The Niagara University Department of Athletics celebrated the ninth edition of the Purple Eagle Award Show at Antonio’s Banquet & Conference Center on Monday, April 22. The event combines the traditional student-athlete banquet with an ESPY-style format where student-athletes receive accolades for their performances during the season.
Kate Pratt of women’s track & field/Cross Country and Jarrett Fiske of hockey were the emcees at the event, with other student-athletes and staff members presenting awards throughout the evening.
Additionally, all senior student-athletes were presented with purple “N” plaques to honor their careers at Niagara.
Complete List of Awards & Winners:
Believe NU Award: Kate Pratt (Track & Field/Women’s Cross Country)
Best Moment of 2023-24: Jalen Brown (Men’s Basketball) Receives a Scholarship
Best Spring Start: Baseball
Team Player of the Year: Christian Gorscak (Hockey)
Coach of the Year: Jada Piece (Women’s Basketball)
Comeback Athlete of the Year: Cassie Seminoff (Volleyball)/Emily Hahnel (Women’s Soccer)
Individual Performance of the Year: Alaina Pitton, MAAC Championship (Women’s Swimming)
Play of the Year: Hockey Scores Three Goals in 45 Seconds Against Sacred Heart in Playoffs
Community Team of the Year: Hockey
Men’s Most Improved: Liam Reynolds (Baseball)
Women’s Most Improved: Lexi Bapst (Volleyball)
Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Eric Rataczak (Baseball)
Women’s Newcomer of the Year: Alaina Pitton (Women’s Swimming)
Men’s Purple Heart: Liam Reynolds (Baseball)
Women’s Purple Heart: Casey Brown (Volleyball)
Men’s Purple Pride: Jay Ahearn (Hockey)
Women’s Purple Pride: Laryssa Imbuzeiro (Volleyball)
Purple Eagle Award: Mike Loss (Niagara Sports Network)
St. Vincent Award: Laryssa Imbuzeiro (Volleyball)
Men’s Team of the Year: Baseball
Women’s Team of the Year: Women’s Swimming
Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year: Trevor Masi (Men’s Tennis)
Women’s Scholar Athlete: Casey Brown (Volleyball)
Vincent O’Malley Women’s Student Athlete of the Year: Angel Parker (Women’s Basketball)
Vincent O’Malley Men’s Student Athlete of the Year: Zach Cameron (Baseball)
Taps Gallagher Sportsmanship Award: Nick Groves (Baseball), Destiny Strother (Women’s Basketball), Mackenzie Smith (Bowling), Lance Erving (Men’s Basketball), Sara Mueller (Women’s Cross Country), Caleb Noble (Men’s Cross Country), Himanshika Sehgal (Women’s Golf), Ben Fey (Men’s Golf), Sammy Owen (Women’s Lacrosse), Jay Ahearn (Hockey), Delta Barber (Women’s Soccer), Lucas Fenton (Men’s Soccer), Sam Hara (Softball), Jacob Lauzonis (Men’s Swimming), Paige South (Women’s Swimming), Vid Maric (Men’s Tennis), Jaida Borg (Women’s Tennis), Clara Barr (Women’s Track), Lexi Bapst (Volleyball)
Unsung Hero Award: Brady Desjardins (Baseball), Lore Porter (Women’s Basketball), Brianna Thurston (Bowling), Jalen Brown (Men’s Basketball), Alissa Mete (Women’s Cross Country), Caleb Harman (Men’s Cross Country), Marina Heister (Women’s Golf), Carlos Hernandez (Men’s Golf), Olivier Gauthier (Hockey), Raelyn Stranc (Women’s Soccer), Landon Hungerford (Men’s Soccer), Lindsay Mayo (Softball), Jacob Wade (Men’s Swimming), Megan Jackson (Women’s Swimming), Gurustat Makkar (Men’s Tennis), Enrica Favaron (Women’s Tennis), Vanessa Woolery (Women’s Track & Field), Cassie Seminoff (Volleyball)
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all right everybody Welcome to the 2023 2024 athletic award [Applause] show well jar we’re here for the nine purple eag Awards but before we get started we’d like to welcome father hover to the stage for tonight’s invocation [Applause] wow I did print something out a few years ago and put it in my pocket but I don’t think I’ll use that simply to say as we all come together the realization is we have different understandings about something greater than what each one of us may be the source of the gifts that we bring together the gifts that you have brought together this year maybe many seasons before those your freshman year thanking God for those gifts brought as individuals made greater as you shared them as team members we pray with grateful hearts for those gifts we pray with grateful hearts for your coaching staffs and all the support um to be with you to recognize the challenges that are certainly present for being a student athlete and the commitment that you’ve made the dedication that you give and the reality that there are those great High moments and there are those times where just can’t figure out why things happen the way they do but part of my prayer would be that we always understand that we learn from both and it’s our effort to keep on the journey and to know the joy of sharing the gifts that we have and knowing the exhilaration of achiev and wanting to get better all the time and we want to pray particularly as we come together in a situation like this remembering always those who are behind us many times we don’t know they’re there we’re very grateful of very blessed at the support we have from family and friends for all of our teams and but also thanking of those nagants who support our programs thanking God for all gifts and tonight we have lots of laughs and cheer one another and that’s just a little bit of the joy God wants us to know as we live our lives and realize the gift of love amen thank you Father for those beautiful words for your support Athletics we are so grateful to see you at our many competitions what a year it’s been for