LOUDONVILLE, NY – A pair of standout Siena seniors were recognized as the latest recipients of the Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month award on Monday afternoon. Men's golf senior co-captain Jack Brown and water polo senior co-captain Kristen Burger were honored for the month of March.
A four-year letterwinner and two-year team captain, Brown holds a 75.83 strike average through three tournaments this season and has logged two top-5 individual finishes over six rounds. The Hudson, New Hampshire native tied for eighth at the MAAC Spring Kickoff March 6-7 and placed fifth at the Hartford/Wintonbury Hills Invitational on March 26 after shooting even, 70. Brown ranks inside the program's top-10 in career stroke average, rounds of par or better, birdies, rounds in the 60's, and top-10 finishes.
Set to graduate in the spring with a degree in business, Brown holds a 3.05 cumulative GPA, and turned in a solid 3.62 mark during the Fall 2020 semester to land on the Siena Dean's List. He serves as one of the department's Student Athlete Mentors (SAM).
A team captain for the second straight season, Burger has recorded four goals and one assist in two matches so far this season. The Des Plaines, Illinois product has tallied 83 career goals and 28 career assists for 111 total points during her time in the Green and Gold.
Burger holds a 3.72 cumulative GPA in political science, and most recently posted a 3.74 mark during the Fall 2020 term. She serves as the president of Siena's Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), and has received multiple MAAC All-Academic Team and MAAC Academic Honor Roll awards.
The Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month Award is presented nine times annually (September-May) throughout the academic year. The award recognizes exemplary achievements in both academics and athletics. The late Leo Dufort received a B.S. in marketing and management from Siena in August of 1977. His entire academic career was completed on a part-time basis beginning in the spring of 1961, as a married adult while at the same time raising five children. He passed away suddenly of a heart attack while cross country skiing in February of 1993. His wife Jeanine wanted to do something to immortalize his memory. The original plaque was donated to athletics and the department began the Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month Award to help carry out his legacy. Dufort graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1954 and was a Navy Veteran (USS Bennington) who worked for JL Hammett Co. at the time of his death.
