POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Vassar College Department of Athletics and Physical Education will honor all of its student-athletes with its annual Vassar Athletics Awards Ceremony, held Wednesday, May 7, 2025 beginning at 1:00 p.m. at The Chapel here in Poughkeepsie. Many of Vassar College's brightest athletes will be honored.
 
The awards ceremony will feature nomination presentations of the top vote getters for each award, while members from the Vassar Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will serve as presenters for the 13 awards. Also, the department will honor over 100 seniors for their hard work over their careers at Vassar College. Below are the descriptions for each award.

The ceremony will be live streamed via BoxCast on this link 
 
VC Student-Worker of the Year Award - This award recognizes a student-worker that personifies the ideals of Vassar College as well as the Vassar Athletics Department. The award honors a worker that goes above and beyond what is asked, shows initiative and quality of work, and who has contributed to the Vassar Athletics Department in a way that benefits the athletic and physical education community as a whole.
Presenters: Nicole Ezell '25 – Women's Fencing and Abigail McLaughlin '26 – Women's Swimming and Diving

The Iron Brewer Award – This award is given to one student-athlete from a men's team and one student-athlete from a women's team who exemplify impeccable physical training and dedication to sport performance. An Iron Brewer is forged from early morning sprints, extra sets, bonus finishers, and a passion to drive their physical capacities to the highest possible level. This person is strong, powerful, fast, agile and above all hard working. They are engaged in every aspect of the process from asking questions to helping teammates better understand technique they have mastered.  The Iron Brewers are selected by the Strength and Conditioning Coach.
Presenters: Will Darrell '27 – Baseball and Adelaide Nyhan '27 – Women's Cross Country and Track and Field
  
Vassar Scholar-Athlete Award -The Vassar scholar-athlete award is presented annually to a senior student-athlete from a men's team and a senior student-athlete from a women's team based upon overall grade point average, athletics ability, team spirit and leadership.
Presenters: Parker Schoenl '27 – Men's Volleyball and Sean Miller '27 – Men's Cross Country and Track and Field

Vassar Rookie of the Year -The Vassar 'Rookie of the Year' Award will be awarded to one student-athlete from a men's team and one student-athlete from a women's team, that is designated as a first-year, in recognition of outstanding athletics performance in a Vassar athletics department-sponsored sport over the course of a current, single academic year. This award will recognize athletics excellence attained individually and in the context of team, league, conference, regional and/or national competition. The emphasis of this award is sport performance, but intangible traits that complement the evidence of outstanding athletics performance may be included.
Presenters: Brady Traugot '25 – Men's Fencing and Julia Lawless '25 – Women's Lacrosse

Frances Fergusson Coaches Award -The Coaches' Award is presented by the Department of Athletics & Physical Education to one senior student from a men's team and one senior student from a women's team. The award is intended to recognize a student-athlete that personifies the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership, dedication and character over their career that Vassar Athletics hopes to instill in all of its student-athletes. The intent is to put more emphasis on these ideals than is generally given in statistic or performance-based awards.
Presenters: Sofia Beseth '26 – Field Hockey and Rebecca Gutierrez '26 – Women's Volleyball
 
Betty Richey Performer of the Year Award -The Betty Richey 'Performer of the Year' Award will be awarded to one student-athlete from a men's program and one from a women's program from any class, in recognition of outstanding athletics performance in a Vassar athletics department-sponsored sport over the course of a current, single academic year. This award will recognize athletics excellence attained individually and in the context of team, league, conference, regional and/or national competition. The emphasis of this award is sport performance, but intangible traits that complement the evidence of outstanding athletics performance may be included.
Presenters: Birch Herring-Jackson '25 – Baseball and Phoebe Florance '26 – Women's Lacrosse
 
Matthew Vassar Outstanding Career Award -The Mathew Vassar Outstanding Career Award will be awarded to one senior student-athlete from a men's team and one senior student-athlete from a women's team in recognition of outstanding athletics performance in a Vassar athletics department-sponsored sport over the course of their career at Vassar. Nominees should have completed at least three seasons in their sport during their Vassar career. This award will recognize athletics excellence in the context of team history and the current team, and the individual's performance in the context of league, conference, regional and/or national competition. Evidence of improvement and development over the course of the individual's career should also be included. The emphasis of this award is sport performance, but intangible traits that complement the evidence of outstanding athletics performance may be included.
Presenters: Jamie Eu '26 – Women's Track and Field and Sarah Boucher-Rowe '26 – Women's Squash