Canton, NY – Samantha Dayter, a two-sport athlete on the women's lacrosse and basketball teams, and Brennan Harmer, a two-sport athlete on the men's soccer and basketball teams, 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, April 29, 2024.

Harmer (men's soccer, men's basketball) was named the Male Student-Athlete of the Year, while Dayter (women's lacrosse, women's basketball) was recognized as the Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Niko Schoner (men's hockey) was named Male Rookie of the Year, while Sierra Pabo (women's basketball) was tabbed the Female Rookie of the Year.

Nic Herringer (men's hockey) and Cadin Taggart (women's volleyball) were recognized as the male and female with the highest overall GPA in their graduating class. Mayella Rubin (women's soccer, women's cross country) and the women's lacrosse team earned Make-A-Difference awards for their support of the Athletics department off their respective playing surfaces.
This year two new awards were recognized as Hayden Todd (men's lacrosse, men's hockey) was named the Male Defender of the Year, while Molly Lenihan (women's hockey) picked up Female Defender of the Year honors.

There was also a Game of the Year award with four finalists: the men's lacrosse team's 11-10 win against SUNY Poly (4/10/24), the women's basketball team's 74-72 win against Husson (1/13/24), the men's hockey team's 5-4 OT win against SUNY Potsdam (11/26/23) and the women's hockey team's 2-1 OT victory against No. 13 nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland (12/6/23). The women's hockey team's first ranked win in program history took home the Game of the Year award.

Additionally, this year there was a new trivia contest as the men's lacrosse team earned the trivia title.
 
 
Student-Athletes of the Year:
 
Male
Brennan Harmer, Men's Soccer & Basketball
Brennan Harmer is a two-sport athlete and key member of both the men's soccer and basketball teams. He was the only men's soccer student-athlete to start every game and led the team with nearly 1,400 minutes as a captain. He led the team with three assists and was third with five points as a defender while also scoring once. Harmer also scored once and assisted two other goals in the team's first ever international trip this spring. 

On the court Harmer started 23 games while playing all the Roos contests leading the team in minutes (768), assists (92) and steals (58). He also averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds shooting nearly 34% from three-point range and 78% from the foul line. 

Aside from balancing competing at a high level in both of his sports he has also been heavily involved with the Athletics department and school as a whole during his four years on campus. He has been the supervisor of covering numerous home events on his own for the department. Outside of Athletics he's also supervised numerous events for SUNY Canton's Sports Management program. He has earned multiple academic awards including being named College Sports Communicators All-District and to the NAC All-Academic Team. 

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. She now holds the program records for career points (400), goals (221) and assists (179). This season she broke the previous goals mark of 183 held by Robyn Carroll '16. In just 14 games Dayter posted 108 points on 58 goals and 50 assists to go with 70 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers and 20 ground balls. She led the team with a game-high six goals in a loss to No. 23 nationally-ranked Shenandoah in the Roos fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Dayter was named the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Player of the Year (Co-Player) for the fourth time in her career and was selected to participate in the IWLCA Senior All-Star game. She was named the NAC Player of the Week three times this season and was one of just two players nationally on April 23rd to be named the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Co-Offensive Player of the Week. She finishes her decorated women's lacrosse career with 11 program records.

Program Records (11)
Career points (400), goals (221), assists (179) and draw controls (301)
Single-season points (133), goals (73) and assists (60)
Single-game points (16), goals (9), assists (10) and draw controls (17)

On the basketball court Dayter was a team captain and led the Roos in both assists (92) and steals (48). She was a lockdown defender and named NAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week once. Following the season, she was recognized by her team with the Roo Mentality Player of the Year award. Dayter was a key member of a team that set the NCAA D-III era program record with 21 wins this season.

Dayter has earned numerous accolades throughout her career both athletically and academically. She is now a three-time SUNY Canton Female Student-Athlete of the Year and has been named to numerous All-Academic Teams. Last spring she earned the prestigious Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.
 

Rookies of the Year:

Male
Niko Schoner, Men's Hockey
Niko Schoner was named to the All-Independent All-Rookie Team after an impressive freshman season for the Roos. He was leading the team in goals and points prior to his season-ending injury after 17 games, but still tied for the team lead with 10 goals and finished fourth with 16 points while adding six assists. He scored the game-winning goal in a 5-4 win against SUNY Potsdam (11/26/23) finished fourth on the roster with a positive plus-minus rating for the season. 

