Athletics Department Honors Four Seniors

On May 3, four senior student-athletes were honored at the 2010 Senior Awards Banquet, held at Quidnessett Country Club.

Shayna Daugherty (women’s track & field) and James Whalen (men’s track & field) received the Elizabeth Holmes Award presented to the male and female graduating seniors who combine exceptional scholastic achievement with outstanding athletic talent.

Daugherty holds both the URI and Atlantic 10 records in the indoor pentathlon, outdoor heptathlon, and outdoor high jump. A six-time Atlantic 10 individual champion competing in the high jump, pentathlon, and heptathlon, she was named the A-10 Field Performer of the Meet on two occasions—outdoor in 2009, indoor in 2010. Academically, Daugherty was the 2010 Atlantic 10 Indoor Student-Athlete of the Year and also earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Academic All-Division and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors. She had a 3.72 grade-point average and received her degree in communicative disorders.

Whalen has scored in the heptathlon, decathlon, and pole vault at the Atlantic 10 Championship in each of his four years of competition. A two-year team captain, he also set a conference record in the heptathlon and received the A-10’s 2009 Indoor Field Performer of the Year award. A member of the 2009 Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team, he compiled a 3.66 grade-point average and graduated with a degree in history and secondary education.

Becky Cotreau received the Winifred Keaney Award while

Oliver Palmer took home the Albert LeBoeuf Award. The awards are presented to the most outstanding female and male student-athletes.

Cotreau is a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection in rowing as well as an All-New England Region honoree. She has the best 2,000-meter ERG score on the team and has guided the Rams to the best single-season record in school history with a 25-5 mark. Cotreau had a 3.17 GPA and graduated with a degree in sociology.

Palmer helped lead the URI baseball team to a record-setting 37 wins in 2009. He was an All-New England selection, as well as an Atlantic 10 All-Conference and All-Championship team honoree. Academically, Palmer was named to both the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I First Team and the Atlantic 10 All-Academic squad a season ago. He had a 3.60 GPA and graduated with a degree in communication studies.