Fanning, Futia Nominated For America East Woman And Man Of The Year
WOMAN OF THE YEAR RELEASE I MAN OF THE YEAR RELEASE
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Announced by the league office Wednesday, seniors Kathryn Fanning of the cross country and track & field program and Cody Futia of the men’s lacrosse team have been nominated as the America East Woman and Man of the Year, respectively.
Kathryn Fanning (Manlius, N.Y.), a senior standout on the UAlbany cross-country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams, led the Great Danes to seven America East Conference track titles in her tenure. Individually, she is the school record holder in the indoor 1,000-meter run, the indoor one-mile run, and the outdoor 1,500-meter run, and has also set program-bests as a member of the relay teams. Academically, Fanning boasts a 3.98 cumulative GPA in biology and was honored this spring by SUNY with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. She also earned the SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award. Heading to medical school in the fall, Fanning is currently a researcher at the RNA Institute and a published author in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Cody Futia (Schenectady, N.Y.), a senior defender on UAlbany’s men’s lacrosse team, earned America East All-Conference Second Team honors the past three seasons and helped UAlbany to an America East title and NCAA Tournament berth in both 2013 and 2014. Leading the team with 14 caused turnovers so far this season, Futia and the Great Danes take on Loyola in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday in Baltimore. In the classroom, Futia, stands with a 3.73 GPA in business administration and has earned America East All-Academic Team honors. He also was a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award this spring.
To be nominated for Man and Woman of the Year, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in his and her primary sport by the end of the 2014 spring season or received an undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2014 term and have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).
The nominees will be narrowed down to three finalists on Tuesday, May 20 via a release on the conference web site with the winners being announced at the conference’s Annual Meeting in Bretton Woods, N.H. on Tuesday, June 3.
The America East Woman of the Year will then be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will select the top 10 winners in each NCAA division (I, II and III). From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year.
This is the first year the conference will hand out the Man of the Year award. The America East has awarded a Woman of the Year since 2006.