Albany, NY – The Sage College’s department of athletics gathered to recognize and honor the outstanding performances of the 2013-2014 year with the naming of the athletic award winners for the 15 varsity athletic teams. In addition to awarding the Gator Award, for the Most Outstanding Player, the department also named the 2013-2014 Female and Male Athletes of the Year as well as the ECAC Merit Medal and the Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

Additionally, The Sage College’s Department of Athletics named 31 student-athletes to the 2013-2014 Sage Intercollegiate Athletic Honor Society. The honor society recognizes junior, senior, or graduate level student-athletes, that have maintained a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.3 or better and have participated as a member of a varsity team for at least two seasons. There were seven student-athletes that were repeat honorees.

2013-2014 The Sage Colleges’ Athletic Honor Society

Kirsten Ackerman, Women's Tennis      
Kristen Beikirch, Softball
Lauren Bendall, Women's Tennis
Megan Bowman, Women's Basketball
James Carroll, Men's Cross Country, Men's Outdoor Track and Field
Joanie Cooney *, Women's Volleyball
Kayla Coons, Women's Lacrosse    
Cailtin Coughlin, Women's Cross Country, Women's Outdoor Track and Field 
Anthony Crawford, Men's Cross Country, Men's Outdoor Track and Field
Matt DeGeyter, Men's Volleyball
Tyler Denton, Men's Soccer  
Hillary Faas, Softball
Stacey Forte, Women's Volleyball   
Shane Gaffoor, Men's Volleyball
Cory Gransbury *, Men's Volleyball
Ciera Holt, Women's Volleyball       
Scott Jarosz *, Men's Soccer 
Bryan Kelly *, Men's Cross Country, Men's Outdoor Track and Field
Dylan Krowicki *, Men's Volleyball
Zachary Kuhn *, Men's Voleyball
Jackie Leslie, Women's Basketball
Sarah MacArthur, Men's Golf 
Chelsea Martin * , Women's Basketball 
Taylor McMillen, Men's Cross Country, Men's Outdoor Track and Field
Shelbi Montanaro, Women's Cross Country, Women's Outdoor Track and Field  
Nicole Riley, Women's Tennis 
Emily Stevenson, Women's Soccer, Women's Lacrosse
Jeff Stopera, Men's Golf, Men's Basketball    
Zach Sullivan *, Men's Golf, Men's Volleyball 
Chelsea Weber, Women's Cross Country, Women's Outdoor Track and Field
Samantha Woitkoski, Softball  

*Indicates Previous Inductee

2013-2014 Male Athlete of the Year: Nick Mauro (Men’s Soccer)

2013-2014 Female Athlete of the Year: Megan Bowman (Women’s Basketball)

2013-2014 ECAC Merit Medal: Joanie Cooney (Women’s Volleyball) & Chelsea Martin (Women’s Basketball)

2013-2014 Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Female Scholar-Athlete: Nicole Riley (Women’s Tennis)

2013-2014 Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Male Scholar-Athlete: Dylan Krowicki (Men’s Volleyball)

A summary of Sage’s honorees for the 2013-2014 year follow:

Senior men’s soccer defender Nick Mauro (Bristol, CT/Bristol) was named the 2013-2014 Sage Male Athlete of the Year.

Head men’s soccer coach Kyle Clancy said of Mauro, “I couldn't be more excited seeing Nick earn The Sage Colleges’ Male Athlete of the Year award.” Clancy continued, “Being a part of the men’s soccer team’s first class, he worked extremely hard over the past four years, helping to build this program from the ground up. He earned numerous individual awards and helped the team achieve numerous accomplishments along the way.  His play this past year was as strong as ever and capped off an excellent career.  He is a player, Sage men’s soccer program will truly miss.”

During the fall of 2013, Mauro was placed on the placed on the 2013 NSCAA/Continental Tire Division III Men’s All-East Third Team. For the season, Sage earned the No. 1 seed in the 2013 Skyline Tournament but fell in the semifinals in a match decided in penalty kicks. The Gators also earned an ECAC Division III Tournament bid and advanced to the semifinals before their 2013 season came to an end with a 10-5-4 record.