us here at M as we continue to sort to new heights in the fall all of our teams made the postseason while women’s bowling started their first season here at n University in the winter season women’s swing brought the ma Championship back to on Eagle [Applause] Ridge we also saw a second straight wnit appearance for women’s basketball and not only that a wnit win over Le Moine at home and in the spring baseball is off to an 110 start in M [Applause] play the is also having a record setting season and going into the MAC Championship as a second seed women’s track and field continues to break and set new records every time they step onto that track we’ve seen upsets record-breaking performances legendary starts and most importantly the canal cup is coming back to [Applause] Niagara but there are a lot more exciting moments than those let’s take a look back at the year of Niagara Athletics Hey kid don’t ever let them get inside your head they’ll tell you what you do in life instead everything you know that you could get don’t let them guide your life towards your gret I’ll fight for what I love with every breath my past is filled with things I won’t forget I use the all to push me to my best so treat the worst of times just like a test if only I could go back in time I tell myself that everything will end up all right just push yourself test yourself figure out what you like can find your limits don’t be rigid always work towards a prime surround yourself with open minds people can change your life a few friends with intent can help you feel alive find the passion take some action and with a little time just be patient make a statement try to enjoy your life while doubt they silently scared that you’ll figure it out make it look like I’m losing won’t bother hiding my bruises and when they finally think you won’t then it’s your chance to be [Applause] ruthless throws the cross in kler the header it’s into the short side [Applause] [Music] for Ross [Music] back for the redirect heill is into the back of the ne the one swung on drilled out to left this is deep Hutchin flips the bat and we will watch this one go that I go I know you hate that I’ve been doing fine I’m not wasting any more time I live for the fight and the CL and I think that the pain that’s deep inside is what def you’re on [Applause] scholarship pass Bullock his three on the money [Music] for McGee Ross Delaney coming in she will slide home safely and the purple Eagles are going to win this in walkoff fashion great catch by Samantha [Music] har 67 62 they pull it out in the end with good execution down the stretch the fans charge the court [Music] [Music] [Applause] wow what a year we’ve had for legal I would like to welcome our first presenter of the evening women’s [Applause] ball our first award of the night is the most is the community Team of the Year this award is given to the team that has given the most time and effort to volunteering and giving back to the community on and off campus and the nominees are community service Team of the [Music] Year hockey volleyball lacrosse [Music] swim and the winner is hocky [Applause] [Applause] [Music] first I would like to thank my fellow friend Jared FIS I would also like to thank my teammates my coaches and more important my [Music] [Applause] [Applause] family congrats hockey one of the best parts of being a purple eagle is the way that we give back to those around us our next award is best team player let’s welcome our next presenter Shane a to the [Applause] stage this award goes to someone with team spirit and always putting team first an athlete that is looked up to and we can always count on this teammate spends time serving the community and showing support for other teams the nominees are best team player Sam hair softball Christian gorac hockey Lexi brki [Music] lacrosse the winner is Christian gors [Applause] thank for the great introduction but just want to thank the coaches the athletic director in school my four years here were a lot of fun so could have done this without my teammates and her we for life [Applause] congratulations Christian well deserved let us now bring to Stage our next presenter for the scholar athlete award at this time we would like to recognize the men’s and women’s scholar athletes you had a semester with 3.5 or higher during your time of my please stand there [Applause] [Music] as we all know it takes a tremendous amount of dedication to be a student athlete especially in the classroom our purple Eagles have always Ren to the challenge excelling in their degree programs and maintaining the high academic standards of our University these Awards go to the top men’s and women’s student athletes who have exhausted their eligibility have cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher have been enrolled in Niagara for at least four semesters and we a major contributor or significant reserve for their team women’s winner is Casey [Applause] Brown and our men’s winner is Trevor Massie [Applause] [Applause] w [Applause] [Applause] congrats to our scholar athletes here to present our next award the Purple Heart Is [Applause] Lissa the Purple Heart award is presented by sack and is given to a men’s and women’s student athlete who Embraces the incension spirit that Niagara was founded upon and most exemplifies what it is to be a purple Eagle through their contributions on and off the field of play the men’s nominees are men’s purple heart award Jarrett