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April 25, 2003
CINCINNATI-Four members of the Miami University Athletics family were honored for their outstanding athletic accomplishments and contributions to athletics at the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Women's Sports Foundation Banquet on Thursday, April 24.
Senior women's basketball player Beth Roederer (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) was tabbed the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award Winner, while senior women's basketball player Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) and senior women's soccer player Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) were honored, along with four others, as College Sportswomen of the Year. Miami University Associate Dean and Faculty Athletics Representative Susan Lipnickey earned the Donna de Varona Spirit of Sport Award.
Roederer, who was a finalist for the national V Foundation Comeback Player of the Year Award, became the 10th recipient of the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. Hampered by a laundry list of medical conditions throughout her Miami career, Roederer overcame constant pain in her lower legs to finish her career ranked among Miami's career Top 40 in points and Top 10 in free throw percentage and 3-point field goals made. Despite having to play through the pain, which several surgeries could not alleviate, Roederer missed played in 110 of a possible 116 games during her career and was named Miami's 2002-03 Defensive Player of the Year.
Cusick finished her Miami career as one of the most prolific players in RedHawk women's basketball history. Of 15 statistical categories tracked by Miami, Cusick ranks among Miami's Top Five in 11 categories and holds the RedHawks' career records for points, assists, 3-point field goals and 20-point games. The 2002 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, Cusick is the only player in Miami history to earn All-MAC recognition in each of her four years, including first-team recognition as a junior and senior. She is the only player in MAC women's basketball history to amass 1,500 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds, 300 steals and 200 3-point field goals.
Berkemeier finished her career as the MAC's all-time leader in goals and points, tallying a remarkable 60 goals and 148 points in four seasons. The 2002 MAC Player of the Year, Berkemeier helped lead Miami to its first MAC regular-season championship, as well as a third straight MAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth, while tallying a league record 19 goals. She was a four-time all-MAC selection during her Miami career, including the 1999 MAC Freshman of the Year, and was honored as a third-team NSCAA All-American this past season.
Lipnickey serves as Miami University's Faculty Athletics Representative, and through that role, has become an active member of the Miami Athletics, Mid-American Conference, Central Collegiate Hockey Association and NCAA communities. She has been involved in sport in almost every way imaginable as a former field hockey player, coach and official while earning her bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in the field of Health and Physical Education and going on to become an associate professor in Miami's PHS department.
All were presented awards by keynote speaker Sheryl Swoopes of the WNBA's Houston Comets.
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