UMES Announces Award Winners - WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 -

PRINCESS ANNE, Md.- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) held its
annual Athletic Awards Ceremony last week, naming Kimberly Conway Dumpson,
UMES' Director of Alumni Affairs and Planned Giving as their Hawk of the Year.  The
banquet also saw Andre Walsh from men's track & field named the Male Athlete of the
Year and Lenora Guion-Firmin from women's track & field and T'nia Falbo from
women's bowling earn Co-Female Athletes of the Year.

The banquet, held Tuesday evening, May 1st in the Henson Center Ballroom on the
UMES campus, was a packed house, attended by all 15 sponsored programs as well as
Cheerleaders, the Diamonds Dance Team, alumni, administrators, parents and friends.
Tyler Hines (Sicklerville, N.J.) from men's basketball provided a welcome to the crowd
while they also heard remarks from Interim President Dr. Mortimer Neufville and Mr.
Jesse Williams, Chair of the UMES Board of Visitors and an athletic Hall of Famer.

Each team presented awards to its Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Most
Improved Player and a Coach's Award.  Athletics also recognized its' scholar-athletes
who earned Fall Semester grades of 3.0 and above.  The administration went on to also
thank individuals for service to the department, ranging from volunteers, student-
workers, graduate assistants, interns and part-time staffers.

The highlight of the evening however is the Director's Awards.  Each year, Associate
Director of Athletics G. Stan Bradley announces recipients of some special awards that
are either chosen or presented by Director of Athletics Keith Davidson.

During those awards, Dumpson received the Department's highest honor for her work.
While not a staff member of athletics, Dumpson has been vital over the past several years
in developing relationships with UMES alumni, especially with former-athletes who have
reconnected with their alma mater.  The attendance at Homecoming, pledges, donations
and ticket sales have all increased under her watch.  She works on the Hall of Fame
committee, MEAC Basketball Tournament Committee at UMES and helped in promoting
the athletic brand throughout the campus, the Delmarva area and among alumni.


"Kim is our sixth-woman," said Davidson.  "She does so much more than we can
describe.  She has wonderful ideas, gives her time willingly and has really impacted
every student-athlete, past and present, whether they know her personally or not."

The top athletic honors went to three individuals.  The men's winner was Andre Walsh
(St. Catherine, Jamaica) from men's track & field.  Walsh was named a Second-Team
All-America selection earlier this season by the United States Track & Field and Cross
Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).  He finished 11th in the 200-meter run at
the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships and finished that season with the eighth fastest
time in the country in that event. He recently set the school record for the 100-meter dash
in outdoor competition.

On the women's side, where the voting by the staff and coaches was tied after two
separate rounds, the award was split between two outstanding young women.  Lenora
Guion-Firmin (Le Martinique, France) from women's track & field was one recipient.
Guion-Firmin was named a First-Team All-America selection by the USTFCCA as she
finished seventh in the 400-meter run at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships.  She
currently has the 10th fastest time in the nation in that event for the outdoor season.
Guion-Firmin also owns the outdoor school record in the 200-meter run, set last month.

T'nia Falbo (Greensburg, Pa.) was the other Co-Female Athlete of the Year.  Falbo was
a two-time All-America nod, getting a third-team honor from the National Tenpins
Coaches Association (NTCA) and an honorable mention selection for the College Bowler
of the Year from the Bowling Writers Association of America (BWAA).  She was named
the NCAA Most Outstanding Performer for the NCAA Championships as she anchored
her team to the 2012 National Championship, giving the Hawks back-to-back titles.   She
was named MEAC Player of the Year and finished the season with an average just under
a 204, the highest on the team.

Those three and Anggie Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia) from women's bowling were also
recognized for being named All-America selections for the 2011-2012 athletic year.

Other Director's Awards went to Karim Gonzalez (Mexico City, Mexico) from baseball
and Megan Buja (Rockford, Ill.) from women's bowling who were named Scholar-
Athletes of the Year for their grade point average and academic honors, all while staring
for their respective sport.

The men's golf team and the women's bowling team also received the Team of Scholars
Award for having the highest GPA as a team among their respective gender programs.

Tyler Hines (Sicklerville, N.J.) from men's basketball and Rebecca Prado (Annandale,
N.J.) from women's volleyball earned the Josten's Award for Sportsmanship, given to a
male and female recipient who are good teammates, are successful academically,
participate in community service and are shining examples for their team, the department
of athletics and the University.

UMES also presented women's bowling, women's volleyball and Walsh and Guion-
Firmin with watches for making their sport's receptive NCAA Championship.  The
highlight of the evening however, according to women's volleyball, was the presentation
of their 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship rings.  The ring
celebrates the first MEAC Championship for UMES in the sport of women's volleyball.

"We had a great evening," said Davidson during his closing remarks.  "We don't measure
our success by what someone else might say.  Based on the recognitions tonight, I can
say that it has been a successful year for Hawk Athletics."