Swimmer, Diver, Wrestler Rider Athletes of Year

A Conference and Regional record-setting swimmer, a National qualifying diver and an All-American wrestler were named the Rider University Athletes of the Year for 2008-09.

Senior swimmer Priscilla Modrov (Smithtown, NY), junior diver Amanda Burke (Churchville, PA) and senior wrestler Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, NJ) are the top Bronc athletes of the past academic school year.

“Amanda, Doug and Priscilla all represented themselves, their teams and Rider University extremely well throughout their respective seasons,” said Rider Director of Athletics, Don Harnum. “All three had tremendous athletic accomplishments on the conference, regional, and even the national level. Their accomplishments are something that will be talked about for years and we are very proud to have them as our recipients of the prestigious athletic department 'Athletes of the Year' award.”

“This is so exciting,” said Modrov, who won seven gold medals at the 2008-09 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, leading Rider to the team title as the Conference's Most Outstanding Swimmer. “Without a doubt the highlight of the year was the team winning the MAAC Championship,” Modrov said, putting the team accomplishments ahead of her own. “That was a great experience. To go out on top with my team in my last year, I couldn't have asked for anything better. The team accomplishments definitely mean so much more. You do everything with your team. Without your team you can't really go very far. We're together all of the time. To have that one common goal and to finally accomplish it, that meant a lot to me.”

“Nice!” was the reaction from Burke, having won the Athlete of the Year Award for the second straight year. “This is pretty exciting,” said Burke, who was named the Most Outstanding Diver at the MAAC Championships and qualified for Nationals for the second time in her career. “Winning the MAAC team title was the best thing that happened this year. We won as a team, something we've been trying to do forever. I know how much it meant to the graduating seniors. It was the happiest part of the season, winning the team title.”

“That's excellent, thank you,” Umbehauer said when hearing of his Athlete of the Year award. “Actually, when I first came to Rider I said to myself that one day I would like to have that award. As a freshman they presented it at Arete and I set that as a goal. I'm very happy with what I was able to accomplish. I set some pretty lofty goals and was able to accomplish them.”

Umbehauer placed third in the nation at the NCAA Wrestling Championships to earn All-America honors. At Nationals, Umbehauer won five of six bouts, including two wins over the second seed from Iowa, and also defeated the ninth and 10^th seeds, losing only to the third seed in the semifinals.

Umbehauer was a four-time National qualifier and graduated with 100 career wins, his 100^th coming in his final bout, a win for third place in the nation.

“NCAAs was a really great time,” Umbehauer said. “Of the four times I made it this was the first time I was able to look back and say that I'm content with my result. It's nice to have a memory like that as the last competition and to accomplish the goals that were set. Those matches that weekend were the best I ever wrestled; everything was perfect, my positioning, my attacks, my defense. It was a great, great weekend and a good time to have it all come together. In the quarterfinal match (against the second seed from Iowa), for me, it was something I was looking forward to. He beat me in double overtime two years ago in the quarterfinals at Midlands. This time I was behind in the match but stuck with my game plan and it ended up working out. A lot of people saw it as a fluke that I beat him so to be able to wrestle him again for third place and beat him again was something that cemented that.”

At the NCAA Diving Championships Burke placed 20^th in the one-meter dive and 24^th in the three-meter dive. At the USA Swimming Nationals, Burke placed 10^th in the one-meter and 11^th in the three-meter.

“At NCAAs the first day was rough, I was nervous, but the second day I had a lot more fun. I was more relaxed,” Burke said. “At the USA meet I had a blast. That was a lot of fun and I think that is why I did so well. I wanted to better what I did at NCAAs. I was competing against a lot of the same people, so it was like a reunion. The atmosphere was a lot different and I had a lot more fun, and as a result I did better.”

Modrov earned the Most Outstanding Swimmer Award at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, winning three events while setting three ECAC records. Modrov graduated Summa Cum Laude with 20 Rider team records and 20 Rider Pool records, along with six ECAC records.

As a freshman Modrov was named the MAAC Most Outstanding female Swimmer, and her older brother, Brandon, earned the MAAC Most Outstanding male Swimmer Award. This year, when she won the award, her younger brother, Drew, won the male award.

“It was a great experience to be able to share my career with my two brothers,” Priscilla said. “They've always pushed me my entire life and to have them there through everything really made my accomplishments that much more special. I tried to live up to what my older brother did and now to have my little brother come on board and be able to help him out is great.”

With 2008-09 in the rearview mirror, thoughts now turn to 2009-10.

Burke returns for her senior year with a big act to follow. Is a 'three-peat' possible? “I'll have to keep next year's Athlete of the Year Award as a goal,” she said with a laugh.

Umbehauer returns to Rider but off the mat, attending Rider's graduate school while working with the wrestling team. “Now I just want to give back,” Umbehauer said. “I'll be getting my master's degree here and volunteering with the wrestling team and helping out with hosting the 2011 NCAA National Championships. Another challenge for me but also a great opportunity. My game plan was to graduate and get a master's degree and maybe work on Wall Street, but now that I have a better understanding of how all of that works, I'm not sure that would be a good fit for me. I'd like to get into coaching if an opportunity presented itself.”

After a summer working on Jones Beach as a lifeguard, Modrov, an Academic All-American finalist, is coming back to Central Jersey to work with Ernst & Young Auditing.

“I couldn't have asked for a better four years,” Modrov said, “especially my last year, which exceeded my expectations of what I could possibly do. Coming in as a freshman I had no idea I would be able to accomplish these things and that's thanks to Fletch (head coach Steve Fletcher), my family and my teammates. Fletch is a great coach. He's helped me grow and mature, as a swimmer and as a person. Now I feel like I am ready for the real world.”

-ru-