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WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven Department of Athletics held its annual Athletics & Senior Awards Banquet on Sunday, April 30 at Charger Gymnasium, where approximately 500 people gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of New Haven's student-athletes during the 2022-23 academic year. The event concluded by recognizing men's basketball's Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) as the department's Male Athlete of the Year and Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) from field hockey as the Female Athlete of the Year.

The activities began with Interim Director of Athletics Jon Mays delivering remarks on behalf of the administration, including highlighting the numerous successes from throughout the year. Among the highlights from Mays were more than 140 combined wins across the 20 varsity sports, 37 All-Conference honorees, 18 All-Region athletes, four major conference awards, three All-Americans, seven Academic All-Conference honorees, two Sport Excellence winners and more than 320 student-athletes named to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll following the fall semester, with many more accolades to come following the conclusion of the spring seasons.

Following the remarks from Mays, Associate Director of Athletics for Strategic Communications Dan Ruede presented the 20 Most Valuable Player awards, presented to one student-athlete from each team and Cheerleading and Dance with the awards selected by the coaches. A complete list of this year's team MVP's is listed below.

After presenting the MVP honors, Ruede continued the evening by presenting the first department wide awards, the Rookie of the Year accolades which were presented to Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) of women's tennis and baseball's Owen Pincince (North Haven, Conn./North Haven).

Ferrarini helped lead the Chargers to its best finish in program history with 14 wins and the team's fifth-straight NE10 Championship appearance. Overall, she led the team with 31 victories between No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles, earning three Northeast-10 All-Conference honors; First Team in doubles, Third Team in singles and All-Rookie distinction.

Pincince has started all but one game he has played in this season, leading the team with a .398 batting average which is third best in the Northeast-10. He has twice been named NE10 Rookie of the Week and will be a candidate for Northeats-10 Rookie of the Year as well as All-Conference teams.  

Following the presentation of the Rookie of the Year honors, Faculty Athletics Representative Mary Miller presented the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Award, which is presented annually to a student-athlete who has positive interaction with faculty, is a contributing active member of a team, has demonstrated superior achievement in academics and has demonstrated involvement in University and community service. The 2022 Distinguished Scholar-Athletes were Joe Vitale (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) from Football and Katie Durkee (Salem, Conn./East Lyme) from field hockey.

After the Scholar-Athlete awards were presented, Interim Director of Athletics Jon Mays returned to present the Gold Standard Award and True Blue Award. The Gold Standard Award is presented to a student-athlete who displays all the characteristics of a Chargers by enjoying exception success in their sport, in the classroom and in the community. The second ever Gold Standard Award was presented to Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community) from Women's basketball. A First Team All-Conference selection, DeBose led the Chargers in scoring (15.8 ppg), three-point field goals (58) and steals (43). Off the court, she boasted a remarkable 3.95 cumulative GPA as an undergraduate and currently has a perfect 4.0 in grad school, all leading to her being selected as the NE10 Sports Excellence Award recipient for women's basketball. DeBose is a five-year member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, serving two years on the EBoard, as well as leading the Chargers Alliance and the SAAC subcommittee for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The True Blue Award is selected by the student-athletes and represents a student-athlete who embodies the Charger spirit by overcoming adversity to achieve success. The second ever True Blue Award was presented to Rutchlor Louis (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo) from Men's Track & Field. Louis suffered a season-ending injury last year s a senior in the first competition of the year and underwent surgery. After suffering that setback, he decided to return to UNH and pursue a graduate degree and in his return to action scored points which helped lead the men's track and field team to its highest finish in program history at the NE10 Championships.  

The final awards of the evening were also presented by Mays, the Male and Female Athletes of the Year. The Athlete of the Year awards are chosen among the list of Most Valuable Player awards and are based on the individual players' contributions to his or her team's success and/or individual success for the given academic year.

Helping lead the men's basketball team to its first ever regional championship and appearance in the Elite Eight, Lane led New Haven in scoring, assists and steals while among the best in the NE10 in shooting percentage. Among his individual highlights on the season was joining the 1,000 point club, a feat which he accomplished on New Years Eve against Le Moyne. Following the season, Lane was named a Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team selection and received All-Region honors from both the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

A nominee for the NCAA Division II Woman of the Year award, Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) helped lead the Field Hockey team to its second-straight appearance in the NE10 Championship and a first round win before hosting a conference tournament game for the first time in program history. A two-time All-American, Geaglone was also named NE10 Defensive Player of the Year and earned her third NE10 All-Conference honor following the season. After finishing second on the team this past season in total points, Geaglone graduates as the all-time leader in assists, second in total points and third in total goals.

University of New Haven 2022-23 Athletics & Senior Awards Banquet

Female Athlete of the Year: Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield), field hockey
Male Athlete of the Year: Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy), men's basketball
Gold Standard Award: Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community), women's basketball
True Blue Award: Rutchlor Louis (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo), men's track & field
Female Rookie of the Year: Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil), women's tennis
Male Rookie of the Year: Owen Pincince (North Haven, Conn./North Haven), baseball

Most Valuable Players
Baseball: Josh Lester (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague)
Men's Basketball: Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy)
Women's Basketball: Camryn DeBose (Wellington, Fla./Wellington Community)
Cheer: Emily Soares (Bridgeport, Conn.)
Dance: Kelly Mirando (Propsect Conn./)
Men's Cross Country: Mohammed Abunar (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull)
Women's Cross Country: Isabella Bostic (Saint Johnsbury, Vt./Saint Johnsbury Academy)
Football: Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy)
Field Hockey: Taylor Geaglone (Enfield, Conn./Enfield)
Women's Lacrosse: Gabby Buscemi (East Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford)
Women's Rugby: Damaris Williams (Higganum, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth)
Men's Soccer: Adam Lindstrom (Orbero, Sweden/Grillska Gymnasiet)
Women's Soccer: Halle Palmedo (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset)
Softball: Bella Chenet (Plantation, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy)
Women's Tennis: Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil)
Men's Track & Field: Jordany Dely (Spring Valley, N.Y./Paramus Catholic)
Women's Track & Field: Kristen Washington (New Haven, Conn./James Hillhouse)
Women's Volleyball: Macy Brown (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac)