Stonehill Holds Student-Athlete Awards Ceremony

Martin and Foltz named Fr. Gartland Student-Athlete Award recipients
Barbetta and Bellio selected as Martin Scholar-Athlete Award winners
Westerlind and Vinacco receive Fr. McCarthy Leadership Awards
Malia posthumously receives McDonough Spirit Award

EASTON, Mass. (May 7, 2018) – The Stonehill College athletic department held its end of the year Student-Athlete Awards Ceremony, presented by title sponsor Northwestern Mutual, at the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex last week. The athletic department issued its annual senior student-athlete awards, while also presenting underclassmen honors and team recognition for community service. 


Barbetta & Bellio receive Martin Scholar-Athlete Awards (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto)

2018 Edward E. Martin Scholar-Athlete Awards

The Edward E. Martin Scholar-Athlete award is presented annually to senior student-athletes who have combined academic success, with a minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average, with athletic achievement. This year's recipients were seniors Victoria Barbetta (Wesley Chapel, Florida/Saddlebrook Prep (Fla.)) from the women's tennis program and Thomas Bellio (Saint Joseph, Michigan/Saint Joseph) from the men's tennis program.

Barbetta Video Testimonial

Barbetta, a marketing major with a 3.63 cumulative grade point average at Stonehill, has been a key member of a women's tennis program that has reached the NCAA Tournament all four years of her career, winning the NE10 Tournament title her freshman year and back-to-back NE10 Regular Season Championships as a junior and senior. She has earned NE10 Academic All-Conference honors, is a Dean's List student all seven semesters and been named to both the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester to date as well. Barbetta received the Division II Athletic Director's Association (D2ADA) Academic Achievement Award and been named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete twice.

Barbetta is a two-time All-NE10 performer, finishing her career with a combined record of 108-61 in singles and doubles over her career, including 65-23 in NE10 play, seeing time at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles as a senior and No. 2 and 3 singles, as well as No. 1 doubles over the course of her career. She helped lead the Skyhawks to their first national ranking since 2011, with a current rank of No. 44 in the Oracle/ITA national rankings, and combined with freshman Isabelle Porter (Jupiter, Florida/William T. Dwyer) to reach the semifinals of the USTA/ITA East Regional – marking the deepest ITA regional run in program history. The two-year captain is a Dean's Scholarship recipient at the College and earned a Certificate of Fashion Business at University of Arts in London's College of Fashion during the summer of 2015 after being accepted to program despite Stonehill not having a fashion major.

Bellio Video Testimonial

Bellio, a neuroscience major with a 3.83 cumulative grade point average while enrolled in the Moreau Honors program at Stonehill, has competed at No. 1 singles and doubles his entire Stonehill career, leading the Skyhawks to three NE10 Tournament appearances over that time. He has earned CoSIDA Academic All-District I honors and is a two-time NE10 Academic All-Conference selection, receiving the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award three times and is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete. Bellio has been named to the Dean's List, NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll all seven semesters to date and is a member of Nu Rho Psi National Honor Society. He was recently named the Stonehill neuroscience program's "Student of the Year" and is scheduled to have two published works over the next two years.

Bellio reached the finals of the USTA/ITA East Regional B-Doubles bracket as a freshman and has earned All-NE10 honors at No. 1 doubles over the course of his career. The eight-time NE10 Player of the Week earned a spot on the NE10 All-Rookie Team as a freshman, when he also collected five NE10 Rookie of the Week awards, and finished his career with a combined singles and doubles record of 88-54, including 56-38 in doubles play. The two-year captain was a member of Stonehill's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and participated in the College's Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, working with Professor John McCoy on the "Role of Glumatargic Neurons of the Basal Forebrain." Bellio was accepted into the Gould Summer Scholars program at the College and into Stonehill's most selective study aboard program at DIS Copenhagen, where he studied at Roskilde University Hospital under Denmark's leading neurologist, Dr. Troels Wesenberg Kjaer. Upon graduation at Stonehill, he has been accepted a full Doctoral scholarship to attend Boston University School of Neurology, where he will study in BU's world-renowned Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center. 


