Sage Announces 2021-2022 Athletic Award Winners

Posted: May 16, 2022

Albany, N.Y. – Russell Sage College's department of athletics announced their award winners for the 2021-2022 academic year at the annual awards banquet.

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In addition to several honors bestowed for athletic and academic excellence, Sage also selected the Gator of the Year Award for the department's 21 varsity sports for the 2021-2022 year. In addition, the department also announced the 2021-2022 Female and Male Rookies of the Year for Individual and Team Sports as well as the 2021-2022 Female and Male Athletes of the Year for Individual and Team Sports. Sage also b

Handed out 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, as well as the Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award. The department also bestowed recognition to an individual as our Fan of the Year at the gathering, and also created the Rosaire Murphy Service Award.

Sage tapped senior men's basketball player Jalon Borders (Bartow, FL/Bartow) as the Male Athlete of the Year for a Team Sport, while senior softball player, Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) earned Female Athlete of the Year for a Team Sport. Honored with the award as the Female Athlete of the Year in an Individual Sport was women's tennis player, Maddie Cherry, (Las Vegas, NV/Odyssey Charter), while the Male Athlete of the Year in an Individual Sport was presented to junior track and field performer, John Coddington (Amsterdam, NY/Broadalbin-Perth).

Added in 2019, Sage established a Female and Male Rookie Athlete of the Year recognition and in 2021-2022 added recognition for the award to recognize a member from a team sport and from an individual sport. Selected for the award this year on the men's side in an individual sport was rookie track athlete David Adado (Nassau, NY/Columbia), while rookie pitcher/outfielder Liam Doyle (West Sayville, NY/Connetquot) was honored as the Male Rookie of the Year on a Team Sport.

Tapped for the Female Rookie of the Year in an individual sport was women's tennis player Maddie Cherry, while Female Rookie of the Year in a Team Sport was presented to women's basketball player, Syrita Faraj (Troy, NY/Tamarac).

The 2021-2022 Dean Sharon Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award was presented to men's basketball and men's golfer Stuart Phair (Canberra, Australia/Tyler Christian School), business administration major, he achieved a 3.829 grade point average. Senior women's soccer player, Hallie Klosterman (Modena, NY/Wallkill) was honored as the Female recipient after the health sciences with a path to physical therapy major attained a 3.953 grade points average in the classroom.

Women's soccer player Mickaela Buzzy (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) was selected as the recipient of the Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award for overcoming injuries throughout her career and her leadership in the face of these adversities.

The department also created the Rosaire Murphy Service Award this year. The award is honor of the department of Athletic Office Coordinator, who will be retiring this June after 32 years of service with the Gators. The award was presented to a pair of student workers that went above and beyond in their roles as members of the event management and athletic communications staff. The inaugural recipients of the award are senior Frannie Gigliotti (Dalton, MA/Wahconah Regional), a member of the event management student worker staff and athletic communications student worker, senior Shawna Smith (Kingston, NY/Kingston).

Additionally, Sage selected the Fan of the Year, which was bestowed to Scott Welling, a member of the Sodexo Food Services for his outgoing personality and ability to always welcome student-athletes.

Gators of the Year

Baseball: Liam Doyle (Fr., West Sayville, NY/Connetquot)

Men's Basketball: Stuart Phair (Sr., Canberra, Australia/Trinity Christian School)

Women's Basketball: Madison Greco (Sr., Utica, NY/West Canada Valley)

Men's Cross Country: Joe Degiorgio (Jr., Troy, NY/Troy)

Women's Cross Country: Emma Cronin (So., Greenwich, NY/Greenwich Central)

Esports: Geri'lynne Felicier-Norton (Fr., Bronx, NY/Bronx High School for Medical Science)

Field Hockey: Abigayle Greier (Sr., Elma, NY/Iroquois Central)

Men's Golf: Stuart Phair (Sr., Canberra, Australia/Trinity Christian School)

Women's Golf: Alexa Petrovic (Sr., Winslow, ME/Winslow)

Men's Lacrosse: Sean McGirr (Jr., Saugerties, NY/Saugerties)

Women's Lacrosse: Grace Hines (So., Guilderland, NY/Guilderland)

Men's Soccer: Christian Vaalstuen (Sr., Lillestrom, Norway/Lambertseter Athletic)

Women's Soccer: Natalie Ricci (Sr., Cohoes, NY/Cohoes)

Softball: Taylor Dicranian (Sr., Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union)

Women's Tennis: Gwen Eichen (Fr., Moriah, NY/Moriah Central)

Men's Indoor Track and Field: David Adadjo (Fr., Nassau, NY/Columbia)

Women's Indoor Track and Field: Mackenzie Feeney (So., Saugerties, NY/Saugerties)

Men's Outdoor Track and Field: John Coddington (Jr., Amsterdam, NY/Broadalbin-Perth)

Women's Outdoor Track and Field: Jasmine Zollman (So., Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central)

Men's Volleyball: Deshawn Fleary (Sr., Newark, NJ/Immaculate Conception Montclair)

Women's Volleyball: Statia Walker (So., Schodack, NY/Maple Hill)

Aggie Stillman Perseverance Award

Mickaela Buzzy (Sr., Oneonta, NY/Oneonta, Women's Soccer)

Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year- Team Sports

Jalon Borders, Men's Basketball (Sr., Bartow, FL/Bartow)

Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year-Individual Sports

John Coddington, Men's Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field (Jr., Amsterdam, NY/Broadalbin-Perth)

Male Rookie of the Year – Team Sports

Liam Doyle, Baseball (Fr., West Sayville, NY/Connetquot)

Male Rookie of the Year – Individual Sports

David Adadjo, Men's Indoor Track and Field (Fr., Nassau, NY/Columbia)

Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year- Team Sports

Arianna Papas, Softball (Sr., Castleton, NY/Maple Hill)

Outstanding Female Rookie of the Year-Individual Sports

Maddie Cherry, Women's Tennis (Fr., Las Vegas, NV/Odyssey Charter)

Female Rookie of the Year – Team Sports

Syrita Faraj, Women's Basketball (Fr., Troy, NY/Tamarac)

Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year- Male

Stuart Phair, Men's Golf and Men's Basketball (Sr., Canberra, Australia/Trinity Christian School)

Dean Sharon Robinson Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year- Female

Hallie Klosterman, Women's Soccer (Sr., Modena, NY/Wallkill)

Rosaire Murphy Service Award

Frannie Gigliotti, Event Management (Sr., Dalton, MA/Wahconah Regional)

Shawna Smith, Athletic Communications (Sr., Kingston, NY/Kingston)

Fan of the Year:
Scott Welling, Sodexo

Athletic Honor Society

Russell Sage College's Intercollegiate Athletic Honor Society recognizes junior, senior, or graduate level student-athletes, who 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. Sage has a total of 53 individuals named to the Honor Society for their success in 2021-22, including 25 repeat honorees.

Emily Agate*

Anthony Abreu

Lily Batule*

Jason Breznak

Madeline Butta

Mickaela Buzzy*

Michael Capitelli*

Michael Cichy

Taylor Dicranian*

Liam Dowd

Alyssa Duval

Richard Everoski*