Fisk hockey Liam Reynolds baseball Shan Finley men’s swim [Music] the winner is Liam Reynolds BB [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah told me I was supposed to go Beach I didn’t get that going um I’ll make it brief so I’ll start by saying my teammates um you guys have pushed me every day um so I appreciate time of just spending time de with you guys and maybe become a better player each and every day thank you Meg thank you to Dan Sean Kyle thank you guys um thank you guys as well for going after the same goal being student athletes here at this great University so [Applause] do and the women’s nominees are women’s Purple Heart award Kate Pratt women’s cross country and track Casey Brown volleyball Kelsey rearin women’s soccer and the winner is Casey Brown on volleyball [Applause] Casey is deserving of both of these Awards She’s an amazing person she’s gotten into so many amazing schools there are schools that we would be shooting for and she’s shooting for the stars and she’s within the Stars so I’m very very proud of her [Applause] uh congratulations we’re so grateful for our Purple Heart winners now on to the purple Pride award [Music] [Applause] this award goes to the extremely outgoing women’s and men’s team athletes that is most supportive of other teams and never afraid to show his or her purple pride and the men’s nominees are men’s purple Pride award J Ahern hockey Liam Reynolds baseball Robert Woods men’s soccer jayen brown men’s [Music] basketball and the winner is J aher [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the women’s nominees are women’s purple Pride award Lissa uzo volleyball Amanda Silva women’s swim Sage Jackson softball Paige hen bowling and the winner is Lorissa [Applause] [Music] [Music] um thank you so much I think supporting each other is we’re trying to compete in the sport that we love is the most important on this campus so I just want to say thank you to my teammates for the constant support I feel and all the friends on all the teams that I’ve made in my time here and to continuing to support each other every [Applause] day congratulations Jay Lissa now let’s welcome Diana to the stage to present our comeback a New Year award [Applause] as student athletes face University it’s con one of the most prevalent adversities is injury while injury can be disheartening and frustrating our student athletes handle it with Grace and often times come back even stronger than they were before the comeback athlete of the year is presented to the ath who has overcome adversity and have come back better than ever our winner is okay we have two winners so our first winner is from uh women’s volleyball Cassie s Emily Han um thank you so much for this award so many people who are very deserving of this award so I’m grateful to be receiving it um and thank you to my team for helping me through everything every day and I know there’s a bunch of people going through injuries or just even hard times in life and I know it just seems very very daunting and endless so there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you guys are going to come out even stronger than before thank you yeah obviously you know she said and um huge thanks again to my very favorite athletic trainer Diana for um you know really getting me through this rehab it was everything but graceful and I’m very happy that you were so patient with me because I certainly was not thanks [Applause] congratulations and thank you for setting an example of resilience let’s welcome the stage our next presenter for the best start for spring award [Applause] our spring Sports have had great success this season so I’m excited to be here to present the best start for spring award and the nominees are best season start spring sports baseball lacrosse women’s tennis and the winner is baseball [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh just being here as long as I have uh the main thing I kind of see is trying to leave this place better than I found it and U I think we’ve accomplished that and everyone in this room is part of that and you all done your job and there’s nothing more to it really at this point is the growth that we have as a program insti has come a long way and there’s nothing more that we can do really just to keep growing on that thank [Applause] you thank you Matt congrats baseball now let’s welcome to the stage Ethan Lun present the purple Eagle Award [Music] all right well I got to say award actually but uh the same award is given to the individuals who must exemplifies the incension mission of Niagara University and the nominees are St Vincent award the St Vincent award is given to the individual who best exemplifies the vincentian mission of Niagara University Olivier gotier hockey Lissa imuz volleyball Emma bow women’s soccer Matt Ward baseball [Music] and the winner is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Lissa oh thank you so much again I think my takeway um when I think about the vension mission is how much there’s an emphasis on giving and giving can be done in many ways and I think as student athletes as I mentioned before one of the biggest things we can do is give support to each other so let’s keep going everybody [Applause] all right we’ll try this again now we’ll announce the purple Eagle Award I in York [Applause] on within our department we have an incredible group of dedicated student workers and interns who help from everything to G