PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced its major award winners for the 2015-16 school year Monday evening at the E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium on the campus on Plattsburgh State. Five Cardinal student-athletes were the recipients of the six major awards at the annual Plattsburgh State Athletics Senior Recognition and Awards Ceremony.

During the ceremony, Plattsburgh State student-athletes, athletic department staff, and school administrators gathered to celebrate another great year in Cardinal Athletics as individual and team champions were honored. Also announced were the newest members of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athletic Honor Society. The event concluded with six plaque presentations, consisting of the male and female senior achievement awards, male and female athletes of the year, as well as the Dr. Richard D. Semmler Award, which is given to the top male and female seniors that garner the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA).

Giovanna Senese of the women's ice hockey team was the recipient of two major awards on the women's side in the Senior Achievement Award and the Dr. Richard D. Semmler Award. Senese is a three time national champion, four-time ECAC West Champion, and was named to the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-America Team. A native of Huntley, Ill., Senese was named a team captain for her final season on the women's ice hockey team. Giovanna was selected as the 2014-15 ECAC West Tournament Most Outstanding Player and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014-15 NCAA Tournament. The last two years, she has earned the NCAA Elite 89 and Elite 90 award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals for each of the NCAA's championships. Senese currently carries a 3.98 GPA, double-majoring in mathematics and physics while minoring in business. In addition, Giovanna has been named to the ECAC Women's West All-Academic Team all four years of her career.

Two members of the men's ice hockey team – Connor Gorman and Spencer Finney – took home the male Senior Achievement Award and the Dr. Richard D. Semmler Award respectively.

Gorman, a four-year member of the men's ice hockey team and a two-year member of the men's lacrosse team, was recognized as the male Senior Achievement Award winner. As a member of the men's ice hockey team, Connor was named to the 2015 SUNYAC All-Tournament Team and the 2015-16 SUNYAC All-Conference Third Team. This year, Gorman was voted on by Cardinal fans as the Campus Dining Fan Favorite. The Shrewsbury, Mass., native was a nominee for the 2016 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, which acknowledges the accomplishments of personal character, scholarship, and the giving of oneself off the ice to the larger community as well. Connor has been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) all fours years at Plattsburgh State, including serving as Vice President last year and President this year. As a member of SAAC, Connor has helped orchestrate events such as community leaf raking, organizing events with Special Olympics, and putting together this spring's 3-on-3 basketball tournament for Cardinal baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Gorman helped lead the men's ice hockey team to the SUNYAC regular season title, this year, registering 10 goals and seven assists, highlighted by a game-winning overtime goal at home against Oswego State with just two seconds remaining on February 5. Gorman has been a solid midfielder for the men's lacrosse team this season, scooping up a total of 31 ground balls, which is the fourth highest mark on the squad.

Gorman's ice hockey teammate, Spencer Finney, was honored as the male recipient of the Dr. Richard D. Semmler Award with a cumulative GPA of 3.86 while majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Sociology. The Pontypool, Ontario product appeared in 18 games this season as the No. 1 goaltender for the Cardinals, finishing with a record of 13-3-2, including 7-1-2 in SUNYAC contests. Finney garnered a spot this year on the SUNYAC All-Conference Third Team.

Having played a vital role in helping the women's ice hockey team win its third straight NCAA Division III National Championship, sophomore Melissa Sheeran yielded 2015-16 Female Athlete of the Year honors. Sheeran led all of NCAA Division III women's ice hockey with 28 goals and 27 assists for 55 points, playing in 26 games. In those 26 games, Sheeran collected eight game-winning goals. Melissa was named the MVP in both the ECAC West and NCAA Tournaments. She was named an AHCA First Team All-American, ECAC West First Team All-Conference, and D3Hockey.com as well as USCHO.com First Team All-East Region. In the moments that mattered most, Sheeran excelled, posting at least two points in every ECAC West playoff and NCAA Tournament game, including scoring the game-winning goal in the National Championship Game in a 5-1 victory against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena on March 19.

Perhaps no Cardinal had a bigger turnaround between seasons than Kyle Richardson's junior and senior seasons. Richardson's 2015-16 season will go down as one of the best in the history of the men's basketball program at Plattsburgh State, and earned him recognition as the 2015-16 Male Athlete of the Year. Richardson, in 26 games, posted an average of 19.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 52.6-percent from the floor in leading the Cardinals to their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years. Kyle's accolades speak for themselves: NABC First Team All-American, D3Hoops.com Second Team All-American, NABC and D3Hoops.com East Region Player of the Year, and SUNYAC Player of the Year. Kyle was a participant in this years' Reese's NABC Division III All-Star Game, where he was the only player to register a double-double in points and rebounds. In just two seasons with the Cardinals, Richardson's career statistical marks rank among some of the best to ever play for Plattsburgh State.

Coinciding with the announcement of the major award winners, Plattsburgh State's NCAA Faculty Athletic Representatives, Mila Su and Tom Thompson, announced 17 student-athletes that were to be inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma. Student-athletes who are inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma must be of junior standing, possess a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher, exhibit good sportsmanship and receive the endorsement of their head coach. This year's inductees include: Melissa Ames (women's ice hockey), Jacqueline Ciriello (women's tennis), Ian Cutting (men's track & field), Morgan Deming (women's cross country/track & field), Jonathan Gamboa (men's soccer), Paige Howk (women's soccer), Mercedes Kendall (women's soccer), Camille Leonard (women's ice hockey), Tiffani Love (women's cross country), Jax Miller (women's basketball), Kristen Napper (women's tennis), Brady Rouleau (men's ice hockey), Megan Schweizer (women's cross country/track & field), James Stewart (men's cross country/track & field), Melanie Taylor (women's cross country/track & field), Hope VanBrocklin (softball), and Ethan Vinson (men's cross country/track & field).