*updated as of June 7

New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz held its second annual End of the Year Award Ceremony in the Hawk Center May 8, revealing department award and superlative award winners.
 
Members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, chaired by softball senior Kelly Marmorowski (softball) and grad student Michael Boccarossa (baseball) helped put the event together, along with Isabella Shepherd (softball), Nico Batkay (baseball), Rachel Tama (field hockey), Erin Cooney (women's basketball), and Alexis DeLeo (women's soccer). Inviting back alumni Brian Smith (men's volleyball, '14), Lindsay Bettke (women's basketball, '19), Michael Horner (men's soccer, '23), Keith Kenney (men's basketball, '99), and Shannon Bernhardt (field hockey, '23) to present major department awards throughout the night. SAAC also voted on different superlative awards, releasing a fan poll of who should be named.
 
Along with revealing award winners, representatives of all 16 programs went up and spoke about their respective seasons, recapping the year that was. The department also introduced the new SAAC EBoard. 
 
View all award winners below and see photos from the red carpet by scrolling through the End of the Year Awards 2024 gallery:
 

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2024 Department Award Winners:

Carol Eckman Female Athlete o the Year:
Brianna Fitzgerald (women's basketball)

Fitzgerald becomes a two-time recipient of the honor after leading the Hawks women's basketball team to their second straight SUNYAC title. She led the team in nearly every statistical category and broke single season and the all-time points record in a career season where she was named as the SUNYAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, along with becoming the program's first Region III Player of the Year and two-time All-America recipient, named as a third-team D3Hoops recipient and WBCA honorable mention honoree. She additionally was named as a Josten's Trophy Finalist and SUNYAC Tournament MVP.

Floyd Patterson Male Athlete of the Year:
Tommy Kreider (baseball)

Kreider is the first Hawks baseball student-athlete to claim the award since Chris Chismar in 2011. Fittingly, Kreider had the best individual season to date for any player in program history stymied by the best team finish in program history. Kreider was the catalyst in SUNY New Paltz Baseball's improbable run to its very first SUNYAC title. He led the team in nearly every statistical category, including setting single season records for hits (62) and runs (82). He was named to the All-SUNYAC First-Team, before becoming the program's first, two-time first-team All-Region select and All-America recipient, earning a spot on the second team. He was also named as the SUNYAC Tournament MVP and finished the season ranking fifth in the country in hits and 19th in runs. 

Leadership Wall Recipients:
Hannah Ackerman (field hockey, senior)
Cate DiGiacomo (women's volleyball, senior)
Rylan Blondo (men's basketball, grad student)
Jillian Shelbourne (softball, senior)
Morgan Woolley (field hockey/women's lacrosse, senior)





Kenneth F. Burda Sportsmanship Award
Ben Perez (men's soccer, senior)
Cate DiGiacomo (women's volleyball, senior)






 
Andrew Cassius Award (men's volleyball)
Matt Marusza (freshman, setter)
 
Donald Bishko Award (male, highest GPA)
Rylan Blondo (men's basketball, grad student)
Michael Boccarossa (baseball, grad student)
Pat Wing (men's volleyball, grad student)

Donald Bishko Award (female, highest GPA)
Katie Buquicchio (women's soccer, grad student)
Shannon Corr (women's swimming, senior)
Jess Funke (women's soccer, grad student)
Angelina Somma (women's swimming, junior)  

New Paltz Prize (top team GPA)      
Baseball (Spring 2023, 3.3 GPA)
Women's Swimming (Spring, 2023, 3.61 GPA)
Men's Basketball (Fall 2023, 3.3 GPA)
Field Hockey (Fall 2023,  3.58 GPA)
 
Carol Eckman Female Athlete of the Year Nominees:
Hannah Ackerman (field hockey, senior)
Rachel Eisert (women's soccer, junior)
Jaycee Filancia (softball, sophomore)
Brianna Fitzgerald (women's basketball, senior)
Lindsay Roman (softball, senior)
Kaitlyn Shaw (women's lacrosse, senior)
Justine Stanejko (tennis, sophomore) 




Floyd Patterson Male Athlete of the Year Nominees:
A.J. Knight (men's basketball, junior)
Tommy Kreider (baseball, junior)
Christian Micheli (men's soccer, junior) 
Pat Wing (men's volleyball, grad student)



Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr. Award
Co-Recipients  
Rylan Blondo (men's basketball, grad student)
Michael Boccarossa (baseball, grad student)


 
Superlative Awards:
Most Spirited: Ryan Kaelin (men's lacrosse, senior)
Record-Breaking Performance: Ryan Steinhart (men's lacrosse, senior)
Most Competitive Teammate: Zach Schmidt (men's lacrosse, grad student)
Rookie of the Year: Aidan Harrington (men's lacrosse, freshman)
Breakout Season Winner: Owen Craker (field hockey, sophomore)

Bloopers: Edited by Gail Comisky 




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