LOUDONVILLE, NY - Siena Athletics welcomed its more than 350 athletes to its annual end-of-year celebration as part of the second annual "Bernie's" awards show, which took place inside the UHY Center on campus on Tuesday, May 6.
The Bernie Awards were once again spearheaded and produced by Siena's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), with MarkAnthony Glickman (Baseball), Maddie Finn (Women's Soccer), and Valencia Fontenelle-Posson (Women's Basketball) serving as the co-hosts of the evening.
Accomplishments both on the field and in the classroom were celebrated, including honoring the top athletic and academic performances of teams and individuals and recognizing over 80 graduating members who completed either undergraduate or graduate studies. The event featured a special senior ceremony for graduating members of both golf, and cross country and track programs, an invocation from Fr. Kevin Mullen, hors d'oeuvres, and a 2024-25 Year in Review video prior to the awards ceremony.
Assistant Athletic Director for Advising,
Anthony Pelliccia, and Assistant Advisor for Student Athlete Development, Madison Townley, commenced the awards portion of the evening by presenting the Siena Athletics Academic Excellence Awards. They presented individual awards to the three true seniors who possessed the highest cumulative senior student athlete GPA's in their respective schools. Softball's Emma Petersen earned the honor for the highest cumulative GPA in the School of Business with a 3.98, Women's Lacrosse's Grace Dobrzynski received acclaim with a perfect 4.0 GPA in the School of Science, and Volleyball's Grace Wilhelm earned the honor for the School of Liberal Arts with a 3.99 cumulative GPA.
The 2024-25 Siena Female Rookie of the Year, Catherine Williamson of Siena Water Polo, next presented awards for the Male and Female Rookies of the Year.
The 2024-25 Siena College Male Rookie of the Year is Men's Lacrosse's Logan Banek. The unanimous Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Year, Banek also earned MAAC Faceoff Specialist of the Year honors, and First Team All-MAAC honors for the league champion Saints. He won a record-setting 11 MAAC weekly honors during a freshman season in which he ranked third nationally in ground balls per game (8.69), and 14th in face-off win percentage (59.9%).
The five finalists for the 2024-25 Siena College Male Rookie of the Year Award were Banek, Dren Dobruna from Men's Soccer, Gain Doty from Men's Basketball, Joseph Valenza from Men's Lacrosse, and Emilio Zavala Salinas from Men's Tennis.
The 2024-25 Siena College Female Rookie of the Year is Women's Soccer's Catherine Rogers. The MAAC Rookie of the Year and First Team All-MAAC honoree also earned Second Team ECAC All-Star acclaim. Rogers' five MAAC Rookie of the Week honors during the season matches the second-most in league history after ranking second in the league in shots (65), third in assists (8), fourth in points (22), and tied for fifth in goals (7).
The five finalists for the 2024-25 Siena College Female Rookie of the Year were Salme Adelee Hollas from Volleyball, Megan Klein from Softball, Julia Kret from Women's Golf, Rogers, and McAllister Salter from Women's Lacrosse.
Siena Strength & Conditioning coaches Julianne Librizzi and
Dylan Brickner were next up to present the Iron Saint awards. They presented one student athlete from their respective teams as the Iron Saint Team Award winners, and then crowned the 2024-25 Iron Saint Individual Award winners for their hard work and leadership in the weight room. This year's honorees were Men's Basketball's Brendan Coyle, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field's Julia Caputo, Volleyball's Olga Sawinska, and Men's Lacrosse's Rocco Barbero.
The all-coveted Iron Saint awards were followed by the Outstanding Teammate award, with Volleyball's Amelia Robertson presenting the award to her teammate, Kayla Jones.
Following the Outstanding Teammate Award was the Grasshopper Leadership Award, which was presented by Grasshopper CEO Amanda August. This award went to Jennifer McClintock of Women's Cross Country and Track for exemplifying relentless hard work, determination, and commitment to growth — both on and off the field.
Next up were the Comeback Player of the Year Awards, presented by Siena Assistant Athletic trainers
Rebecca Sanger, Trevor DiMauro, Erik Lindstrom, and Emily Gulitti to a male and female athlete who persevered through major injuries to have successful seasons. Women's Soccer's Cate Flanagan received the Female Comeback Award, while Baseball's Ryan Taffe won the men's award.
Flanagan remained on stage to present the Saints Supporting Saints award, which went to Women's Lacrosse's Mikayla Cooke.
Saints Alive! member and Yankee Trails CEO Steve Tobin next made his way to the stage for the awarding of the S.A.IN.T.S. Cup award, which honors the team who has made the largest impact on the local community over the last year in its community service efforts. The 2024-25 S.A.IN.T.S. Cup award was presented to Siena Baseball, who won the award for the second-straight season after performing several community service opportunities in the local community under the leadership of second-year head coach Alex Jurczynski.
The Staff MVP award honored a member of the Siena College Athletic Staff who went above and beyond with their work ethic and attitude during the 2024-25 school year. This year's Siena Athletics Staff MVP Award was presented to Assistant Advisor for Student Athlete Development Madison Townley
The 2024-25 Mohawk Chevy Electric Moment of the Year was presented by Corporate Branding Director Nathanael Greklek. As voted on by the Siena Athletics student body, the moment of the year went to Hope Ivanovich of Swimming & Diving for her Siena and MAAC Championships record-breaking performance in the 100 fly. Her MAAC Championships record time of 54.49 delivered the Saints their first individual swimming champion in 14 seasons, and in doing so, she broke her previous record set earlier in the preliminaries. The sophomore went on to claim her second individual MAAC title in the 200 fly with a program record mark of 2:01.80.
Siena Vice President / Director of Athletics
John D'Argenio then presented the awards for the Siena College Male and Female Student Athletes of the Year.
The 2024-25 Siena College Male Student Athlete of the Year is Men's Lacrosse's Pratt Reynolds, who captured the honor for the second straight year. The unanimous MAAC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MAAC selection helped lead the Saints to their first league championship in 11 seasons after setting the program single-season record for goals with 57. The senior finished the season ranking third nationally averaging 3.56 goals per game, and was recently named USA Lacrosse D1 Honorable Mention All-American.
The five finalists for the 2024-25 Siena College Male Student Athlete of the Year Award were Oscar Martinez from Men's Tennis, Ryan McCarthy from Men's Lacrosse, Killian McNamee from Men's Cross Country and track, Alistar Morin from Baseball, and Reynolds.
Another repeat winner, the 2024-25 Siena College Female Student Athlete of the Year is Women's Lacrosse's Grace Dobrzynski. A First Team All-MAAC selection, Dobrzynski was also named to the MAAC All-Championship team after leading the Saints to the MAAC Semifinals. Holding a perfect 4.0 GPA, the senior was named to the All-State NACDA Goodworks Team, and graduates as the program's all-time leader with 256 career points.
The five finalists for the 2024-25 Siena College Female Student Athlete of the Year Award were Dobrzynski, Gracie Goewey from Softball, Keira Flaherty from Women's Cross Country and Track, Hope Ivanovich from Swimming & Diving, and Teresa Seppala from Women's Basketball.
The evening also included Siena's graduating athletes gathering for a group photo wearing their graduation sashes in front of the picturesque backdrop of the Grotto. D'Argenio then welcomed the seniors back inside the UHY Center for brief closing remarks and a champagne toast, thanking them for their countless contributions during their time in Loudonville.
