Badio, Gover Take Home Top Honors at 2024 Athletics Banquet
NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—Hosted by Brigh Cote and Jaxen Potter, the MCLA Athletics Department held their annual awards banquet Tuesday evening in the Amsler Campus Center. With nearly 200 people in attendance, student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and contributors were recognized for their performances and achievements over the past academic year.
Headlining the evening were Anais Badio (Volleyball) and Mat Gover (Golf, Men's Ice Hockey) who took home the Sue Getchell and Louis Parisien Awards, respectively.
Badio led the Trailblazers Volleyball team to a third-place regular-season finish and a historic conference play-off run that culminated in an epic five-set final this past fall. The senior middle-hitter from Las Vegas led the team in kills, kills per set and hitting percentage and ranked in the top 5 in each of those categories in the league, to help earn her a spot on the MASCAC All-Conference First Team. Badio was also named to Fall and Winter MASCAC All-Academic Team
A dual student-athlete, Gover dominated the links taking home eight individual titles including the MASCAC Championship. He earned First Team All-Conference and was named as both Golfer and Rookie of the Year. The freshman from Atkinson, New Hampshire was equally impressive on the ice as the MCLA goaltender led the league in saves, was third in save percentage and was voted to the MASCAC All-Conference Second Team.
Badio and Gover (Golf) were also recognized as their team's Most Valuable Players as were Kristie Zator for Women's Cross-Country and Women's Basketball, Robert Wiltsie for Men's Cross-Country, Anna Lewis for Women's Soccer, Tyler Cotting for Men's Soccer, Cade Herrera for Men's Ice Hockey, Juliette Barney for Women's Ice Hockey, Quentin Gittens for Men's Basketball, Charlie Addessa for Men's Lacrosse, Sarah Williams for Softball and Clarence Givhans for Baseball.
Volleyball and Men's Ice Hockey earned the department's top team GPA awards while Ellie Walter-Goodspeed from Volleyball and Nathan Walerowicz from Men's Hockey were the recipients of the Senior Academic Awards.
Baseball senior and Voice of the Trailblazers Bobby Lane was presented with the Outstanding Student Service Award presented annually to the student employee or intern who performs their duties with passion and dedication and demonstrates a commitment to the success of the College's athletics department.
Both the first- and second-year classes of Chi Alpha Sigma were also inducted.
2024 Athletics Award Recipients
Team MVP's
Golf- Mat Gover
Volleyball- Anais Badio
Men's Cross-Country- Robert Wiltsie
Women's Cross-Country- Kristie Zator
Men's Soccer- Tyler Cotting
Women's Soccer- Anna Lewis
Men's Basketball- Quentin Gittens
Women's Basketball- Kristie Zator
Men's Lacrosse- Charlie Addessa
Baseball- Clarence Givhans
Softball- Sarah Williams
Chi Alpha Sigma Inductees
First Year Recipients
Juliette Barney
Allie Bayer
Colby Burleson
Emma Butler
Elizabeth Brown
Patrick Casagrande
Matthew Castillo
Ronan Connors
Brigh Cote
Matthew Damon
Liam Gibney
Christopher Vargas
Marcos Lopez
David Kankam
Kaylee Strayer
Connor Nagy
Ryan McDonald
Jaxen Potter
James Julian
Kristie Zator
Sarah Williams
Audrey Melson
Jacob Richardson
Elyjah Garneau
Chloie Garber
Second Year Recipients
Brady Hamal
Robert Wiltsie
Ryan Taylor
Ezmeralda Albright
Outstanding Student Service Award
Bobby Lane
Sue Getchell Award
Anais Badio
Louis Parisien Award
Mat Gover