Following the 2019-20 school year, the Walsh Cavaliers athletic department is proud to announce that senior Andra Lehotay and junior Darryl Straughter have been named the University’s Female and Male Athletes of the Year. These honors are voted on by the head coaches and the Walsh athletic administration. Visit this dedicated page on our Walsh website to review a full-list of this year’s special honors.
For the second straight year, senior Andra Lehotay (Magnolia, Ohio / Sandy Valley) was voted as the 2019-20 Walsh Female Athlete of the Year. Lehotay put together a list of accomplishments through the fall with Cross Country and a near-complete winter season.
Junior Darryl Straughter (Canton, Ohio / Canton McKinley), from the Walsh Cavaliers men’s basketball team, was voted as the 2019-20 Walsh Male Athlete of the Year. Straughter was key to the success of the Cavaliers as they finished 25-6 overall, with a Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament title and the team’s second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Full Bios: Andra Lehotay (Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field)
Senior Andra Lehotay capped her final Cross Country season as she helped the Walsh women’s team to a tenth-place overall finish at the 2019 NCAA D2 National Championships, the highest mark in program history. Lehotay finished one tenth of a second out of All-American status, leading the Cavaliers in 41st place. On the course, she earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Midwest Region and Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) All-Conference Second Team honors.
For the Indoor Track & Field season, Lehotay had qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships in three different events. She qualified in the Mile, 800-meter run and the distance medley relay as she looked to add on her career total of eight All-American honors on the track. The G-MAC honored Lehotay as Female Track Athlete of the Championship Meet and the Year after she won three different G-MAC crowns. She won conference titles in the three events that she qualified for nationals in, leading to All-Conference First Team and three All-Midwest Region accolades. Earlier in the season, Lehotay set the school record in the 800-meter run, running a 2:09.74. She was a two-time G-MAC Athlete of the Week during the Indoor season.
In the classroom, Lehotay finished the Fall 2019 semester with a 4.0 GPA and has a 3.99 cumulative GPA for her undergrad career. For cross country, Lehotay was named All-Academic by the USTFCCCA. As a Government/Foreign Affairs (Pre-Law) Major, she will move on to Northeastern University for Law School with a full scholarship.
Andra is the second repeat winner of the Female Athlete of the Year in the D2 era as her former teammate Sarah Berger won the award in four consecutive years from 2014-18. The women’s cross country and track & field programs have housed the last seven Female Athletes of the Year under head coach Rob Mizicko.
Darryl Straughter (Men’s Basketball)
Junior Darryl Straughter was the leading scorer for the Cavaliers as he averaged 17.2 points per game. As the fifth-highest scorer in the G-MAC, he was tabbed All-Conference First Team after the regular season. He scored double figures in 26 of 30 games, including the last 12 consecutive contests. As a key member of the offense under head coach Jeff Young, Straughter shot 49.4% from the floor and 46.2% from deep. The Canton native slotted second in the conference in three-point percentage while pacing the league with 104 three pointers. In all of D2, Straughter ranked 12th in made three pointers. The lethal sharpshooter has leaped into the Cavaliers record books with the second most threes in a season and already sits fourth in career three pointers.
He had his share of special moments throughout the 2019-20 season on the court, including being named G-MAC Player of the Week twice. In the first game of the season, he set the school record for most threes in a game as he made ten threes against Maryville. One week later against Wright St.-Lake, he scored a career-high 33 points, hitting eight three pointers. The Cavaliers team combined for a school record 24 three pointers. On December 21st at Southeastern, he became the 42nd member of the 1,000-point club. In the G-MAC Quarterfinal against Ohio Dominican, Walsh erased a 23-point deficit and a 15-point spread in the second half to advance to the next round. Straughter made three free throws with 0.4 seconds left on the clock, putting the Cavaliers up 67-66.
Straughter becomes the fifth men’s basketball player to be named Male Athlete of the Year in the Division II era. Kenny Kornowski, Brad DuPont, Jesse Hardin Jr. and Zac Carter have all won the award since Walsh went Division II in 2012.
