Honors banquet features Behrman scholarship, awards

Volunteers and community leaders were honored Monday at the Student Recreational Sports Association annual honors banquet. As it has every year since 1975, the SRSA held the event Monday in the Tudor Room of the Indiana Memorial Union. The members were treated to dinner at 6 p.m., and the awards ceremony followed at 7 p.m. \nThe SRSA handed out close to 50 awards and scholarships spanning its entire department. Employee awards were handed out in aquatics, facility support, fitness and wellness, informal sports, intramural sports and member services.\nOne of the biggest awards of the night, the Jill Behrman Emerging Leader Scholarship, was handed out by Behrman's parents, Eric and Marilyn. This is the fourth year the scholarship has been awarded and only the second time it has been awarded to two recipients. \nThe Behrmans review all the applications for the award and give their input to the committee that eventually decides the winner. \n"I am amazed at how many things the students are involved with through SRSA on top of all their schoolwork, jobs, etc.," Marilyn Behrman said. \nThis year's recipients of the $1,000 scholarship were sophomore Ryan Hunley and senior Stacy Dixon.\n"I was really surprised because others involved in the SRSA were more deserving, but I'm really gracious for the award," Hunley said.\nThe SRSA also awarded Amanda Sater with the Wildermuth Recreational Sports Scholarship. She also received the Richard F. Mull Scholarship for her work in aquatics. \nAnother two-time winner was Lauren Conley. She was named the Marketing and Sponsoring Volunteer of the Year and the Intramural Head Official of the Year, while Corey Bitzer was given the award for Female Intramural Athlete of the Year. \nJennifer Wood was named the Female Athlete of the Year and Outstanding Senior Leader through her play in club sports. \nRecreational Sports director Kathy Bayless presided over many of the festivities Monday night. \n"It's amazing to watch these individuals grow and change from their involvement freshman year to senior year," Bayless said. "It's a real win-win situation for us. This night is all about non-stop good news.\n"Whoever gets these kids (out in the workforce), I hope they understand what type of truly extraordinary kids they are getting," Bayless said.\n-- Contact staff writer Ryan Corazza at rcorazza@indiana.edu