ALBANY –The Sage College's department of athletics gathered to recognize and honor the outstanding performances of the 2016-17 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 2016-17 Female and Male Athletes of the Year, 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, and the Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award.
The Sage Colleges' men's golf junior, Casey Fitzpatrick (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill), was named the Gator of the Year.
Head coach Bob Verhayden said of Fitzpatrick, "Casey is one of the best male athletes the college has ever seen. He is a three-sport athlete and excels in each. A junior, he was the team's number one golfer this year and improved his own game markedly from his sophomore year. In addition, Casey maintains a GPA that hovers around 3.50. He embodies the meaning of student-athlete."
Fitzpatrick led the golf team as the squad's only returning member. A three sport athlete in golf, tennis and men's volleyball, the junior was named to the Skyline Men's Volleyball Second-Team for the second time in his career. Fitzpatrick picked up the honor at the libero position after starting the first half of the season at setter. The junior knotted 41 assists, 14th best in the nation over three-sets, against Johnson & Wales while coming up with 23 digs in a five-set match against Mount Saint Vincent, 18th in the country. A three-sport athlete in volleyball, golf and tennis, Fitzpatrick recorded double-doubles against D'Youville (52 assists, 13 digs), Lehman (48 assists, 12 digs) and Keuka (31 assists, 11 digs). He became the second player in program history to hit the 1,000th career assist mark against Elmira. After being named to the honor roll three times, the junior average 9.25 assists at setter and 2.52 digs after switching to libero. After three seasons, Fitzpatrick ranks 2nd in assists (1,361), 3rd in digs (617), 4th in digs/set (2.06), 4th in assists/set (4.54) and 8th in aces (49).
A member of Sage's Student-Athletic Advisory Committee, Fitzpatrick has been on the Sage Dean's List, the Skyline Scholar-Athlete Team and the Sage Scholar-Athlete Team for excellent performance in the classroom.
