Orange Stars Shine at 17th Annual 'Cuse Awards

The 17th annual 'Cuse Awards celebrated the success of all Syracuse University student-athletes and Orange teams. The Syracuse Athletics Department honored the outstanding performances on the field of competition, in the classroom and in the community in the Tan Auditorium in the National Veterans Resource Center on Tuesday, May 2nd.

Seniors Meaghan Tyrrell (lacrosse) and Arnaud Buard (rowing) earned the 2023 Soladay Awards, the highest honor presented annually to one female and one male student-athlete (senior or graduate student). The award, named in honor of long-time Syracuse athletics administrator Doris Soladay, is considered the most prestigious honor given to a student-athlete by the Department of Athletics. It recognizes accomplishments in athletic competition, academics, leadership and community engagement.

A 2023 Tewaaraton Award nominee Tyrrell became Syracuse's all-time leading scorer in the regular season finale. The 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference All-Tournament Team selection ranks as the active Division I leader in career points and assists. Tyrrell leads the ACC in points and points per game. She recorded five or more points in 10 of 16 games during the regular season. The three-time All-American earned her undergraduate degree in public relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in entrepreneurship & emerging enterprises.

Buard, a mechanical engineering major with a minor in computer science in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, is the stroke of the varsity eight. He led the crew to an undefeated record in cup races for the first time since 2008. The 2021 and 2022 IRA All-America selection has been in the varsity eight in each of his four seasons at Syracuse. In 2021, he sat in the stroke seat for the crew that placed fourth at the IRA national championship and in 2022 was in the same seat for the crew that finished fifth at the IRAs. Buard is an active member of Orange Robotics and the European Student Association.

The Soladay Award nominees included Eleanor Lawler (cross country), Charlotte de Vries (field hockey), Lauren Bellefontaine (ice hockey), Meaghan Tyrell (lacrosse), Luisa Gathmann (rowing), Jenna Tivnan (soccer), Abigail Spiers (track and field), Polina Shemanova (volleyball), and Paige Yamane (spirit) from the women's teams, Joseph Girard III (basketball), Noah Carey (cross country), Kinsley Jonathan (football), Matthew Bergeron (football), Peter Fiorini III (lacrosse), Arnaud Buard (rowing), Amferny Sinclair (soccer), and Paul O'Donnell (track and field) for the men's teams.

Orange football student-athlete Caleb Okechukwu won the 2023 Syracuse Eight Courage Award for overcoming rare onset of rhabdomyolysis that forced him to miss 11 months of participation in team activities and kept him out of game action for 20 months. Okechukw worked his way back into a starting role on the 2020 Orange defensive line and helped the defense to back-to-back top 20 finishes in total defense. The Courage Award is an honor bestowed upon an individual who has overcome a disadvantaged background, a serious injury, or has demonstrated uncommon bravery or highly principled behavior in the face of adversity.

On February 27, 2019 during winter workouts, Okechukwu suffered the illness, more commonly known as 'rhabdo,' a condition in which damaged muscles breakdown at an uncontrolled rate and release proteins into the blood, causing severe complications within the kidneys. His case was determined to be a rare onset of the condition. In danger of renal failure and other complications due to the severity, Okechukwu was treated by team physicians and rushed to the hospital as his condition continued to deteriorate. He was hospitalized for over two weeks, lost 40 pounds, and a lot of the strength gains he'd been making in the weight room. In the 2019-20 academic year while recovering, he had weekly blood draws as he slowly worked back into football-related activities. For the first several weeks he required the assistance of a walker to get around and was unable to stand up straight due to the amount of muscle damage in his back. If his kidney levels spiked from a workout, he would regress to the previous level. The illness sidelined him for the entirety of the 2019 season while recovering, before being cleared to gradually return to play starting on Dec. 4, 2019. His return to game action on came on Sept. 12, 2020 and he has appeared in every game since, including starting every game of the 2022 season when he earned ECAC All-Star honors. He tallied a team-high 7.0 sacks and two forced fumbles, was second on the team with 10.0 tackles for loss, recorded 48 tackles (27 solo), and had one interception and two forced fumbles.

