SUNYAC Announces Bogard and Molnar Award Recipients
FREDONIA, NY - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) membership body has voted on the Dr. Dolores Bogard and the Dr. Sam Molnar awards for the 2009-2010 year. These awards are presented annually to a junior or senior athlete with the best combination of academic and athletic ability. Sandra Goettelman from Geneseo and Fredonia's Nick Guarino were selected for their outstanding accomplishments in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field in addition to the classroom.
Goettelman is a senior at SUNY Geneseo with a 3.75 grade point average with a major in Elementary Education and concentration in English. Academically she has been named to the Dean's List each semester as well as the SUNYAC All Academic team and Commissioner's List. She is a member of several honor societies including Phi Eta Sigma, Kappa Delta Phi Education Honor society, Sigma Tau Delta English Honor society and the Golden Key honor society. She has taken part in a bibliotherapy directed study aimed at rating children's literature. Outside the classroom on her own time she has been a 'Big Sister' volunteer, taught dance classes through KidStart, organized the annual Friday Knight 5K, and is a member of the Elementary/Secondary Education Association.
Goettelmann is an All-American in cross country and a member of the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame. She led Geneseo to four straight SUNYAC Cross Country Championships, including winning the individual crown in 2009. The senior is a two-time captain who earned all-SUNYAC and All-Atlantic Region accolades twice in her career. Goettelmann is a three-time first team all-conference runner in indoor track winning the mile in 2009 and leading the Knights to the team Championship. She has garnered all-SUNYAC twice in outdoor track and won the 1500-meter in 2008. She is the sixth Geneseo female athlete to receive the Dr. Dolores Bogard award, and third in the last four years. Dr. Dolores Bogard was an administrator and coach at SUNY Cortland for over twenty years.
Guarino, a junior on the Blue Devils cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams, carried a 3.40 GPA for six semesters as a Computer Information Systems major with a concentration in systems management. He has been named to the SUNYAC All-Academic team three times and the Commissioner's List twice. Outside the classroom, he is a second-team All-SUNYAC selection in cross country as he led Fredonia to third place finish at the 2009 championships. He is the 2009-2010 national champion for indoor track and field in the mile run. During the indoor season he was named the Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete at the conference championship after setting two conference records, garnered first team All-SUNYAC and was the ECAC champion in the 800 meter run. Adding one more accolade to his indoor resume he was selected the USTFCCA Atlantic Region Male Athlete of the Year.
Guarino carried his All-American performance to the outdoor season where he became the National Champion in the 1500 meter with a time of 3:50.43. He broke the 1500-meter school record that stood since 1978 with a time of 3:48.74 during ECAC championship. Guarino is the eighth Fredonia male athlete to win the Dr. Sam Molnar award which is named after the late Dr. Sam Molnar, who was the Director of Athletics at SUNY Potsdam for over thirty years in addition to coaching a variety of sports.
