Male Athlete of the Year:
D.J. Hessler, Men's Lacrosse
After leading Tufts to its second straight NESCAC tournament title, graduating senior D.J. Hessler is our male athlete of the year. The quad-captain attackman has been remarkably consistent over his career, leading the NESCAC in scoring three years running. As of the Jumbos' NCAA Tournament win over Union College on May 14, Hessler had racked up 81 points on 34 goals and 47 assists in 2011, including an assist to graduating senior quad-captain attackman Ryan Molloy to clinch a NESCAC semifinal win over Bowdoin with 0.4 seconds remaining. Hessler also had three goals and two assists in Tufts' 14-13 victory on the road at powerhouse Stevenson on March 23.
Already Tufts' all-time assists leader following his junior year, Hessler added to his legacy by becoming the Jumbos' all-time leading scorer on March 15, when he amassed six goals and one assist in Tufts' rout of Lasell College 23-5 to pass attackman Bryan Griffin (LA ‘05) on the all-time list.
Hessler has also been nominated for the Tewaarton Award, lacrosse's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, which spans all divisions of collegiate lacrosse.
Female Athlete of the Year:
Tamara Brown, Field Hockey
For a second straight season this past fall, this star graduating senior forward was named the NESCAC Player of the Year, after leading the Jumbos to a 15-3 record and a third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Brown, the all-time leading scorer in Tufts field hockey history, amassed 24 goals and seven assists to lead the NESCAC in scoring in 2010 with 55 total points. Not only did she score goals in quantity, but she also performed in crunch time, scoring the game-winning goal in six of the Jumbos' 15 wins.
Brown started off the season particularly strong, scoring two of the Jumbos' three goals in a 3-0 victory over Middlebury in the season's opener, followed by another goal in the squad's second NESCAC contest, a 3-0 decision over Amherst. She exploded for three goals and an assist in a 7-1 victory over Bates on Homecoming and scored another hat trick against Gordon College in an 8-0 win on Oct. 19.
Brown closed out a spectacular regular season by scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over eventual national champion Bowdoin to win the NESCAC regular-season title.
Coach of the Year:
Bob Sheldon, Men's Basketball
Sheldon led the men's basketball team to a 13-12 record (4-5 in NESCAC play) and was at the helm for its first NESCAC playoff berth since the 2006-07 season. Coming off a 6-17 season and losing Tufts' all-time leading scorer Jon Pierce to graduation, few outside of Medford expected much in the way of progress from the squad. But with a young team willing to work, Sheldon got the most out of his players, and the team was able to win some of the close games that it had given up in years past. After the team lost its opening two NESCAC games, the Jumbos swept a Maine weekend against Bowdoin and Colby, surprising many across the league.
The highlight of the season, though, was a nail-biting victory against Bates in front of an exuberant Senior Day crowd, a win that secured Tufts the fifth seed in the NESCAC tournament. The Jumbos lost that opening round game to Trinity, 70-47.
The 2010-11 season was the 23rd at Tufts for Sheldon, who has compiled an impressive 327-247 record during his tenure.
Team of the Year:
Men's Lacrosse
Winning the national championship does not come without baggage; the following season, the defending champions had to deal with the unenviable task of warding off the bull's-eye placed on its back by every one of its opponents. The men's lacrosse team was able to deal with this pressure and repeat as NESCAC champions, further cementing the upward trajectory of the program.
The Jumbos, ranked as the national preseason No. 1, enjoyed a strong start to their season, winning their first nine games, including a memorable 14-13 victory against Stevenson over spring break under a torrent of rain, thunder and flashing lightning. But the Tufts Express was temporarily derailed by disappointing losses to Endicott and Bowdoin, throwing into question the team's will to repeat as league champions and knocking it off its perch as national No. 1.
Yet the Jumbos proved they had plenty left in the tank, turning in two gutsy performances in the conference tournament semifinals and finals the weekend of May 7-8 to reclaim their league title. In both games, Tufts built up big leads, surrendered them in the fourth quarter, and then showed the mental toughness characteristic of a Mike Daly-coached (LA ‘95) team in rebounding to score the deciding goal. Neither game was consistently pretty, but the Jumbos did what they've learned to do so well over the past two seasons: win.
Male Rookie of the Year:
Kyle Gallegos, Ice Hockey
Although the ice hockey team finished a disappointing 6-16-1, rising sophomore Gallegos was a major bright spot, finishing with a team-high 15 goals. His 23 points were good for second on the roster after graduating senior Tom Derosa. The Westminster, Colo., native was also the heart and soul of the Tufts power play, notching seven goals with the man advantage, which was more than double the tally of any of his teammates and a key reason why Tufts finished third in the NESCAC in power play efficiency.
What made Gallegos' year even more impressive was the fact that the other top four scorers on the team were all seniors, including the All-NESCAC quad-captain Derosa. With those other contributors moving on to bigger and better things next year, the Jumbos will be counting heavily on Gallegos to build on his promising freshman year and carry them through his sophomore campaign.
Female Rookie of the Year:
Jo Clair, Softball
Jo-ing, Jo-ing, gone.
Coming into the season, many questioned where the power would come from in the middle of the lineup on the softball team. Rising sophomore Jo Clair provided the answer, and her historic performance has earned her our women's rookie of the year.
Clair did not wait long to make an impact, slamming her first home run on just the second day of the season. The following day, she hit two more, and by the end of the team's trip to Florida, she had already launched five.
Back in New England, Clair looked even more comfortable at the plate. From March 31 to April 10, she had six home runs in seven games, leading the team to a 6-2 stretch. At one point in early April, Clair was on pace to contend for the national record but had to settle for 16, still the highest recorded single-season total in NESCAC history and good enough to be tied for fifth-most in the country.
But Clair was not only about home runs, a fact that was perhaps best demonstrated in the NESCAC loser's bracket final. Her hustle in the ninth inning turned a dropped fly ball into a three-base error, and her aggressiveness caused an obstruction call on the pitcher on a wild pitch, bringing her across for the winning run.
Her performance this season was enough to earn her NESCAC rookie of the year, and it was more than enough for us to follow suit.