LOUDONVILLE, NY – A pair of Siena student athletes received recognition as the latest Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month honorees, the department announced Monday afternoon. Baseball's Devan Kruzinski and women's golf's Isabella Diaz each took home the awards for the month of April.
A three-year starter at shortstop, Kruzunski has made 94 career appearances for the Saints, including 93 starts, with a career .269 batting average, 87 hits and 45 RBI. The Albany, New York native has recorded 11 career doubles, one triple and one home run, with the latter each coming during this season. Kruzinski is batting .306 this season and is the only member of the team this far to have started in all 30 contests.
A finance major, Kruzinski holds a 3.4 cumulative GPA, including an impressive 3.88 mark that landed him on Siena's Dean's List during the Fall 2020 semester. He has been a member of both the MAAC All-Academic Team and the MAAC Academic Honor Roll.
Having just completed her second season in Loudonville, Diaz exhibited a breakout season on the golf course, participating in all six of her team's events during the spring. The Ballston Spa, NY product led the Saints individually during their third-place finish at the Hartford/Wintonberry Hills Invite and tied for 34th place individually at the 2021 MAAC Championship.
Diaz holds a 3.38 cumulative GPA in applied physics and was named to both the MAAC All-Academic Team and the MAAC Academic Honor Roll this season. She was also named a WGCA All-American Scholar for the 2019-20 season.
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.
