Bridgewater, NJ — A whopping nine Northeast Conference (NEC) student-athletes completed perfection in the classroom this spring.
Graduating with 4.00 grade-point averages, LIU’s Lucas Hornung (men’s tennis), Mercyhurst’s Aidan Reichert (men’s basketball) and Saint Francis U’s Patrick Reese (men’s tennis) were the co-recipients of the 2024-25 NEC Male Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Also walking across the stage at commencement with perfect 4.00 marks, Le Moyne’s Gina Cittadino(women’s swimming) and Anna Montgomery (women’s lacrosse), Mercyhurst’s Eliza Reynolds (softball) and Wagner’s Emma Lofstedt (field hockey), Jade Schoenfeld (women’s tennis) and Katie Siverson (women’s lacrosse) shared the NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor.
In its 19th year, the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which is sponsored by the league’s Faculty Athletic Representatives, goes to the male and female student-athletes who have exhausted athletic eligibility, graduated and compiled the highest grade point average in the conference at the conclusion of the academic year.
Wagner led the way with three NEC Team Scholar-Athletes of the Year, while Le Moyne and conference newcomer Mercyhurst also produced multiple honorees with two recipients apiece.
“These student-athletes are extremely deserving of NEC Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition,” said NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris. “In addition to ability, it takes a great deal of commitment to attain a perfect 4.0 GPA, all while competing at the highest level as a Division I athlete. Congratulations to this impressive group!”
Hornung (Seabrook, TX/Clear Falls) followed in the footsteps of men’s soccer player Demetri Skoumbakis (2021-22) and baseball player Frank Cerillo (2018-19) as previous NEC Male Team Scholar-Athletes from LIU. A native of the Lonestar State, he won four singles matches and racked up seven doubles wins — including three at the No. 2 spot — to lead the Sharks to a spot in the NEC finals and a 6-3 record against conference competitors. Hornung’s two ITA Scholar-Athlete nods in 2023 and 2024 are coupled with three appearances on the NEC Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He completed his undergraduate career and achieved his perfect record in the classroom as a Computer Science major.
Named the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men’s basketball earlier this year, Reichert’s (Jackson City, OH/Jackson City) selection as an NEC Male Team Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year should come as no surprise for the veteran forward. The All-NEC Second Team honoree served as a cornerstone of a successful Division I transition for Mercyhurst as he helped lead the Lakers to a third-place finish with a 9-7 conference mark in their inaugural season. He dropped 13.8 points per game — the seventh-best scoring average in the NEC — and ranked in the top-10 in both rebounding (5.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.485). Reichert surpassed the 1,000-point milestone during the 2024-25 season and closed out his sensational career with 1,350 points. He was named to both the NEC Academic and Commissioner’s Honor Roll in his lone season as an NEC competitor and he maintained a perfect 4.00 GPA as an Organizational Leadership major.
With Reese’s (Greenville, SC/Saint Joseph’s Catholic) honor, Saint Francis U has pocketed at least one NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in each of the past seven years, a streak that dates back to the 2018-19 academic session. No other school has come close to matching that rally since the award’s inception in 2006-07. While studying Finance/Accounting in Loretto — and achieving perfection in the process with a 4.00 GPA — Reese totaled 27 wins in singles play and 25 doubles triumphs throughout his three-year career. The Greenville, SC native earned his way onto the NEC Commissioner’s Honor Roll three times.
Cittadino and Montgomery were the first Dolphins to come away with NEC Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year distinction.
Cittadino (Utica, NY/New Hartford), who earned her way onto both the NEC Academic and Commissioner’s Honor Rolls for the second year in a row in 2024-25, made a splash for Le Moyne in the pool and in the classroom. The Political Science major was rewarded with the James F. Welter Academic Medal for her academic excellence throughout her four-year stay in Syracuse. She swam in 11 meets this past season and competed in the 50-yard free, the 100-yard back and the 200-yard back at the 2025 NEC Swimming & Diving Championships this past February.
