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Edinboro Athletic Press Release Index
EDINBORO, PA – The Edinboro University Athletic Department handed out its three major awards at last Saturday’s 21st Annual Hall of Fame Banquet. All three honors are voted on by the Edinboro coaching staff and athletic administration.
Doug Watts was recognized as the Coach of the Year for the sixth time, while Lisa Petsche (Dublin, OH/Coffman) was named the Nancy Acker Award winner, given to the top senior female student-athlete, and Josh Koscheck (Waynesburg, PA/Waynesburg) was honored as the Sox Harrison Award winner, given to the top senior male student-athlete. The Sox Harrison Award was first presented in 1956, while the Nancy Acker Award has been in existence since 1984. The Coach of the Year was recognized beginning in 1982.
In addition to the three yearly awards, the Edinboro University athletic department handed out three special awards. Men’s basketball player Kenny Tate (Philadelphia, PA/Chester) had his uniform number retired, while Koscheck and cross country runner YiMin Wu (Tian Jin, China) were presented with national championship rings. Koscheck captured the 2001 174 lbs. championship at the NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships, while Wu was the 1998 cross country NCAA Division II national champion.
Watts, a member of the Edinboro coaching staff since 1969, was previously named the Coach of the Year in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1999. The sixth honor comes after he guided both his men’s and women’s cross country team to top ten finishes at the NCAA Division II National Championships. The women’s harriers placed seventh at Nationals after winning the PSAC and East Regional titles. The men’s team won its tenth straight PSAC Championship and 17th in the last 18 years, also coming away with the East Regional crown, then placed eighth at Nationals.
Watts was named the PSAC and NCAA Division II East Region Coach of the Year. In addition, both of his teams earned Academic All-American status. All told, Watts’ squads have produced six national championships, including back-to-back NAIA titles in 1975 and ’76, and consecutive NCAA Division II titles from 1986 through 1988.
Petsche was one of the standouts for Watts’ women’s cross country team. She finished tenth at this year’s NCAA Division II National Championships to become the first female cross country runner at Edinboro to earn All-American honors four times. She has earned one track and field All-American certificate, but that could change later this year when she competes in the 2002 National Championships.
She picked up her first All-American award as a freshman in 1997, placing 12th nationally. Petsche was named the PSAC Freshman of the Year in cross country, then proceeded to earn All-American honors that spring in track thanks to a 7th place finish in the 10,000 meters.
Since that time, Petsche has continually battled injuries, particularly stress fractures, but she has battled through the pain to attain All-American status three more times. She redshirted in 1998, then returned to finish 19th at the 1999 Nationals and 15th at the 2000 Nationals.
Like Petsche, Koscheck concluded his career as a four-time All-American, the first Edinboro wrestler to accomplish the fete. Despite battling a ruptured disk in his neck, along with a variety of other illnesses and ailments, Koscheck battled his way to a third place finish at Nationals, defeating top-ranked Otto Olson of Michigan along the way. He finished his senior year with a 21-4 record, boosting his career mark to 128-17. His .883 winning percentage ranks first all-time at Edinboro, and the 128 wins represents the fourth-highest total.
Koscheck served notice that he would be a force in the wrestling world as a freshman, placing fourth at Nationals. He lost the title match to Oklahoma’s Byron Tucker a year later, then joined Sean O’Day as Edinboro’s only NCAA Division I wrestling national champions with an 8-1 win over Army’s Maurice Worthy at the 2001 Nationals. He concluded a brilliant junior season with a 42-0 record.
He was named the PSAC Wrestler of the Year each of the last three seasons, and became Edinboro’s first four-time PSAC champion. He is also one of only eleven wrestlers ever to capture four PSAC crowns. Koscheck was also named the EWL Wrestler of the Year as a sophomore and junior, and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2001 EWL Tournament. He was previously named the PSAC Championship’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in 2000, ’01 and ’02.
Tate wore number 00 with great distinction for three years. A consensus All-American as a senior after averaging 18.6 ppg. and 10.5 rpg., Tate became just the second Fighting Scot to earn NABC All-American honors, landing a spot on the first team. Tyrone Mason was previously the only other Edinboro player so honored. In addition, he was named the Division II Bulletin Player of the Year, and was named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-American first team for the second straight year.
The 6’3”, 210 lb. forward averaged a double-double all three seasons as a Fighting Scot. In 81 career games, he accumulated 46 double-doubles and scored 20-or-more points in 40 games. Tate concluded his career with 1,552 points, the fourth-highest total, and 843 career rebounds, which stands third all-time. He also ranks in the top five in career field goals made and attempted, and career free throws made and attempted. He was a second team Basketball Times All-American the last three years, and was an honorable mention Division II Bulletin All-American as a junior.
Wu became just the fourth Fighting Scot to capture the NCAA Division II National Championship when he finished ten seconds ahead of his nearest competitor as a freshman in 1998. He posted a time of 31:06.60. The win capped a freshman campaign in which he won every race he competed in. He would go on to join Martin Lyons as the Edinboro’s only four-time male cross country All-Americans, finishing fourth this past season. He previously crossed the line 13th as a junior and was also fourth as a sophomore.
In track, Wu is a three-time All-American, including a runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters in 1999. He also placed sixth in the 5,000 meters that year.
~ Fighting Scots ~
Edinboro Athletic Press Release Index
Created on ... April 30, 2002