'Cuse Awards Celebrates Syracuse's 2016-17 Accomplishments

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

'Cuse Awards Celebrates Syracuse's 2016-17 Accomplishments

5/2/2017 9:49:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Football, Men's Rowing, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men's Lacrosse, Women's Lacrosse, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball, Track and Field, Ice Hockey, Cuse Awards, Cheer, Dance Team

Orange Carpet Photos Award Winner Photos Ceremony Photos Storify: Social Media Recap Cuse TV: Rookies of the Year Interviews Cuse TV: Cuse Cares Interview Cuse TV: Coaches of the Year Interview Cuse TV: Performance of the Year Interview Cuse TV: Sadie McQuay Interview Cuse TV: Cameron MacPherson Interview Cuse TV: Game of the Year Winner Interview Cuse TV: Justyn Knight Interview

Syracuse student-athletes, coaches and administrators gathered to celebrate their achievements at the 11th annual 'Cuse Awards at the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center on Tuesday evening. The event celebrated Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) titles, academic honors and community engagement. Orange fans are invited to watch the 'Cuse Awards show in its entirety on Cuse TV at Cuse.com and Spectrum Sports Channel on Thursday, May 4 at 10 pm.

The cross country squad won Men's Team of the Year honors for its third-place finish in the NCAA Cross Country Championship. It marked the team's second-highest finish in more than 40 years behind the 2015 NCAA Championship. The team also won the NCAA Northeast Regional as well as the ACC title for the fourth year in a row, marking its fifth-straight conference title dating back to the 2012 BIG EAST Championship.

Women's basketball team earned Women's Team of the Year as it is one of 15 programs in the nation to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the past four years. The team has been ranked in the top 25 of the coaches' poll in each of the past 27 poll releases, a program record. Their accomplishments continue as the team defeated four nationally-ranked opponents in the regular season, which is also a Syracuse record. Two of the Orange players earned all-conference first team and All-American honors for the first time.

Justyn Knight earned Male Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year. He was the runner up at the NCAA Cross Country Championship as well as in the 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship, earning first-team All-America honors in both events. Knight was named Performer of the Year and meet MVP at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championship after winning both the 3000 and 5000 meters.

Alexis Peterson took home Female Athlete of the Year accolades after becoming the first player in program history to earn conference player of the year honors. Peterson was a finalist for the 2017 Dawn Staley Award and Nancy Lieberman Award. Peterson owns the Orange all-time assists record and ranks second on the all-time scoring list. In addition, Peterson set both the Syracuse single-season scoring and assists records and became the program's fourth All-American.

Miranda Ramirez and Mo Adams earned Female and Male Rookie of the Year accolades. Ramirez played 10 matches at No. 1 singles this season for the Orange women's tennis team and finished her rookie campaign at 15-6 overall, including a run of 12-straight wins. She earned All-ACC Second Team honors. Adams was a member of the men's soccer All-South Region Second Team. In addition, he was named to the All-ACC Third Team and the ACC All-Freshman Team. Adams started all 19 matches in which he played in the midfield. Adams scored one goal and helped the Orange record 10 shutouts.

Women's rowing head coach Justin Moore and men's cross country coach Chris Fox were honored with Coach of the Year awards. Moore guided the Orange to their first NCAA Championship appearance in 2002 last season where the varsity eight placed 12th overall, its fourth-best showing in school history. This year's squad opened the season ranked No. 17. Fox led Syracuse to its second consecutive podium finish at the NCAA Championship. The Orange earned their fifth straight conference and NCAA Northeast Regional titles.

Sydney O'Hara earned the Female Performance of the Year award. She tied an NCAA record with four home runs in Syracuse's 11-5 win against NC State. O'Hara, who is only the fifth player in NCAA history to accomplish the feat, finished the game with four home runs in four at-bats and eight RBI. Freddie Crittenden III was the Male Performance of the Year winner after finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship for the second straight year.

The Game of the Year award went to men's basketball for its victory against No. 10/11 Duke. Graduate student John Gillon converted a 3-pointer in the final seconds to secure the win in front of the largest on campus crowd in college basketball this season. The Play of the Year was from the Syracuse football team's win against Virginia Tech. Running back Dontae Strickland threw an 84-yard touchdown pass to Brisly Estime on a halfback option. The pass play was the Orange's longest of the season.

The 2017 Soladay Awards were presented to Saydee McQuay (women's rowing) and Cameron MacPherson (football). McQuay has been a member of the Orange women's rowing first varsity eight boat since the 2016 campaign. As a junior, she guided the crew to a 12th-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Championship, its best showing at the national championship regatta since 2002. This year, she has helped the boat to three Atlantic Coast Conference Crew of the Week honors. MacPherson is a two-year letterwinner for the Orange football program, playing in 24 career games. As a senior in 2016, he was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is award to the country's top football scholar-athlete and earned CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America honors.

The female candidates for the Soladay Award were Serra Degnan (field hockey), Stephanie Skilton (soccer), Isabella Slim (basketball), Morgan Blank (ice hockey), Carly Randall (lacrosse), Sydney O'Hara (softball), Valeria Salazar (tennis), and Cameron Spera (dance).

The male candidates for the Soladay Award were Oyvind Alseth (soccer), Adam Palamar (cross country), Scott Firman (lacrosse), Andrew Reichard (rowing) and Isaac Clark (spirit).

Men's basketball graduate student DaJuan Coleman was honored with the Syracuse 8 Courage Award. In addition, the women's soccer team was honored with the Team GPA award, while football was honored with the Cuse Cares award for community service.