Quackenbush, Baker take home top honors at annual athletics banquet

North Adams, MA- The MCLA Athletics department held their annual end of the year banquet last night in the Amsler Campus Center Gym.  The event was capped off by announcing Rachel Quackenbush (softball) as the Sue Getchell award winner, and Ryan Baker (men's soccer) capturing the Louis Parisien award. 

The Getchell and Parisien awards are given to the top scholar athlete within the department and are given on an annual basis.

Quackenbush has had a storied career in a Trailblazer uniform and her senior season is still ongoing as her squad will battle Westfield State on Thursday in the 2016 MASCAC Softball Championships.  The Hoosick Falls, NY native is the career leader in strikeouts (667) and ERA (1.70) at MCLA.  She has led her teams to a pair of appearances in the MASCAC Championship round and was the tournament's most valuable player in 2015 after leading the Trailblazers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in twenty years.

Baker also had an outstanding career for Men's Soccer.  He overcame adversity on many occasions after losing his first two seasons to injury.  Baker rebounded to become a captain in 2016 and was the catalyst of the defense.  He was also named the Men's Soccer MVP earlier in the program.

Other highlights of the night included Dr. Tim Jay, the department's faculty athletics representative, being named the recipient of the Steve Green Service Award for his contributions to Athletics.  Dr. Jay just wrapped up his tenth and final year serving as the school's FAR.

Here is a complete list of award winners from last night's event:

Highest Individual GPA-
Paige Fairman- Women's Soccer
Tyler Vona- Men's Soccer

Highest Team GPA-
Men's and Women's Cross Country

SAAC Blazing Trails Award-
Volleyball

Steve Green Service Award-
Dr. Tim Jay, Psychology

Team MVP's-
Women's Soccer- Kayla Lingel
Golf- Nick Young
Men's Soccer- Ryan Baker
Men's Cross Country- Chris Gamble
Women's Cross Country- Paige Herzog
Volleyball- Allison Clark
Men's Basketball- Paul Maurice
Women's Basketball- Kayla Hotaling
Women's Tennis- Emily Deaso
Lacrosse- Natalie Caney
Men's Tennis- Aaron Goldsmith
Baseball- Bill Pulasky
Softball- Michaela DiNicola

Best Individual Performance (Twitter Poll)-
Rachel Quackenbush No Hits Southern Vermont

Best Moment of the Year (Twitter Poll)-
Volleyball wins first ever MASCAC regular season championship

Freshman of the Year
Kate Berghela- Softball
Ki-Shawn Monroe- Men's Basketball

Sophomore of the Year-
Emily Deaso- Women's Tennis
Nick Young- Golf

Junior of the Year-
Allison Clark- Volleyball
Dakari Hannah-Wornum- Men's Basketball

Senior of the Year-
Alexi Anderson- Women's Soccer
Khalil Paul- Men's Basketball

Louis Parisien Award-
Ryan Baker- Men's Soccer

Sue Getchell Award-
Rachel Quackenbush- Softball