operations broadcasting team travel equipment and much more without this group of students our events would not be able to run as smoothly as they do and they contribute significantly to our successes the pral award is presented to a non-student athlete who has demonstrated through their hard behind the scenes of tremendous dedication and pride inra and the winner I don’t Mel [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] L hi everyone uh I got to admit it’s a little weird being in front of the camera instead of behind it for once but I think I’ll get used to it first and foremost I want to thank the men and women that I got to work with in our wonderful Al Department every single day I want to thank my friends and family who have guided me through all the adversity that I faced and I don’t think there’s anyone that I can thank more than my supervisor Kyle [Music] barer is wi from day one in his always strived to he has made me strive for greatness and everything that I do and his faith in me that hand responsibilities and projects here in Niagara has forever instill a sense of confidence in me for that I’m interally grateful uh and last but certainly not least I want to thank the student athletes that I stand before today you know without you guys I wouldn’t have a job so thank you for letting me tell your story through the medium of broadcasting thank you for letting me be a part of your journey here at Niagara and thank you for making me feel like I to as part of your team thank [Applause] [Music] you congratulations wear very deserved here to present our next award is Katie Alexi [Applause] [Music] hello we are excited to be here to present the award for play of the year as you saw in our earlier video this year has been full of a ton of exciting moments and highlights the award for play of the year is presented to an impressive performance or single play that really stood out during this year’s athletic season and the nominees are play of the Year hockey three goals in 45 seconds versus Sacred Heart in the playoffs women swimming 200 free relay Mac record women’s volleyball against Iona [Music] Emily hanell back heel game winner Braxton bis game winner at Iona women’s basketball Sports Center top 10 play verse Quinnipiac [Music] bowling first tournament win against Mercy [Music] Hurst and the winner is hockey three goals and 45 seconds against woo thank you very much every for us means a lot thank [Music] you congrats hockey here to present our next award is Kayla brues and Marina he [Applause] okay we’ve had manyin covers on Eagle Ridge this season and I’m excited to be here to present the men and women’s team newcomer of the Year Awards this award is presented to freshman or transfer student athletes that have Excel or exceeded expectations during the first season of the purple eag and the nominees for the women’s team newcomer of year are women’s newcomer of the year janah Robinson volleyball Elena pitton women’s swim Brianna Delaney softball Gabriella Melo women’s tennis kayn Weber [Music] bowling Isabella maao men’s [Music] [Music] soccer um I just want to thank all of my teammates and my coaches that really could have done it without any of you at at the end of is really everyone who was in a way next to me at practice so thank you [Applause] guys and the nominees for the men’s newcomer of the year are men’s newcomer of the Year Ahmad Henderson men’s basketball Tyler Wallace hockey Felix kogler men’s soccer Eric radich baseball Carlos Hernandez men’s golf Caleb Harmon men’s cross country [Applause] [Music] all right thank you very much uh first and foremost I want to thank my parents I everything I’ve achieved athletically in my life uh I owe to them so thank you Mom dad I wouldn’t be here without you I love you guys and also I want to say thank you to coach mcoy and coach spora for giving me a chance when my career was pretty much over so thanks coaches and uh lastly come out to Bobo to see a team that is going to win the next each other [Music] congratulations to our newcomer of the Year winners now we’d like to welcome our next presenter of the stage to present our men and women’s Team of the Year [Applause] Awards our team of the Year awards are presented to the men’s and women teams that had the most successful 2003 2024 excuse me 20 23 2024 season men’s ninees are men’s Team of the Year baseball hockey man’s swim man’s basketball [Music] our men Team of the Year is baseball [Applause] [Music] I want to thank my teammates I wouldn’t been able to do this without them you know uh it’s been a lot of hard work in edication and uh like Eric said I hope a people can come show their support for hopefully a good finish to the year [Applause] and our nominees for the women’s Team of the Year women’s Team of the Year women’s basketball women’s swim women’s tennis women’s lacrosse and the winner is your 2024 M Champion women [Music] wi um I just want to congratulate all the women sports I think we have a remarkable set of women here um I would like to congratulate all of our women swimmers we had an amazing year uh thank you to the athletic program uh go purle [Applause] Eagles we’re going to get it next year don’t [Applause] worry congrats baseball and women’s swimming now we’d like to welcome to the stage to present our most approved student athlete award Clara and de from women’s [Applause] track the most performance award is presented to one man and one woman’s student athlete