An anchor on the Gators’ defense and a 2013 Skyline Conference First Team honoree, Mauro also found the net this past fall with a goal and two assists. A team co-captain as well as a senior, he was a Skyline Conference All-Star Second Team honoree as a sophomore in 2011. He helped the Gators to four consecutive Skyline Conference Tournament appearances during his career, while helping Sage rank nationally during that time NCAA Division III statistics in both offensive and defensive categories during that same time frame. He finishes his career having started 55 games, which is No. 3 in the career record book, while his 67 game splayed ranks No. 5 at Sage. He helped the 2013 Gators combine for eight shutouts and helped the team yield just 0.90 goals per game on the season in 20 matches.

Junior guard and women’s basketball team captain Megan Bowman (Dannemora, NY/Saranac) was named the 2013-2014 Sage Female Athlete of the Year, while also earning acclaim as the women’s basketball Gator of the Year as well for the year.

Over the course of the 2013-2014 season, Bowman earned numerous awards and acclaim for the Gators. She was the first player in the program’s history to be chosen to the D3Hoops.com regional squad as she was placed on the 2013-2014 All-Atlantic Region Third Team. Sage’s team posted the best finish in school history with a 17-10 record, while also capturing the Skyline Conference Championship and a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament, also program firsts.

Bowman was a team leader on and off the court for Sage this year.  Her long list of accomplishments included a selection to the Skyline Conference First Team, as well as the Most Outstanding Player of the Skyline Tournament. She led Sage with a 12.7 ppg average and handed out a Sage single-season record 142 assists with 74 steals. She ranks No. 27 in Div. 3 in assists per game (5.3), while ranking No. 53 in the latest NCAA stats ranking in assist to turnover ratio (1.8) and No. 68 in steals per game (2.74). She scored 344 points on the season in 27 starts and her 344 points ranks No. 5 all-time in single-season efforts.  

After three seasons, Bowman ranks No. 11 in career points scored (713), while ranking No. 2 in assists (319), No. 6 in steals (183), and No. 15 on career three-pointers made (40). She has also played in 69 games at Sage with 67 starts. 

Head Coach Jackie Craft said of Megan Bowman, “Megan being awarded Female Athlete of the Year was a great way for her to cap off the season that she was very instrumental in leading Sage to over the course of 2013-2014. “ Craft added, “This season Megan did whatever we asked of her, and that varied game to game.  She can score in transition and from outside, in addition, she can defend and disrupt other teams with her quickness.  She is a fierce competitor and when it was crunch time, she stepped up to the challenge, and we relied on her to do so.  She has matured into a student-athlete that receives respect from other members in the department as well as coaches around our conference.”

Senior women’s volleyball captain Joanie Cooney (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) was named the 2013-2014 recipient of the ECAC Merit Medal for her outstanding contributions to the athletic department as a student-athlete and a leader.

Head Women’s Volleyball Coach, Sandy Augstein-Collins said of Cooney, “It is such an honor to see Joanie Cooney win the ECAC Merit Award.” Augstein-Collins added, “She is an outstanding representative of our volleyball program and of Sage Athletics in general.  She has been the backbone of our program for four years and will be missed tremendously!”

Cooney, who was also named to the 2013 Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Team, was also named to the 2013 Skyline Conference Women’s Volleyball All-Star First Team. She was been forced to the sidelines with a late-season injury and played in all but two Skyline Conference matches this fall. 

On her senior season, she led Sage with her 570 setting assists, while contributing 50 kills, 16 aces and 169 digs.  She is No. 2 all-time on the career setting assist list at Sage with her 2,973 setting assists in 124 matches played. She has 949 career digs as well in 413 career sets played. She was also a candidate for the 2013 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Team for excellent work in the classroom and on the court. She was named to the Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete Team and was also named the 2013 Skyline Conference Women’s Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while also earning an additional posting to Sage’s Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll.        

Senior women’s basketball player, Chelsea Martin (Davenport, NY/Jefferson Central) was named the recipient of the ECAC Merit Medal. Head Women’s Basketball Coach Jackie Craft said of Martin, “Chelsea being awarded the ECAC Merit Medal is no surprise simply because she exemplifies what this award is about!” Craft added, “She helped lead our program to new heights this year with a Skyline Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, all while being an excellent student and heavily involved in the community.  Chelsea is our Student Athletic Advisory Committee President and has gone above and beyond in organizing events not only this year, but throughout her time at Sage.”

