04.22.07
Salinas, Carruthers, Buckles Win UTD
Student-Athlete of the Year Awards
Teams Present End-of-Year Awards at Annual Athletics Banquet
RICHARDSON, TX - Three four-year members of the women's soccer and men's basketball teams were honored Sunday night as the UTD Athletics Department's Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year at the annual end-of-year banquet.
Senior Theresa Buckles (pictured, above left), a four-year starter for the UTD women's soccer team, was announced as the 2007 Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Men's basketball seniors Martin Salinas (pictured, above center) and Travis Carruthers (pictured, above right) were co-winners of the Male Student-Athlete of the Year award.
In addition, the coaches of UTD's 13 men's and women's programs announced their end-of-year winners of their team Most Valuable Player and Comet Awards. (See list below).
Buckles concluded a four-year career with one of the most successful programs in the UTD Athletic Department. During her UTD career, Buckles won American Southwest Conference all-conference honors three times, including twice making the All-ASC first team squad. In 2006, she also won All-Region honors in her sport. Buckles has been on the ASC Academic All-Conference team three years and was voted to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine All-District Academic team last fall.
During her four-year career, the UTD women’s soccer team finished with a 58-14-8 overall record, qualified four times for the ASC Championship Tournament, and played in three straight heart-breaking losses in the ASC title game. For her career, this student-athlete scored 30 goals and established a new school record with 29 career assists.
The contest for the Male Student-Athlete of the Year winner was one of the closest elections in program history. Carruthers and Salinas both came to UTD as wide-eyed freshmen in 2003 with no idea that they would someday become record-setting players on the Comet basketball team, but by the end of their sophomore seasons, both would be well on their way.
Salinas got the attention of the ASC opposition immediately as a sophomore, setting a school record by hitting 85 three-pointers during the season and then leading his team to three straight upset wins at the Conference Championship Tournament to claim the school’s first ASC men’s basketball championship. Carruthers was also thrown into the fire that season, stepping into a vacant starting spot at point guard almost by default, then turning into one of the top assist leaders in the nation by the end of his junior year.
During their career, Carruthers and Salinas were part of a men’s basketball team that had three winning seasons, four straight trips to the ASC Championship Tournament and finished this season with an 18-8 record, the best finish in school history. In 2006-07, both were named part of the ASC All-East Division teams.
Other awards presented are listed below:
| SPORTS | MVP | Comet Award | Other Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volleyball | Brittany Fowler | Krissy Seaman | |
| Soccer (W) | Theresa Buckles | Ginny Nevit | |
| Soccer (M) | Zac Lindley | Jason Lynn | |
| Basketball (W) | Ericka Baker | Katie Metzler | Ericka Baker (Defensive Player) |
| Basketball (M) | Martin Salinas Travis Carruthers |
Ernie Lowery | |
| Baseball | Brett Rosen | Mark Cox | Mark Cox (Pitcher of Year) |
| Softball | Andrina Arenas | Jackelyn Bragg | |
| Tennis (M) | Kevin Yarnall | Andy Stark | |
| Tennis (W) | Savannah Matlock | Sylvia Brownfield | |
| Golf (W) | Alicia Yoder | Ashley Cole (Most Improved) | |
| Golf (M) | Charles Pantangco | Brian Vaughn (Most Improved) | |
| Cross Country | Suzanne Davis | Amy Gaffney | |
| Kevin Chen | Kevin Chen |