MANSFIELD – The Mountaineer Athletic department announced the second annual set of Mansfield University's prestigious Creed Awards at the fifth installment of the Mountie Awards on Wednesday night, June 2.
 
To view the nomination speeches from respective coaches and the award-winners acceptance speech, click on the picture above.

Creed Award Winners
 
For the second time (Inaugural year – 2020), the Mansfield University athletic department chose four student-athletes to represent the pillars of the Mansfield University creed. The students were nominated by athletic staff members and were chosen by a committee. The four pillars of the creed are service, scholar, character and culture.
 
Softball's Joelle Snyder was selected as the student-athlete to represent character after being nominated by Softball Head Coach Edith Gallagher. Sndyer was named MUSB Most Valuable Player, 1^st-Team All-PSAC East shortstop for the third time after leading the team with a .360 (36-for-100) batting average with eight doubles, four triples, two homers and 19 RBI. The senior led the team in slugging percentage at .580 and ranked seventh in the PSAC for triples. All that being said, Snyder's most valuable trait among teammates, coaches and staff members is the way she treats others and the game of softball. Described as the first one to practice and the last one to leave, Snyder has reached immortality in MUSB history.

Men's track and field long jumper Donoven Cook was honored for culture after being nominated by first-year track and field head coach Jamal Johnson. Johnson describes Cook as someone he inspires all his current and future student-athletes to be like. Cook is heavily involved in student life on Mansfield University's campus as well as serving as an RA this past school year. After teammate Sean Ringgold secured gold in the 200-meter dash at the PSAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Cook was the first to meet the junior at the finish line to give him a huge hug with a giant smile on his face like he just won the race himself. Cook was the first student-athlete Johnson reached out to after taking the head coach position in November and thanks the junior for everything he has done to help build the program's culture.
 
Men's cross country and track and field's Michael Grundon was presented the award for service and was nominated by Cross Country Head Coach Mike Rohl. Grundon is in the heart of the MU nursing program and recently volunteered to give COVID-19 vaccinations to Mountaineer students during the spring semester. The sophomore is versatile in his service efforts as he works at his local hospital in the Camp Hill, Pa. area while also volunteers to shoot photography for the Sports Information Office throughout his first two years with the track and field and cross country programs.
 
Field hockey's Caitlin Beauduy was honored for scholarship for the second consecutive year and was nominated by PSAC Field Hockey Coach of the Year Brittany Hansrote. Beauduy was named Mansfield University's Outstanding Senior after graduating with a degree in biology and a concentration in cell and molecular biology with a perfect 4.0 GPA. In August, Beauduy received a $4,000 research scholarship from the NASA Pennsylvania State Grant Consortium for her proposal on pancreatic cancer. Beauduy is a PSAC, D2ADA Academic Achievement and President's List student-athlete.
Beauduy is also a multiple time Mountaineer Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
CHARACTER
 
We believe in integrity. We act with honesty and respect toward others. We take responsibility for our actions and reflect on their impact on ourselves and others.
 
SCHOLARSHIP
 
We believe in learning. We use rigorous, responsible, and critical inquiry to understand existing knowledge, acquire and share new knowledge, and apply what we learn. Each of us is both student and teacher.
 
CULTURE
 
We believe in celebrating humanity. We enrich ourselves and others by sharing and exploring our similarities and differences. We honor the past as we invent the future.
 
SERVICE
 
We believe in helping others. We work with others to improve the communities in which we now live and will touch in the future. Knowledge invests us with the power to improve our world and the responsibility to act.