SouthtownStar Athletes on Campus: Dan Dispensa honored at Western Illinois
By Mike Walsh For Sun-Times Media July 27, 2012 8:42PM
Dan Dispensa, Western Illinois baseball. | Supplied photo
Updated: August 30, 2012 6:14AM
After leading his team in most offensive categories, Western Illinois University outfielder Dan Dispensa earned two honors for the 2012 season.
The St. Rita graduate was named to College Sports Madness’ All-Summit League First Team. As for the Summit League’s own postseason awards, Dispensa gained a place on the second team. For Dispensa, these marked his first All-Summit League mentions.
Dispensa appeared in all of his teams’ 53 games in 2012 and led the Leathernecks with a .344 batting average, good for fourth in the Summit League.
Dispensa drove in 28 runs and had 12 doubles, three triples and two home runs en route to a team-high 90 total bases. Dispensa led WIU in runs (37), hits (66) and triples and was third in RBI.
Stellar Steffenhagen
De La Salle graduate Briana Steffenhagen received one of the most prestigious awards provided by Concordia University Chicago’s athletic department as she earned the Terry-Schubert Memorial Christian Service Award.
Concordia-Chicago coaches nominate student-athletes annually for the awards, which are voted upon by the athletic department. The Terry-Schubert Award was named in honor of two former Cougar football players who lost their lives in separate accidents less than a year apart. It’s annually awarded to a senior student-athlete of each gender who maintains a positive attitude towards athletics and Christian living, serves and contributes to the best interests of his or her teammates, and demonstrates concern for the entire Concordia-Chicago community.
Steffenhagen, a member of the women’s volleyball program, lettered four years as a setter and played in 106 matches. Steffenhagen handed out 419 career assists, including 275 in the 2009 season (4.91 per set).
Busy Bee
St. Ambrose University bowler Maggie Suchoski was one of four student-athletes at the Iowa school to be chosen to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America College Division Team. Suchoski, who prepped at Evergreen Park, was named to the Women’s At-Large Third Team.
The teams are composed of student-athletes from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, Canadian and two-year institutions and are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America based on the students’ work on the court and in the classroom.
Suchoski, who is majoring in physics, concluded her sophomore season with the SAU bowling team. She was a member of the team that won the Viterbo Invitational Roll-off, giving St. Ambrose its first women’s bowling team championship, and helped the Bees take fifth at a United States Bowling Congress sectional qualifier.
Suchoski was fourth on the team with a 177.15 average over 46 games this year. Her best finish was a 12th-place showing at the Warhawk Open after she knocked down 1,113 total pins over six games for a 185.50 average.
