PHOTO GALLERY | AWARDS CEREMONY VIDEO
 
Canton, NY – Nathan Welch, Samantha Dayter and Sirena Alvarez headlined the major award winners taking home Student-Athlete of the Year honors at the SUNY Canton Athletics department's end-of-year awards banquet on Monday, May 1, 2023.
 
Welch (baseball) was named the Male Student-Athlete of the Year, while Dayter (women's lacrosse, women's basketball) and Alvarez (women's hockey, women's golf) were recognized as the Co-Female Student-Athletes of the Year. Anthony Marion (men's golf) and Kelson Hooper were named the Co-Male Rookies of the Year, while Danika Lalonde (women's hockey) was tabbed the Female Rookie of the Year.
 
Jonah Black (men's cross country) and Joie Culkin (women's basketball) were recognized as the male and female with the highest overall GPA in their graduating class. Brennan Harmer (men's soccer, men's basketball), Hayden Todd (men's lacrosse, men's hockey) and Gracyn Emmerton (women's hockey) earned Make-A-Difference awards for their unwavering support of the Athletics department off their respective playing surfaces.
 
 
Graduating Senior Highest Cumulative GPA Awards:
 
Male: Jonah Black, Men's Cross Country – 4.0
Jonah Black, a member of the SUNY Canton men's cross country team, has a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA. The Criminal Justice major has been a four-year member of the Roos cross country team and will graduate in a few short weeks with his Bachelor's degree. Congratulations, Jonah!
 
Female: Joie Culkin, Women's Basketball – 3.97
Joie Culkin, a member of the SUNY Canton women's basketball team, has a 3.97 cumulative GPA. She will graduate in a couple of weeks with a double major in Forensic Criminology and Crime Analysis. Joie also recently was named SUNY Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year. Congratulations, Joie!
   

Make-A-Difference Awards:
This year we will be handing out three Make-A-Difference awards. These awards go to student-athletes who make a huge difference for the Athletics department off their respective playing surfaces.
 
Male: Brennan Harmer, Men's Soccer & Basketball
Brennan Harmer, a Sports Management major and two-sport athlete competing on the men's soccer and basketball teams, has had a profound impact on the department. When he is not competing on his respective playing surfaces you will see him working a number of different games for other Roos teams. When we have multiple home events he is able to oversee an event and perform a variety of duties ranging from in-game stats, PA announcing, music and scoreboard on his own and perform them all at a high level. During spring break this season he traveled to Myrtle Beach with our softball team and kept stats for the team throughout their trip as well as taking photos and writing all post-game recaps for the website. No student has ever traveled by themselves to cover a team on a spring break trip before. Brennan has continued to write numerous stories for the website. During our Special Olympics event on Sunday Brennan was a leader for the Roos efforts for the day as he officiated basketball games for numerous hours. He has had a tremendous impact on the department and is always willing to go the extra mile. Thank you, Brennan!
 
Male: Hayden Todd, Men's Lacrosse & Hockey
Hayden Todd, a Health & Fitness Promotion major and two-sport athlete on the men's lacrosse and hockey teams, has had a massive impact in just his first year on campus. You will always see him working around campus whether it being for multiple sports teams or at the fitness center. He can be seeing spotting for stats at women's volleyball matches, inputting stats at soccer or hockey games and even works some lacrosse games in the spring when he's not playing. Similarly, to Brennan he can be counted on to oversee and run events on his own. This was seen at its highest level when Hayden jumped on our women's hockey bus at a moment's notice to travel with the team and input their stats so the Roos could get in a conference game on the road at SUNY Morrisville. After returning on a bus with the men's hockey team at 2 AM from a road game at Morrisville on a Friday he was back on a bus the next morning at 9 AM – and was the main reason logistically that the two teams could even get the league game in. He is always willing to put in the long hours and the first to volunteer to help the department out in any way he can. Thank you, Hayden!
 
Female: Gracyn Emmerton, Women's Hockey
Gracyn Emmerton, a Physical Therapy Assistant major and junior assistant captain on the women's hockey team, has continued to have a huge impact on the Athletics department during her first three years on campus. Dating back to her freshman year Gracyn has been heavily involved with the Roos Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is the primary student-athlete charged with running the department's SAAC Instagram account. She has spearheaded multiple NCAA Division III social media iniatives including Diversity & Inclusion Week and NCAA D-III Week. She works with her fellow student-athletes to get information for posts and compiles them in creative, engaging ways ranging from graphics to videos and more. In addition, Gracyn has also done an exceptional job running all her SUNY Canton women's hockey team's social media accounts. She also was honored with this year's Associate's Outstanding Graduate award. Thank you, Gracyn, for going the extra mile to help publicize our student-athletes and the NCAA's social media initiatives.
 
