The 2019 SUNY Cortland C-Club Athletic Awards Ceremony, held May 6 at the College's Brown Auditorium in Old Main, honored the top student-athletes from among the 600-plus who competed on Cortland's 25 men's and women's intercollegiate teams during the past academic year.
 

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The SUNY Cortland C-Club Male Senior Athlete of the Year Award was presented to men's soccer forward Migell Ormsby (Kingston, Jamaica/DeWitt Clinton (NY)) and the C-Club Female Senior Athlete of the Year Award was shared by field hockey forwards Jess Gibaldi (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) and Jessica Welsh (Hamilton). The awards are sponsored by the C-Club and were voted upon by Cortland athletic administrators.

Ormsby was a first team All-American and the SUNYAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year after recording 12 goals, including six game winners, and four assists for 28 points in 23 games. He helped Cortland win the SUNYAC regular-season title and advance to the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA Division III tournament. Gibaldi and Welsh finished as two of the top scorers in Cortland field hockey history. Gibaldi, a second-team All-American and SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Year last fall, led the team with 20 goals and 15 assists for 55 points. She is ranked sixth at Cortland with 121 career points and seventh with 50 career goals. Welsh, a first-team all-region selection last fall and first-team All-American in 2017, ranks eighth at Cortland with 47 career goals and ninth with 119 career points.

Other finalists for Male Senior Athlete of the Year were: football defensive lineman Dan Appley (Herkimer); basketball guard Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain); track and field hurdler Storm Malone (Highland); lacrosse attack Joey Panariello (Islip); football wide receiver Jake Smith (Albany/Guilderland); and track and field jumper C.J. White (Middletown).

Other Female Senior Athlete of the Year finalists were: softball designated player Hannah Feldman (Buffalo/Sweet Home); gymnast Rachel Filipski (Lancaster); field hockey goalie Kailynne Reinoehl (Lititz, PA/Warwick); soccer forward Vanessa Romero (Valhalla); and lacrosse midfielder Carly Stone (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt).

For the fourth year, the College recognized the C-Club Male and Female Freshman Athletes of the Year. The men's winner was track and field pole vaulter Dane Sorensen (Warwick/Warwick Valley), the SUNYAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Rookie of the Year who won league and regional titles in the pole vault and finished 13th nationally. The women's winner was swimmer Julia Torell (Camillus/CBA), who earned SUNYAC Women's Swimming and Diving Rookie of the Year honors after setting conference and school records in the 200-yard butterfly as well as a school record in the 100-yard butterfly.

The Freshman of the Year awards were limited to student-athletes in their first year of collegiate athletic eligibility. The other men's finalists were: football kick returner Cole Burgess (Greenwich); baseball infielder Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis); soccer forward Anthony Ruggiero (Holtsville/Sachem East); and lacrosse attack Dante Yacavone (Homer). The other women's finalists were track and field sprinter Steffany Batista (Spring Valley/Ramapo); softball third baseman Alyssa Finno (Kingston); ice hockey forward Grace Schnorr (Camillus/West Genesee); and lacrosse defender Amanda Squillini (Stony Point/North Rockland).

Cooper received the Carl "Chugger" Davis Award, which is given to a senior male athlete for strong leadership skills and athletic achievement. Cooper was a two-time All-East and three-time All-SUNYAC honoree who ranks fifth in career scoring at Cortland with 1,378 points. Davis was Cortland's head football coach from 1932 to 1962 and also coached baseball, basketball and golf.

Women's basketball guard Alaina Lynch (Staten Island/Staten Island Tech) received the M. Louise Moseley Award, which goes to a senior female athlete who has demonstrated both strong leadership skills and athletic achievement. Lynch was a four-year letterwinner and two-time captain for the Red Dragons. Moseley was Cortland's Director of Women's Athletics from 1966-78. A pioneer for women's athletics, she played an integral role in the start of women's intercollegiate athletics at Cortland in the late 1960s.

Women's basketball guard Megan Howell (Dundee) earned the Whitney T. Corey '43 Award, which is presented to the senior female student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. Howell is a physical education major with a 4.07 overall GPA prior to the spring semester. Corey coached men's basketball at Cortland in the 1950s and early 1960s and also served as the school's vice president for academic affairs. The main gymnasium in Cortland's Park Center bears his name.

