June 16, 2010

Rockville Centre, N.Y. - Over 120 Presidents, administrators, coaches, student-athletes and guests from all eight East Coast Conference institutions traveled to Rockville Centre on June 9 for the East Coast Conference Awards Dinner. This marks the first conference-wide Awards Dinner in over 10 years.

The event highlighted team accomplishments, including a special presentation to the National Championship C.W. Post Men’s Lacrosse Team as well as individual accomplishments from the 2009-2010 year.

“What a great turn out to help us honor the athletic, academic and personal triumphs and achievements of our ECC student athletes as well as the amazing accomplishments by our programs in and for the community,” said ECC Commissioner Dr. Robert Dranoff.  “We might be a small conference in numbers but we make a lot of noise on the field, the court and in the community as well as in the lives of those that participate in our programs.” 

In addition to recognizing the Players, Coaches and Scholar-Athletes of the Year from all thirteen ECC sponsored sports, the conference honored seven student-athletes, four institutions, one coach and one alum with special recognition awards.

The New York Institute of Technology was named the recipients of the ECC Community Engagement Award of Excellence for their “Night Out on the Bears” event which draws over 100 community youth to their campus every December.  (read more)

Mercy College received the Community Service Award their participation in the “Haunting of Sleepy Hollow”.   Student-athletes and staff served as actors, vendors and security at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where community members came to hear the retelling and reenactment of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (read more)

St. Thomas Aquinas College was presented with the ECC Community Cup for averaging 15.2 hours of community service and community engagement per student-athlete, the highest among the eight institutions.  (read more)

Dowling received the ECC Cares Award for leading conference in monies raised for collective causes.  The Golden Lions raised an average of $65 per student-athlete to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, breast cancer awareness and prostate cancer awareness, among others. (read more)

Tim O’Hagan and the Molloy College Women’s Basketball Team were honored with the ECC Sportsmanship Award.  O’Hagan was recognized for his dedication and support of other conference teams, coaches and student-athletes as well as the officials and the game of basketball. (read more)

Senior Pitcher Matt Matcovich of St. Thomas Aquinas was named the 2010 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Matcovich boasted a 4.0 GPA as a Mathematics major and led the Spartans with a 6-2 record on the mound. (read more)

Senior forward E.J. Dreyer of Molloy College was tabbed the 2010 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Selected the 2010 Molloy College Valedictorian, Dreyer maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA and helped the Lions to an ECC Women’s Basketball Tournament title with 7.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. (read more)

Two volleyball student-athletes received the John Smillie, Jr. Awards for overcoming personal and physical challenges to continue to play the sport that they love.  Sophomore Nicole Nieves of Queens College and senior Luci Ferraro of NYIT were recognized for their courage, dedication and inspiring stories. (read more)

The most prestigious award of the evening, dubbed the Excellence in Community and Character Award (E.C.C. Award), was presented to three student-athletes this year.  The E.C.C. Award recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through positive actions and behaviors that are consistent with the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, service, passion, sportsmanship, balance and resourcefulness.  This year’s recipients were Simona Bartkova (Women’s Basketball, Dowling), Brian Buckmire (Men’s Soccer and Track & Field, Queens College) and Chris Muniz (Track & Field, St. Thomas Aquinas).  (read more)

In addition, an E.C.C. Alumni award was presented to former men’s soccer player, James Hilaire.  Hilaire was a standout goalkeeper at the University of the New Haven when the Chargers were a member of the ECC.  He suffered a life altering head injury during a game and, after seven days in coma, awoke without the function of his right side.  Since the injury, Hilaire has regained the ability to walk, graduated with honors from the University of New Haven and has secured a job with a top government agency.  Although he is not the same player he once was, Hilaire continues to play soccer and is trying out for the Paralympics soccer team in California.  (read more)