LOUDONVILLE, NY – A pair of senior Siena soccer players took home the first Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the month honors for the 2023-24 school year. Men's Soccer senior Cole Hellert and Women's Soccer senior Grace Dimkopoulos each were honored for the month of September.

A team captain and two-year starter on the Saints' back line, Dimkopoulos has made 46 appearances with 21 starts as of October 13, 2023. She netted a goal during the Saints' MAAC Championship-winning season in 2020-21, and also found the back of the net during her junior season. She recorded her first career assist during Siena's comeback draw at Western Kentucky on August 24, 2023. Dimkopoulos holds a 3.96 cumulative GPA as a health science major, and is a member of Siena's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She was named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection last season, and has been a member of the MAAC All-Academic Team and MAAC Academic Honor Roll throughout her collegiate career.

Also a four-year member of his program, Hellert has made 14 starts in 45 career matches for the Green and Gold. He netted a pair of goals and two assists during his sophomore campaign, and added four more helps during the 2022 season. Hellert holds a 3.64 cumulative GPA as a marketing major, and is also a part of Siena's SAAC. He was a CSC Academic All-District honoree last year, and has been a part of the MAAC All-Academic Team and MAAC Academic Honor Roll all throughout college.

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.