Female
Sierra Pabo, Women's Basketball
Sierra Pabo was named the North Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year as well as a First Team All-Conference honoree. She was a seven-time conference rookie of the week and led the Roos averaging 15.9 points per game during her rookie season. The San Jose, CA native also averaged 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. She scored a season-high 27 points in a win at VSTU Johnson (1/5) and ripped down a season-best nine rebounds in a NAC quarterfinal win against Eastern Nazarene (2/16). Pabo scored in double figures in 22 of the team's 27 games and posted 20 or more points on 12 different occasions. She ranked fifth overall in the league in points per game and in conference only games she upped that total to 17.2 points per game to rank fourth.
   

Graduating Senior Highest Cumulative GPA Awards:
 
Male: Nic Herringer, Men's Hockey – 4.0
Nic Herringer, a member of the men's hockey team, has a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA. The Finance major was also a standout on the ice as he led the team in goals and ranked third in points. He scored three game-winning goals over the past two years.

Female: Cadin Taggart, Women's Volleyball – 3.98
Cadin Taggart, a member of the women's volleyball team, is graduating with a degree in Sports Management and has a 3.98 cumulative GPA. She recorded 111 kills and 115 digs this year and was named to the NAC Fall 2023 All-Academic Team.
 

Make-A-Difference Awards:
This year we will be handing out two Make-A-Difference awards. These awards go to student-athletes who make a huge difference for the Athletics department off their respective playing surfaces.

Mayella Rubin, Women's Soccer and Cross Country
Mayella Rubin is a dual sport athlete who competed on both the women's soccer and cross country teams this fall. She also took a leadership role with our Special Olympics event and is heavily involved on campus. She works in admissions as a campus ambassador, is a student athlete trainer and a resident assistant. She does this all while balancing two sports and her studies in the Health and Fitness Promotion program
 

Women's Lacrosse Team:
The SUNY Canton women's lacrosse team was this year's other Make-A-Difference winner. During the fall the team spent numerous evenings knocking door-to-door requesting donations for the Church & Community Giving Tree Program. They presented a check for nearly $1,500 to the program. The donations went a long way towards helping young children in our community.  The funds were used to purchase more than 75 new sets of pajamas for children in our area as part of program.  Families also received clothing, toy/gift vouchers, and food vouchers from a local grocery store. The team traveled to Potsdam this fall to offer a free skills clinic to the Potsdam Youth Lacrosse Association, and last week offered a free clinic for the Canton Pee Wee Lacrosse Program, hosting nearly 100 youth players.
 
 
Defenders of the Year:
 
Male 
Hayden Todd, Men's Lacrosse
Hayden Todd had another impressive season as a sophomore for the men's lacrosse team. He was named the North Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week three times. The Canton native tallied a .553 save % with 177 saves and won six games in goal for the Roos.  

Female
Molly Lenihan, Women's Hockey
Molly Lenihan started 17 games in goal for the Roos during her rookie season posting eight wins with an impressive .934 save % and 1.84 goals against average. Lenihan was named the SUNYAC Rookie of the Week twice and the SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week once. She made a season-high 38 saves on 39 shots (.947 save %) to help the Roos upset #13 nationally-ranked Cortland 2-1 in OT on December 6th and earn their first win against a ranked opponent in program history.  
 

Game of the Year:
Women's Hockey 2-1 OT win v. No. 13 nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland on December 6, 2013.
Freshman Molly Lenihan made 38 saves and sophomore Danika Lalonde scored the overtime winner as the SUNY Canton women's hockey team defeated No. 13 nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland 2-1 on Wednesday evening.  The win was the first in program history over a ranked opponent.
   

Trivia Winners:
Men's Lacrosse: Hayden Todd & Jake Erskine
The men's lacrosse team made their way to the top of the trivia field to earn the trivia title. The contest started with two players from each of the Roos 15 varsity NCAA teams.
The competition started with 15 teams and was trimmed down to 10, five and then two finalists: the men's and women's lacrosse teams. The men's lacrosse team won the trivia title in thrilling fashion led by the efforts of Hayden Todd and Jake Erskine.

 


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.