Best male Athlete: Marco Mangione- As the captain of the men’s soccer team, Marco Mangione had a career year, guiding the Tigers to an improved 9-6-2 record in the fall. The Calvert Hall graduate finished with a CAA-leading 12 goals and led the team in assists with seven. Mangione finished second in the conference with 31 points, which was only two points behind the CAA leader Cj Sapong of James Madison. Despite the Tigers struggles in CAA play, Mangione kept a hard-working attitude and became a reliable on-the-field leader for Coach Frank Olszewski.

Best Female Athlete: Meredith Budner- It should go without saying that Meredith Budner has become the face of Towson Athletics. After leading the Tigers to a fourth consecutive CAA Championship, Budner competed in the NCAA Championships in March and took home second place in both the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyles. She has become one of the most dominating swimmers in CAA history and will look to take her swimming career to the international level as she competes for a spot on the 2012 Israeli Olympic squad.

Most Dramatic: The football team had yet another difficult season on the gridiron, managing just one win. But there was no game that came close to the amount of intensity and drama as the first home football game of the past year.

On Sept. 11, 2010, the Tigers and Coastal Carolina Chanticleers began their contest shortly after 7 p.m., just like any regular game. But three hours and 38 minutes later, after four quarters and five overtime sessions, the Tigers had come back from a 21-7 fourth quarter deficit for a 47-45 victory.

In front of the biggest home crowd of the season, Quarterback Chris Hart tossed two TDs in the final nine minutes of the game, including the game-tying score to Tom Ryan with just 25 seconds remaining.

Most Surprising team: Men’s Lacrosse- Every year when lacrosse season rolls around, there is a general hope and expectation that the men’s lacrosse team will, at the very least, be competing for a CAA Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid. However, 2011 was filled with nothing more than the disappointment of a 3-10 record, where the Tigers could not pick up their first conference win until the last game of the season against a winless St. Joseph’s squad. Going 1-5 in CAA play is clearly unacceptable, and it ended up costing Hall of Fame coach Tony Seaman the job that he held for the last 13 years.

Best new coach: In her first season as head coach with the gymnastics team, Vicki Chliszczyk picked up right where the team left off. The Tigers only had one regular season loss, and while they weren’t able to secure a seventh straight ECAC title, they only came 0.6 points short. As head coach, she also helped junior Avis Hixon go to the NCAA Regional Tournament to compete in vault and on floor. With Chliszczyk as coach, Towson will improve next season and has an even better chance of taking back its championship title.

Most likely to make it to the pros: Scott Horta- Scott Horta has been recruited to play for the Puerto Rican National Team in their last bid at qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Now that Horta’s college career is just about over, he could have the chance to go and play for the Puerto Rican professional team, the Islanders.

Athletes to watch next year (Female): Caitlin Burke- It may be too early to deem Caitlin Burke the next Meredith Budner. However, Head Coach Pat Mead and Budner believe that she has what it takes to step up and become an elite swimmer that can help guide the Tigers next season. In her freshman year, Burke took home a first-place victory in the 200-yard freestyle at the CAA Championships. In her fourth-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle at the CAA’s, Burke broke Towson’s freshman record in the event, which was previously set by Budner in 2008.

Athlete to watch next year (Male): Chris Acker, coming off a marvelous late-season display, headed into the weekend with a 4-0 record, a 3.08 earned-run average, and just 37 hits allowed in 38.0 innings pitched. After an outing against Bucknell, where he retired 14 of the 17 hitters he faced, Head Coach Mike Gottlieb said “[Acker’s] performance n… has forced us to consider him for a more vital role.” Expect big things to come from the young right-hander.

Most unheralded athlete (Male): Nash Mauchaza stood out beyond his Tiger teammates this season, posting a team-best 74.3 scoring average. He shot five under-par rounds this season with a low of 68, one shot off his career-low. But Mauchaza’s finest performance of the season came in late April when he finished tied for third at the CAA Championships at Pinehurst.

Most unheralded athlete (Female): Ashley Adams continued her assault on the Towson record books this season, knocking down record after record before suffering an injury late in the year. Before getting hurt, Adams was honored as CAA Female Track & Field Athlete of the Week multiple times for her outstanding efforts. She dominated the TU Invitational in March, winning all four events she entered and setting a new school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.99 seconds. Adams also broke a 29-year record at the Coastal Carolina Invitational this spring.

Team on the turnaround (Tennis): After years of mediocrity at the bottom of the CAA, the Tigers rebounded for a record-setting year. Their 14 wins this spring were the most in a season since they joined the CAA, and it was the first time the team had registered three conference wins since the 2006-07 campaign. Four players had 13 or more singles victories, and three other players had seven or more wins. Freshman Nisha Shah became the first Tiger to win 20 matches in a single season since that ‘06-‘07 season. With just about all of their squad coming back next year, the tennis team looks to build off of this year’s success.

Most dominating team (Gymnastics): Though they weren’t able to come away with their seventh-straight East Coast Athletic Conference championship, the Tigers had no trouble with the rest of their schedule. Aside from a loss to Maryland in the second meet of the season, Towson went unbeaten until their third-place finish at the ECAC meet in mid-March. Kacy Catanzaro dominated most events this season, finishing in the top three consistently on the vault, balance beam and uneven parallel bars. Avis Hixon competed in the NCAA Athens Regional was named ECAC Specialist of the Year, and freshman Alexa Davis was named the ECAC Rookie of the Year. This incredibly deep team will return just about all of their talent next season as they look to reclaim the ECAC title.