Martin & Foltz receive Gartland Senior Student-Athlete Awards (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto)

2018 Fr. William Gartland, C.S.C., Awards

The Father William Gartland Award is presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete who have achieved excellence on the playing field over the course of their career. The award winners are recognized based on athletic accomplishments, citizenship, character, and personality. This year's Fr. Gartland Award recipients are seniors Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) from the women's basketball program and Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pennsylvania/The Hill School) from the football program.

Martin Video Testimonial

Martin capped an impressive four-year playing career at Stonehill, leading the women's basketball program to its first NCAA Regional Championship in 23 years and its third trip to the NCAA II Elite Eight, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this winter. She earned a spot on three All-America squads for her efforts, being named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Coaches' All-America team, the Women's Division II Bulletin All-America second team and D2CCA All-America third team. The D2CCA East Region and Northeast-10 Player of the Year was the only player in the NE10 to rank among the top 12 in the NE10 for scoring, rebounding and assists, leading the Skyhawks with 16.6 points and 5.0 assists, while ranking second on the team with her 7.4 rebounds per game, adding 1.1 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. She finished second in the NE10 for assists, assist/turnover ratio (+2.3/gm) and free-throw percentage (.854), ranking fourth in scoring and 12th in rebounding. Martin was also recently named to the NE10 Academic All-Conference team for the first time in her career.

The three-time All-NE10 selection earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the East Regional in March, leading Stonehill to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1995. Martin started 91 of 107 games played over her collegiate career at Stonehill. She became the 30th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points against LIU Post on November 25 and finished her career ranked 11th in program history with her 1,486 career points. Martin's 13.9 points per game scoring average over her career ranks ninth all-time in program history, while also ranking third for career minutes per game (31.7), fourth in career free-throw percentage (.835), sixth with 399 made free-throws, eighth with 515 defensive rebounds, ninth with 145 three-pointers and tenth with 448 assists.

Foltz Video Testimonial

Foltz enjoyed a record-breaking career with the Stonehill football program. The two-year captain and four-year starting quarterback was a four-time NE10 Offensive Player of the Week over his career, including once in 2017, and is the first in program history to earn the Division II/III Gold Helmet Award from the New England Football Writers on two occasions. Foltz has also performed in the classroom as an economics major with a 3.73 cumulative grade point average, he has been named to the Omicron Delta Epsilon honor society, was a National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist and a three-time NE10 Academic All-Conference selection. He has earned Dean's List status all seven semesters to date, has served as a Teaching Assistant in the Economics Department at Stonehill and completed a summer internship as a tutor at Harvard University's summer school academic tutoring program for micro and macroeconomics courses.

On the field, Foltz is the first quarterback in program history to pass for over 2,000 yards three seasons, including a school-record 2,468 yards as a senior, and the first to throw for over 7,000 career yards, finishing with a school-record 7,310 yards – good for 15th all-time in NE10 history. He posted a school-record 666 completions, finishing with a program-record 61.8% completion percentage, while his 60 career touchdowns rank second all-time and ranks 12th in NE10 history. Additionally, Foltz finished seventh in program history with 14 career rushing touchdowns and is one of two all-time to post a pair of 20-plus touchdown seasons. He owns the top two passing games in program history and the only two 400-yard games, passing for a record 421 yards and program-record matching six touchdowns in comeback win at LIU Post his sophomore year. 


Vinacco & Westerlind receive McCarthy Leadership Awards (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto)

2018 Fr. John McCarthy, C.S.C., Leadership Awards

The Father John McCarthy, C.S.C., Leadership Awards are presented annually in memory of one of Stonehill's most beloved figures to one senior male and female student-athlete in good academic standing and citizenship on the basis of their exemplary leadership attributes. This year's honorees are seniors Abigail Westerlind (Auburn, Massachusetts/Auburn) from the equestrian program and Kenny Vinacco (Scituate, Rhode Island/Scituate) from the men's cross country and track & field programs.