Sage’s lone senior on the women’s basketball team this year, Martin, a team tri-captain, set the career record for most games played. She wraps her outstanding career having made a record 99 consecutive starts. She scored 701 career points, which is No. 12 all-time, while adding 535 rebounds (No. 5). She also connected for 130 career steals (No. 12), while tallying 101 three-point baskets (No. 3) and 62 blocked shots (No. 3). She added a 77.9% career free throw percentage (74-95 and ranks No. 2 all-time). She started 27 games for the 2013-2014 Gators and averaged 4.6 ppg and 4.0 rpg with 25 three-pointers, 38 assists, 23 steals and 11 blocked shots over her final campaign.

Additional acclaim for Martin came as she was named the recipient of the Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Award in women’s basketball. Sage’s women’s team went 17-10 on the year and captured the Skyline Conference Championship and a bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament, both firsts for the hoop program.

Senior women’s tennis player, Nicole Riley (Catskill, NY/Catskill) was named the recipient of the Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Riley is a biology major at Sage with a double minor of psychology and chemistry. She owns a 3.868 cumulative grade point average and will graduate from Sage next week. She also was named the Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Women’s Tennis, while also earning a spot on the league’s all-star first team in 2013. 

The 2013 Sage Gators garnered a spot in the Skyline Conference Tournament marking just the fourth appearance in the league tournament since joining the league in 2007. Sage finished the season with an 8-6 record and a 3-2 mark in league play as well.

Riley, who played at No. 2 singles for the Gators and also combined with junior Kristen Ackerman to lead the Gators at No. 1 doubles.  Riley, who was a two-year letterwinner for the Gators, went 6-7 in singles this fall with a 6-5 record in dual match action. The pair also competed at the prestigious ITA Northeast Women’s Tennis Championship in doubles competition, while Riley also competed in singles action as well.

Senior men’s volleyball captain, Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) was named the Gator Award winner in men’s volleyball, while earning acclaim as the Male Dean Robinson Scholar-Athlete recipient.

Head Men’s Volleyball Coach Jimmy Pompeo said of Krowicki, “Dylan has been a great source of inspiration for the team both on and off the court and his contributions to the men’s volleyball program will never be forgotten.” Pompeo continued, “He has a bright future ahead of him, and I know he will be a highly successful person in every sense of the word. As a first-year coach, you could not ask for a better team leader and with his help, our team grew and learned tremendously. I personally would like to thank him for his participation in Sage’s men’s volleyball program and for making me personally feel much more at home and comfortable as a new coach.”

Over the course of the 2014 season, Krowicki earned numerous awards and acclaim. Most recently he was named to the 2014 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team. He was cited as the Skyline Conference Co-Player of the Week for his play on March 31 and the ECAC Division III South Co-Player of the Week on April 1. He wraps his stellar career having excelled for Sage’s men’s volleyball program both on the court and in the classroom.

Krowicki caps his career as the all-time point leader with 1,212.5 points, while ranking first in kills with 1,044. For the year, he led Sage with his 352 kills, while adding a .252 hitting percentage. He had 19 aces with 205 digs and a .969 reception percentage. He also added 401 points in the year to lead Sage. He had 41 total blocks in 26 matches played and started. He ranks nationally in the latest NCAA Division III statistics as of April 14. He is No. 7 in points per set (4.61), while ranking No. 8 in kills per set average (4.05), and No. 32 in digs per set (3.26). He was also ranked No. 77 in hitting percentage with a .252 average, which led Sage and ranked ninth in the league.

He capped his career with a Sage single-match record for most kills in a match as he had 26 kills and on Senior Night in a five-set loss to College of Mt. St. Vincent. Over the course of the 2014 campaign, he surpassed 20 kills on five occasions, while racking up six double-doubles. He added a .969 reception percentage as well with a number of Sage career marks to his credit.

Over the course of the 2014 season, he was named to the Skyline Conference Honor Roll once (2/10/14), while also earning a spot on the Endicott College All-Tournament Team.

At Sage, he also excelled in the classroom, earning a selection as the 2012 Skyline Men’s Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year after earning placement on the Skyline Scholar-Athlete Team and Sage’s All-Academic Team. He was named to the inaugural Sage Scholar-Athlete Team for his efforts in the Fall of 2012 in the classroom. He was placed on the Sage Scholar-Athlete Team again for the Spring of 2013 and the Fall of 2013, while earning five Dean’s List citations at Sage. He is a member of the Tri-Beta Biology Honor Society and is a candidate for the 2014 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America Team after earning the Dean Sharon Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award as the senior male student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. He is majoring in pre-medicine at Sage and has a 3.891 cumulative grade point average as well.