St. John's Hosts 76th Annual Athletic Awards Celebration

St. John's Hosts 76th Annual Athletic Awards Celebration

5/2/2022 9:57:00 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, Men's Fencing, Women's Fencing, Men's Swimming

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All 17 Red Storm athletics teams gathered to celebrate the year’s accomplishments on Monday night

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's Athletic Department reflected on a great year of accomplishments during its annual awards celebration on Monday night. The 76th edition of the awards banquet celebrated another successful year for the Red Storm both on and off the field of competition.

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.

Following dinner, Co-Masters of Ceremony Senior Deputy Athletic Director Kathleen Meehan and Associate Director of Academic Support for Student Athletes Ray Howell introduced the winners of various team and special recognition awards.

Nine special recognition awards were presented to acknowledge those athletes, coaches and staff members who have gone above and beyond the sport in their most recent season. Additionally, 19 individuals were recognized by their teams and three women were celebrated for their accomplishments with the spirit programs.

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 Ian Stone for the fourth time in his career. Stone guided St. John's to a 13-7-3 record that including a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history and the team's first ever appearance in the Round of 16. Stone saw his second player get drafted by the NWSL as Zsani Kajan was taken eighth overall by the OL Reign.

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 and women's soccer All-Americans Luka Gavran and Kajan.

Men's basketball's Julian Champagnie and women's track and field's Amanda Belgrave earned the Rickard McSwiney Awards for their pride in team achievements, determination as a competitor and the ability to lead.

Women's soccer's Michelle Money and baseball's David Glancy were presented with the Elizabeth Lapchick Awards, given to the student athletes that have improved the most academically over the last year. Glancy also took home the John DaSilva Award that is presented to a deserving student-athlete who exhibits courage, persistence and fortitude.

The Dr. Peter Vitulli Award was presented to Tani Oluwaseyi of men's soccer. This award is given to an athlete who demonstrated courage, perseverance, dedication and spirit of self-sacrifice.

Each year, St. John's celebrates a team manager who has played a significant role for his or her sport. This year's James Kevin Beatty Memorial winner was presented to Lia Ehlers for her dedication to the volleyball program.

The Walter T. McLaughlin Award, which recognizes unsung staff members for their dedication to the Red Storm's student-athletes, was not presented to just one individual but the entire Sports Medicine staff at St. John's. Jill Christensen, Tricia Fratta, Megan Doyle, Sydney Halligan, Greg Tozzi, Jasmine Davis, David Lebron and Kate Matava worked tirelessly to keep student athletes in the field of competition and the entire athletic department safe and healthy during the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listed below are the night's award winners:

Team Awards

Christian L. Thomsen Memorial Award: Julian Champagnie, Men's Basketball
Victoria Porter MVP Award: Kadaja Bailey, Women's Basketball
John T. "Doc" Gimmler Golf MVP Award: Jack Simon and Tyler Gerbavsits, Men's Golf
Women's Golf MVP: Jessie Kweon, Women's Golf
George Santelli Award: Fares Ferjani, Men's Fencing
Women's Fencing MVP Award: Andrea Rizzi, Women's Fencing
George Seewagen Memorial Award: Ignacio Garcia, Men's Tennis
Connie Kaiser Memorial Award: Jayden Nielsen, Women's Tennis
Kenneth F. Perrone Memorial Award: Brandon Knapp, Men's Soccer
Marianne Viscovich-Powderly Memorial Award: Shannon Aviza, 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: Claire Cushing, Cross Country
Dr. Margaret Mary Fitzpatrick, S.C. Award: Rachele Rastelli, Volleyball
Francis A. McCall Memorial Award: Jonathan Huber, Lacrosse
Softball MVP: London Jarrard, Softball
Lawrence R. Thomsen Memorial Award*: Esahia Nyiwe, Men's Basketball
Marianne Noonan Memorial Award^: Danielle Patterson, Women's Basketball
The Excalibur Award#: Jan Jurkiewicz, Men's Fencing
Kathleen Murphy Meehan Award!: Klara Mikelova, Volleyball
John Holohan Spirit and Dedication Award: Nazia Seelochan, Pep Band
Cheerleading Team Spirit and Dedication Award: Kayla Nunnally, Cheerleading Team
Dance Team Spirit and Dedication Award: Danielle Spencer, Dance Team

* Presented to a member of the Men's Basketball Team who "makes the most improvement athletically during the school year".
^ Presented to a member of the Women's Basketball Team who best exemplifies the unselfish attitude and team spirit of Marianne Noonan, in whose memory the award was established.
# Presented to the St. John's fencer who best exemplifies those qualities of sportsmanship that are traditional with the sport.
! Presented to a member of the Volleyball Team who exhibits the leadership, integrity, sportsmanship and dedication exemplified by the person for whom the award is named.

Special Recognition Awards

John DaSilva Memorial Award: David Glancy, Baseball
Dr. Peter Vitulli Award: Tani Oluwaseyi, Men's Soccer
James Kevin Beatty Memorial Award: Lia Ehlers, Volleyball
Herbert V. Hess Award: Ian Stone, Women's Soccer
Walter T. McLaughlin Award: Sports Medicine Staff
Rickard F. McSwiney Award: Amanda Belgrave, Women's Track and Field
Rickard F. McSwiney Award: Julian Champagnie, Men's Basketball
John W. Kaiser Award: Zsani Kajan, Women's Soccer
Frank C. Haggerty Memorial Award: Luka Gavran, Men's Soccer