Stockton University Athletics

Dermen, Hubbard, Wharton Receive Awards at Stockton Banquet

Athletics | 4/29/2019 4:00:00 PM

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Galloway, NJ - Stockton Athletics held its annual awards brunch at the Campus Center Event Room yesterday with a crowd of nearly 250 in attendance to salute the Osprey student-athletes. The audience included student-athletes and their families as well as Stockton coaches, administrators and staff. Stockton University President Dr. Harvey Kesselman opened the brunch with welcome remarks.
 
Men's lacrosse player Colin Wharton (Cinnaminson/Camden Catholic) was voted Stockton Male Athlete of the Year. Women's track & field competitor Kaitlyn Dermen (Millville/Millville) was chosen Stockton Female Athlete of the Year. Senior volleyball player Kennedy Hubbard (Moorestown/Moorestown) received the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Unsung Hero Award.
 
Women's lacrosse player Tamara Torales (Ridge/Basking Ridge) was the student-athlete speaker. Torales had her senior season cut short after just six games due to a foot injury that required surgery. She made her way to the stage on crutches to deliver a speech on behalf of all Stockton student-athletes.
 
"Today I leave Stockton having the confidence in myself to take on any task presented in front of me," Torales said. "My coaches and teammates have prepared me to take on the world not just with confidence in myself but with the strength to see the positive in a negative situation."
 
Torales later spoke of the student-athlete experience, saying "Being a part of a team allowed me to create unbreakable bonds. I have watched you all interact with one another and I can attest that teammates are truly a different kind of friendship."
 
In Spring 2018, Wharton became the first two-time All-American in Stockton men's lacrosse history by earning his second career USILA All-America Honorable Mention nod. The defender started all 16 games for the Ospreys last season, scooping 43 ground balls and causing 19 turnovers to help the team to the ECAC championship.
 
Wharton has continued his strong play this season, starting all 18 games and anchoring the defense with 35 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. The senior has helped Stockton tie the school record of 16 wins and reach the championship game of the Colonial States Athletic Conference.
 
Last spring, Dermen capped a career in which she earned a combined eight varsity letters in indoor and outdoor track & field by earning her first All-American accolade with a fourth-place finish in the pole vault at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She cleared 3.75 meters to place fourth out of 21 competitors in the event.
 
Dermen garnered NJAC First Team and USTFCCCA All-Atlantic Region recognition for her efforts in Spring 2018. The senior won the pole vault at five of seven meets and finished second in the other two. One of those victories came at the NJAC Championships as she successfully defended her 2017 conference crown in the event.
 
Hubbard was a four-year letter winner for the Stockton volleyball team who played in 50 matches at the setter position. She was born with lymphatic malformation, a mass of fluid-filled cysts around her mouth and jaw that cause swelling and sometimes enlargement of soft tissue and bones.
 
While in high school, Hubbard received permission from a doctor to play volleyball, and she developed enough skill to advance at the college level. She and her family founded Kennedy's Cause, a charity that is committed to raising awareness of lymphatic malformation. Hubbard received the Sports Imports Courage Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in December 2015.