OUDONVILLE, NY – A pair of Siena graduate students were named the latest honorees of the Leo Dufort Student Athlete of the Month awards, the department announced Wednesday afternoon. Siena Men's Golf's Brody Yates and Siena Water Polo's Bianca Prinsloo earned recognition for the month of March.   

A four-year member of the program, Yates has helped the Saints set multiple program records for low 18-hole round, low 54-hole score, low round vs. par, and others during his time in the Green and Gold. A native of Essex Junction, Vermont, Yates currently holds an impressive 74.60 average score for the season, and has logged a pair of top-ten individual finishes thus far this year. He landed an All-MAAC finish during the 2020-21 season, and was honored as the MAAC Male Golfer of the Month in September 2021.

After earning his Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Siena in 2022, Yates is currently pursuing his MBA, and holds a 3.38 cumulative GPA. He has been a member of both the MAAC All-Academic Team and the MAAC Academic Honor Roll.

Prinsloo returned to Siena Water Polo for an unprecedented fifth season in 2023, and stands as one of a handful of the program's top offensive players. The Johannesburg, South Africa product is currently tied for eight eighth-most goals scored in program history (157), ninth in shots taken (340), and tenth in both points (241) and assists (84). A Second Team All-MAAC selection in 2021, she became the program's third ACWPA All-America Honorable Mention Selection last season.

Prinsloo earned her Bachelor's degree in Data Science & Mathematics in 2022, and is currently pursuing a Master's in Business Analytics with a 3.58 cumulative GPA. She has been a member of the MAAC All-Academic Team and the MAAC Academic Honor Roll, and is a three-time ACWPC Academic All-America honoree.

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.