The Orange lacrosse team won the 2022-23 Women's Team of the Year Award after claiming a share of the ACC regular season title for the second time in program history and maintaining the No. 1 spot in the national polls for a program-record five straight weeks. Syracuse had the best start in program history winning its first 15 games in a row, including four victories against top-10 teams and eight against teams ranked in the top 20.

Syracuse's men's soccer earned the Men's Team of the Year award. The Orange were selected to finish 9th in the ACC preseason poll yet went on to orchestrate one of the best seasons in collegiate soccer history in Fall 2022. The Orange became the fourth team in ACC history to win the NCAA Championship, ACC Tournament title and regular season division in a single season, the first since UNC in 2011. After finishing 8-8-2 in 2021, Syracuse broke a 40-year-old single-season program wins record, logging an NCAA leading 19-2-4 record. Ian McIntyre's squad captured the eyes and hearts of the greater Syracuse community, as an exciting attack was led by All-American forwards and current professionals Levonte Johnson and Nathan Opoku. After losing to Cornell on Oct. 4, the Orange didn't lose a match for the rest of the season, ending the season on a 14-match unbeaten streak, tied for the longest in program history.

For the third consecutive year lacrosse student-athlete Meaghan Tyrrell earned Female Athlete of the Year. The graduate student from Mt. Sinai, N.Y. leads the NCAA in points and assists, ranks 13th on the NCAA Division I all-time points list, ranks second in the nation in points per game and is fifth in assists. Tyrell also ranks third on Syracuse's all-time points list and is on pace to become the all-time leader. In addition, Tyrell was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, is a two-time IWLCA and ACC Offensive Player of the Week, and was selected to the Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-America First Team.

Men's soccer's Nathan Opoku won Male Athlete of the Year after scoring 11 goals and dishing out 8 assists in 25 games during the 2022 season. After transferring from NAIA side Lindsey Wilson College, Opoku excelled in Syracuse's march to the National Championship crown. The Accra, Ghana native garnered USC All-America Third Team, College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player, All-ACC First Team honors.

Ellie-Kate Hutchinson and Joey Spallina earned Female and Male Rookie of the Year honors, respectively. Hutchinson was the only first-year rower in the Varsity 8 that ranked 10th in the first poll of the year which was the highest first poll ranking in program history. As of April 10, the V8 is ranked 8th in the country, which ties for the highest ranking in program history. The Castle Rock, Londonderry native rows in the 4th seat, providing power for the crew and serving as the glue that holds together the bow and the stern. Hutchinson is currently trialing for the Great Britain U23 National Team.

The two-time ACC Offensive Player of the Week, Spallina leads Syracuse in goals, assists, and in points. He has six caused turnovers as a rookie attackman and plays with the pressure of being the number one recruit and wearing #22 as a rookie. Spallina leads all Division I freshman in points, was named to the USILA Team of the Week, and named TLN Player of the Week twice during the 2023 season. The Mount Sinai, NY native dropped nine points at No. 14 Princeton in a 16-13 win, which tied for the fourth-most points by a Syracuse freshman in a single game. Spallina's five assists are tied for the third-most by a rookie, and he has two other games of seven points, both top-10 freshman games at Syracuse.

Men's soccer coach Ian McIntyre earned Coach of the Year honors in his 13th season at the helm after he lead the Orange to their greatest season in program history, guiding the team to the 2022 NCAA National Championship, ACC Tournament Championship and ACC Atlantic Division regular season title. McIntyre's high press and attacking-minded system pushed the Orange to a 19-2-4 record, with the 19 victories besting only the legendary 1982 team for most wins in a season. The 2022 iteration of the Orange also became the first team since the '82 squad to go undefeated on the road. McIntyre mentored student-athletes to incredible heights, guiding attackers Nathan Opoku and Levonte Johnson to All-American honors, making them the first Orange pair to earn All-American status since in the same season since Vincent Black and John McEwan in 1932. McIntyre earned the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year award, as he and his staff also took home the United Soccer Coaches 2022 Staff of the Year award.

