Saturday, Feb. 11, was a great day to be a current or former Roadrunner as the Alumni Association honored distinguished alumni and other members of the Metro State community.

Nine awards were given to outstanding Roadrunners during the annual ceremony, held this year in the Auraria Event Center. Award-winners were honored for their Metro State pride, work ethic, making a difference, giving back or for being distinguished alumni.

Fitting for Metro State’s Homecoming week, the Alumni Association gave a Metro State Pride Award to Michelle LeBoo.

LeBoo is the associate director for financial aid in the Metro State Scholarship Center and she’s not afraid to let people know she loves her school.

“Metro is my home,” LeBoo said. “Every year I get to see my family grow a little more and I’m so glad so many of you came home to Metro.”

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Col. Laura Richardson, is the first woman to command the U.S. Army Operational Test Command in Fort Hood, Texas. She will be promoted to brigadier general March 2.

She said the people on campus made Metro State so special for her while she pursued a degree in psychology. The work-hard atmosphere created by faculty members and students prepared her for a successful career in the Army.

Roger Caplinger, who worked as a trainer during his time at Metro State, has been director of medical operations for the Milwaukee Brewers for the last 10 years. He was honored with the Work Ethic Award.

His work ethic, he said, was instilled in him at an early age by his father and continued at Metro State.

“Thank you Metro State for getting my journey started,” Caplinger said.

Cesar Cedillo is principal of Denver’s Bruce Randolph School, which was recognized by President Barack Obama during the State of the Union address as an example of an urban school graduating high percentages of students.

Cedillo received an award for Making a Difference and pointed out that he has the opportunity to work with Metro State teaching candidates at Bruce Randolph.

Zelda DeBoyes received the Giving Back Award. She serves as the Aurora Municipal Court Administrator and came to Metro after serving in the Army.

April (Axé) Charmiane, received the inaugural STATEMent Maker Award for her work in the Denver and Boulder performing arts communities. One of her dance troupes, Sol Vida Dance, performed for the audience as well.

Current student Heather LaCost was honored for her work with the Student Alumni Association, which seeks to get students connected to the school before they leave. She received the Outstanding Student Alumni Association Award.

Recent graduates Lisa Dimmer and Jeremy Jie Bird Casey were recognized for their previous achievements as recipients of the Outstanding Student Award and President’s Award respectively. Casey was a speaker at the spring, 2011 commencement, and Dimmer was the student speaker at the fall commencement.

Casey, a medical student at Rocky Vista University, said someone asked him if a person could go to medical school with a degree from Metro State. “I don’t know if I was more appalled or amused” he said. He and the other alumni know the value of their Metro State degree.

And while the event was a celebration of the accomplishments of individuals, Metro President Stephen Jordan also shared the good news about the progress of the name change initiative.