Baseball players Andrew Barnes (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) and Chris Puzakulics (Vestal) shared the Robert J. Weber Award as the senior male student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point averages. Barnes, an exercise science major, and Puzakulics, a sport management major, each had a 4.12 overall GPA prior to the spring semester. Weber was Cortland's director of athletics for 12 years and the Chairman of the Men's Physical Education department for 15 years. He worked at Cortland from 1952-85.

Football player Kyle Richard won the Peter J. Cahill '66 Award. The award, named for Cortland's former swimming and diving and women's tennis head coach, is presented to either a current student-athlete or non-athlete student for involvement in activities outside of sports and/or contributions to the Athletics Department. Richard, a four-year linebacker and two-time team captain, has become a nationally recognized advocate promoting bystander intervention after being shot twice while preventing a sexual assault in the summer of 2017. He became the first Division III player to receive the Orange Bowl Courage Award this past December, was featured on ESPN's SportsCenter last November, and has spoken nationwide at numerous colleges and organizations. He will receive the SUNYAC Award of Valor later this month.

For the second time, Cortland Athletics gave out Unsung Hero Awards to recognize accomplishments of student-athletes who led their team to success in ways that cannot always be measured in statistical categories and who exemplifies the characteristics of a true leader - excelling in the classroom, and demonstrating humility, work ethic and integrity at all times in both practice and competition. The winners were women's soccer senior defender Siobhan Swayne (Plainedge) and men's ice hockey senior forward Mike Crowley (Buffalo/Bishop Timon St. Jude). Swayne started 16 games for the Red Dragons last fall after missing the first two games of the season. Cortland's defense allowed only 11 goals during the games in which she appeared, and the Red Dragons finished 11-5-2 (6-2-1 SUNYAC) and advanced to the SUNYAC championship game. Crowley, a team captain, finished the season with three goals and a team-high 13 assists for 16 points, also a team high, in 25 games, and he ended his career with 45 assists over four seasons.

The 23rd annual C-Club Coach of the Year Award was presented to softball head coach Julie Lenhart, who won the award for the second straight year. Lenhart is retiring after the 2019 season, and in 25 years as Cortland's head coach has led the Red Dragons to 12 SUNYAC titles and 17 NCAA tournaments (including this spring). A National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame member, Lenhart has won more than 800 games at Cortland and more than 900 games overall as a collegiate head coach.

Assistant Director of Athletics Jaclyn Lawrence was chosen as the Fraser Stokes Award winner for her dedication and service to Cortland Athletics. A 2012 Cortland alumna and former Red Dragon volleyball player, Lawrence is completing her fifth year on the Cortland Athletics staff. She oversees event management, marketing and development for the department.

The Judson and Elise Taylor Team GPA Awards, named after the former SUNY Cortland president and his wife, were presented to the men's and women's athletic teams with the highest cumulative grade point averages. The men's ice hockey team, with a cumulative GPA of 3.27, won the men's award for the second straight year. The women's award was won by the women's tennis team with a cumulative GPA of 3.55. It's that program's second award in the last four years.

The "Record Setting Performance" award was presented to junior swimmer Kelly Davey (Plattsburgh), who set five school records during the 2018-19 season. At the SUNYAC Championships she set individual school marks in the 50-yard freestyle (23.41), 100-yard freestyle (51.56) and 200-yard freestyle (1:52.68), was part of the record-setting 400-yard medley relay (3:55.18), and broke the 100-yard backstroke record during her opening leg of the 400 medley relay (57.98). Davey then improved upon her school record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.19 seconds in the prelims of the NCAA Division III Championships. Davey finished as an honorable mention All-American in both the 50 freestyle (12th place) and 100 freestyle (16th place) at the national meet.