Montgomery (Auburn, NY/Auburn) elevated her game when Le Moyne joined the NEC for her final two seasons in Syracuse. A reserve during her first two years, the Auburn, NY native’s rise on the depth chart coincided with the Dolphins return to the Division I ranks in prior to the start of her junior season. In Le Moyne’s maiden voyage as an NEC member in 2023-24, the starting defender caused six turnovers and collected 21 ground balls to lead her team to a 8-2 mark against conference competitors, a performance that yielded the program’s first-ever trip to the NEC Tournament. The Biology major and two-time NEC Academic and Commissioner’s Honor Roll member closed out her four-year career with 12 caused turnovers and 40 ground balls in 50 appearances. She added another bullet point to her esteemed résumé last month when she joined Cittadino as a James F. Welter Academic Medal recipient.
Reynolds (Union City, PA/Union City) inked her name into the recordbook as Mercyhurst’s first-ever NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree. The three-time NEC Prime Performer and recently named NEC Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year crafted a senior campaign at shortstop that was worthy of All-NEC second team distinction. When the dust settled on her first-ever season of competition in the NEC and at the Division I level, Reynolds, who was a steady contributor at the plate during her four-year career with a .351 batting average, 172 hits and 108 RBI, ranked 15th in the circuit with a .317 batting average while her 12 doubles tied her for fifth in the end-of-the-year rankings. She was even more productive in NEC play, hitting .354 with four homers and a team-leading 19 RBI. The Keystone State product also knocked it out of the park as a Sports Medicine major by achieving perfection with a 4.00 GPA.
Wagner’s three female honorees matched the NEC record, which was set by Saint Francis U in 2022-23.
The first-ever Seahawk field hockey player to garner NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition, Lofstedt (Durban, South Africa/Our Lady of Fatima) was on track for an All-NEC repeat in 2024 before her career in Staten Island was cut short by a season-ending injury. Hailing from Durban, South Africa, the versatile midfielder/defender contributed to Wagner’s first-ever NEC regular season championship season in 2024 by notching 10 points in nine starts and 10 appearances. Each of Lofstedt’s goals came against LIU — a 4-0 shutout victory on Sept. 27 — while her four assists all came within a five-game stretch in September that saw the Seahawks go 4-1 with wins over Bucknell, Mercyhurst, Hofstra and the Sharks. She helped Wagner to four-straight NEC Tournament appearances and closed out her career with six goals and 15 helpers for 27 points. While pursuing a degree in Behavioral Economics, Lofstedt racked up four NEC Academic Honor Roll nods and four NEC Commissioner’s Honor Roll honors.
Schoenfeld (Glastonbury, CT/Watkinson School) achieved her 4.00 GPA while majoring in Music Vocal Performance at Wagner. On the tennis court in 2024-25, the Nutmeg State native earned a win in doubles play against Hofstra at the Columbia Invitational in September. Schoenfeld spent all four years on both the NEC Academic Honor Roll and the NEC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, and with her latest honor, she became the second Wagner tennis player to earn NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year distinction, joining former Seahawk Avika Sagwal (2016-17).
Siverson’s (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) all-star career on the lacrosse field and her efforts in the classroom as a Business Administration major made it an NEC Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year hat trick for Wagner. The midfielder put together an All-NEC-worthy campaign as a sophomore in 2023 but was then forced to support her squad from the sidelines after suffering a season-ending injury one game into the 2024 campaign. Her return to the field this past year was a triumphant one. The Garden State product put a bow on her comeback by earning a promotion to the All-NEC First Team. Siverson put up career-best numbers across the board and ranked fifth on the NEC leaderboard in goals with 2.21 per game. Most notably, she propelled the Seahawks to a share of the NEC regular season crown — their first since 2018 —and guided the Green and White to their 11th-straight NEC Tournament appearance this past season. During her four years on Grymes Hill, Siverson landed on the NEC Academic Honor Roll and NEC Commissioner’s Honor Roll four times apiece. She also inked her name in her school’s recordbook as the first Wagner women’s lacrosse team member to take home NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year distinction.
