SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Union College Department of Athletics announced winners of its 2025-26 underclass awards on Tuesday evening at the annual Student Affairs Leadership Celebration, recognizing the achievements of 15 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 12 at noon at College Park Hall.

A full list of 2025-26 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.

Maddie Greco (Field Hockey/Women's Lacrosse)
Greco has been a key multi-sport contributor for both the field hockey and lacrosse teams this season. She had another record-setting season on the field hockey field, earning NFHCA All-America and Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. The three-time All-Region honoree scored 16 goals with eight assists for 40 points and set new school career records in both goals and points in her third year. The junior also was a top defensive midfielder for the women's lacrosse team, recording 28 ground balls and causing 16 turnovers for the Garnet Chargers, who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Ashley Sheldon (Women's Track & Field/Soccer)
Sheldon had another successful three-season campaign for Union with the track & field and soccer teams. She finished third in the country in the indoor high jump, earning USTFCCCA All-America first-team honors and posting the program's second-highest finish at an NCAA event. The Liberty League Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, she earned an AARTFC indoor championship and swept the indoor and outdoor Liberty League titles in the high jump, while also setting new school records in both high jumps, the indoor 60-meter hurdles and the outdoor 100-meter hurdles. The junior also was a starter on defense for the third straight season for the soccer team, appearing in 17 matches.
 
William A. Pike '60 Award
Presented to a junior male student-athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.

Tyler Dunbar (Men's Hockey)
Dunbar earned AHCA All-America second-team honors in his first season with Union, tallying 33 points on 12 goals and 21 assists while also leading the team with 56 blocked shots as one half of the team's top defensive pairing. The junior broke the program's single-season record for goals by a blueliner in 2025-26 and his 33 points ranked third in Division I among defensemen at the time Union's season finished. He was a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year award and earned four Defender of the Week awards in addition to All-League first-team recognition from ECAC Hockey over the course of the season. 
 
Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
Presented to a junior student-athlete for outstanding performance in the classroom, community and playing arena. 
 
Hannah Compa (Women's Lacrosse)
Compa was named to the IWLCA All-Region and All-Liberty League first-team as a junior, ranking seventh in Division III with a school-record 149 draw controls in her first season at the position, breaking the previous program standard that had stood for 20 years. The junior also scored 17 goals with three assists for 20 points in helping the Garnet Chargers to a spot in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Female Sophomore Athletic Prize
Presented to a sophomore female student-athlete for attitude, ability participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.

Karianne Engelbert (Women's Hockey)
Engelbert led Union in scoring as a sophomore with 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points, setting a new school Division I record for points in a season while also setting new marks for power-play goals both in a season (eight) and in a career (14). She had a power-play goal and an assist in Union's ECAC Hockey Tournament first-round upset of #12 Clarkson, just the program's second postseason victory, and already ranks fifth in goals, 10th in assists and seventh in points all-time in Union's Division I history.
 
Iyene Essien (Women's Golf)
Essien had another record-breaking season to lead the women's golf team as a sophomore, earning All-League honors for the second straight year and averaging a program-record 76.7 strokes per round. The sophomore recorded five of the program's six lowest rounds ever during the season and ended the year with four individual medalist honors and eight top-10 finishes in nine events, with the lone finish outside the top-10 coming with a tie for 16th against a Division I field.

Harold R. Moore Sophomore Athletic Prize
Presented to a sophomore male student-athlete for attitude, ability participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.

John Droggitis (Football)
Droggitis was an All-Liberty League first-team selection at linebacker in his sophomore season, leading the football team with 74 tackles and adding 4.5 tackles for loss, one interception and five pass breakups. He helped lead a defensive unit that allowed just 11 touchdowns en route to capturing a Liberty League championship title and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Jesus Sosa (Men's Tennis)
Sosa was a key performer at the top of the lineup for the men's tennis team as a sophomore, holding down the second-singles and first-doubles spots. He finished second on the team in wins on the way to All-Liberty League second-team singles honors and provided the clinching point in three key matches this season, including securing the program's first conference tournament win in over two decades with a second-singles victory over RIT.
 
Sophomore Scholar Athlete of the Year Award
Presented to a sophomore student-athlete for outstanding performance in the classroom, community and playing arena. 
 
