SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Grace Heiting '22 of the Union College women's hockey and lacrosse teams has been named as one of three collegiate award recipients by the Capital District Sports Women of the Year organization.
Heiting will be recognized at the Capital District Sports Women of the Year Awards Gala on Monday, August 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the GE Theatre at Proctors in Schenectady. Ticket information is to be announced.
The Capital District Sports Women of the Year organization (CDSWOY) honors the best and brightest female student-athletes from high schools and colleges in New York's Capital District. The student-athletes are recognized for their achievements in academics, athletics, and community service. More information is provided at the CDSWOY website, www.cdswoy.com.
Heiting was a year-round student-athlete for four years at Union, competing at the Division I level with the hockey team and at the Division III level with the lacrosse team. On the ice, she led Union in either goals or points in all three seasons, including a career-high eight goals with five assists for 13 points as a senior. She also took her game to a new level on the lacrosse field in her final season, earning IWLCA All-Empire Region first-team honors after scoring 61 goals with 22 assists for 83 points, ranking her third in points and fifth in goals all-time in a single season at Union. As a result, she was recognized with the Robert M. Ridings Memorial Award as Union's Female Senior Athlete of the Year, after previously earning top honors as a sophomore and first-year as well.
Heiting graduated from Union last month as a double major in Biological Sciences and Spanish and Hispanic Studies with a 3.85 cumulative GPA. She earned CoSIDA Academic All-District first-team honors in the very competitive Women's At-Large category as a senior and was a finalist for the Mandi Schwartz ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year Award. Heiting was also awarded the Lee, William, Dr. Norman '43 and Dr. George '53 Wrubel Memorial Prize at Union's annual Prize Day, given to a senior preparing for a career in dentistry or medicine and based on both academic achievement and character.
In the classroom, she was a member of the Beckman Scholars Program, which provides a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional undergraduate students in chemistry, biological sciences or interdisciplinary combinations thereof. Heiting had to miss one lacrosse game this year because she was presenting her research at the Experimental Biology Meeting in Philadelphia, where she was one of two undergraduate students to earn the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology Section Travel Award.
In addition, Heiting earned the hockey team's Ashley Kilstein Award, given to the player who has given her time to volunteer in the community. She has served as a Gift of Life Campus Ambassador since 2019, helping to expand the national bone marrow donor registry and matching at least 10 donors for potential transplants. She also served on the College's Honor Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and was an athlete mentor with Strong Girls United.
What members of the Union community say about Grace:
"As a two-sport athlete, Grace is an outstanding ambassador for our hockey and lacrosse teams, our Athletic Department and our College. While she excels on the ice and field and in the classroom, Grace is also one of the kindest and most compassionate students that I have seen at Union."
– Director of Athletics Jim McLaughlin '93
"Grace is the epitome of a Union College student-athlete. She is a high-energy, ambitious, highly analytical and positive individual, and she has great perspective and she places the team above all else. What I respect about her the most is that no matter what challenge is in front of her, she attacks it with a great attitude and poise. It's been an absolute privilege to coach Grace."
– Head women's hockey coach Josh Sciba
"Grace is an outstanding student and an incredibly talented athlete — but she is also one of the humblest young women I have ever had the privilege to coach. She is a kind, caring, and fiercely competitive young woman who performs just as well in the classroom as she does on the field."
– Interim head women's lacrosse coach Jessica Davos
SEE MORE: Heiting Leads Union on the Ice and Grass (Spectrum News)
