Badio, Gover Take Home Top Honors at 2024 Athletics Banquet

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—Hosted by Brigh Cote and Jaxen Potter, the MCLA Athletics Department held their annual awards banquet Tuesday 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 academic year.

Headlining the evening were Anais Badio (Volleyball) and Mat Gover (Golf, Men's Ice Hockey) who took home the Sue Getchell and Louis Parisien Awards, respectively.

Badio led the Trailblazers Volleyball team to a third-place regular-season finish and a historic conference play-off run that culminated in an epic five-set final this past fall. The senior middle-hitter from Las Vegas led the team in kills, kills per set and hitting percentage and ranked in the top 5 in each of those categories in the league, to help earn her a spot on the MASCAC All-Conference First Team. Badio was also named to Fall and Winter MASCAC All-Academic Team

A dual student-athlete, Gover dominated the links taking home eight individual titles including the MASCAC Championship. He earned First Team All-Conference and was named as both Golfer and Rookie of the Year. The freshman from Atkinson, New Hampshire was equally impressive on the ice as the MCLA goaltender led the league in saves, was third in save percentage and was voted to the MASCAC All-Conference Second Team.

Badio and Gover (Golf) were also recognized as their team's Most Valuable Players as were Kristie Zator for Women's Cross-Country and Women's Basketball, Robert Wiltsie for Men's Cross-Country, Anna Lewis for Women's Soccer, Tyler Cotting for Men's Soccer, Cade Herrera for Men's Ice Hockey, Juliette Barney for Women's Ice Hockey, Quentin Gittens for Men's Basketball, Charlie Addessa for Men's Lacrosse, Sarah Williams for Softball and Clarence Givhans for Baseball.

Volleyball and Men's Ice Hockey earned the department's top team GPA awards while Ellie Walter-Goodspeed from Volleyball and Nathan Walerowicz from Men's Hockey were the recipients of the Senior Academic Awards.

Baseball senior and Voice of the Trailblazers Bobby Lane was presented with the Outstanding Student Service Award presented annually to the student employee or intern who performs their duties with passion and dedication and demonstrates a commitment to the success of the College's athletics department.

Both the first- and second-year classes of Chi Alpha Sigma were also inducted.

2024 Athletics Award Recipients

Team MVP's

Golf- Mat Gover

Volleyball- Anais Badio

Men's Cross-Country- Robert Wiltsie

Women's Cross-Country- Kristie Zator

Men's Soccer- Tyler Cotting

Women's Soccer- Anna Lewis

Men's Ice Hockey - Cade Herrera

Women's Ice Hockey - Juliette Barney

Men's Basketball- Quentin Gittens

Women's Basketball- Kristie Zator

Men's Lacrosse- Charlie Addessa

Baseball- Clarence Givhans

Softball- Sarah Williams

Chi Alpha Sigma Inductees

First Year Recipients

Juliette Barney ​

Allie Bayer ​

Colby Burleson​

Emma Butler ​

Elizabeth Brown​

Patrick Casagrande​

Matthew Castillo ​

Ronan Connors ​

Brigh Cote​

Matthew Damon​

Liam Gibney ​

Christopher Vargas ​

Marcos Lopez ​

David Kankam​

Kaylee Strayer ​

Connor Nagy​

Nathan Walerowicz​

Ryan McDonald ​

Jaxen Potter ​

James Julian ​

Kristie Zator ​

Sarah Williams ​

Audrey Melson​

Jacob Richardson​

Elyjah Garneau​

Chloie Garber

Second Year Recipients

Brady Hamal ​

Robert Wiltsie ​

Ryan Taylor ​

Ezmeralda Albright

Outstanding Student Service Award

Bobby Lane

Sue Getchell Award

Anais Badio

Louis Parisien Award

Mat Gover