Rachiele and Garber named Athletes of the Year at Athletics Banquet
The 2023 MCLA Athletics Department Banquet was held last night
NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—The MCLA Athletics Department held their annual awards banquet Wednesday evening in the Amsler Campus Center. With nearly 200 people in attendance, student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and contributors were recognized for their performances and achievements over the past school year.
Headlining the evening were Austin Rachiele and Chloie Garber who took home Athlete of the Year honors.
Rachiele, who won last year's Louis Parisien award, has led the MCLA Baseball team this season with memorable performances and league-leading statistics. Currently, he leads the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with a .452 batting average as well as 13 home runs. The centerfielder will wrap up his season this weekend against Salem State.
Garber led the Trailblazers Volleyball team to a third-place regular-season finish and a first-round home play-off victory this past fall. Last year's MASCAC Rookie of the Year earned her second straight All-Conference honor landing on the First Team this past season. Garber led the league in kills per set with 3.32 and was second in total kills with 292. The right-side hitter also led the conference in service aces and finished sixth in digs.
Rachiele and Garber were also recognized as their team's Most Valuable Players as were Paul Roeder for Golf, Kristie Zator for Women's Cross-Country, David Babineau for Men's Cross-Country, Jillian Currier for Women's Soccer, Sam Edge for Men's Soccer, Zaylee Ramos for Women's Basketball, Noah Yearsley for Men's Basketball, Skyelyn Haynes for Women's Lacrosse, John Hankel for Men's Lacrosse, and Lidia Flores for Softball.
Volleyball and Men's Cross-Country earned the department's top team GPA awards while Sarah Tomczyk from Women's Soccer and Paolo Kareh from Men's Soccer were recipients of the Senior Academic Awards.
Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Ann Billetz was presented with the Steve Green Award which is annually given to the individual who has demonstrated continued support and allegiance to the intercollegiate program at the college.
Both the first- and second-year classes of Chi Alpha Sigma were also inducted.
2023 Athletics Award Recipients
Team MVP's
Golf- Paul Roeder
Volleyball- Chloie Garber
Men's Cross-Country- David Babineau
Women's Cross-Country- Kristie Zator
Men's Soccer- Same Edge
Women's Soccer- Jillian Currier
Men's Basketball- Noah Yearsley
Women's Basketball- Zaylee Ramos
Men's Lacrosse- John Hankel
Women's Lacrosse- Skyelyn Haynes
Baseball- Austin Rachiele
Softball- Lidia Flores
Chi Alpha Sigma Inductees
First Year
Tyler Cotting
Justina Pardi
Second Year
Claudia Bresett, Jillian Currier, Dylan Morris-Gray, Reece Racette, Alyssa Porter, Madison Teta, Sarah Tomczyk
Top GPA
Sarah Tomczyk and Paolo Kareh
Student Service Award
Rylan LeSage
Steve Green Award
Dr. Ann Billetz
Athletes of the Year
Austin Rachiele and Chloie Garber