that has shown the greatest improvement from the previous season and the men nominees are men’s most improved student athlete harlon obioha men’s basketball Liam Reynolds baseball Robert Flanery men’s swim Landon Hungerford men’s soccer Caleb Noble men’s cross country [Music] that of the time on Pitch time and um everything happens for a reason so I can’t thank you guys enough for work like this thank you in our women’s 7s are women’s most improved student athlete Amelia strong women’s basketball Shaina Mel softball Jordan Roy lacrosse Chloe vlaming women’s swim Lexi baps volleyball [Music] and the winner is Lexi F thank you so much for everybody who voted for me um I didn’t expect this at all um it really means a lot to be receiving this uh it’s crazy to think that my four years are over but I enjoyed every second of it all the people I met and all the different experiences so roll pers congrats see the um we’re going to now move into the Taps SC your sportsmanship award John J TS fer guided the purple Eagles for 31 years and had an impressive 26 winning seasons Taps the coach and Taps the person were one and the same a respectful dignified teacher of young players who instilled proper perspective and value in those players the tap Galler sportsmanship award goes to one student athlete from all 18 of our Sports programs that demonstrates the same values that Taps it winners please come up to the stage when your name is announced and the winners are he G [Music] DJ oh yeah yeah [Music] andj [Music] yes congratulations everyone next up we’ve got the unsung hero award this award is presented to one student athlete from each of our 19 programs that excels in their Sport and shows up ready to perform at their fullest potential at all times winners please come to Stage when your name is announced and the winners are [Applause] on this 4 okay all right I’d like to ask lacrosse to come up to the stage for a special announcement [Music] um we know this wasn’t a part of the original program but we wanted to give a special award to someone on behalf of our team um we wanted to recognize someone who we don’t think gets enough credit for all he does for the success of our team he is the reason why we can perform at the best of our ability every day and have had such a successful season so this award goes to our trainer Dave Vasquez [Music] d [Applause] [Applause] all right now let’s welcome to the stage James H [Applause] of the performance of the Year award is presented to a student athlete with the most impressive single game or event performance during the 2023 2024 athletic season and the nomin is offer individual performance of the Year Amanda Crips hatrick against Ryder on October 21st 2023 Eric radich four for four with two home runs against Marist on March 30th Andre Savage seven points versus Binghamton on March 9th Elena pitton the 2024 MAC Championship bradden York seventh at the Championship Ben Fay shot minus two in the opening round of the doc gimler Invitational and the winner is ala [Applause] [Music] and is what I said before I’m only here because of my team and the people that coach and I [Applause] apprciate congratulations now on award that we bring back this year the best moment in any Liv we have had much to celebrate this year from adding women’s bowling to bringing the nail cup back to the bridge this award is presented to the team individual or group who contributed to the best moment of the 2023 2024 here andom are best moment in nu Athletics Jaylen Brown receives scholarship the fans storm the court after the men’s basketball team defeated Marist on National television’s ESPNU baseball’s walk-off win against Iona women swim wins the MAC Championship Brianna thirston with a strike to defeat Mount St Mary’s and the winner is jayen brown [Applause] [Music] I’m Greg paus i’m the basketball coach and I’m uh honored to receive this for JB uh JB is in class so I wish he was here to receive this it was an honor to be a of the special moments and he certainly is is very much deserving of it uh the other thing I just wanted to say is it’s been really cool the last couple years to see all all the different sports and all the different student athletes supporting one another to to see uh the men and women at each other’s games and and uh to show that type of support is something that I think is really uh important I think it makes AG really special so uh thank you for doing that for our program for each other and congratulations all of you congrats B what a special moment for us to celebrate let’s bring to the stage D and Angels present the award for Coach of the Year our team have incredible Heights this year and that would not be possible without our coaches the coach of the year award is presented to a member of Niagara Athletics coaching staff who not only had a remarkable year but has sh extreme dedication passion forag University andag athletics Coach of the Year Jada Pierce women’s basketball Eric bugby swim Rob McCoy baseball Wendy Stone lacrosse and the winner is J [Applause] [Music] [Applause] all [Applause] [Music] right we got 30 seconds right just kidding um I want to thank um our staff because I’m the front of this thing they in the front you’re the face of the program but it’s a whole staff and I think this should be a coaching staff of the Year award so I want them to stand up in the back right now that’s [Applause] [Applause] Jers J’s in the back our Str and T CH who’s also