FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Six Different Institutions Represented.
MANSFIELD, Mass. – The Northeast-10 Conference recognized 10 outstanding student-athletes from the spring season as Sport Excellence Award winners on Thursday afternoon, honoring their remarkable athletic and academic achievements.
Among the 135 student-athletes named to the NE10 Academic All-Conference teams, the Sport Excellence Award is given to one top individual from each of the league's seven spring sports, in addition to women's tennis, men's golf and women's golf. Six different institutions were represented in the announcement, with Adelphi leading the way with five honorees.
One of the Conference's most prestigious awards, the Sport Excellence Award was highlighted by a grouping of Adelphi student-athletes, including two-time winners in Lindsey Hibbs (softball) and Marko Jovanovic (men's tennis). Adelphi also added Jack Hipchen (men's lacrosse), Katarina Liedbeck (women's tennis) and Filip Wetterqvist (men's golf) as honorees.
Bentley's Cory Bright (baseball), Franklin Pierce's Kesinee Prukmathakul (women's golf), New Haven's Kristen Washington (women's outdoor track & field), Pace's Angelina Porcello (women's lacrosse) and Southern Connecticut's Hunter Dale (men's outdoor track & field) are all first-time recipients of the Sport Excellence Award.
All 10 student-athletes earned NE10 First Team All-Conference honors in their respective sports this past spring.
To be eligible for Academic All-Conference and Sport Excellence honors, a student-athlete must have started at least half or played in two-thirds of all contests while making significant contributions and maintaining a 3.3 grade-point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale.
For more information on each Sport Excellence honoree, please see below.
BASEBALL
Name: Cory Bright
School: Bentley
GPA: 3.88 (Undergraduate) /3.95 (Graduate)
Major: MBA
Notes: Team captain...Played in 42 games and tallied 49 hits, 27 RBI and 31 runs scored...Bright was Bentley's leading hitter in the 2024 season with a .374 batting average...Helped the team to a program-record 29 wins...On-base percentage of .515 led all NE10 players...Recorded 14 multi-hit games...NE10 First Team All-Conference...CSC Academic All-District...Graduated Summa Cum Laude in May 2023...Eight-time selection to the NE10 Academic Honor Roll.
SOFTBALL
Name: Lindsey Hibbs
School: Adelphi
GPA: 3.914
Major: Sport Management
Notes: Hibbs is a three-time NFCA All-American selection as a pitcher, including Second Team in 2024...Only the second player in program history to become a three-time All-American...Produced the third 20-win season of her collegiate career...Concluded her career just shy of 1,000 strikeouts (995), which is the most in NE10 history...Posted a 22-13 record with a 1.38 ERA and 260 strikeouts...NFCA All-Region First Team and NE10 First Team All-Conference...2024 NE10 All-Championship Team...CSC Academic All-District...D2CCA National Pitcher of the Year in 2023...NE10 Sport Excellence Award recipient in 2023...Multi-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll recipient.
MEN'S LACROSSE
Name: Jack Hipchen
School: Adelphi
GPA: 3.7
Major: Management
Notes: Hipchen helped Adelphi win the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championship, the program's first since 2001...With Hipchen faceguarding the opposition's best attackmen as a shortstick defensive midfielder, the Panthers gave up the second-fewest goals per game in the country at 7.74...Chipped in 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points...2024 USILA Division II All-America First Team...USILA All-North Region First Team and NE10 First Team All-Conference...USILA All-America Honorable Mention in 2023...Multi-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll recipient.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
Name: Angelina Porcello
School: Pace
GPA: 3.71
Major: Childhood Education
Notes: Won her second-straight IWLCA National Player of the Year honor in 2024...Additionally earned IWLCA Midfielder of the Year and First Team All-American...IWLCA First Team All-Region, NE10 Midfielder of the Year and NE10 First Team All-Conference...Helped Pace win its first NE10 Championship in program history...Led the NE10 in goals (70), points (117), ground balls (79) and caused turnovers (70)...Nine-time recipient of the NE10 Academic Honor Roll.
