Student-athletes earn SUNY-wide academic honors

06/30/2026

SUNY Cortland student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom and in competition, with the academic honors to prove it.

A pair of student-athletes - women's soccer and women's ice hockey player Katie Diem and men's track and field athlete Isaiah Brunache - recently claimed the highest annual honors for academic and athletic achievement from the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) in 2025-26.

Diem, a biology major, was chosen as the Dr. Dolores Bogard Award winner - SUNY Cortland's first recipient since 2014-15 - and Brunache, an exercise science major, was named the Dr. Sam Molnar Award winner - the university's first recipient since 2005-06 - for their excellence.

More information about the two major conference honors is available online.

Additionally, five spring competitors earned statewide accolades in their respective sports for their success as scholar athletes:

• Men's lacrosse: Sean Kavanagh, SUNY Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year, physical education major

• Women's golf: Gina Milazzo, SUNY Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year, sport management major

• Baseball: Nolan Smith, SUNYAC Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year, psychology major

• Women's outdoor track and field: Reilly Quinn, SUNYAC Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year, sport management major

• Men's outdoor track and field: Brunache, both the SUNY and SUNYAC Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year

The SUNY Scholar Athlete Awards recognize student-athletes from SUNY institutions sponsoring intercollegiate athletics at the four-year and two-year levels, while the SUNYAC Scholar Athlete Award winners are selected from each of the SUNYAC's sponsored sports.

In total, SUNY Cortland student-athletes earned 16 SUNY or SUNYAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards in 2025-26.

More information about the five spring honorees is available online.