part of this too so I want to thank you guys um this group was amazing this year we obviously set some some records this year um it takes a lot of interested players to be able to do the things that we did so I can’t thank them enough thank you Administration president leading in charge here um but thank you guys so much this is an honor I’m honored to be the coach here thanks [Applause] [Music] congratulations to our coach of the year we just got a few more Awards left tonight so let’s welcome our next presenter Lorie to the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] stage um thetion of Aly student aete of the Year award is presented to one men’s and one women’s student athlete who is good good in academic standies it has outstanding athletic performances and accomplishments the men’s nominees are Vincent omali men’s student athlete of the [Music] Year Rodrigo Almeida men’s soccer Noah Thomas uh Z Cameron from baseball [Music] [Music] okay so out um but I will take the time and say he been a fearless leader teammate good friend of ours team so I just want to take time he has been and I wish he was here to accept this award but there was no think about that deserves this award so [Applause] congratulations um and the women nominees are Vincent women’s student athlete of the year the nominees are Lissa Imus Angel Parker women’s basketball Elena Pitt women [Applause] SM Andre s [Applause] [Music] and the winner is Angel parer [Applause] [Applause] [Music] um you know I’ve been here a really long time 5 years that’s like half a decade um but I really just want to thank um everyone especially my teammates my coaches my trainer Tori because without her I probably wouldn’t have been able to play a half that I did um and I want to thank my families thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] before we announce our final award we would like to invite all the seniors to make their way to the checking table following the conclusion of tonight’s ceremony to reive their varsity and award on behalf of the department we would like to thank you for your dedication and leg you [Music] [Applause] Le great congratulations to our Student athlet of the Year winners this is a huge accomplishment at this time we’d like to welcome associate vice president for athletics Simon great to the stage to present our final Award of the evening [Applause] [Music] good evening everyone by far this has been the best spirited award show that we’ve had and and I hope that that is an indication of how you feel about each other as it’s been said several times tonight you know it just makes me so proud to be your athletic director because of the way you support each other and I thank you for that I thank you for coming in and doing your hard work every day I know it’s not glorious or glamorous on some of the days um but please know that we’re all pulling for you and we’re all working hard and we think it’s our responsibility to provide you the best experience that we can so thank you I hope it’s reciprocal a few thank yous as well antonos this is the first uh time in many years that we’ve been back here so we thank the Antonio staff for everything that they did uh me Casey and Renee Punic worked extremely hard especially Meg for a lot of hard work [Applause] and how about our creative Services team bi Parker Sean Dyan Dan Riel and incredible work for very well done of course our sack leadership our sacka leadership and how about our MC’s Round of Applause for M fighting through injury even well done well done it has been a remarkable year father and I were sitting and watching the awards and it was like every award multiple people could have got it was very difficult um do appreciate everybody that took part in the voting process um one more round of applause our women swim team our Max Champ here done and the way our spring is going I think we have few my jam so just an incredible spring so far uh you may have heard earlier but we won the battle the bridge again right and so tomorrow and Wednesday a little bit of housekeeping tomorrow and Wednesday from 12: to 1:30 right outside our offices on the second floor where you going for volleyball and basketball games we be giving out this [Applause] shirt holding his M up over his head right so well done to all the teams always wonderful to win battle of the bridge in the canal cup we do miss our softball team here uh tonight miss them they’re on the road had a sweet of quinc over the weekend [Applause] they so we do miss that and congratulate that when they when they come back um one thing I want to say you know it’s been said a couple times that uh you know obviously this year has been very very special and it’s part of a couple of years a few years um your hard work is paying off this is actually the best 3year period of women’s sports in Niagara [Applause] history so the recognition that women sports are getting nationally is certainly welld deserved and we’re also feeling it right here on our campus so well done um to all of our teams the theme this year as you remember when we gave you the shirts it was unfinished business and I can say we settled scho this year right and there’s a few more few more scores to settle and we’ve been so close um some of our teams and we know next year uh that you’ll get and we’ll get more Championship um I just you know it’s been said a couple I just want to say one more time how nice it is to see you support each other several