MEN'S TENNIS
Name: Marko Jovanovic
School: Adelphi
GPA: 3.99
Major: Accounting
Notes: Named Vern Cox Player of the Year for the second-straight season...Two-time NE10 First Team All-Conference selection at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles...NE10 All-Championship Team...CSC Academic All-America Division II Men's Tennis Team Member of the Year...CSC First Team Academic All-American...NE10 Elite 24 Award recipient...Posted four-consecutive semesters with a perfect 4.0 GPA...Led program to its first-ever NE10 Championship and second-consecutive NE10 regular season title...Went 17-2 at the No. 1 singles flight, including a perfect 8-0 conference record...Ranked as high as No. 41 nationally in November...Two-time recipient of the NE10 Sport Excellence Award...Two-time CSC First Team Academic All-American.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Name: Katarina Liedbeck
School: Adelphi
GPA: 3.985
Major: Computer Science
Notes: Liedbeck helped Adelphi win both the NE10 Championship and NE10 regular season championship...Earned the ITA East Region Women's Doubles Championship in 2023-24...Won 11 of her 12 dual singles matches in the fall to lead the Panthers to an NE10 title...Went 14-5 in singles with a 10-1 mark at No. 2 singles...NE10 Championship Most Outstanding Player in 2023...NE10 First Team All-Conference at No. 2 singles and Third Team All-Conference at No. 1 doubles...NE10 Elite 24 Award recipient...Multi-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll recipient.
MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Name: Hunter Dale
School: Southern Connecticut
GPA: 4.0
Major: Exercise Science
Notes: Dale earned a gold medal as a member of the 4x400 relay team at the NE10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship, finishing in a time of 3:17.29...Finished second in the 400m hurdles (53.77)...Part of the 4x400 relay team that won at the NE10 Indoor Track & Field Championship...Took the bronze medal in the 400m at the Indoor Track & Field Championship...NEICAAA Indoor 500 Champion...NE10 Elite 24 Award recipient in men's outdoor track & field in 2024.
WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Name: Kristen Washington
School: New Haven
GPA: 3.62 (Undergraduate) /3.91 (Graduate)
Major: Doctorate of Health Sciences
Notes: Washington won first place in either the triple jump or long jump eight times - including in both of those events at the NE10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship and at the New England Championship in the triple jump...Set personal-bests in both events, including the long jump at the NE10 Championship and the triple jump at the New England Championship...NE10 Female Field Athlete of the Year...NE10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship Field Athlete of the Meet...NE10 All-Conference in the long jump and triple jump...USTFCCCA All-Region in the long jump and triple jump...Multi-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll recipient...Multi-time USTFCCCA All-East Region honoree in both indoor and outdoor track & field.
MEN'S GOLF
Name: Filip Wetterqvist
School: Adelphi
GPA: 3.867
Major: Finance
Notes: Wetterqvist helped Adelphi to its first NE10 Championship in a decade...Shot par or lower each day, while shooting the second-best score of the NE10 Championship individually...Became just the third Adelphi golfer all-time to qualify for the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championship - and the first since 2014...At regionals, he placed second among individuals whose teams did not qualify for the national championship...His finish at nationals was the best-ever performance by an Adelphi golfer, tying for 12th place overall...NE10 First Team All-Conference...NE10 All-Championship Team...Multi-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll recipient.
WOMEN'S GOLF
Name: Kesinee Prukmathakul
School: Franklin Pierce
GPA: 3.93
Major: Business Management
Notes: Prukmathakul won her third-straight NE10 Player of the Year honor in 2024...NE10 First Team All-Conference...Took first place on the individual leaderboard in five of Franklin Pierce's 11 tournaments, including the NE10 Championship where she won individual medalist honors with a four-stroke lead over the second-place finisher...Finished tied for 16th at the NCAA DII Regional Championship...Two-time individual medalist honoree at the NE10 Championship...Two-time NE10 Academic All-Conference selection.
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 11 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.