Choo Choo Davis earned Morgan State Male Athlete of the Year honors.
BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State University track star Romona Modeste and senior defensive back Larry “Choo Choo” Davis were recognized as the female and male student-athletes of the year at the 20th Annual Athletics Awards Banquet held at the McKeldin Center Ballroom on MSU's campus.
Modeste, a native of Trinidad, put the finishing touches on what has been an outstanding track career. Modeste broke the school record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.92 at the Texas Relay, where her time was clocked as the fastest on the East Coast by a collegiate and open athlete. Modeste helped the Lady Bears’ 4X400 relay team to a first-place finish at the Terrapin Invitational (4/3) with a time of 3:46.61 to qualify for the ECAC Championships. She also captured the ECAC 400m dash Indoor title with a time of 54.20 on March 5 and helped the 4X400 team win the MEAC Indoor Championship (2/18).
Choo Choo was one of the most gifted defensive backs in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He was selected to the 2005 All-MEAC second team and finished the ’05 season as the Bears second leading tackler with 96 tackles (60 solo) and 11 tackles for loss from his strong safety position. The senior snagged two picks this season and completed his collegiate career with 12, finishing just four interceptions shy of breaking MSU’s all-time career interception record held by Joe Fowlkes (1975-78, 15 INTs).
Head bowling coach James Brown earned the Coach of the Year honors. Under the guidance of James Brown, who completed his 10th season, the women’s bowling team had its best season in the program’s history. The squad, which tallied a 66-44 record and finished as runner-ups in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships, was awarded a 12th place ranking in the final National Tenpins Coaches Association Poll (NTCA). Along with the national ranking, another tribute to Coach Brown’s hard work was the national growth and the respect of the Morgan State Bowling Invitational as this year’s invitational featured six of the eight teams that advanced to the NCAA bowling championships. Despite the tough competition involved, the Lady Bears went 9-1 and defeated three top 10 teams that weekend with victories over No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson (this year’s NCAA Champion), No. 5 Maryland-Eastern Shore and No. 7 Vanderbilt.
The team most valuable players and rookie awards were as follows:
SOFTBALL
Krystal Gaud - MVP
Carolynn Howard - Rookie
VOLLEYBALL
Esther Johnson/Ashley Preston – Co-MVP
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Romona Modeste/Brittany Robinson – Co-MVP
Kathryn Carter - Rookie
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Ramona Modeste/Brittany Robinson – Co-MVP
JaQuay Evans - Rookie
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Herbert Nicholls – MVP
Tyrone Benjamin – Rookie
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Herbert Nicholls - MVP
Henry Jackson - Rookie
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Joseph McLean - MVP
Marcus Gomes - Rookie
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Whitney Johnson - MVP
Dominisha Britton - Rookie
CHEERLEADING
Christae Keene - MVP
Llasenia Santiago - Rookie
BOWLING
Sherita Johnson - MVP
Tiffany Delp - Rookie
FOOTBALL
Jason Jackson – Offensive MVP
Larry “Choo Choo” Davis - Defensive MVP
Byron Selby – Rookie
Kofi Nkrumah – Special Teams
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Walaa Elsir - MVP
Kehinde Osunsan - Rookie
MEN’S TENNIS
Dia Campbell - MVP
Disa Mhembere - Rookie
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Nichelle Gibbs - MVP
Trisha LaForce - Rookie
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Nathaniel McDonald - MVP
Daneilio Absalom - Rookie
SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
Danika Byrd
The major awards were as follows:
VARSITY M CLUB AWARD – Alan Mitchell, Track & Field
ELIJAH ROWE AWARD – Esther Johnson, Volleyball
THERESA COLEMAN GIBSON AWARD – Janesia Simmons, Cheerleading
COACH OF THE YEAR – James Brown, Bowling
EFFIE T. PAYNE AWARD – Whitney Johnson, Women’s Basketball
EFFIE T. PAYNE AWARD – Chris Cash, Football
UNSUNG HERO AWARD – Calvet Liburd
