SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Union College Department of Athletics announced winners of its 2024-25 underclass awards on Tuesday evening at the annual Student Affairs Leadership Celebration, recognizing the achievements of 14 student-athletes along with many others within the Department of Student Affairs at the College Park Hall Ballroom.
Union will recognize the achievements of its senior class and present graduating seniors with their Block U awards at the annual
Senior Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Friday, June 13 at noon at College Park Hall.
A full list of 2024-25 undergraduate award winners are listed below:
ECAC Medal of Merit
Presented to a junior female student-athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.
Sophie Brady (Field Hockey)
Brady was recognized as the top goaltender in Region III with NFHCA All-Region first-team honors to go with All-Liberty League first-team laurels. She posted a 12-5 record with a .817 save percentage and 1.38 goals against average as a junior, leading the Liberty League and finishing 17th in Division III in save percentage while also ranking third in the conference and 37th in Division III in goals against average. After her first three seasons, Brady already ranks second all-time in wins (28) at Union as well as sixth in career goals against average (1.80) and 10th in saves (213).
William A. Pike '60 Award
Presented to a junior male student-athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.
Christian Dufort (Men's Basketball)
Dufort helped lead a young Union men's basketball team to the Liberty League semifinals as a junior by ranking in the top-25 of the Liberty League in both scoring and rebounding, averaging over 10 points and six rebounds per game for the Garnet Chargers. He started 24-of-25 games for the team this season and also ranked second on the team in blocks (18), third in assists (42) and fourth in steals (14) while shooting 43.1 percent from the field.
Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
Presented to a junior student-athlete for outstanding performance in the classroom, community and playing arena.
Brandon Buhr (Men's Hockey)
Buhr was named to the All-ECAC Hockey third team after ranking third in the conference with a team-leading 19 goals and adding nine assists for 28 points in 36 games, while also ranking third in ECAC Hockey with 13 goals in conference play, including four game-winning goals and a pair of hat tricks. The economics major, who was Union's nominee for ECAC Hockey's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, also boasts a 4.0 GPA.
Skylar Semon (Women's Tennis)
Semon held positions in the top-two flights in both singles and doubles play for Union in her third season, finishing the year with 12 singles wins and 10 doubles victories to her credit while captaining Union to the most successful season in program history. The sociology major earned CSC Academic All-District honors for the second straight year and has a 3.98 GPA so far in her Union career.
Female Sophomore Athletic Prize
Presented to a sophomore female student-athlete for attitude, ability participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.
Maddie Greco (Field Hockey and Women's Lacrosse)
Greco had a record-setting season at forward for the field hockey team in the fall, leading the Liberty League in scoring with a program-record 20 goals and four assists for 44 points. She finished the 2024 season tied for 11th in Division III in goals and 17th in D-III in points, while both totals are the most by any Division III first-year or sophomore this season. She broke the school record of 18 goals set in 2006 by Jessica Trotter '07 and matched in 2013 by Nicole Merigliano '14, as well as the school record of 40 points set by Merigliano in 2013. In addition, she also played in 14 games for the women's lacrosse team in the spring, scoring two goals with two assists to go with 14 ground balls and 27 draw controls in the midfield.
Ashley Sheldon (Women's Soccer and Track & Field)
Sheldon earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the high jump during both the indoor and outdoor seasons as a sophomore and captured a conference title in the event with a mark of 1.67 meters at the Liberty League Championships that matched her own program record and qualified her for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, making her the first field athlete to represent the women's track & field team at multiple NCAA Championships. The sophomore also finished the season 16th regionally in the 100-meter hurdles this spring with a top time of 15.39 seconds at the RPI Capital District Classic. In addition to her time at the track, Sheldon also started all but one game on defense for the women's soccer team in the fall, recording one assist in 19 matches.
Harold R. Moore Sophomore Athletic Prize
Presented to a sophomore male student-athlete for attitude, ability participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.
Tanner Tedesco (Men's Basketball)
Tedesco was named to the D3hoops.com and NABC All-Region second team as well as the All-Liberty League first team after an excellent all-around season for the Garnet Chargers. He ranked third on the team by averaging 13.5 points per game and also grabbed 4.1 boards per outing, while leading the team and the Liberty League with 175 assists (6.5 apg). At the national level, Tedesco ranked third in Division III in assists per game, fourth in total assists and 37th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.33), while he ranked seventh in the country by playing an average of 36.5 minutes per game. His 175 assists this season also finished third on the school single-season list and are the most-ever by a Union sophomore.
Sophomore Scholar Athlete of the Year Award
Presented to a sophomore student-athlete for outstanding performance in the classroom, community and playing arena.
