FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2014
Winners to be honored at Northeast-10 yearend banquet
SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – The
Northeast-10 Conference office is pleased and excited to announce
the three finalists for its annual Man and Woman of the Year
Awards, which will be presented to the respective winners at the
league’s yearend banquet on Monday, June 2 in Burlington,
Vt.
The three finalists for the 2014 Northeast-10 Man of the Year
Award are Assumption College’s Michael Bates (football), Le
Moyne College’s Patrick Wiese (baseball) and The
College of Saint Rose’s Dominykas Milka (basketball).
The Woman of the Year finalists are Adelphi University’s
Devan Crimi (lacrosse), Bentley
University’s Lauren Battista (basketball) and
Stonehill College’s Devin Ingersoll (field
hockey).
Bates, a team captain for the Greyhounds football team last
season, has a 3.50 GPA as an Accounting major and was named the
2014 Rev. Armand Desautels Award winner, given annually to
Assumption’s Premier Senior Student-Athlete. A former
Northeast-10 Sport Excellence Winner and three-time Academic
All-Conference honoree, he has been a Northeast-10 All-Conference
selection the past three seasons as well, including a 2013 First
Team choice at defensive back. The Holden, Mass. native totaled 96
tackles, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and three interceptions last
fall.
Off the field, Bates initiated the program’s involvement
with Team IMPACT, as the Greyhounds welcomed a young
boy named Yan into its football family over two years ago.
Bates has also volunteered his time at the Chaffins Recreation
Association in his hometown and has served as a lead mentor in the
Mentors in Violence Program.
“My determination to always find time to help out those in
need has taught me the values of perseverance and
self-sacrifice,” says Bates. “I have learned how to
overcome challenges and I treasure my countless friendships on my
team, in the class, or even the one with the little six-year-old
boy [Yan] battling tumors. I have always taken the initiative to be
the best I can be in this world and to get the most out of it. It
is the way my parents raised me and I am forever
grateful.”
Wiese, a 2013 Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team selection
after hitting .333 with 39 runs and 27 stolen bases as a junior,
carries a 3.49 GPA as a Communications major. The Fayetteville,
N.Y. native and two-year team captain has also served on the Le
Moyne Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during his four
years with the Dolphins.
Wiese, who was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma cancer last summer at
age 21, is the founder of the Patrick Wiese
Organization, which has raised over $25,000 for cancer research
and to help support cancer patients and their families.
“As a result of my diagnosis, I have not only walked a path
few young people take, but I have established the foundation to
support children and their families with similar diagnoses,”
says Wiese. “Being able to continue my education, and
completing my senior year mostly from a hospital bed, has inspired
me to offer financial, emotional and academic support to other
students in an attempt to maintain 'normalcy' and the mental
competitiveness necessary to beat their disease. I have had the
opportunity and the responsibility to set an example of living my
life in service of others.”
Milka, who is from Ridgewood, N.Y. and is a Lithuania native, is
an Accounting major with a 3.65 GPA at Saint Rose. On the court,
the Golden Knights big man has averaged 19.1 points and 12.0
rebounds combined the past two years, earning Northeast-10 First
Team honors both seasons. He was also spotlighted in a 'I am the
Northeast-10' video segment this past March.
In the classroom, Milka is a two-time Capital One Academic
All-America honoree, and has also amassed a number of achievements
in the community. He has volunteered his time with Charity
Wheelchair Basketball games, patient visits to Roosevelt Island
Hospital and the Albany Country Regional Food Bank, among
others.
“I was a boy in a small town in Lithuania that loved
basketball, and by being a hard-working athlete I got to live an
immigrant’s dream in America,” says Milka. “Over
four years at Saint Rose, I became aware that if you really want to
be a good leader, you have to always give back to the community. My
service experiences have given me a chance to realize that you
cannot take anything in life for granted. I believe you have to
appreciate all of your blessings because not everyone has what you
may have.”
Among the Woman of the Year finalists, Crimi is a two-time NCAA
Division II national champion with the Panthers and has a 3.69 GPA
as a Business Management major, with a specialization in marketing.
