COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Northeast 10 Conference held its annual banquet on Monday night on the campus of Saint Michael's College to celebrate the 2025-26 academic year - highlighting outstanding individuals and performances, both on and off the playing surface.
PHOTO GALLERY
The NE10 saw another year of regional and national excellence across a variety of metrics - including but not limited to securing over 44% of all eligible team selections for NCAA Championships, nearly 100 All-Americans, nine regional championships, a pair of national finalists and an 87% Academic Success Rate, second-best in all of Division II. All full members competed for a league championship this past year, making the NE10 the only Division II conference to achieve that level of parity.
NE10 Commissioner Julie Ruppert recognized the following award recipients on Monday night.
NE10 PRESIDENTS, FOUNDERS & PIONEERS CUPS
Adelphi University
For the third consecutive season, Adelphi captured both the Presidents Cup and the Founders Cup, marking the school's first time three-peating as Presidents Cup champions and becoming the first department to win the cup three years in a row since Stonehill in 2011-12. Adelphi won the Pioneers Cup for the second time in three years after finishing as runners-up in 2024-25.
It is the second time in three years that Adelphi swept all three trophies. Highlighting the incredible achievement for Adelphi was league championships in the sports of women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, and men's and women's tennis.
Adelphi totaled 147.0 points in the Presidents Cup, with Bentley (131.0 points) and Saint Anselm (120.5) in the top three. Adelphi won the Founders Cup by a 3.5-point margin over Bentley, while having a 12-point edge in the Pioneers Cup over Southern Connecticut.
For final Cup standings, CLICK HERE.
MAN & WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Nicholas Wracker, Saint Michael's Ice Hockey
A 3.99 student in economics, Wracker is also an active member of the Saint Michael's community. He's worked as a peer tutor and a member of campus ministry. On the ice, Wracker served as an assistant captain while scoring 10 goals and helping on 15 others over a four-year career. Wracker was the Elite 24 award winner at the 2025 NE10 Championship, while helping his team to a league title. Wracker has repeatedly been honored by Saint Michael's, earning the Prevel Award at commencement along with the Michael D. Samara Award from Residence Life, the Roger F. Keleher '15 Award as the top male scholar-athlete in the graduating class and the Saint Michael's Award, presented to a member of the graduating class who has been involved for the betterment of the class and the community. Wracker is the first student-athlete from Saint Michael's to win the award.
Alexandra Witucki, Pace Lacrosse
A senior from Rochester, N.Y., Witucki has started all but one game on defense for the national semifinalists this spring. A 3.76 undergraduate in sports marketing, Witucki is currently pursuing a graduate degree in business analytics. Outside of participating on an NE10 and NCAA championship team, Witucki has had a hand in multiple community service projects while serving as a team equipment manager, the general manager of a student-run small business and a supervisor of the main athletics facility on campus. She is the first student-athlete from Pace to win the award and she will move forward as the NE10's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Dillon Labonte, SNHU Cross Country
Labonte earned a 4.00 GPA as an undergraduate double major in electrical engineering and mathematics. A two-time NCAA Elite 90 Award winner, Labonte has established himself as one of the Northeast 10's premier distance runners, earning multiple All-Conference honors during his career. He becomes the fourth Northeast 10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year from SNHU, joining track & field's Kelsey Seamans (2024), field hockey's Hélène Servais (2021) and men's soccer's Jonathan Lupinelli (2016).
Katarina Liedbeck, Adelphi Tennis
Liedbeck becomes the second Panther to receive this prestigious honor in department history, following women's soccer player Taylor Groth, who received the award in 2017. She graduates with a degree in computer science, minoring in mathematics, and a 3.985 cumulative grade point average. Her career features an NE10 Player of the Year honor, three NE10 Elite 24 awards, two CSC Academic All-America selections, two ITA East Region doubles titles, two Northeast 10 championships, the ITA East Region Senior Player of the Year award and six all-conference team selections, among other honors. This season, Liedbeck helped lead the Adelphi women's tennis program to an NE10 Championship title, an NE10 regular-season title, an NCAA Tournament victory over Jefferson and its first-ever NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance.
DR. DAVE LANDERS FACULTY MENTOR AWARD
Mark Lubkowitz, Saint Michael's
Lubkowitz won the NE10's Dr. Dave Landers Faculty Mentor Award thanks to his support and dedication to student-athletes from Saint Michael's College. A biology professor at Saint Michael's for more than 25 years, Lubkowitz has also been the Nordic skiing team's faculty affiliate since 2016. A member of the Saint Michael's faculty since 2001, Lubkowitz co-created the Teaching Gardens with education professor Valerie Bang-Jensen, was recognized with the Class of 2011 Appreciation Award, and earned the 2015 Joanne Rathgeb Teaching Award.
In 2024, Lubkowitz won the Maize Genetic Leadership Award, a prestigious international accolade. A member of the Vermont Biomedical Research Network executive committee, Lubkowitz has directly supervised the research of more than three dozen Saint Michael's students and mentored another two dozen who conducted research at institutions such as the University of Florida, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, and Purdue University. He is the fourth professor from Saint Michael's to earn this recognition.
Gallery: (6-2-2026) 2026 NE10 Banquet
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 10 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.
Fans can subscribe via this link to follow NE10 NOW on FloSports this season. The partnership between the NE10 and FloSports works to provide funds back to the athletic departments of the Northeast 10 Conference in support of student-athletes while promoting the league on a national platform.