2022 St. Thomas Aquinas Medal Recipients: (Back, L-R): Ben Simmons (Men's Tennis), Lydia Rudden (Women's Lacrosse), John O'Reilly (Men's Basketball), Ryan Coutu (Men's Soccer), Nicklaus Connerty (Football), Abby Remick (Volleyball), Elisha Brinkman (Field Hockey), Lindsey Simmons (Equestrian); (Front, L-R): Billy Duff (Baseball), Sage Bittinger-Esser (Men's Ice Hockey), Isabella Kennedy (Women's Cross Country), Aidan Byrne (Men's Cross Country/Track & Field), Samantha Ormesher (Women's Tennis), Camryn Thompson (Women's Soccer), Sydney Stockwell (Women's Swimming), Jada Thornton (Women's Basketball); Not Pictured: Molly Adamo (Softball), Emma Beaulieu (Women's Golf) and Cassidy Becker (Women's Track & Field). |
19 student-athletes receive Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medals at annual breakfast in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day
Yen receives Outstanding Faculty Member Award
Bittinger-Esser presented Dr. Alex Yan, Associate Professor of Accounting, with the Outstanding Faculty Award. |
EASTON, Mass. (April 8, 2022) – Stonehill College held its Academic Excellence Recognition Breakfast for the first time since 2019 at the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex this morning. It marks the signature event for the College in recognition of Wednesday's National Student-Athlete Day as administrators, faculty and athletic staff presented St. Thomas Aquinas medals as well as its Outstanding Faculty Member Award.
The event honors student-athletes from Stonehill's 22 varsity programs who have the highest cumulative grade point average on their respective teams through the fall 2021 semester. Those students are presented with St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medals. Of the 19 medal recipients, six are repeat honorees, including seniors Elisha Brinkman of the field hockey program, and Camryn Thompson from the women's soccer program as three-time medalists.
Seniors Samantha Ormesher from the women's tennis program and Abby Remick of the volleyball program, as well as juniors Sage Bittinger-Esser of the ice hockey program, Billy Duff from baseball, and Lydia Rudden from women's lacrosse were all honored for the second time.
One of Stonehill's newest programs, women's swimming, participated in its first Academic Excellence Recognition Breakfast in the program's young history this morning, with sophomore Sydney Stockwell receiving a Saint Thomas Aquinas medal for the first time as the program's second-ever honoree.
Bittinger-Esser, the Stonehill Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Co-Vice Chair, presented the athletic department's Outstanding Faculty Member Award to Dr. Alex Yen, Associate Professor of Accounting. Yen joined the College faculty in 2017 and teaches financial accounting, managerial accounting and auditing.
Earning St. Thomas Aquinas Medals were:
Molly Adamo, Junior, Softball
Aidan Byrne, Sophomore, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Emma Beaulieu, Senior, Women's Golf
Cassidy Becker, Sophomore, Women's Track & Field
Sage Bittinger-Esser, Junior, Men's Ice Hockey**
Elisha Brinkman, Senior, Field Hockey***
Nicklaus Connerty Sophomore, Football
Ryan Coutu, Sophomore, Men's Soccer
Billy Duff, Junior, Baseball**
Isabella Kennedy, Senior, Women's Cross Country
John O'Reilly, Sophomore, Men's Basketball
Samantha Ormesher, Senior, Women's Tennis**
Abby Remick, Senior, Volleyball**
Lydia Rudden, Junior, Women's Lacrosse**
Ben Simmons, Junior, Men's Tennis
Lindsey Simmons, Sophomore, Equestrian
Sydney Stockwell, Sophomore, Women's Swimming
Camryn Thompson, Senior, Women's Soccer***
Jada Thornton, Sophomore, Women's Basketball
Number of years honored marked with asterisks
With 23 intercollegiate sports when women's ice hockey takes to the ice for the first time in 2022-23, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. A charter member of the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference since 1980, the College announced that the athletic department will begin a transition to NCAA Division I as a member of the Northeast Conference on July 1 for the 2022-23 academic year. Stonehill has won the NE10 Presidents' Cup six times, all coming within the last 15 years. The Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first ten years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. The Skyhawks' 92-percent ASR for the cohort period of 2011-2014 ranks fifth among NE10 members and 20th nationally among 303 NCAA Division II member institutions, with seven program's earning perfect ASR scores of 100%. The College ranks No. 98 in the category of National Liberal Arts Schools by U.S. News & World Report and No. 94 for the Best Value category.
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