Big Ten Cheer and Dance Coaches Announce Postseason Honors

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For the first time ever, cheer and dance coaches of Big Ten Conference institutions have named postseason honorees, the group recently announced. Highlighting the list for the University of Michigan was dance team junior Caroleen Chang, who was named dance athlete of the year.

The honors were voted on by the conference's coaches based on performance videos submitted for each nominee. Each team nominated its own student-athletes, and coaches could not vote for members of their own team.

In addition to Chang, senior Brendan Ryan was named honorable mention athlete of the year. Chang, Ryan and sophomore Lindsey Kamyszek all earned spots on the dance first team, while junior Abby Seifman earned a spot on the second team.

Dance sophomores DeAnna Dwyer and Emma Petersen were named to the all-academic team, while senior Lauren Page earned a spot on the community service team.

On the cheer side, senior Demetrius Markham was named to the coed first team and as an honorable mention for athlete of the year, and senior Kyle Wierzbicki was named to the academic team and coed cheer scholar athlete of the year. Senior team captain Pilar Burgess garnered a spot on the all-female cheer first team, while seniors Taylor Grier (all-female) and Ashley Murphy (coed) took home second team honors.

Graduate student Josh Nichols and Grier dotted the community service team list, while Grier and senior Christina Molnar, senior Joey Greenstein and senior Carolyn Duran were named to the academic team.

Michigan Cheer Honorees

Athlete of the Year
Coed Cheer
Demetrius Markham (honorable mention)

First Team
All-Female Cheer
Pilar Burgess
Coed Cheer
Demetrius Markham

Second Team
All-Female Cheer
Taylor Grier
Coed Cheer
Ashley Murphy

Academics
All-Female Cheer
Taylor Grier
Christina Molnar

Coed Cheer
Kyle Wierzbicki
Joey Greenstein
Carolyn Duran

Community Service
All-Female Cheer
Taylor Grier
Coed Cheer
Josh Nichols

Michigan Dance Honorees

Athlete of the Year
Caroleen Chang
Brendan Ryan (honorable mention)

First Team
Caroleen Chang
Lindsey Kamyszek
Brendan Ryan

Second Team
Abby Seifman

Academics
Deanna Dwyer
Emma Petersen

Community Service
Lauren Page