07/10/2025
Cortland junior men's track and field athlete Isaiah Brunache (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union), sophomore men's lacrosse player Sean Kavanagh (North Canton, OH/Hoover) and women's golfer Sophie Oristian '25 (North Potomac, MD/Quince Orchard) have been honored as State University of New York (SUNY) Spring Scholar Athletes of the Year, while Brunache and Kavanagh also have been selected as State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Spring Scholar Athletes of the Year, in their respective sports for the 2025 season.
Brunache earned both the SUNY and SUNYAC men's outdoor track and field awards for the second straight year. An exercise science major with a 3.97 overall GPA, Brunache was the national runner-up in the shot put at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a SUNYAC-record and school-record heave of 18.21 meters (59' 9"). He earned All-Niagara Region honors in both the shot put and discus and he won the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) title in the shot put in addition to placing fourth in the discus. Brunache earned SUNYAC Outdoor Championship Most Valuable Performer of the Meet honors after winning the shot put, placing second in the discus and finishing fourth in the hammer throw at the conference meet. Cortland won the SUNYAC title, was AARTFC runner-up and tied for 13th nationally.
Kavanagh is a physical education major with a 3.54 overall GPA. The midfielder earned second team United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America honors and first team All-SUNYAC recognition after recording 48 goals and 31 assists for 79 points. He led Cortland in assists and was second in both goals and total points. Kavanagh also earned a spot on the SUNYAC all-tournament team. He helped the Red Dragons finish 19-3 win the SUNYAC title and advance to the NCAA Division III tournament quarterfinals to tie for fifth place nationally.
Oristian graduated this past May as an exercise science major with a 3.63 overall GPA. She tied for third place at the Northeast Women's Golf Conference (NWGC) Championship to earn first team all-conference honors and help Cortland win the league title and earn an NCAA Division III tournament automatic berth. She was Cortland's top performer at nationals with a two-day score of 165 (84-81), as well as tying for fourth place at the NWGC Fall Classic and placing seventh at the Catholic (DC) Cardinal Spring Classic. Oristian was a four-time All-NWGC honoree, earning first team honors in 2025, 2023 (tied for third) and 2022 (tied for fifth), along with a second team honor in 2024 (tied for sixth).
The SUNYAC Scholar Athlete Award winners are selected from each of the SUNYAC's sponsored sports. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must have a minimum overall grade point average of 3.30, be a starter or significant reserve on his or her team and have an academic class standing of sophomore or higher.
The SUNY Scholar Athlete Awards recognized student athletes from SUNY colleges and universities sponsoring intercollegiate athletics at the four-year and two-year levels who were nominated and voted upon by representatives of their respective institutions. Nominating information includes cumulative grade point average, current and career statistics, and athletic and academic honors.
More than 14,000 student-athletes compete at SUNY institutions representing 53 different colleges and universities at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III/USCAA and NJCAA levels and are eligible for the awards. The 19 Division III institutions in the SUNY system are: Alfred State, Brockport, Buffalo State, Canton, Cobleskill, Cortland, Delhi, Farmingdale, Fredonia, Geneseo, Maritime, Morrisville, New Paltz, Old Westbury, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Potsdam and SUNY Poly. SUNY-ESF, a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), participates in the program with the 19 NCAA Division III members for a total of 20 colleges and universities.
The SUNY Scholar Athlete Awards, which originated in the fall of 2022, recognize outstanding academic and athletic success in 29 different sports and are presented three times a year to coincide with the specific sports contested in the fall, winter and spring seasons. The Scholar Athletes of the Year in each sport will then be nominated for an overall Scholar Athlete of the Year for men's sports and women's sports in each category that will be announced in mid-July. Because sport sponsorship varies among institutions, a minimum sponsorship formula has been developed for award selections. At least three (3) institutions must sponsor the sport in the Division I category, while at least five (5) institutions must sponsor the sport in the SUNY Division III/USCAA and SUNY NJCAA categories. For sports that do not meet the minimum threshold to be a viable award, an At-Large Category has been developed for each level and each season.
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In picture, frrom left: Sophie Oristian '25, Isaiah Brunache and Sean Kavanagh