With Lofstedt, Schoenfeld and Siverson’s honors, Wagner boosted its all-time NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year count to seven, which are second-most in the conference behind Saint Francis U’s nine.
NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year History
Year Men Women
2024-25 Lucas Hornung, LIU Gina Cittadino, Le Moyne
Aidan Reichert, Mercyhurst Anna Montomgery, Le Moyne
Patrick Reese, Saint Francis U Eliza Reynolds, Mercyhurst
Emma Lofstedt, Wagner
Jade Schoenfeld, Wagner
Katie Siverson, Wagner
2023-24 Matt Jenner, Central Connecticut Lina Dirnberger, FDU
David Satkowski, Stonehill Nina Carlomusto, FDU
Olivia Lampkin, Merrimack
Kaitlyn Maxwell, Saint Francis U
Savannah Schoonmaker, Saint Francis U
Lindsay Macdonald, Stonehill
2022-23 Matthew Zawaski, Sacred Heart Nina Carlomusto, FDU
Leah Nonnenmann, LIU
Lexi Smith, LIU
Lauren Taylor, St. Francis Brooklyn
Ashtyn Van Horn, St. Francis Brooklyn
Kaitie Conte, Saint Francis U
Kelly Dickson, Saint Francis U
Jeanie Edgington, Saint Francis U
2021-22 Mason Schloop, Central Connecticut Natalie Novak, Central Connecticut
Demetri Skoumbakis, LIU Laurie Hauet, LIU
Matthew Blose, Saint Francis U Shyla Sanford, LIU
Grace Scura, LIU
Jenna Wike, Merrimack
Mari Fay, Sacred Heart
Madeline Delore, Wagner
2020-21 Tomas Bernardes, St. Francis Brooklyn Grace Buchholz, Merrimack
Shannon Cody, Saint Francis U
2019-20 Gregory Heider, Saint Francis U Delaney Beck, Wagner
Scott Meredith, Saint Francis U Adriana Forcucci, Sacred Heart
2018-19 Shane Vyskocil, Bryant Lacee Collins, Robert Morris
Frank Cerillo, LIU Brooklyn Dana DiRenzo, St. Francis Brooklyn
Nicholas Nemergut, St. Francis Brooklyn Samantha Lackner, Robert Morris
Elise Dumouchelle, Saint Francis U
2017-18 Charlton Boyd, Wagner Abigail Hood, Sacred Heart
Joseph Choiniere, Sacred Heart Kristina Neri, FDU
Marcus DaSliva, St. Francis Brooklyn
2016-17 Joseph Paparelli, Bryant Taylor Allison, Saint Francis U
Sarah Bonson, Mount St. Mary's
Nicole Dean, Central Connecticut
Lea Lieb, Sacred Heart
Avika Sagwal, Wagner
2015-16 Washi Gervais, Saint Francis U Dragana Dzigurski, St. Francis Brooklyn
Haley Fournier, Mount St. Mary's
Sarah Ross, Saint Francis U
Brittany Sarza, Bryant
2014-15 David Lonnberg, St. Francis Brooklyn Katie Fox, St. Francis Brooklyn
2013-14 Travis Denny, Robert Morris Ellen Huffman, Wagner
2012-13 Mark Quaranta, Mount St. Mary's Una Japundza, Robert Morris
Carly Thibault, Monmouth
2011-12 Michael Foster, Mount St. Mary's Evgeniya Tyrtova, FDU
2010-11 Sean O'Reilly, Saint Francis U Ali Kliment, Monmouth
2009-10 Filip Kisdobranski, St. Francis Brooklyn Maggie O'Connell Dubois, Mount St. Mary's
2008-09 Benjamin Evenden, Monmouth Kathleen Henry, Sacred Heart
Tara Maxwell, Robert Morris
Erin Reifsteck, Saint Francis U
2007-08 Ian Butcher, Saint Francis U Katja Bavendam, St. Francis Brooklyn
2006-07 Moran Stern, St. Francis Brooklyn Lisa Jaszka, Robert Morris
Andrija Vrdoljak, St. Francis Brooklyn
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 44th season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#8). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#87). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.