Carra Cleaves (Softball)
Cleaves had another successful season in the circle for Union, earning All-Liberty League second-team honors. The sophomore went 9-10 with a 3.34 earned run average and 127 strikeouts in 128.0 innings of work, finishing with 14 complete games, two shutouts and a save. She finished the year leading the Liberty League in strikeouts and complete games, while also finishing second in wins, shutouts and innings pitched, and also finished third on Union's single-season strikeouts list.
 
Allie Kronenberg (Women's Volleyball)
Kronenberg was named to the All-Liberty League second team for the second straight season. She led the team and ranked third in the Liberty League with 1,020 assists (9.81/set), placing 11th on the school's single-season assists list and ranking fifth all-time in assists per set. She also put down 68 kills and 26 service aces while leading the team with 59 blocks and ranking third with 210 digs. The sophomore already ranks seventh in school history in assists (1,862) with two years still to go.

Terry Lynch-Jackie Havercamp Cuttita Memorial Award
Presented to a first-year female athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports. 
 
Megan Duplantie (Women's Hockey)
Duplantie had a record-setting rookie season with the women's hockey team, ranking third on the squad with 25 points on eight goals and 17 assists. Her 25 points are the most ever by a Union rookie and fourth by any player in the program's Division I era, while her assist total ranks first all-time among Union forwards and third overall in a D-I season for Union. She had a goal and an assist in Union's second-ever postseason victory, netting the game-winner in a 2-1 win over #12 Clarkson in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament.
 
Freshman Athletic Prize
Presented to a first-year male athlete for attitude, ability, participation and achievement in intercollegiate sports.

Troy Luley (Men's Swimming & Diving)
Luley was top performer in the pool for Union as a first-year, earning a pair of All-Liberty League second-team honors in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. A four-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week honoree, Luley was Union's high-scorer in seven of the team's 10 meets this season and finished the year with the second-best 100 breast and 200 breast times in program history.
 
Trey Rezendes III (Football)
Rezendes had an excellent rookie season with the football team despite playing most of the year one-handed. He started every game at cornerback and recorded three pass breakups and two interceptions, including the game-sealing pick against Hobart. He also had 15 tackles from the defensive backfield, including the game-saving tackle against RPI that clinched the Dutchman Shoes Trophy and a Liberty League championship.

Freshman Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award
Presented to a first-year student-athlete for outstanding performance in the classroom, community and playing arena.
 
Etienne Lessard (Men's Hockey)
Lessard formed one half of Union's top defensive pairing in his first season of collegiate hockey, scoring five goals with 19 assists for 24 points as the only Union first-year to play in all 37 games. His 24 points ranked second in ECAC Hockey among first-year blueliners and were the second-most by a Union rookie since 2007, helped by a four-assist effort against Clarkson that was just the eighth in the program's Division I era.
 
Emma Rhéaume (Women's Hockey)
Rheaume got her career off to a strong start in goal, starting 16 games and posting a .916 save percentage and 2.98 goals against average. A two-time ECAC Rookie of the Week and one-time Goalie of the Week, she recorded three shutouts to tie the school single-season record and also ranked sixth on the school single-season save percentage list. The first-year made 39 saves – including one acrobatic stop that made it onto SportsCenter – in Union's 2-1 upset of #12 Clarkson in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament.

In addition to the 15 athletics awards, several other Union Athletics members were honored on Tuesday:
- First-year Luke Salvadore of the football team was named one of two Kate Schurick Leadership Award winners.
- Junior Sam Rose of the softball team was named Orientation Leader of the Year.
- Junior Chris Kakos of the football team earned an award for Commitment to Religious and Spiritual Life.
- Junior George Ye of the football team was named Community Engagement Volunteer of the Year.
- Senior football players Guy Bellingrath, Connor Fusilli and Sammy Stewart all earned Commitment to STEP (Science and Technology Entry Program) Awards.
- Seniors Isaiah Russell (football) and Ellie Wintringer (softball) were given Community Engagement's "Community Connector" Award.
- Senior Melina McGovern of the women's crew team was one of three winners of the "U Inspire" Award for Peer Support and Peer Mentoring.
- Junior Emma Friedman of the women's crew team earned one of two "Charge Up Your Career" Awards from the Career Center.
- Led by seniors Ellie Wintringer and Elizabeth Werner of the softball team, women's athletics teams and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee were recognized as part of the Collaborative Event of the Year for National Girls and Women in Sports Day.