Lacrosse coach Kayla Treanor repeated as Coach of the Year for Orange women's teams after guiding her squad to its best start in program history. Syracuse won its first 15 games of the season, including four victories against top-10 teams and eight against teams ranked in the top 20. The Orange will learn their seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 7.

Amanda Vestri (track & field) and Nathan Opoku (soccer) earned the Female and Male Performance of the Year awards. Vestri became the first women's indoor First Team All-American since 2018 for the Orange when she took sixth at the NCAA Championships in the 5k, 10 spots better than her pre-meet seed. The performance highlighted a strong indoor campaign for Vestri that saw her break both 3k and 5k school records. She also was an All-ACC performer at the ACC Championships. In the biggest match of the season, Opoku logged a goal and an assist against the Indiana Hoosiers to propel the Orange to a win in the National Championship match.

The Syracuse men's soccer team earned the Game of the Year Award. The Orange capped their dream season in thrilling fashion, beating dominant soccer program Indiana in the longest penalty kick shootout in NCAA National Championship history. Nathan Opoku and Curt Calov both scored goals in regulation. Goalkeeper Russell Shealy made a save on the Hoosier's final penalty kick attempt, and Amferny Sinclair scored the game winning penalty kick to secure Syracuse's first National Championship in soccer in school history.

The 'Cuse Award for Play of the Year went to football's Garrett Shrader and Orande Gadsden II. Trailing by four with just seconds to play, Shrader delivered a perfect pass through contact to Gadsden II on a corner route, who hauled it in for the score. The 25-yard touchdown pass with just seven seconds remaining gave Syracuse the 32-29 win over Purdue.

The Syracuse women's cross country and men's soccer teams garnered the Team GPA awards.

Thirteen student-athletes earned the 'Cuse Scholar Award for having a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average, including The Team Scholars, recognizing the highest GPA on the team, included Charlotte Ebel (rowing), Malakai Leon (rowing), Emma Klein (soccer), Julius Rauch (soccer), Samantah Stahlbrodt (spirit) Sabine van den Eijnden (field hockey), Joseph Bolea (lacrosse), Yamila Evans (softball), Grace Brock (cross country), Shanley Koekemoer (cross country), Matthew Scrape (track & field), Amanda Vestri (track & field) and Karl Winter (track & field).

Six student-athletes earned ACC Service Awards, including John Bol Ajak Deng (basketball), Aaron Bolinsky (football), Emily Nugent (cross country), Maddi Segarnick (rowing), Sarah Thompson (ice hockey) and Billy Stoddard (rowing).

The following individuals won their team 'Cuse Award as a standout performer and teammate, as voted on by the coaches and/or teammates.

Men's Basketball                                Judah Mintz
Women's Basketball                          Georgia Woolley
Cheer Arianna Boyce
Men's Cross Country                         Nathan Lawler
Women's Cross Country                   Savannah Roark
Dance   Emma Goldstein
Field Hockey                                       Eefke van den Nieuwenhof
Football                                                Garrett Shrader
Ice Hockey                                          Lauren Bellefontaine
Men's Lacrosse                                  Cole Kirst
Women's Lacrosse                            Delaney Sweitzer
Mascot Justin Stitt
Men's Rowing                                     Nicholas Kohl
Women's Rowing                               Emmie Frederico
Men's Soccer                                     Amferny Sinclair
Women's Soccer                               Shea Vanderbosch
Softball                                                 Olivia Pess
Tennis                                                  Ines Fonte
Women's Track                                  Amanda Vestri
Men's Track                                        Jaheem Hayles
Volleyball                                             Alyssa Bert

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