Maya Koster (Women's Soccer)
Koster was the backbone of the women's soccer defensive unit this season, posting a 0.67 goals against average and .873 save percentage to go with a 6-4-4 record and four shutouts as a sophomore. She ended the season tops in the Liberty League in save percentage and second in goals against average. Koster also boasts a 3.85 GPA as a pre-med student majoring in biology.
Jack Plesser (Men's Basketball)
Plesser had a breakout sophomore campaign for the Garnet Chargers, earning All-Liberty League second-team honors after averaging a team-best 17.3 points per game while also grabbing 5.9 boards per game and adding a team-leading 24 blocks. He ranked fourth in the Liberty League in scoring average and also finished top-three in both field-goal percentage (49.2 percent) and free-throw percentage (82.3 percent), while his 32.3 minutes per game ranked fourth among conference players. Plesser has a 3.9 GPA as an economics major.
Terry Lynch-Jackie Havercamp Cuttita Memorial Award
Presented to a first-year female athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.
Karianne Engelbert (Women's Hockey)
Engelbert was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team after an excellent first season in garnet, becoming just the program's second All-Conference honoree at the Division I level and first since 2008. The forward tied for second on the school's single-season goals list with 15 goals and added nine assists for 24 points, setting a new program D-I record for points by a rookie and tying for the rookie goals record as well. Her 15 goals also finished in a tie for third nationally among rookie goal scorers. She broke the school first-year points record with a pair of goals in Union's first-ever D-I postseason victory in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals against Brown University.
Iyene Essien (Women's Golf)
Essien was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Year after a record-setting season for Union, finishing with a program-record scoring average of 77.27 strokes per round, thanks to 10 of the team's 11 lowest rounds of the year. She started her collegiate career by shattering the school record with a two-under 70 at the St. Lawrence Fall Invitational and went on to card six of Union's top-14 rounds and five of the program's top-seven two-day scores ever. She finished top-five in seven of the team's eight events this season, including a pair of individual medalist honors at St. Lawrence and Saint Anselm, and earned All-Conference first-team honors with a third-place finish at the Liberty League Championships, the highest-ever finish by a Union competitor.
Freshman Athletic Prize
Presented to a first-year male athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.
Ben Muthersbaugh (Men's Hockey)
Muthersbaugh earned ECAC Hockey All-Rookie honors after an impactful first season on the ice, appearing in all 36 games and finishing tied for third in team scoring with 28 points on 13 goals and 15 assists. His goal and point totals both are the most by a Union rookie in over a decade since Mike Vecchione '17 in 2013-14. A Hockey Coaches Association Rookie of the Month in October, he finished in a three-way tie for third in ECAC Hockey scoring among rookies with 16 points (8-8-16) in league play and his eight goals in conference play tied him for second among first-year players.
Dylan Swarts (Baseball)
Swarts was named to the All-Liberty League third team after stepping right into the starting lineup as the only Garnet Charger to start all 40 games during his first collegiate season. The first-year hit .331 with 11 doubles, two triples, three homers, 26 RBIs and 34 runs scored on the year, tying for eighth on the school single-season list with 53 hits. He led the squad with 15 multi-hit games and reached base in a team-leading 36 outings, including 19 of the last 20. In addition to being the full-time shortstop, Swarts also eased his way onto the mound as the season progressed, going 3-0 with a 4.85 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 13.0 innings.
Freshman Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
Presented to a first-year student-athlete for outstanding performance in the classroom, community and playing arena.
Carra Cleaves (Softball)
Cleaves earned All-Liberty League honorable mention as a first-year, posting an 8-6 record with a 2.69 earned run average and 90 strikeouts in 101.2 innings of work. She finished the season second in the Liberty League in strikeouts and saves (2), third in innings pitched, sixth in opposing batting average (.257) and ninth in ERA. Her 90 strikeouts are 12th overall on Union's single-season list and the third-most in a season by a Union rookie, and her no-hitter against SUNY Potsdam was the program's first since 2015 and the first by a Union rookie since 2008.
In addition to the 15 athletics awards, several other Union Athletics members were honored on Tuesday:
- Head swimming & diving coach
Molly Chamberlain was named the Staff Volunteer of the Year
- Junior
Jonathan Anderson of the football team was one of three "Community Connector" Award winners and also won the "Perseverance as a Leader" Award
- Junior
Sydney Alphabet of the women's tennis team earned the "Sorority Member of the Year" Award.
- Senior
Gabby Baker of the women's track & field team earned the "Commitment to Diversity" Award, the Dru Alvez Prize, and the Student Affairs "True to our Name" Award