On the field, the team captain has garnered Northeast-10 First Team
laurels each of the last three seasons and was named the 2014
Northeast-10 Player of the Year.
The West Islip, N.Y. native totaled 248 goals and 132 assists for
380 points in her four years with the Panthers, and also earned
Capital One Academic All-District recognition in 2013 and 2014. In
the community, Crimi has been involved with Cans for Cancer, PAL
clinics and numerous lacrosse camps.
“While all have been important aspects of my life, I used to
think academics, athletics and community service were not
interrelated,” says Crimi. “I studied during the day,
strived to be the best on the field during the afternoon, then
scurried off to lacrosse clinics at night to help spread knowledge
of the game to youth leagues. But recently I realized by combining
all three, I found a career path I was destined to follow, as in
the last few months I have started my own company that will help
aid me in spreading the knowledge of lacrosse to youths across the
country. It is a true result of the leadership I have learned from
my community, lacrosse team, and education that Adelphi University
had to offer me.”
A two-year team captain for Bentley, Battista was named the 2014
Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association (WBCA) Player
of the Year en route to leading the Falcons to the NCAA Division II
national championship and a perfect 35-0 record this past winter.
The North Easton, Mass. native has a stellar 3.95 GPA as a
Marketing & Liberal Studies major and has received Capital One
Academic All-America honors for three straight years. In the
community, Battista has volunteered her time with Team IMPACT,
Habitat for Humanity and SAAC.
A two-time Northeast-10 Player of the Year (2012, 2014), Battista
helped Bentley advance to the Elite Eight as a freshman, the Final
Four as a sophomore and the regional title game as a junior before
this season’s national title run. The Falcons went 124-11
(.919) over her four years, as she averaged 15.6 points, 6.5
rebounds and shot 54.3 percent for her career. Bentley also won the
Northeast-10 Championship all four seasons Battista donned the
uniform, as she was also named the championship's Most Outstanding
Player all four years – a feat that had never been done
before in conference history.
“Since my team’s national championship victory, I have
been approached by aspiring athletes, fellow students, faculty,
alumni, and other fans who have showered me with praise and
admiration for being a positive role model and ambassador for
women’s college athletics. My roles as a scholar and as an
athlete have defined critical components of my character, but my
experience giving back to others has had the biggest influence on
the person I am today. Through my work with Team IMPACT, I have
been able to foster a relationship with a young girl battling
leukemia and her family. Her optimism and strength inspire me
daily. The experience has taught me to be grateful for everything I
have been blessed with in life and that no challenge is too big to
overcome.”
Ingersoll, a team captain, has a 3.84 GPA as an Environmental
Science major at Stonehill. She was a Northeast-10 First Team
selection and an NFHCA All-America Second Team choice each of the
last two years, having totaled 17 goals and 12 assists for 46
points over that span for the Skyhawks.
A two-time Capital One Academic All-District selection, the
Londonderry, N.H. native was Stonehill’s top Environmental Science major among 2014
graduating seniors and was a 2014 Vice President Student Life Award
recipient. Her efforts off the field have included serving as
a founding member and Co-President of Food Truth, a Green Executive Council member and
a Stonehill Reunion Student Aid worker.
“As I enter the next chapter of my life I reflect on the
experiences that have made me the well-rounded, confident woman I
am today,” says Ingersoll. “Early on in my college
career, I became a frequent volunteer at the Farm at Stonehill, an
organic farm that donates all produce grown. Volunteering fueled my
passion for creating a sustainable food system at Stonehill and
beyond. But in realizing it is not enough to end hunger and food
injustices effectively, our organization gathered support from
students and staff for the administration to sign a commitment to
sustainably source 20% of our food purchases by 2020. As the 22nd
institution nationwide to do so, the campaign exceeded my
expectations and showed me how passion and perseverance can change
the community for the better.”
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division
II colleges and universities located in New England and New York
that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic
opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year,
4,000 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships
in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the
country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the
classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10
is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it
provides student-athletes.
– #NE10 –