May 7, 2018
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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena golf senior Michael Christifulli and softball junior Madysen Cossack have been selected as the 2017-18 Siena College Male and Female Student Athletes of the Year. Freshman Alejandro Riquelme from men's soccer and Kerry Gerety from women's lacrosse were also named the Rookies of the Year at the Siena Athletic Department's 2017-18 All-Sports Celebration.
The annual year-end banquet held in the Alumni Recreation Center celebrated the 2017-18 Siena Athletics' school year. The event recognized distinguished achievements throughout the year by Siena College student athletes on the field, in the classroom, and in the community, while honoring the Senior Class of 2018, and highlighting noteworthy successes by student athletes, coaches, administrators and staff.
Siena College Vice President and Director of Athletics John D'Argenio opened the evening with remarks addressing the nearly 400 student athletes, coaches, administrators and staff in attendance, and College Chaplain Fr. Larry Anderson, O.F.M. offered the blessing. Siena received a treat when Lacrosse alumni Eric Hungershafer '04 attended and gave a speech to the student athletes on working hard in everything you do. Following dinner a pair of videos premiered, with one highlighting the 2017-18 Siena Athletics' Year, and the other serving as a video tribute to the more than 65-member Siena Athletics' Senior Class of 2018.
The evening concluded with an awards ceremony, culminating with the presentation of the 2017-18 Siena College Male and Female Student Athletes and Rookies of the Year Awards.
A native of Paradise Valley, Arizona, Christifulli won the 2018 MAAC Men's Golf Individual Championship. He became just the fifth Saint to receive the McLeod Trophy as the MAAC Men's Golf Individual Champion and will head to Stockton, California for the NCAA Men's Golf Regional. He carded rounds of 69, 75 and 74 in shooting a three round score of 218 to defeat Justin Burkhamer by two strokes. He was also named the 2018 MAAC Men's Golf Most Outstanding Performer. He also earned a MAAC Golfer of the Week honor on April 4. Christifulli carried a team-best 75.44 scoring average this season. He helped guide the Saints to their third straight top-two finishes at the MAAC Championships.
Named Siena College's Female Student Athlete of the Year, Cossack was named the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year following her Player of the Year nomination last season. She has earned two MAAC Player of the Week awards heading into the MAAC Tournament. She broke the single-season doubles record and currently has 22, which ranks sixth nationally, while her 0.53 doubles per game ranks first in the nation. Cossack leads the MAAC in doubles (22) and in slugging percentage (.723) and is third in batting average (.392). She is also fifth in hits (51), seventh in homeruns (7) and ninth in runs batted in (28). She helped lead the Saints to a third place finish heading into the tournament.
Las Rozas, Spain native, Riquelme earned a spot on both the MAAC All-Rookie Team and the Second Team for his efforts in the Saints 4-7-7, 2-4-4 season. He led the team in scoring with 14 points, coming off of six goals. He was just one of four Saints - and only freshman - to start all 18 matches. Riquelme scored the game-winning goal in a non-conference win over LIU Brooklyn and scored key goals in league ties with MAAC contender Iona and eventual league champion Fairfield.
A three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, Gerety was heralded as a unanimous Rookie Team selection and the MAAC Rookie of the Year following an impressive freshman campaign. The Albany native led the team in assists (12) and draw controls (67), while being second in points (35) and third in ground balls (31), caused turnovers (10) and goals (23). Her 67 draw controls were the third most in a single-season in Siena history. The draw controls were also the sixth most of any MAAC player during the regular season.
Athletic academic advisor Molly Kaffka presented the Student Athlete Academic Excellence Awards to men's tennis's Alessandro Saglia (Milan, Italy) and women's lacrosse's Maggie Cifarelli (Rockville Center, New York). The The honor is awarded annually to both a graduating male and female student athlete who have given outstanding effort and dedication towards improving their academic success.
Kaffka then handed our Senior Academic Honor and Academic Excellence Awards to student athletes who have maintained cumulative grade point averages between a 3.2-3.69 and a 3.70-4.0. A total of 24 graduating seniors earned Academic Honor Awards (3.2-3.69), and 11 were bestowed with Academic Excellence (3.7-4.0) honors. She also presented awards to those who achieved the highest cumulative GPAs amongst Siena student athletes in their respective schools. The awardees were women's tennis' Rina Sakai (Tokyo, Japan) representing the School of Liberal Arts, women's soccer's Emily Santos (Mahwah, New Jersey) representing the School of Science and field hockey's Katelyn McMahon (Barrington, Rhode Island) for the School of Business
Athletic communications assistant Catherine Prince presented the S.A.IN.T.S. Cup to the women's basketball team. The award is presented annually to the Siena Athletics team which was deemed to best represent Siena College off the field in the combined areas of community service, academics, and support of fellow student athletes.
Student Athlete Advisory Committee Executive Committee member Phil Barrett presented the SAAC Appreciation Award to Associate Director of Athletics Finance Dennis Bates. The award recognizes a member of the athletic administration or support staff for their commitment and dedication to Siena's student athletes.
SAAC continued with their second annual "Bernie Awards", to recognize members of the administration and support staff for their contributions towards Siena student athletes. The awards went to Turner Construction & CHA Companies, strength and conditioning assistant Brian Seniw and Prince.
Strength and Conditioning coach Ian Farrell then presented both the men's golf and swimming team with the Second Annual "Iron Saint" Award for having shown the biggest improvement in the weight room over the course of the year.
Following the awards ceremony, the program concluded with D'Argenio offering a champagne toast to the Siena Senior Class of 2018. As well as SAAC President, Phil Madonna, and SAM President, Margot Hetzke, each adding comments to their fellow seniors. Each of the seniors then received special graduation sashes to wear at Siena College's upcoming Commencement to be held on May 20.