times this year more than more so than any other year that I’ve been here people were watching other teams while they were on the road you know watching the broadcast and pulling for them and I think uh that really says a lot it really says a lot about us people and it says a lot in the collective about our department I’m incredibly proud to be your athletic director not just because of what we’ve been talking about all these athletic highlights but because of the way you lead on our campus in the classroom and also suring the on and off campus community so thank you for all that you’re doing it really is an honor to be up here and and one more round of applause for all of those in our Support Services academics Sports Medicine strength in all of our administrat those of you who are think about going into it is a lifestyle job that we have folks in our department who work every day uh day in day out all night um so I thank you to our team and the athletics department thank you for all the hard work that you’re putting in our final award is the believe and you award and this award goes to a student athlete who encompass es personifies our core values of Integrity commitment and Excellence someone that when you think of a Niagara student athlete they are right at the top this person has uh done very well this year in competition and is going to uh strive very hard to win a championship I know coming up they’ve been a finalist in the max in the past and wants to uh you know bring the title home this year here but most importantly this student athlete is a leader uh they’ve LED their team I know how hard it is when coaches leap and uh that’s traumatic it’s very hard uh and as much as we can be there to support you as administrators the support that really comes from the team is most important uh this leader is a senior from Portland New York and is your sack president and also one of our MC’s I think that’s the first time that this has happened so I don’t know if she saw the surprise award but believe anyue award from our women’s cross country track and field [Applause] a for reference I was not allowed to move that newspaper from the second I got here so I didn’t even know this was coming but as Simon said it’s been a bit of a rocky road for track and field we went through a lot of changes but that definitely didn’t stop us we’re continuing to break records we’re continuing to let our conference know that we need business not necessarily un finish business but we need [Applause] business thank you Kate and a special thank you to all of our student ath advisory committee officers and those of you from our student athletes and color Alliance really appreciate the hard work that you’re putting in there as well uh if we couldn’t be near as successful as we are without the support of our Board of Trustees and our executive leadership on campus tonight joining us Executive Vice President Dr Debbie colie was here with us we saw father harber earlier um as well but the president is who we’re going to hear from next father marah and in in our business of colle Athletics if you don’t have a support president you’re son and so everything that we have uh in essence is because of his leadership and his belief in us uh and father we can’t thank you enough from all all all the the yells youve heard tonight are made possible because of your leadership so I have a round of applause for I [Applause] thank you Simon I want to just echo my gratitude to Simon his team the coaches the trainers everybody who does all the great work in the front of the porch in the house and the back of the house so please give them student athletes please give all the support staff a round of [Applause] applause and I express my gratitude to all of you it’s wonderful to see you become a community of student athletes you excel in competition you excel in the classroom and you excel in the community we are so proud of you and we’re so grateful and for those of you who will be going forth uh we wish you all the best we keep you in our prayers and our thoughts as you go forward uh for all those who are coming back we are so excited to have you back as our student athletes um the the thing I will tell you as president that Simon gray myself and others we are so committed to being able to fundraise and do the things we need to do to help you to excel continue to excel in the classroom in competition in the community and that’s my pledge to you tonight here’s what I ask of you humility and gratitude those are the signs of great great leaders you look around and say who are the great leaders in our midst they are humble and they are grateful always be grateful for the opportunities that you have in life as student athletes think about the world right now and the turmoil that people are living in in Ukraine in Israel in Gaza in Africa in other places Even in our own country so many people would die to be in your position to be able to do what you love to do and Excel at it don’t ever take that gift that you’ve been given for granted it’s over wonderful wonderful thing and pay it back and give it back in service to others thanks for all you do for NRA and good luck exam all right that wraps up our award portion but please do remember we have the varsity letters over there for our seniors congrats to everybody in this room we all put in the hours and practices and lifts and competition yall did it we’ve got a couple more weeks left congrats everybody
