Albany, NY — The State University of New York (SUNY) named 28 student-athletes this past spring for their academic and athletic achievement hailing from Division III SUNY institutions across the state with Hawks women's lacrosse junior Lexi Atwater, baseball senior Tommy Kreider and women's tennis senior Isabel van der Veen named as their respective sport's Division III SUNY Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
The award was officially announced June 30 by the SUNYAC Office, as five others within the conference were honored alongside Atwater, Kreider and van der Veen. It was the second time named for both Kreider and van der Veen.  
The Spring SUNY Scholar Athlete of the Year Award recognizes student-athletes from SUNY colleges and universities sponsoring intercollegiate athletics at the four- and two-year levels who were nominated and voted upon by representatives of their respective institutions based on cumulative grade point average, current and career statistics and athletic and academic honors. Honorees were nominated and voted upon by representatives of their respective institutions.

More than 14,000 student-athletes compete at SUNY institutions, which represent 53 different colleges and universities across all three divisions and USCAA and NJCAA levels.
 
Atwater, Kreider and van der Veen are epitomes of the award, as they all helped their programs to standout seasons while also performing among the best in the SUNYAC. All three were also named as their respective sport's SUNYAC Scholar Athlete of the Year, which was announced earlier this month.
 
Atwater had a breakout junior campaign for the Hawks, as she helped lead the team to their second-straight SUNYAC semifinal appearance following a program best SUNYAC regular season finish. She put up career numbers along the way, leading the team with 67 goals and 73 points. She had seven games where she scored five-plus goals, including in SUNY New Paltz's 8-7 win over No. 19 Colorado College. Atwater was the catalyst in the win, scoring six of the Hawks' eight goals which including the last-second game-winner to help the program clinch its first ever win over a nationally ranked opponent.  
After a career season, Atwater was named as a first-team All-SUNYAC selection, as well as becoming the program's first ever SUNYAC Attacker of the Year. She was then named as the team's first, First-Team IWLCA All-Empire Region selection. The Brighton, NY native also excelled off the field, finishing the spring with high honors, earning a spot on the SUNYAC Commissioner's List, Hawks Academic Honor Roll and was enshrined into the Chi Alpha Sigma National Honor Society, while also being named as the SUNYAC Women's Lacrosse Scholar Athlete of the Year and now, the SUNY Division III Women's Lacrosse Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
Kreider ended his career with an emphatic note, collecting nearly every award possible both athletically and academically.
 
After helping his team to their best SUNYAC finish in program history, going 14-4 in conference play, Kreider finished the year leading his team in batting average (.439), OPS (1.206), runs (63), hits (72), doubles (19), extra base hits (26), slugging percentage (.665), walks (30), on-base-percentage (.541), total baes (109) and stolen bases (37) with 35 RBI and only 16 strikeouts after being the only Hawk to start all 42 games. He set single season program records in runs, doubles and stolen bases along the way this past spring.  
The New City, NY native became the team's first ever, two-time ABCA/Rawlings and D3Baseball.com All-American, along with collecting his third All-Region and All-SUNYAC honor, along with being the team's first ever Bob Wallace SUNYAC Player of the Year. Kreider was a standout in the classroom as well, named to his second-straight SUNYAC Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year and now, Division III SUNY Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year. Most recently, he was also named as SUNY New Paltz's second ever recipient of the Dr. Sam Molnar SUNYAC Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year award after earning high honors for the fourth-straight year, along with landing on the SUNYAC Commissioner's List for a fourth time and becoming a two-year Chi Alpha Sigma National Society inductee.
 
Like Kreider, van der Veen boasts her second selection as a SUNY Division III Women's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year selection after earning her second SUNYAC Women's Tennis Scholar Athlete honor.

The Niskayuna, NY native embodied the definition of a Division III student-athlete, as she helped SUNY New Paltz win its third straight SUNYAC title and earn their way to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year, including a win in the national tournament, all while being involved in all facets of campus life along with being a high honor student.
 
The dual major in both Business Analytics and Digital Media Management, was a graduate assistant and worked within the athletics department this past year and was honored as a SUNY New Paltz President's Award for Student Excellence. Additionally, van der Veen earned a spot on the SUNYAC Commissioner's List for the fourth consecutive year, landed on the Hawks Academic Honor Roll and was a two-time inductee into the Chi Alpha Sigma National Honor Society.
 
On the court, van der Veen went undefeated in SUNYAC singles play, competing at third singles, conceding just four points all year. Playing at first doubles alongside partner Justine Stanejko, van der Veen never dropped a match going 5-0, conceding just two points along the way en route to being named SUNYAC Doubles Team of the Year, as well as garnering first team SUNYAC singles and doubles selections.
 
Read the official SUNYAC press release by clicking here.
 
View the full list of Division III Spring SUNY Scholar Athlete Award winners below:

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Division III
 
Baseball - Tommy Kreider, New Paltz
Year: Sr.
Major: Accounting
 
Women's Equestrian - Jenna Tyson, Morrisville
Year: Sr.
Major: Equine Science
 
Men's Golf - Mackenzie Kim, Farmingdale State College
Year: Sr.
Major: Business Management
 
Women's Golf - Sophie Oristian, Cortland
Year: Sr.
Major: Exercise Science
 
Men's Lacrosse - Sean Kavanagh, Cortland
Year: So.
Major: Physical Education
 
Women's Lacrosse - Lexi Atwater, New Paltz
Year: Jr.
Sport: Women's Lacrosse

Softball - Julia Serena, Oneonta
Year: Sr.
Major: Exercise Science / Pre-Nursing
 
Men's Tennis - Alan Sabovic, Farmingdale State College
Year: Sr.
Major: Science, Technology & Society
 
Women's Tennis - Isabel van der Veen, New Paltz
Year: Sr.
Major: Business Analytics & Digital Media Management
 
Men's Outdoor Track and Field - Isaiah Brunache, Cortland
Year: Jr.
Major: Exercise Science
 
Women's Outdoor Track and Field - Ann Brennan, Geneseo
Year: Jr.
  
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