Chiricosta Earns Falcon Medal of Honor at BGSU Athletics Honors Night

BGSU tennis 2013-14 - photo by Michael Nemeth

Bowling Green State University tennis standout Nikki Chiricosta earned a prestigious honor Monday night (April 21). Chiricosta was the female recipient of the Falcon Medal of Honor, which was announced at the BGSU Department of Athletics' annual Athletics Honors Night at the Stroh Center.

The Falcon Medal of Honor is the highest award given by the department. The award is given to the male and female student-athlete who embody the essence of the qualities BGSU Athletics holds important for all student-athletes -- scholarship, athletics, leadership and service.

Chiricosta, a native of Avon Lake, Ohio, has a 3.97 cumulative grade-point average as a communication major. She is the third tennis student-athlete to receive the Falcon Medal of Honor in the last four years. Her sister, Christine Chiricosta, received the award in 2010-11, while Maddy Eccleston earned the honor a year ago.

Chiricosta, a team co-captain, is the winningest player in BGSU tennis history. She has 190 combined career victories, and also holds the BGSU record with 96 career singles wins. Chiricosta ranks second in BG annals in doubles wins, with 94. She is one of just two players in program history with 40 or more wins in each of her four seasons as a Falcon (Eccleston is the other).

This season, Chiricosta leads the Falcons in singles (19), doubles (22) and overall victories (41). Playing almost exclusively at the top singles flight, she finished the regular season with a 6-2 singles mark in Mid-American Conference dual matches. She teamed with sophomore Katie Brozovich for a 5-2 doubles record in MAC play. Chiricosta earned All-MAC Second-Team honors last spring after being named to the all-league first team two years ago.

Chiricosta has been on the Dean's List in each of her first seven semesters at BGSU. She was named to the Academic All-MAC First Team as both a sophomore and a junior, and has been named an ITA Scholar Athlete in each of her first three seasons (the Academic All-MAC Team and ITA Scholar-Athlete honorees for 2013-14 have not yet been announced). Chiricosta, a member of the Chi Eta Sigma National Communication Association, received the Communication Rising Scholar Award in 2012.

"Nikki is very deserving of this award," said BGSU head coach Penny Dean. "No one anywhere puts more effort and desire into practice and competition than she does, and she has that same drive and desire in the classroom as well."

Chiricosta has been a member of the BGSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since 2010, and is President of that organization in 2013-14. She has participated in many volunteer activities, including Preview Day, Dance Marathon, MLK Service Day, the Black Swamp Arts Festival and elementary school reading days.

More than 400 student-athletes, parents, staff and community members were in attendance at Monday's Athletics Honors Night event. Mike Wilcox, the Chairman and CEO of Wilcox Financial and Wilcox Sports Management, was the keynote speaker and winner of the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Wilcox is a former hockey player and lacrosse star at BGSU.

Chiricosta and men's soccer player Brandon Silva each earned the Falcon Medal of Honor, while football player BooBoo Gates and track and field thrower Brooke Pleger earned the Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards, respectively. Baseball player Cody Apthorpe and volleyball player Lindsey Butterfield were named the Senior Scholar-Athletes of the Year, while women's basketball's Deborah Hoekstra and football's Chris Pohlman earned the Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards.

The BGSU men's cross country team earned the male highest GPA award and the women's golf team received the female honor. Finally, Elizabeth LeMaster, the athletics department's liaison in financial aid, was named the Distinguished Service award winner.

BGSU's student-athletes combined for a school-record 3.15 cumulative grade point average through the fall of 2013 and 252 student-athletes posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher. In fact, 31 student-athletes have a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results