MILTON, Mass. – Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Curry College Athletic Department held its annual athletic awards event a little differently. Instead of an in-person event as in years past, on Thursday, May 21 the department held a virtual end-of-year awards show. The program began with a video celebrating all the nominees and award winners, which is be available on some Curry Athletics social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) and includes six categories. The winners of each award are listed below:
Colonel Pride Award (Student-Athletes)
This award goes to the senior athlete who best exemplifies the ideals of Colonel Pride. Not necessarily based on talent, the award is given to one who displays good sportsmanship, coachability, an excellent work ethic, and embodies pride in all he/she does. The coaching staff makes this selection.
Caroline Johnson (Milton, Mass.) – Softball
Johnson has been an active member of the softball program for all four years. She served as one of the team captains this past season and provided great leadership throughout the fall and this spring until the season was halted. Johnson works very hard at improving herself and is an inspiration to other student-athletes. Caroline has been an active member of Curry's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and served as the President of this organization during her senior year and the Vice President as a junior. She represented the College at conference SAAC meetings. She has also worked hard to organize and promote many on campus SAAC-sponsored events, including the first-ever Colonel Fest last April, which brought together the College community.
Johnson played in 66 games over her four-year career, including nine of the 10 games in the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season. She finished her career batting .203 with 18 RBI and 24 putouts. Additionally, Johnson collected 25 hits and 13 runs scored.
Shea Mathews (Concord, N.H.) – Women's Volleyball
Mathews has been an excellent asset to the program. She has helped with building the program by helping recruit student-athletes that have great character on and off the court.
Mathews, a team captain, was the only student-athlete to appear in all 26 matches for the volleyball team this season. Shea was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Libero of the Week on September 16 and was named the CCC Co-Scholar Athlete for volleyball at the end of the season. She earned a spot on the CCC Academic All-Conference Team in all three years in which she was eligible and finished her career with the second-most service aces in Curry volleyball history.
Colonel Pride Award (Supporter)
This award goes to a member of the College community: student, staff, faculty, or friend of Colonel Athletics for their support and dedication to the Curry student-athletes. This selection is made by the coaching staff.
Maria Sancinito '06 – Alumna
Even before graduating as a member of the Curry College Class of 2006, Maria was a huge asset to the Athletic Department and has been ever since. During our spring athletic seasons, she keeps stats for the softball team and in winter, inputs stats for both men's and women's basketball. We are extremely appreciative for the work Maria does and her support makes the world of a difference.
Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award
This award goes to the male athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of a scholar and athlete. The recipient must be of junior or senior academic standing and have a minimum GPA of 3.0. The coaching staff will make the selection and, normally the individual selected will be an All-Conference player.
Jordan Williamson (Okotoks, Alberta) – Men's Ice Hockey – 3.94 GPA
This season, Curry hockey had four assistant captains, which means Curry has had exactly 100 captains and assistants over its 46-year history. So it was only fitting that the captain of this year's team was Williamson. Jordan played in all 26 games for the second time in his career, just one year after missing over half the season due to injury. Williamson finished his career with 14 goals and 39 points and has appeared on the CCC Academic All-Conference Team in both years he was eligible, with the opportunity to make it three in a row next month.
Female Scholar Athlete of the Year Award
This award goes to the female athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of a scholar and athlete. The recipient must be of junior or senior academic standing and have a minimum GPA of 3.0. The coaching staff will make the selection and, normally the individual selected will be an All-Conference player.
Courtney Lima (New Bedford, Mass.) – Women's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer – 3.94 GPA
As a two-sport athlete, Lima appeared in 118 games or matches in her career. She was just one of seven multi-sport student-athletes at Curry this year, but only three appeared in at least one game for both of their teams. Courtney was the only senior to do so. Also, Lima served as a team captain in both women's lacrosse and women's soccer teams this season. She was the only multi-sport student-athlete to appear in at least 85% of both of her team's games, playing in all but two contests. Courtney held the highest term GPA in the fall among multi-sport student-athletes and also holds the highest career GPA.
Male Athlete of the Year
This award goes to the senior male athlete who displays the highest athletic performance throughout their Curry career. The selection will be made by the coaching staff and, normally the individual selected will be an All-Conference player.
Hunter Atwood (Reading, Mass.) – Football
Atwood finished his career with 12.5 sacks, 34 tackles for loss, and 157 total tackles. In Curry football history, he has the third-most sack yards in a career and this year turned in the most tackles for loss in a single season with 12. This fall, Atwood was named to the CCC Football All-Conference First Team Defense for the second straight season. Additionally, he was selected as the Co-Defensive Lineman of the Year after leading the league in both sacks and sack yardage.
Female Athlete of the Year
This award goes to the senior female athlete who displays the highest athletic performance throughout their Curry career. The selection will be made by the coaching staff and, normally the individual selected will be an All-Conference player.
Abby Dubel (Wolfeboro, N.H.) – Women's Lacrosse
Dubel finished her career with 105 goals, 140 caused turnovers, 221 draw controls, and 223 ground balls, all in just 54 games. She is in the top ten in Curry women's lacrosse history in 17 different categories, including the third-most career draw controls and the fourth-most career ground balls. Dubel earned a spot on the CCC All-Conference Third Team in each of her first two seasons, before landing on the Second Team last year, as well as earning a spot on the Academic All-Conference Team.
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