Albany, NY – The Sage College’s department of athletics gathered to recognize and honor the outstanding performances of the 2014-2015 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 2014-2015 Female and Male Athletes of the Year as well as the Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, which is given to the senior student-athlete with the highest overall grade point average. Senior women’s volleyball player and women’s track and field performer, Helen Putriment (Troy, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville) was honored for her outstanding year. Named the gators of the Year in both women’s volleyball and women’s track and field, she was also selected as the 2014-2015 Sage Co-Female Athlete of the Year.
Head women’s volleyball coach Sandy Augustein-Collins said of Putriment, “Helen Putriment has been an incredible student-athlete I am thrilled to have had the honor to coach her over the last four years.” Augstein-Collins added, “She has been a leader on and off the court! It has been an absolute thrill to watch her play volleyball and I will miss her tremendously!”
Head women’s track and field coach Jim Bowles said of Putriment, “She was always upbeat and showed that hard work does in fact pay dividends.” He continued, “Helen has the ability work hard and holds several school records for Sage in her short time on the track.”
In volleyball, she distinguished herself throughout her career, becoming the program’s first four-time Skyline Conference All-Star, while also wrapping the year with a selection to the 2014 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) New York Regional Honorable Mention Team.
Her list of accomplishments in volleyball is extensive. The Gator tri-captain was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2014 Skyline Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship, after collecting her fourth straight Skyline Conference Women’s Volleyball All-Star First Team pick. Among her numerous awards in 2014, she was chosen as both the Skyline Player of the Week and Eastern College Athletic Conference Corvais Division III Metro/Upstate Player of the Week twice. She opened the season garnering All-Tournament Team honors at the University of Rochester in early September as well as a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Plattsburgh State Invitational. In late September, she was honored with a selection as the Tournament Most Valuable Player as she helped lead the Sage team to the championship at the Skidmore College Classic.
On her 2014 season, she led the team with her impressive 13 double-doubles. She tallied 310 kills with 371 digs ad added 17 total blocks with 30 aces and a .908 reception percentage. Overall as a Gator, Putriment ranks No. 2 all-time in career kills (1,354) career kills, while standing No. 3 in career digs with 1,700. She is one of just three players in the history of Sage women's volleyball with 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. She finished her career ranked No. 2 in kills per game average (3.04), No. 5 in attack percentage (.244), No. 5 in digs per set average (3.81), and No. 13 in aces (119).
After winning the 2014 Skyline Conference Championship, Sage earned a spot in the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament and wrapped the campaign with a 25-7 record after a perfect campaign in the league for the second straight year.
In women’s track and field, Putriment was hampered by an injury at the start of the season. She opened the season in mid-April at the Wesleyan Classic. She took second in the 100 meter hurdles in 17.47, while adding a second in the shot put (9.72 meters), and a third in the high jump (1.52 meters).
In late April, she competed for the Gators at the Capital District Championship at RPI. In the high jump, she won the event with a school record performance of 1.59 meters. She won the event, marking the first victory by a Sage female track and field performer in the two year history of the team. She was in a jump off and won with her ECAC Division III qualifying mark of 1.59 meters, another Sage program first. She added Putriment added a ninth place finish in the javelin with her throw of 25.56 meters, while also taking 12th in the 100 meter hurdles (20.67).
The next week, she was a winner once again in the high jump at the Matthew Vassar Twighlight Meet. She won the event with a school-record performance, bettering her previous mark as she posted a performance of 1.62 meters, improving upon her ECAC qualifying leap. She became Sage’s first two-time event winner for the young Gator program. She added a second place in the javelin with a throw of 30.51 meters and a second in the shot put (9.72 meters). She capped the regular-season competing at the UAlbany’s Purple and Gold Last Chance Meet before making the trip to Springfield College to compete in the 2015 ECAC Division III Championships becoming the first Sage competitor at the event.
She was seeded seventh entering the championship with her qualifying effort of 1.62 meters, a Sage school record. She tallied a jump of 1.55 meters in the first round, but did not qualify for the finals and finished tied for 14th place with her efforts.