LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Athletics announced the final Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month awards for the 2021 calendar year. Men's Basketball senior captain Jackson Stormo and Women's Basketball senior Margo Peterson took home the honors for the month of December.
A transfer from Pepperdine prior to the 2020-21 season currently in his second season in Loudonville, Stormo is second on the team in scoring with 10.8 points per-game, and averaged 10.8 points in 17 contests last year. The Santa Barbara, California native has gone in double figures four times this season, including a career-best 25 points and 11 rebounds at Georgetown on November 19. Stormo also leads the team with 7.0 boards and 1.1 blocks per-game this season, and led the MAAC during the 2020-21 campaign with a 65.5 shooting percentage from the floor.
A sports communications major, Stormo holds a 3.46 cumulative GPA, and has been named to both the MAAC Academic Honor Roll and the NABC Honors Court during his playing career at Siena.
A four-year member of the Saints, Peterson has played in 73 career games in Green and Gold, including starting the majority of games over the last two years. After averaging just over 10 points per-game during the 2020-21 campaign, she is putting up 6.4 points per-contest through nine games this season, including two double-figure performances and a season high of 16 points at Lafayette on November 20.
A biology major set to graduate this spring, Peterson holds a 3.1 cumulative GPA, and displayed an impressive 3.56 mark during the Fall 2021 semester to earn a spot on Siena's Dean's List. The Lafayette, New Jersey native also serves as one of Siena's Student Athlete Mentors (SAM).
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.