Westerlind Video Testimonial

Westerlind served as captain of the equestrian program as a senior, while also serving as chairperson of Stonehill's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She is a two-time Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 1, Region 4 Championships qualifier, placing seventh for novice equitation on the flat this spring. Westerlind placed in all seven shows for novice flat during her senior season, earning four second place ribbons and a pair of third place ribbons. She has collected five blue ribbons for first place shows over her career. Westerlind is a member of the Edwin H. Sutherland honor society as a criminology major at the College.

Vinacco Video Testimonial

Vinacco captained Stonehill's men's cross country and track & field programs during his senior year. He led the Skyhawks to an undefeated cross country season leading up to the NCAA Division II Championships where they placed 16th for their highest finish at nationals since 2006. Stonehill won the New England Championship for the first time in program history, captured its ninth NE10 Championship with its first title since 2013, and its fourth East Regional Championship to earn a trip to the NCAA National Championships for the 15th-straight year. The men's track & field program posted third place team finishes at both the NE10 indoor and outdoor championships, with Vinacco earning All-NE10 honors at all three NE10 Championships this year. He also added All-Region honors for cross country and the indoor 5000-meter run. 

2018 Matthew McDonough '99 Spirit Award

The 2018 Matthew McDonough, '99 Spirit Award, which is presented annually by the Stonehill Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to the student who embodies the contagious spirit and outstanding character of Matt McDonough, '99, for whom the award commemorates, is awarded posthumously to Linsey Malia, '18. McDonough was a commendable student-athlete and fan of Stonehill athletics, who passed away tragically after graduation. His memory remains etched upon the Stonehill campus and will continue to be remembered in the future as the ideal student-athlete, participating on the Stonehill football team and was an avid fan and attendee of all fellow sports competitions. His dedication and pride toward the community will always be highly regarded and this award memorializes his honorable character and service toward the Stonehill community.

Malia passed tragically in a boating accident while studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, last May. She contributed to many areas of campus life as a peer mentor, a teaching assistant, a member of the Moreau Honors Program, a work study student within the athletics department, and a volunteer with multiple campus partners. The psychology major and sociology minor handled all the scheduling and hiring of new students for "Ace," Stonehill's athletic mascot. She was also "Ace" on many occasions herself, adding her Stonehill spirit to numerous home athletic events. 


Field Hockey and junior MacKenzie Greenberg received the department's Community Service Award (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto)

2018 Community Leadership Awards, presented by Northwestern Mutual

In conjunction with the event's title sponsor, Northwestern Mutual, Stonehill presented for the Community Leadership Award. This year's recipient is juniorMacKenzie Greenberg (Mendon, Massachusetts/Hopedale) and her teammates from the Stonehill field hockey program.

Field Hockey/Greenberg Video Testimonial

The field hockey program has continually met the commitment of athletics and academics, while becoming a leader in the community as well. The team has given of its time in food pantries and soup kitchens around the holidays, made Christmas deliveries for My Brother's Keeper, volunteered with the Special Olympics and visited Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton to assist in reading programs.

Through Greenberg's leadership and her connection with Athletes Crush Cancer, the team has hosted a five-kilometer race on campus for childhood cancer awareness two straight years in the spring, as well as the first Golden Lights Night last fall. Together, the three events have raised nearly $10,000 in support of the battle against childhood cancer, something Greenberg has been coping with since her sophomore year in high school. 

Other Awards Presented: 

Rookies of the Year
Women's: Jessica Givens (Albuquerque, New Mexico/St. Pius X), Volleyball
Men's: Jared Brooks (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus), Baseball 

Breakout Sophomore Awards
Women's: Michaela Antonellis (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown), Field Hockey
Men's: Will Moreton (Minneapolis, Minnesota/Edina), Basketball 

Outstanding Junior Awards
Women's: Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood), Field Hockey
Men's: Lucas Taxter (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian), Cross Country/Track & Field 

With 21 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. In addition to finishing in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for overall athletic performance 13 straight years, the Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first seven years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. Stonehill has earned a 97% Academic Success Ranking (ASR) by the NCAA, which considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes, good for fourth among all NCAA Division II institutions, with ten Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked third in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings for Division II used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.

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2018 Stonehill Student-Athlete Awards Ceremony Photo Gallery