By JOEL CARLSON
Brock Coyle and Jordan Sullivan were named recipients of the 2013-14 Grizzly Cup Tuesday night at the Department of Athletics’ 22nd annual Robert O. Lindsay Scholar-Athlete Honors Banquet.
The awarding of the Grizzly Cup capped an evening that celebrated the 154 Griz student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.
Fifty-nine scholarships were given out, Kent Haslam presented the Director of Athletics Award, and Royce Engstrom was on hand to give out the prestigious President Awards.
Brock Coyle. Photo courtesy of GoGriz.com
But it was the Grizzly Cup, which dates back to 1921 and recognizes Montana’s outstanding male and female student-athletes, that was presented lastly. It is based on the department’s three pillars of athletic success, academic success and community involvement.
Coyle, of Bozeman, was Montana’s top tackler last fall for a team that finished 10-3 and advanced to the FCS playoffs. He was the Grizzlies’ defensive co-captain, along with fellow senior Jordan Tripp, and shared the team’s postseason MVP award with quarterback Jordan Johnson.
He was voted second-team All-Big Sky Conference after earning honorable mention honors as a junior.
Coyle had 10 or more tackles in six games in 2013, including a season-high 15 in Montana’s 21-14 overtime victory over Cal Poly, and concluded his career tied for 11th in school history with 293 tackles and tied for 12th with 24.5 career tackles for loss.
Jordan Sullivan. Photo by Austin Smith for Make it Missoula.
Sullivan, of Sidney, was named the Montana AAU Little Sullivan Award winner Saturday night. Three nights later she picked up the Grizzly Cup to match the award won by her coach and uncle, Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig, in 1974.
Sullivan becomes the sixth female winner of the award since it was split in 2009 to recognize both a men’s and women’s recipient.
Sullivan, who has a 3.88 GPA as a marketing major, averaged 11.6 points her senior season and led the Lady Griz to the WNIT round of 32 and an overall record of 23-11. She was voted second-team All-Big Sky Conference as a senior.
The Director of Athletics Award was won by the women’s cross country team for the fourth straight year and for the seventh time in the history of the award. The Grizzlies had a department-high 3.455 GPA for the 2013 spring and fall semesters.
The President Awards, presented to the student-athletes with the highest GPAs over the previous two semesters, were taken home by Derek Crittenden of the Griz football team and Mary Makris of the Montana soccer team.
Both became three-time President Award winners. Both have cumulative GPAs of 4.0.
Makris, a marketing major who will graduate next week, was voted honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference as a junior in 2012. Her senior season last fall started with a pair of assists in the Grizzlies’ first three games, but a knee injury in that third match ended her final campaign.
Crittenden, a double major in chemistry and mathematics who will graduate in 2015, played in all 13 games last fall for the Grizzlies at defensive end as a redshirt sophomore. He tied for eighth on the team with 41 tackles and had 2.0 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery.
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