

In the MPSF he ranked second in shutouts and save percentages .825 and third in goals against average.

In the 20 games Castillo played, he racked up 88 saves, had eight shutouts and ended the season 18th in the country with a 0.90 GAA.

Best Female Freshman: Kayla Beal

Early on in the volleyball season, true freshman Kayla Beal’s future was uncertain. After she lost time to an abdominal strain entering the regular season, Beal had to work to push herself past a setback she never planned on facing.

Beal missed most of the preseason and was still dealing with her injury early on in the regular season. But upon her arrival at Sacramento State she had her sights set on making the starting roster.

“It was nerve-racking because there I was a true freshman – I was injured, I hadn’t really gotten to show anybody what my potential could be, so I was nervous,” Beal said.

When she was added to the starting roster, Beal began to reveal some of that potential. In her first two games she averaged a .444 hitting percentage.

As a true freshman, Beal led the Hornets with a .216 hitting percentage in 619 attempts.

Most Improved Male Athlete: Zack Nash

Junior defensive lineman Zack Nash played his best year in his college career. Not only was his conference-leading 13 sacks a school record and more than doubled second-place Dan Ogden of Montana State University (six), Nash also only trailed Clemson University’s Da’Quan Bowers for the most in the nation with 15.5.

“Getting in the weight room with the coaches and watching game film with the coaches really helped this year,” Nash said. “I understood it a lot more.”

During the season, his five-sack game against Idaho State University set a conference record, and Nash was named first-team selection because he also lead the Big Sky Conference in tackles for loss with 16.5.

During his freshman and sophomore seasons, he was given honorable mention for all-Big Sky and had a total of six sacks.

“I made all my individual goals for the season and I definitely exceeded my goals for the season,” Nash said.

Most Improved Female Athlete: Elece McBride

With two game-winning goals in the Big Sky Conference Tournament and being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, it should come as no surprise that forward Elece McBride of the women’s soccer team is this year’s most improved female athlete.

McBride established herself with six goals made to go along with one assist.

“As a team we all started this season with the confidence that we will win conference this year.” McBride said. “The extra confidence and belief that we can succeed really helped me play my best and give all of my energy to my team.”

The forward’s performance in the Big Sky Tournament was filled with career-defining plays and is something that she will not soon forget.

“My most memorable moment of the season was hearing the final whistle blow during the Big Sky Championship game and celebrating with my team on the field,” McBride said.

Best Coach: Michael Linenberger

Michael Linenberger delivered on his 22nd season as the Sacramento State men’s soccer head coach with a Mountain Pacific Sports Ferderation championship victory.

Linenberger led the Hornets to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Sac State finished the season with a mark of 11-5-7.

“Overall it was a great year,” Linenberger said. “The question going in to the season was, could we duplicate this season what we did last season or was it going to be a one shot wonder. We pretty much accomplished that goal identically and I’m very pleased with this season.”

Since 2008, the Hornets have an amazing unbeaten record, 16-0-5 on their home field. As head coach, Linenberger has a cumulative career record of 148-221-43.

“Being able to sustain this level of consistency is great for the program,” Linenberger said.

Best Storyline: Jeff Fleming

When senior quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson went down with a broken ankle in the first half against Stanford University, head coach Marshall Sperbeck had no choice but to call No. 18 to replace him.

After only nine days in Sacramento, transferring from New Mexico State University and merely five days of practice with the team, Jeff Fleming took over to replace Bethel-Thompson at quarterback.

“(Sperbeck) is telling me what to do from the sidelines, telling me who to throw to, and I don’t know who he’s telling me to throw to because I don’t know any of the guys names yet,” Fleming said.

After that game and as a starter, Fleming led the Hornets to a 6-5 record, losing four games by only 11 total points. Fleming threw for 23 touchdowns and had a 147.4 pass efficiency rating, which ranked second and third in the Big Sky Conference.

Reporting by MarshallHampson, AJ Taylor, Alyssa Huskinson and Brad Schmidt

Graphics by Megan Harris

Photos by Robert Linggi, Steven Turner and Brittany Bradley