Cara Pellechia (left) and Christian Pagano (right) pose with Athletic Director Jerry Fisk.
Cara Pellechia (Rochester, NY/Hilton) and Christian Pagano (Lancaster, NY/Depew) were named the Female and Male Athletes of the Year at the annual Freddys Banquet on May 7.
Pellechia, now a four-time SUNYAC Champion in the pole vault, won the outdoor title this past weekend after claiming the indoor title in February. She also finished seventh in the 100m dash at the SUNYAC Meet. Additionally, she set the Fredonia State record clearing 3.63m in outdoor at the Westminster meet on April 13.
Pagano was the top hitter for the Blue Devils all season. He finished the year ranked among the season leaders in Fredonia State history. He is second in runs scored (33), eighth in hits (48), fifth in homeruns (6), fifth in total bases (76), eighth in RBI (31). He batted a team-leading .372 and ranked third in the SUNYAC in homeruns and ninth in batting average.
The Track and Field team also claimed the Male Rookie of the Year Award with Jordan Lockett (Dunkirk, NY/Dunkirk) taking home the hardware. Lockett was the second fastest freshman in the SUNYAC in both the 60m and 200m in Indoor Track. He ran the first leg in the record-breaking 4x200m Relay at regionals (Indoor) this year. For Outdoor, Lockett was the second fastest freshman in the SUNYAC in the 100m dash and the fastest freshman in the SUNYAC in the 200m. He is also part of the 4x100m relay team outdoors that broke the school record and finished second in the conference this past weekend.
The Female Rookie of the Year Award went to Gabby Irwin (Clarence Center, NY/Clarence). Irwin was also tabbed the SUNYAC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All Conference. She scored four times and had eight assists, ranking second on the team with 16 points. She led the SUNYAC in assists.
The Female and Male Student Athletes of the Year were Holly Rohrbach (Avon, NY/Avon Central) from cross country/track and field, and DeAndre Hayes (Durham, NC/Mount Zion Christian Academy) from basketball. They had the highest GPA of any graduating senior.
Other Awards
Kozzie Award - Rich Norton. The award is named after long-time equipment room manager, Mike Kozlowski. Rich, a 1987 grad began working on campus in 1996. He joined the women's basketball staff in 2012 and had also assisted with men's soccer. He has served the department other capacities including recruiting coordinator and has worked home events for many years.
Sandra Haight Awards - Renee Park 9SAAC/Intramurals/ATC Intern), Kayla Welsh (Photographer), Matt Wojcik (SAAC/Gameday operations), Jason Winston (Videographer) - Awarded to seniors that have provided service to the department.
Athletic Director's Award - Vinny Shioleno, Assistant Men's Basketball Coach and Assistant Sports Information Director.
Team Awards
Spirit - Women's Soccer
Community Service - Women's Soccer
Academic - Women's Basketball
Athletic - Softball
Blue Devil Cup - Women's Basketball. The Blue Devil Cup is a combination of Spirit, Academic, Athletic, and Community Service components.
The department would like to extend a special thank you to Alex Needham and Jason Winston for their work throughout the year collecting and editing much of the video. Also, Kayla Welsh and Becca Torncello provided a huge amount of the photography used for the senior slides, the website, social media, and to share with the student-athletes.
Chi Alpha Sigma Inductees
To be honored, a 3.4 or higher GPA is required, along with participation in one of Fredonia State's 17 sports.
Kamryn Avis - Cheer
Jordan Barrett – Women's Soccer
Cam Birkeland – Men's Hockey
Arden Brown – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Sydney Buchko – Women's Lacrosse
Emily Chelius - Softball
Erin Cunningham - Softball
Talia deFay – Women's Soccer
Brendan Dempsey – Men's Hockey
Vanessa Galbraith - Softball
Elizabeth Gloss – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Brianna Grazen – Women's Soccer
Adam Hawkins – Men's Hockey
DeAndre Hayes – Men's Basketball
Alexis Lindamer - Women's Soccer
Andres Martinez – Men's Soccer
Hannah Mezzoprete - Softball
Helena Mong - Cheer
Renee Park – Women's Basketball
Hannah Potter – Women's Basketball
Holly Rohrbach – Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Allyssa Santiago - Softball
Caitlin Snyder – Women's Basketball, Tennis
Isabella Trifilo - Cheer
Camron Walsh – Men's Soccer
Abigail Ward - Cheer
Matt Wojcik - Baseball
Courtney Woodring - Cheer
Alena Wright – Women's Basketball
