General 4/17/2020 11:39:00 AM Ryan Shumaker
Lewis of Women’s Basketball and Dalton of Men’s Soccer Named Junior Athletes of the Year
Eastern New Mexico juniors Alivia Lewis and Ross Dalton have been selected as the Junior Male and Female Athletes of the Year as voted upon by ENMU athletic department staff members and head coaches.
Each student-athlete was nominated by their respective head coach for consideration for the award based upon their outstanding athletic performances during the 2019-20 season. Both Lewis and Dalton pushed their respective teams to new heights and have established themselves as some of the best at their positions in Eastern New Mexico history.
Lewis was instrumental in leading Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball to their second best record in the program’s 45-year history, putting together an overall record of 22-9, the highest win total since the 1992-93 season. The Greyhounds advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament Semifinals for the first time since that 1992-93 season and broke the school record for both total rebounds (1,392) and scoring defense (59.3 ppg) in a season.
Lewis was vital to the team’s success in both categories as she led the squad and ranked second in the Lone Star Conference with an average of 8.6 rebounds per contest. She totaled seven double-doubles throughout the year, the fourth most in the LSC, and finished the year with an average of 10.4 points per contest.
The Albuquerque, N.M. native was named All-LSC Second Team and was also selected to the All-LSC Defensive Team for her performance on the glass and as a rim protector, averaging 1.3 blocks per contest. Her efforts this season have continued to establish Lewis as one of the premier post players to ever wear the Green and Silver as she moved up to third all-time in program history with 663 total rebounds for her career.
Her 197 defensive rebounds this season stand as a school record and moved her into first place all-time in the school’s record books with 460 defensive rebounds for her career. Lewis ranks second all-time with 116 blocks for her career, just seven swats shy of a program record.
Dalton was also a vital cog in the Greyhound men’s soccer team’s success this fall as they recorded a program record 12 wins on the season and reached the program’s highest ever national ranking at no. 9 in the country. Dalton was named the Lone Star Conference Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the league in save percentage (.793) and allowing just 18 goals in 16 games played.
Dalton and the Hounds were solid all season long as a defensive unit, totaling a program-record six shutouts on the year. The Liverpool, Merseyside, England native ranks second in the program’s history with a 1.28 goals against average and moved into third place all-time in just his second season as a Hound with 13 wins.
His 11 wins this season are a program record and his .793 save percentage is the second best mark ever recorded by an Eastern New Mexico goalkeeper for an entire season.
He along with his squad began the 2019 campaign on fire, securing wins in the opening eight matches of the season and posted shutouts in each of the first four matches. He was named the LSC Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 9 and was an All-LSC First Team selection at season’s end.
