Isaac Zickafoose and Erin Weisgarber received the A.C. Burcky Award and Kathryn E. Little Award, respectively, at the Athletic Awards Forum on April 16. These awards honor the top graduating male and female athletes each year.
According to Athletic Director Phill Talavinia, the awards are similar the ‘Most Outstanding Athlete’ award given at other universities—but with one major difference.
“I think what makes this special is the awards are named after people who both made important contributions to our athletics,” Talavinia said.
The A.C. Burcky Award is named after the late professor who served from 1922-68 and taught “basically every male sport here at one point,” according to Talavinia. Burcky was also inducted into the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
The Kathryn E. Little Award is named after a figure who was instrumental in “starting pretty much all women’s sports here at Bluffton,” said Talavinia. Little served at Bluffton from 1958-74 and was among the first to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bluffton.
Isaac Zickafoose
Courtesy of Isaac Zickafoose
Zickafoose, the winner of the A.C. Burcky Award, played four years of football at Bluffton. He named winning HCAC defensive player of the year twice and breaking numerous Bluffton records, including the sack record and tackles for loss record, as some of his most impressive accomplishments on the field..
“[Winning the A.C. Burcky Award] kind of just tops of my senior campaign,” Zickafoose said. “It means a lot to be recognized by the coaches and school. It’s crazy, I would have never thought I would get it.”
On top of his athletic accomplishments, Zickafoose is proud of his academic success, like maintaining a 3.4 GPA his junior year. He has also earned the accolade of Distinguished Scholar in Sport Leadership and Recreation.
“That’s very impressive for me, coming from how I graduated high school, I’ve come a long way. Looking back to my freshman year, I was a knucklehead. I’ve still got growing to do, because I can still be a knucklehead sometimes, but I’ve grown a lot,” said Zickafoose.
“When people come and ask my for advice about things, that just shows how much I’ve grown—I can help people now.”
Now that he’s graduating, Zickafoose said he hopes the future generation of Bluffton football players will be able to look at how he performed on the field and see how extra work pays off.
“It’s hard to miss something you feel like you’ve given your all to and you have nothing left to give,” Zickafoose said. “I’m satisfied.”
Erin Weisgarber
Weisgarber and head volleyball coach Steve Yarnell. Courtesy Erin Weisgarber
Weisgarber received the Kathryn E. Little award after a four-year career with the volleyball team. The setter named her proudest achievements on the court as being named HCAC Freshman of the Year for the HCAC and being able to set for some of Bluffton’s “best hitters.”
“To me, this award means that I was able to do what I had set out to achieve coming to Bluffton,” Weisgarber said. “I knew that the volleyball program here was something special and if I was given the opportunity to be a part of it, I needed to give it everything I had.”
Weisgarber also praised her teammates and head coach Steve Yarnell.
“I hope that others see this award as I do—as a testament to the team and attitude that Coach Yarnell has built,” she said.
Weisgarber has also found great success off the court, being recognized as the College sports Information Directors of America First Team Academic All-American last year. She was also named Bluffton’s Distinguished Scholar in Mathematics this year.
“Bluffton—and volleyball especially—has allowed me to grow as a leader, a friend, an athlete and a scholar,” Weisgarber said. “I can tell you that when I first came to Bluffton, I was a much different person than I am now.”
In her four years, Weisgarber said it has become standard for the team to not only make the HCAC tournament but to be a team to beat while in it. She said she believes the team has taken on a new identity of “heart, perseverance and integrity.”
As Weisgarber prepares to move on to the next phase of her life, there are many aspects of her experience with the volleyball program she will miss.
“I will miss the sheer joy that comes from being part of something great,” Weisgarber said. “I will miss being in the trenches with these girls and feeling the triumph and heartbreak first-hand.
As much as I will miss all of these, I am equally as thankful to have been a part of it all for four years.”
