PERRYSBURG — Owens Community College’s Shelley Whitaker has been voted by her league peers as the 2021-22 Michael Rickard OCCAC Athletics Director of the Year.

It represents the first distinction for The Express since the award’s namesake, Michael Rickard, was honored as such in 2010-11.

“I’m honored and humbled for being selected OCCAC Athletics Director of they Year,” Whitaker said. “I would like to thank my colleagues and recognize their relentless work towards providing quality experiences and opportunities four our student-athletes within the conference. This honor is a direct reflection of the successes the Owens Express sport programs have experienced and the standards that have been set by the relentless efforts of our coaching staffs.”

Whitaker’s charges brought home the hardware in ’21-22. Volleyball secured the program’s third consecutive NJCAA D-III National Championship. Women’s basketball hoisted the National Championship trophy during the winter season. Owens softball posted a 20-3 conference record to earn the OCCAC title.

The Express went 121-47 (.720) overall across five sports, lifting the winning percentage to .797 (55-14) in OCCAC contests. Ten student-athletes registered All-OCCAC First Team honors.

Owens swept the softball postseason awards, picking up the OCCAC Player (Kylie Ulch), Pitcher (Maddie Mockensturm) and Coach (Chuck Brososky) of the Year laurels. Maddie White received league recognition as both the D-III Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year for OCCAC Women’s Basketball.