 
Rookies of the Year:
 
Male
Anthony Marion, Men's Golf
Anthony Marion, a freshman on the men's golf team, led the team to their best ever team finish at the NAC Championship as the Roos finished in second place out of the 11-team field just 18 strokes behind the conference champs. Individually Marion earned First Team All-Conference honors and was named the NAC Rookie of the Year as he finished in a tie for sixth place at the conference championship. In the opening round of the two-day event he shot a 1-under par, 69, to lead the NAC championship after Day 1. His round of 69 was the lowest total score for a round in SUNY Canton golf history and the third lowest in relation to par. This spring Marion won the Keuka College Spring Invitational as he finished in first place out of the 47 golfer field.
 
Kelson Hooper, Men's Hockey
Kelson Hooper, a freshman on the men's hockey team, earned 75 % of the team's wins in his first season between the pipes for the Roos. He posted a 9-4-0 record, and a .906 save % on his way to earning Second Team All-Independent honors. He posted a 34 save shutout in his first collegiate start, a 3-0 win at Rivier. He had six games this year with 30 or more saves and maintained a .906 or higher save percentage the entire season.
 
Female
Danika Lalonde, Women's Hockey
Danika Lalonde, a freshman on the women's hockey team, made an immediate impact on her team as she helped the team tie the single-season win mark with 14 victories and helped the Roos set a new program record for conference wins in a season with eight. The rookie led her team with 23 points, 10 goals and 13 assists scoring two game-winners. Lalonde was named to the Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) All-Rookie team and helped the Roos receive votes in the USCHO Poll for the first time as they were ranked in the D-III Hockey News Poll for the first time. Congratulations, Danika!
 

Student-Athletes of the Year
 
Male
Nathan Welch, Baseball
Nathan Welch, a senior on the baseball team, has had a monster final season with the Roos as he leads the team with four home runs, 10 doubles, 26 RBI, 62 total bases and a .549 slugging percentage. Opposing pitchers have intentionally pitched around the slugger as he has drawn 13 walks and been hit by six pitches as he boasts a .354 batting average and a .444 on-base percentage. He has 11 multi-hit games and was named the NAC Player of the Week this season. Last year he was named to the NAC West All-Conference team and has an excellent chance at repeating that feat in the next week or two. Welch has helped lead the Roos to their most conference wins with eight this season since the program moved to the D-III era. Congratulations, Nathan!
 
Female
Samantha Dayter, Women's Lacrosse & Basketball
Samantha Dayter, a senior on the women's lacrosse and basketball teams, has continued to break barriers for the Roos lacrosse program as she has set program records for career points (270), assists (120) and draw controls (215) this season. The two-time NAC Player of the Year has been named the conference Player of the Week the last three weeks and was also named the Defensive Player of the Week in March. She leads the team in points (111), goals (60) and assists (51) this season and ranks second in draw controls (80). Earlier this season the senior broke her own single-game points record twice and assists mark once and continues to own both the single-game points (16) and assists (10 records.  A captain of both the lacrosse and basketball teams she led the Roos basketball team with 127 assists (4.9/game) this season averaging 7.8 points and 6.8 assists per game.
 
Sirena Alvarez, Women's Hockey
Sirena Alvarez, a senior on the women's hockey and golf teams, had an impressive final year with the Roos as she was named the NEWHL Goaltender of the Year and First Team All-Conference. The Finland native posted a 12-10-1 mark with a .920 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average recording five shutouts during her final season with the Roos. She stopped 664 shots, which ranked second among NEWHL goaltenders. Alvarez was instrumental in helping the Roos tie a program record with 14 wins and set a new program mark for conference wins (7) in a season. One of her five shutouts came when she made 33 saves in a 2-0 win v. Oswego State on February 3rd. It was the first ever win for the Roos against the Lakers. Alvarez was named the NEWHL Goalie of the Week three times this season and on eight different occasions during her career. She finishes with the Roos program record for career shutouts with 13 and a career record of 30-23-3.
 

About SUNY Canton
As Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs, SUNY Canton delivers quality hands-on programs in digital design, engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. As SUNY's leader in online education, SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 23 online degree programs. The college placed first in 14 categories in a SUNY-Wide Student Opinion Survey, most notably in career services, tutoring, library resources, and classroom facilities. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos 15 traditional athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the North Atlantic Conference. SUNY Canton also features varsity esports and cheerleading.