NEW LONDON, N.H. – August 3, 2019 – The Colby-Sawyer Athletic Advisory Council has announced the winners of the Charger Award for Outstanding Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Sophomore Yashu Yang (Kunming City, China) of the women's tennis team was named Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year. Junior Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) of the men's basketball team was named Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year.   

Bean and Yang will be honored at the 2019 Colby-Sawyer Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sunday, October 6.

Dana Bean earned the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Award, which is given each year to the male athlete who has extraordinary athletic ability and has contributed the most to his team, the College and the world of sport. The recipient of this award will be nominated by a coach and then selected by the Athletic Advisory Council. Nominees must be upper-class men. The award is based solely on athletic talent, ability, attitude, performance, and success. It is a token of hard work, good judgment, understanding, and determination. 

Bean had an amazingly consistent junior season and was rewarded by being named to the All-GNAC First Team. He was one of the league's most efficient scorers, shooting 58.5% overall for 17.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. The shooting percentage ranked him 51st in the nation, while his 12 double-doubles ranked him 41st. One of his doubles-doubles was a 20-point, 16-rebound effort to help the team earn a victory over the University of Saint Joseph. He led the team with 33 blocks to move up to 5th in career bocks with 95. Bean scored double digits in all but one of his games and poured in 25 points three times. Among conference players, Bean ranked second in blocks, fourth in rebounds per game, fifth in total rebounds, fourth in field goal percentage and 11th in points per game.

On January 12 in a win at Anna Maria, Bean became the program's 20th member to reach 1000 career points. After three seasons, Bean ranks 17th in career scoring with 1231 points, 6th in career rebounds (694) and 9th in made free throws (269).

"Dana, is without question, the best post player in the league," said head coach Bill Foti. "Dana is a very skilled and athletic player. He plays hard and with a lot of passion. I was very pleased that he was acknowledged as one of the premier players in the GNAC."

Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Award Nominees

Peter Bakker – Cross Country + Track & Field
Brendan Barrett - Baseball
Dana Bean – Basketball
Alex Wright – Tennis


Yashu Yang earned the Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year Award, which is given each year to a female athlete who has extraordinary athletic ability and has contributed the most to her team, the College and the world of sport. The recipient of this award will be nominated by a coach and then selected by the Athletic Advisory Council. Nominees must be upper-class women. The award is based solely on athletic talent, ability, attitude, performance, and success.  It is a token of hard work, good judgment, understanding, and determination. 

Yang guided the Chargers to a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) title in their first year with the league, giving Colby-Sawyer its first GNAC crown. She was named GNAC Player of the Year, All-GNAC Singles First Team, and All-GNAC Doubles First Team. She went 6-0 at No. 1 singles and 7-0 in doubles (6-0 at No. 1) in GNAC matches. Yang, who was twice named GNAC Player of the Week, won both of her singles matches and both doubles matches in the GNAC Tournament to be named Tournament MVP.

Yang finished the season with a 16-4 singles record at the top spot, including victories over Division II players from Southern New Hampshire, Merrimack, and Saint Anselm. Yang also had 16 doubles wins. She and teammate Anna Kopituk (Morristown, Tenn.) picked up a signature win at the Grass Court Doubles Tournament, held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, by defeating a tandem from Division I Holy Cross, 8-4. In the NCAA Tournament, Yang and Kopituk won 8-2 over Nichols, while Yang also won her top flight singles match 6-2, 6-0. She is now 2-0 in NCAA Tournament singles matches and 2-1 in doubles matches.

"Yashu has been fantastic her first two years as a Charger and I am confident she will be even better over the next two," said head coach Barry Schoonmaker. "Yashu is a coach's dream as she works hard every day in drills or conditioning, gets along with all team members and is a beast at game time."

Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year Award Nominees

Kailyn Lapham – Field Hockey + Lacrosse
Brittany Ireland – Lacrosse
Amanda Martin – Soccer + Track & Field
Tianna Sugars – Basketball
Jordan Teixeira – Field Hockey
Yashu Yang - Tennis

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