Each year, the Cortland head coaches select a Red Letter Award winner in their respective sports.  The Red Letter may be given for outstanding athletic skills, team leadership, personal development as a player, or for any combination of reasons.  The 2018-19 Red Letter Award winners, by sport, are as follows:

Baseball:                                            Dan Schweitzer, Sr. (Poughquag/Arlington)
Men's Basketball:                              % Justin Cooper, Sr. (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain)
Women's Basketball:                         Kristy Vitucci, Sr. (Deer Park)
Men's Cross Country:                        % Cabel McCandless, Jr. (Lindenhurst)
Women's Cross Country:                   Eliza Nichols, Jr. (Smithtown/Smithtown West)
Field Hockey:                                    Shannon McGuinness, Sr. (Carle Place)
Football:                                            Kyle Richard, Sr. (Lakeview/Malverne)
Women's Golf:                                  Mallory Rosch, Sr. (Ashville, OH/Teays Valley)
Women's Gymnastics:                      $ Emma Schulz, So. (Poughquag/Arlington)
Men's Ice Hockey:                            Nick Modica, Jr. (Suffern)
Women's Ice Hockey:                       Katy Kennedy, Sr. (East Greenbush/Columbia)
Men's Lacrosse:                               Mike McNaney, Sr. (Marcellus)
Women's Lacrosse:                          Jordynn Aiello, Jr. (Centereach/Newfield)
Men's Soccer:                                  Miguel Tunas, Jr. (Carmel/North Salem)
Women's Soccer:                             Brenna Conover, Sr. (Smithtown/Hauppauge)
Softball:                                            Sam Van Dorn, Sr. (Medford/Patchogue-Medford)
Men's Swimming and Diving:           $ Nick Galeto, Jr. (West Islip)
Women's Swimming and Diving:      $ Kelly Davey, Jr. (Plattsburgh)
Women's Tennis:                              # Mia Hayes, Sr. (Binghamton/Chenango Forks)
Men's Indoor Track and Field:          Liam Joyce, Jr. (Dryden)
Women's Indoor Track and Field:    Kaylee Uhl, Sr. (Waverly)
Men's Outdoor Track and Field:       Wendell Brand, Jr. (Sleepy Hollow)
Women's Outdoor Track and Field:  Maya Campbell, Sr. (Valley Stream/Valley Stream South)
Women's Volleyball:                          Nadia Moore, Jr. (Durham, NC/Durham School of the Arts)
Wrestling:                                          Matt Norris, Sr. (Homer)
 
# also won award twice previously in 2015-16 and 2017-18
$ also won award in 2017-18
% also won award in 2016-17


Also recognized at the ceremony were Cortland's student-athletes who were selected to the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. The organization recognizes college student-athletes who are juniors or seniors with at least a 3.7 cumulative GPA on a 4.3 scale. Cortland's 2018-19 honorees were:

Jordynn Aiello (Centereach/Newfield) – Women's Lacrosse
Gabby Amelio (Pine Bush) – Women's Volleyball
Andrew Barnes (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) - Baseball
Brenna Conover (Smithtown/Hauppauge) - Women's Soccer
Brent DiVittorio (Brewster) – Men's Track and Field/Cross Country
Mia Hayes (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) – Women's Tennis
Megan Howell (Dundee) - Women's Basketball
Jake Keller (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) - Men's Soccer
Ben Klei (Victor) - Wrestling
Ryan Konotopskyj (East Amherst/Williamsville North) – Men's Track and Field/Cross Country
Jill Leggiero (East Greenbush/Columbia) – Women's Track and Field
Connor Lewis (Glen Ridge) – Men's Track and Field/Cross Country
Alaina Lynch (Staten Island/Staten Island Tech) - Women's Basketball
Shannon McGuinness (Carle Place) - Field Hockey
Peter McWeeney (Washingtonville) - Football
Abby Miller (Andover) - Women's Soccer
Matthew Morgante (Lincolndale/Somers) - Football
Matt Norris (Homer) - Wrestling
Kelly O'Gorman (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) - Softball
Sean Perichak (Oakville, ON/St. Ignatius of Loyola) – Men's Ice Hockey
Marcos Perivolaris (Mattituck) - Baseball
Chris Puzakulics (Vestal) - Baseball
Sara Reardon (Little Falls) – Field Hockey
Steven Salisbury (Cranston, RI/Moses Brown) - Baseball
Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) – Men's Basketball
Alana Szewczyk (South Wales/Holland) – Women's Swimming and Diving
Vanessa Vegder (Dansville) – Women's Swimming and Diving

(For information about individual award winners, please contact Cortland Sports Information Director Fran Elia at (607) 753-5673 or by e-mail at eliaf@cortland.edu)

Banquet Award Winners (since 1988)