16th Annual 'Cuse Awards Recognizes Orange Success
The 16th annual ‘Cuse Awards celebrated the success of all Syracuse University student-athletes and Orange teams. The Syracuse Athletics Department honored the outstanding performances on the field of competition, in the classroom and in the community in the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center on Thursday, May 5th.
Seniors Meghan Root (soccer) and Kingsley Jonathan (football) earned the 2022 Soladay Awards, the highest honor presented annually to one female and one male student-athlete (senior or graduate student). The award, named in honor of long-time Syracuse athletics administrator Doris Soladay, is considered the most prestigious honor given to a student-athlete by the Department of Athletics. It recognizes accomplishments in athletic competition, academics, leadership and community engagement.
A member of the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District 1 Team, Root is a 2021 team captain and a public relations major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The three-year starter was named to the All-ACC Academic Team three times, the Syracuse Athletics Director’s Honor Roll every semester and earned the 2022 Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Award, which honors ACC students pursuing postgraduate studies based on academic performance, athletic distinction, and community involvement. A native of Arcade, New York, Root has interned with the Special Olympics and Syracuse University Athletic Communications Department. The forward recorded 21 points in her 59 careers games.
Jonathan, a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Board and three-time ACC Honor Roll selection, earned the 2020 Jim Tatum Award, one of the ACC’s highest honors for senior football student-athletes. A native of Baltimore, Md., he completed his degree in information management and technology, and is currently pursuing his Master’s in instructional design, development, and education. Jonathan served a two-year term on the NCAA Autonomy Board representing the ACC in voting on proposed NCAA rule changes. He earned All-ACC Academic Team honors three times and was also named a 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-American. In his 56-game career, Jonathan recorded 101 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. During his collegiate career, Jonathan was a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, the Witten Award and the Wuerffel Trophy.
The Soladay Award nominees included Najé Murray (basketball), Amanda Vestri (cross country), Claire Cooke (field hockey), Abby Moloughney (ice hockey), Emily Hawryschuk (lacrosse), Emma Gossman (rowing), Neli Casares-Maher (softball), Sofya Treshcheva (tennis) and Annie Boos (track and field) from the women’s teams, and Jimmy Boeheim (basketball), Joseph Dragon (cross country), Brendan Curry (lacrosse), Max Kent (soccer), Maduakolam Onyewu (spirit) and JP Trojan (track and field) for the men’s teams.
Orange volleyball student-athlete Naomi Franco earned the Syracuse Eight Courage Award, an honor bestowed upon an individual who has overcome a disadvantaged background, a serious injury, or has demonstrated uncommon bravery or highly principled behavior in the face of adversity. A month after signing her National Letter of Intent to attend Syracuse in November of 2019, Franco was on her way to club practice when she suffered a brain hemorrhage that required emergency surgery. For weeks, Naomi and her family resided in Egleston Hospital as she worked hard towards her recovery, promising then-Orange head coach Leonid Yelin that she would be back. In September 2020, Franco made her collegiate debut against Pittsburgh and was a regular in the Orange lineup for the past two seasons. She is pursuing an undergraduate degree in compute art and animation in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
The Orange ice hockey team won the 2021-22 Women’s Team of the Year after recording the most successful season in program history. Syracuse won the program’s first College Hockey America regular season title and the CHA tournament title for the second time and advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinal. The Orange also won the 2022 Battle at the Burgh and celebrated the program’s 200th victory. Head coach Paul Flanagan, who started the Orange program in 2008-09 and coached Syracuse for all 14 seasons, earned the CHA Coach of the Year Award in his final season before retiring.
Syracuse’s men’s rowing team earned the Men’s Team of the Year award. In the 2022, the sixth-ranked Orange have won three of four cup races with victories against #9 Stanford, #11 Navy, #14 Cornell, #14 Boston University, and #18 Oregon State. Most recently, the Orange claimed the Conlan Cup for the first time since 2017 with a win against Boston University. The team will race at Eastern Sprints on May 15th.
For the second consecutive year lacrosse student-athlete Meaghan Tyrrell earned Female Athlete of the Year. The senior from Mt. Sinai, N.Y. leads the team in goals, assists, points, shots on goal, and game winning goals. Tyrrell became the 11th player in program history to record her 200th career point in the victory against Stanford.
Running back Sean Tucker won the Male Athlete of the Year after shattering Syracuse’s single-season rushing record (1,496) and becoming only the 25th player in program history to rush for more than 2,000 career yards. Tucker scored 12 rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns. The sophomore from Owings Mills, Md. competed for the track and field team as a sprinter after his All-American football season.
