MOUNT VERNON – Cornell College's Athletics Department presented special individual awards during its annual Homecoming C Club Breakfast Saturday morning in Smith Dining Hall.
Retired Director of Health Services Nancy Reasland was recipient of the Bob Black Friend of Cornell Athletics. The award, named after the late long-time men's basketball assistant and biology professor, recognizes an individual who has demonstrated noteworthy support of Cornell Athletics.
John Tesensky '17, among Cornell's most accomplished baseball players, was honored as Alumni Coach of the Year.
Current seniors Marcus Quirk (men's basketball) and Emily Lucie (women's cross country/track & field) earned the Paul Maaske Scholar-Athlete Awards, recognizing the male and female student-athlete, who in their academic junior year, accumulated the highest grade point average.
Bob Black Friend of Cornell Athletics
Reasland was hired to serve as Cornell's pandemic response coordinator during the 2020-21 academic year. Putting her retirement plans on hold, she graciously accepted and was the guiding light for the campus – in particular athletics – in helping execute roughly 10,000 COVID tests for Cornell students.
Reasland's research and diligent work behind the scenes had Cornell prepared for the testing protocols set forth by the NCAA and Midwest Conference. She coordinated antigen tests for the entire campus and implemented a saliva testing plan for student-athletes.
Reasland strongly advocated for the student-athlete experience and ensured some sense of normalcy given the extreme circumstances. Her persistence allowed Cornell's teams to compete when many conference peers did not.
Affectionately known as "Nurse Nancy" by many on campus, Reasland retired in the spring after 28 years of service to the college.
Alumni Coach of the Year
Tesensky's third season as head baseball coach at Lisbon High School culminated with a trip to the 2021 Class 1A Iowa State Tournament. Tesensky piloted a young Lions varsity team of two juniors, 10 sophomores and three freshmen to a 25-14 campaign and Tri-Rivers East Conference championship.
Tesensky, the 2021 Tri-Rivers East Coach of the Year, has coached six all-district performers during his short time heading Lisbon's program. He was an assistant on Lisbon's 2018 state runner-up team that finished 37-1.
Tesensky was a three-time first team all-Midwest Conference outfielder at Cornell from 2014-17, leading the Rams to four MWC Tournament appearances and 81 wins. Tesensky started 148 games for the Rams and stands No. 2 on the program's all-time hits list (186).
Tesensky earned the MWC's Elite 20 Award twice and was recipient of Cornell's Paul Maaske Scholar-Athlete Award in 2016.
Paul Maaske Scholar-Athletes
Quirk, a three-year starting forward on the basketball team, holds a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He's pursuing a double major in mathematics and computer science.
Quirk earned Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors last season. The two-time academic all-conference performer received the MWC's Elite 20 Award as a sophomore. He averaged 15.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game during a condensed 2020-21 campaign.
Quirk plans to attend grad school and then find work in software development or software engineering.
Lucie is a third-year distance runner in Cornell's cross country and track & field programs. She carries a 3.98 GPA, pursuing a degree in English and a secondary education certificate.
Lucie is a three-time academic all-MWC honoree. She received Cornell's Rammy Award for track & field last spring.
Upon graduation, Lucie plans to teach English/Language Arts at the high school level and eventually obtain her master's degree.
