St. John's Hosts 73rd Annual Athletic Awards Celebration

5/6/2019 9:33:00 PM | Baseball, Fencing, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Women's Volleyball

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St. John’s student-athletes recognized for their success over the season

By: Victoria Lanza

St. John's reflected on a great year of accomplishments at its annual awards banquet in Carnesecca Arena on Monday night.

The 73rd edition of the festivities celebrated another successful academic year for St. John's, as well as provided motivation for the remaining Red Storm teams still competing.

The evening began with mass led by Campus Minister for Athletics, Fr. Richard Rock C. M. at St. Thomas More Church. Following the mass, Director of Athletics Mike Cragg kicked off the awards celebration with introductory remarks, addressing the crowd of student-athletes and recognizing the many special guests in attendance.

Cragg delivered remarks about the importance of student-athletes following the St. John's motto of "Win. Graduate. Serve." as well as the importance placed on the community that the university creates.

Following dinner, Co-Masters of Ceremony Senior Deputy Athletic Director Kathleen Meehan and Associate Provost for Academic Support Services Dr. Nancy Kaplan introduced the winners of various team MVP and special recognition awards.

Ten special recognition awards acknowledge those athletes and coaches who have gone above and beyond the sport in their most recent season.

The Herbert V. Hess Award, which is presented to a coach who during the year demonstrates honesty, integrity and concern for his student-athletes, was bestowed upon the Red Storm's track & field coach Jim Hurt. Hurt has served as one of the longest tenured coaches in St. John's history, as he has led the program over the last 30 years. During his career, Hurt has helped the Johnnies to 26 Metropolitan Championships, including their recent title in 2019. This year he guided his athletes to 60 first-place medals.

The Frank C. Haggerty Memorial Award and the John W. Kaiser Award are presented to the Red Storm's most outstanding male and female student-athletes. This year, those awards were given to men's tennis Andrei Crapcenco and women's fencing NCAA champion Karolina Cieslar.

Crapcenco concluded his career with the Johnnies as a three-time All-BIG EAST selection. This year he helped the Red Storm to the program's first conference title in three years after going 10-3 as the no. 1 singles player. Cieslar also capped off her St. John's career on a high note, as she won the Johnnies' fencing program to their first national championship in women's saber and was named an NCAA First Team All-American.

Baseball's Wyatt Mascarella and women's soccer's Mecara Bruce received the male and female Rickard F. McSwiney Awards. These are presented to St. John's athletes who exhibit pride in team achievements, determination as a competitor and the ability to lead. This marks the second-straight year that a member from both baseball and women's soccer have earned said awards.

Baseball's Jeff Belge received the John Da Silva Award that is presented to a deserving student-athlete who exhibits courage, persistence and fortitude. Belge was a highly touted draft prospect coming out of high school. The St. John's hurler has overcome potentially debilitating eye issues to become one of the best pitchers in the league.

The Dr. Peter Vitulli Award was presented to both Antonia Howard of track & field and Nick Mondak of baseball. This award is given to athletes who demonstrated courage, perseverance, dedication and spirit of self-sacrifice.

For the third-straight year, the community service award was presented to the women's cross country and track & field teams.

Each year, St. John's recognizes a team manager who has played a significant role for his or her program. This year's James Kevin Beatty Memorial winner was men's basketball's Matt Callahan.

The Walter T. McLaughlin Award, which recognizes an unsung staff member for their dedication to St. John's student-athletes, was granted to the Red Storm's dance coach Christine McCarton for always going above and beyond her day-to-day roles.

Listed below are the night's award winners:

Team Awards
Christian L. Thomsen Memorial Award: LJ Figueroa, Men's Basketball
Victoria Porter MVP Award: Tiana England, Women's Basketball
John T. "Doc" Gimmler Golf MVP Award: Gerald Mackedon, Men's Golf
Women's Golf MVP: Linda Wang, Women's Golf
George Santelli Award: Fares Ferjani, Men's Fencing
Women's Fencing MVP Award: Karolina Cieslar, Women's Fencing
George Seewagen Memorial Award: Andrei Crapcenco, Men's Tennis
Connie Kaiser Memorial Award: Jessica Livianu, Women's Tennis
Kenneth F. Perrone Memorial Award: Lenny Wilson, Men's Soccer
Marianne Viscovich-Powderly Memorial Award: Samantha Masur, Women's Soccer
Indoor Track and Field MVP: Leah Anderson, Track and Field
Outdoor Track and Field MVP: TBA following the conclusion of the track and field season
Susan Kearns Memorial Award: Antonia Howard, Cross Country
Dr. Margaret Mary Fitzpatrick, S.C. Award: Efrosini Alexakou, Volleyball
Francis A. McCall Memorial Award: Aidan Marron, Lacrosse
Softball MVP: TBA following the conclusion of the softball season
Lawrence R. Thomsen Memorial Award: Justin Simon, Men's Basketball
Marianne Noonan Memorial Award: Akina Wellere, Women's Basketball
The Excalibur Award: Ivan Zagoruiko, Men's Fencing
Joseph J. Calcagno Award: Katarzyna Lachman, Women's Fencing
Kathleen Murphy Meehan Award: Erica Di Maulo, Volleyball
John Holohan Spirit and Dedication Award: Conor Crean, Pep Band
Cheerleading Team Spirit and Dedication Award: Olivia Craig, Cheerleading Team
Dance Team Spirit and Dedication Award: Jennifer Hug, Dance Team

Special Recognition Awards
John DaSilva Memorial Award: Jeff Belge, Baseball
Dr. Peter Vitulli Award: Antonia Howard, Track & Field and Nick Mondak, Baseball
James Kevin Beatty Memorial Award: Matt Callahan, Men's Basketball
Herbert V. Hess Award: Jim Hurt, Track & Field
Walter T. McLaughlin Award: Christine McCarton
Rickard F. McSwiney Award: Mecara Bruce, Women's Soccer
Rickard F. McSwiney Award: Wyatt Mascarella, Baseball
John W. Kaiser Award: Karolina Cieslar, Women's Fencing
Frank C. Haggerty Memorial Award: Andrei Crapcenco, Men's Tennis

Community Service Award
Cross Country and Track and Field

Dr. Michael Pisano Memorial Awards
Turner French, Baseball
Joe Kelly, Baseball
Ryan Markey, Baseball
Jonathan Spicci, Men's Golf
Colin Duffy, Lacrosse
Michael Hatzopoulos, Lacrosse
Patrick Kiel, Lacrosse
Luke Roediger, Lacrosse
Declan Swartwood, Lacrosse
Paul Tornatore, Lacrosse
Christina Bellero, Women's Soccer
Claudia Cagnina, Women's Soccer
Alexa Dolgos, Women's Soccer
Christine McBeath, Women's Soccer
Madeline McCracken, Women's Soccer
Samie Scaffidi, Women's Soccer
Lucy Whipp, Women's Soccer
Delia Arranz Flores, Women's Tennis
Olaya Inclan Solis, Women's Tennis
Andrei Crapcenco, Men's Tennis
Alan Nunez Aguilera, Men's Tennis
Alex Roszkowski, Men's Tennis
Daniel Skripnik, Men's Tennis
Lillith Ida, Track and Field
Therese Gallagher, Track and Field
Nicole McCarthy, Track and Field
Nia Diaz, Volleyball

Elizabeth Lapchick Award
Jeff Belge, Baseball
Christina Melendez, Softball