Sarah Marchand and Darian Chestnut earned Female and Male Rookie of the Year honors, respectively. Marchand, a three-time CHA Rookie of the Week, was instrumental in the ice hockey team’s historic season. She recorded 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) and 14 blocks. The CHA All-Rookie Team selection had seven multi-point games and scored a goal in the CHA Tournament championship win against Mercyhurst.
A freshman All-American, Chestnut was the runner-up for the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned All-ACC honors. He led the Orange with three interceptions. He joins Andre Cisco (2018) and Markus Paul (1985) as only the third true freshman defensive back to earn a starting job after training camp in the last 40 years.
Men’s rowing coach Dave Reischman earned Coach of the Year honors for the second year in a row and the team earned 2021-22 Team of the Year accolades. In his 16-year Syracuse tenure, Reischman has directed the Orange to top 20 rankings for 97 consecutive polls. The sixth-ranked Orange had a strong opening weekend at the Pac-12 Invitational, earning wins against #9 Stanford and #18 Oregon State. In addition, Syracuse has wins against #11 Navy, #14 Cornell and #14 Boston University. The team won three of its four cup races this spring.
Lacrosse coach Kayla Treanor won the Coach of the Year for Orange women’s teams. The fifth-ranked Orange beat seven top-25 teams this season and will find out their NCAA Tournament seed on May 8th.
Amanda Vestri (track & field) and Sean Tucker (football) earned the Female and Male Performance of the Year awards. Vestri won the NCAA Northeast Regional, beating the field by 23 seconds, to lead ‘Cuse to an automatic NCAA Championship berth. Shattering records across the board, Tucker ran for 207 yards on 26 carries against Boston College, achieving the ninth-most yards in a game in program history. Syracuse scored 21 unanswered points and Tucker’s ground attack contributed to the defeat of longtime rival Boston College in the Dome.
The Orange field hockey team earned the Game of the Year Award for its 4-1 win against #4 Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Orange held a 1-0 lead at halftime and then dominated the second half scoring three goals for the 4-1 win to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2016.
Lacrosse student-athlete Tucker Dordevic earned the ‘Cuse Award for Play of the Year for scoring a goal on his twisting between the legs shot in transition to give the Orange a 12-10 lead in the fourth quarter against Duke. The play went viral on social media and was named SportsCenter’s No. 1 play.
The Syracuse women’s cross country and men’s soccer teams garnered the Team GPA awards. Five student-athletes, including Jenna Tivnan (soccer), Jimmy Boeheim (basketball), Samantha McKenna (lacrosse), Bearrett Tarris (track & field) and Yuliia Yastrub (volleyball) earned ‘Cuse Scholar awards for their perfect 4.0 grade point averages.
The Team Scholars, recognizing the highest GPA on the team, included Lucas Daunhauer (soccer), Yastrub (volleyball), Tivnan (soccer), Clara Morrison (field hockey), Jack Whetstone (cross country), Laura Dickinson (cross country), Sam Warren (football), Sarah Thompson (ice hockey), Boeheim (basketball), Alaysia Styles (basketball), Aphrodite Gioulekas (rowing), Arnaud Buard (rowing), Brett Kennedy (lacrosse), McKenna (lacrosse), Alexander Segarra (track & field), Tarris (track & field), Sofya Treshcheva (tennis) and Shayla Walsh (cheer).
Six student-athletes earned ACC Service Awards, including Aaron Bolinsky (football), Luisa Gathmann (rowing), Elena Karakasi (volleyball), Joey Kelly (football), McKenna (lacrosse) and Emily Nugent (cross country).
The following individuals won their team ‘Cuse Award as a standout performer and teammate, as voted on by the coaches and/or teammates.
Men’s Basketball Buddy Boeheim
Women’s Basketball Teisha Hyman
Cheer Nadia Deas
Men’s Cross Country Joe Dragon
Women’s Cross Country Amanda Vestri
Dance Daphne Lymberopoulos
Field Hockey Carolin Hoffmann
Football Sean Tucker
Ice Hockey Jessica DiGirolamo
Men’s Lacrosse Brendan Curry
Women’s Lacrosse Sam Swart
Men’s Rowing Ryan Elsinga
Women’s Rowing Katharine Ryan
Men’s Soccer Deandre Kerr
Women’s Soccer Meghan Root
Softball Neli Casares-Maher
Tennis Ines Fonte
Women’s Track Kahniya James
Men’s Track Nathan Henderson
Volleyball Elena Karakasi
