Rachiele, Porter take home top honors at Athletics Annual Banquet
North Adams, MA- The MCLA Athletics Department held their annual awards banquet Tuesday evening in the Amsler Campus Center. Over 150 people attended the awards ceremony that featured awards for all programs. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Sue Getchell and Louis Parisien awards, given annually to the top scholar athletes for their performance on the fields and in the classroom. Baseball's Austin Rachiele was the 2022 recipient of the Parisien Award while Soccer's Alyssa Porter was honored with the Getchell Award.
The Getchell and the Parisien award are both deep in tradition. Many of the top athletes to ever play at MCLA were bestowed with these awards.
Rachiele has enjoyed a solid senior season at MCLA on the field. He is batting well over .300, has been named a captain, and leads the team in runs scored. In the classroom, he excels as Rachiele has been a constant member of the Deans List and MASCAC All Academic Teams. He will wrap up his regular season this weekend for head coach Mike Gladu.
Porter was a shining star on the pitch for head coach Deb Raber. She was named first team All MASCAC as a defender and helped anchor the MCLA back line. Porter also showcased her skills in the classroom. The senior is a member of the Deans List and MASCAC All Academic Teams as well.
While those two distinguished awards were the highlights, there were many other notable awards handed out. The honor of "Athlete of the Year" was awarded to Hayden Bird (Men's Basketball) and Reagan Scattergood (Volleyball).
Bird had a season to remember for head coach Derek Shell. Early in the season, he went off for a 38 point performance against Rivier. In that game, Bird drilled a school record 12 three point field goals. He nearly repeated the feat just one week later against Rutgers-Camden knocking down 11 more. For his efforts, he was named a second team All MASCAC player and ended the year second in scoring at 18 points per game. He also became the latest member of the 1,000 point club in a win over Bridgewater.
Scattergood continued her stellar play for head coach Amanda Beckwith. Scattergood was a first team All MASCAC choice and was versatile for the Trailblazers. She was second on the team in kills and digs, but led in aces. Scattergood's performance was highlighted by an 18 kill day in a win over Salem State. Scattergood ended the season with double digit kills in 17 of her teams 24 contests.
Other notable award winners of the evening included Volleyball's Chloie Garber and Men's Lacrosse's Nathan Haley taking home top Rookie honors for the department. Those two programs were once again represented when Men's Lacrosse player Micah Tassone and Volleyball's Kelsey LaFreniere were honored with the top GPA's within the department. The Steve Green Award went to faculty member Paul LeSage while the Outstanding Student Service Award was presented to Reagan Scattergood.
Team MVP's were also announced and can be viewed below. Both the first and second year classes of Chi Alpha Sigma were also inducted.
2022 Athletics Award Recipients
Team MVP's
Baseball- Randy Adams
Softball- Maddie Teta
Women's Lacrosse- Sara Tomkiewicz
Men's Lacrosse- Tom Irwin
Men's Basketball- Quentin Gittens
Women's Basketball- Brooke Digennaro
Women's Soccer- Alyssa Porter
Men's Soccer- Colin Rousseau
Women's Cross Country- Domenica Gomez
Men's Cross Country- David Babineau
Volleyball- Reagan Scattergood
Golf- Brett Norman
Chi Alpha Sigma Inductees
First Year
Jillian Currier, Dylan Morris-Gray, Haley Rode, Sarah Tomczyk
Second Year
Emily Burke, Wesley Call, Sophie Elser, Maddie Gibney, Paolo Kareh, Kelsey LaFreniere, Austin Rachiele, Natasha Stewart, Micah Tassone
Top GPA
Kelsey LaFreniere and Micah Tassone
Student Service Award
Reagan Scattergood
Steve Green Award
Paul LeSage
Rookies of the Year
Nathan Haley and Chloie Garber
Athletes of the Year
Hayden Bird and Reagan Scattergood
Sue Getchell Award
Alyssa Porter
Louis Parisien Award
Austin Rachiele