Albany, NY – Romario Fletcher, Noelle Niemiec, Peyton Robinson and Joey Vocino all earned the prestigious SUNY Chancellor's award as announced by SUNY Chanellor Nancy L. Zimpher on Thursday.

"It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work to achieve such a high level of academic and athletic success," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. "Congratulations to all of the students receiving this year's SUNY scholar athlete award, as well as the faculty, coaches, and staff across SUNY who support and inspire them to be the best."

In order to be considered for this award, student athletes were nominated by their campus athletic director. Nominees' academic credentials and athletic accomplishments were then reviewed by a panel of athletic directors from across the SUNY system and members of the SUNY provost's office.

Fletcher, a senior Criminal Investigation major, led the men's basketball team to a 20-9 record, their second consecutive 20 win season and the first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Playoff win in school history. The senior wing finished the season averaging a double-double on 19.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as he recorded 19 double-doubles including eight straight to end the season. He became the first SUNY Canton basketball player to be named a First Team ECAC All-Star, earned nine weekly awards throughout the season, and was named the American College Athletic Association (ACAA) Tournament Most Valuable Player, the Association of Division III Independents (AD3I) Player of the Year and a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Second Team All-American. 

Niemiec, a sophomore Sports Management major, led the women's hockey team to its most successful season in program history as they finished with 14 wins doubling their previous season's total and winning the team's first playoff game in program history in their fifth year as a program. The defenseman led the Colonial Hockey Conference in defensive scoring (16 points overall, 7 league points) as she was named a First Team All-Conference. Her two game-winning goals in conference play were also tops among blue liners. In addition she was also named to the D3hockey.com National Team of the Week, and to the CHC and USCAA All-Academic Teams.

Robinson, a sophomore Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security major, led the Roos with 1,059 assists averaging 9.54 per set to go with her 225 digs (2.03/set). As a sophomore she has already eclipsed the 2,000 career assist milestone (2,403) and the 500 dig plateau (536). Robinson was a two-time USCAA Setter of the Week, while she was named the Association of Division III Independents Setter of the Year and to the First Team All-Independent.

Vocino, a sophomore Applied Psychology major, finished the season fourth on the team in scoring with 18 points one eight goals and 10 assists. He led the team with seven power play goals, while also scoring the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win v. Morrisville State on January 10th. He was also named to the USCAA All-Academic Team for having a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5.

A complete list of this year's winners is available online.

SUNY offers athletic opportunities at all levels of competition, ranging from intramurals and club sports to nationally-ranked NCAA, NJCAA, NAIA or USCAA sports teams. Statewide, SUNY has more than 85 NCAA Division I, 290 NCAA Division III, and 385 NJCAA athletic teams, as well as hundreds of non-competitive athletics clubs.

Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts.

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, with 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school and business in the state. In 2014-15, SUNY served nearly 1.3 million students, including nearly 600,000 in credit bearing courses and programs and nearly 700,000 through continuing education and community outreach programs. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in nearly $1 billion of externally-sponsored activity each year. There are 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree are SUNY alumni. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.

About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses, as well as 10 exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.