Alexa Berg and Daniel Curran won Coach Mariano Awards as outstanding female and male senior athletes at Norwich University’s Senior Athlete Recognition Awards Luncheon April 28 in Plumley Armory.
Berg, a women’s hockey goalie from West Fargo, North Dakota, was third-team New England Hockey Conference and posted a .936 save percentage and 1.53 goals against average in 19 games played, compiling an 11-8-0 record.
Berg won three New England Hockey Conference Goalie of the Week honors during her senior season. She tied the program single-game record for saves (44), broke her own previous best mark with 291 consecutive shutout minutes and had six shutouts.
Berg helped lead Norwich to two NEHC Tournament titles (2019, 2020). Bergand ranks top five in program history in career save percentage (.932, third), saves (893, second), (28 wins (28, fifth), goals-against average (1.49, fifth) and shutouts (15, fourth). She is the the third consecutive women’s hockey player to win top female athlete, joining Samantha Benoit ’21 and Amanda Conway ’20.
Fifty-four student-athletes earned scholar-athlete honors for carrying a 3.25 cumulative GPA or higher.
Berg also won the Roy Looke Award, given to the senior who has distinguished himself/herself athletically, academically and has displayed leadership as a civilian.
She had a 3.67 cumulative GPA as an athletic training major and was on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Curran, a wrestler from Peterborough, New Hampshire, is the second wrestler to win the top male athlete award since its 2009 debut.
He earned All-New England honors three times in his career and had top-eight finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships (eighth place, 2022), (seventh place, 2020 and 2019). He compiled 66 victories in three seasons and was a four-time National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American. He thrice earned All-New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) honorable mention.
The Coach Mariano Awards are named for Anthony Mariano, who’s retiring after 44 years at Norwich and 30 as athletic director.
Women’s lacrosse player Allison Sturgeon of Monticello, Indiana, won the Garrity Award, which goes to the senior who has distinguished himself or herself athletically, academically and has displayed leadership in the Corps of Cadets.
Sturgeon was a sergeant first class in Norwich’s Corps and commissioned into the U.S. Marine Corps as a second lieutenant. She’ll pursue her law degree and aspires to be a Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer. Sturgeon also received the Brig. Gen. Elizabeth P. Hoisington Award, given to the top senior commission-seeking female cadet.
Courage and classroom success
On the field, Sturgeon scored a team-leading 43 goals and had eight assists for 51 points. Off the field, Sturgeon had a 3.84 cumulative grade-point average as a criminal justice major and finished her undergraduate degree in three years.
Zev Motew, a football player from Highland Park, Illinois, won the Charles F. Crosby Courage Award, which honors a graduating senior athlete or team manager who has overcome adversity during their time at Norwich. Motew, a linebacker who led the team in tackles with 95 this past season as a captain, has worked through a lifelong speech disability.
The award is named for longtime Norwich athletics supporter and former sports information department member Charlie Crosby ’63.
Michaila Furchak, a lacrosse player from Nyack, New York, won the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year with a 3.9 GPA as an architecture major; Spencer Conatser, a basketball player from Reno, Nevada, won the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year with a 3.96 GPA as an exercise science major.
Fifty-four student-athletes earned scholar-athlete honors for carrying a 3.25 cumulative GPA or higher.
Baseball: Hunter Lavigne and Hayden Roberge
Men’s basketball: Samuel-Noah Osarenkhoe, Spencer Conatser and Caleb Casinas
Women’s basketball: Hannah Stitely
Football: Kevin Dougherty, Zev Motew, Chase Panza and Jacob Schwab
Softball: Maggie Rasmussen
Men’s hockey: Devon Becker, Alex Monteleone, Brett Ouderkirk, Logan vande Meerakker, Noah Williams and Ryan Urtz
Women’s hockey: Alexa Berg, Kenady Nevicosi, Kayla Goleniak and Taylor Tom
Men’s lacrosse: Payden Masaracchia, Jake Andrews-Pesatana, Brendan Toulouse, Dan Perry and Andrew Morgan
Women’s lacrosse: Rachel Landress, Brittney Poljacik, Allison Sturgeon, Ava Durand and Michaila Furchak
Wrestling: Gabe Duden, Dan Curran and Tyler Barker
Men’s rugby: Patrick Gest, Jeromy Henning Jr., Brandon Hussey, Jack Tellifson and Brantley Ledbetter
Women’s rugby: Jackie Federico and Audrey Greeno
Women’s soccer: Julia Koron, Lindsey Gordon, Sara Marcotte and Kim Watt
Men’s swimming and diving: Michael Kuehne, Brian Parrott and Gordon Suwirjo
Women’s swimming and diving: Kat Connor, Adele Cousland, Bebe Sullivan and Brittaney Townsend
Volleyball: Liz Brown and Addison Hall
