SALEM – Salem State Athletics celebrated VeSPY Week, May 4 – May 8 to honor its student athletes for their athletic and scholastic achievements over the past year. Despite not being able to host the event on campus, members of SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) along with Salem State President John Keenan and Provost and Academic Vice President David Silva announced the winners on Instagram throughout the week.
The Department of Athletics & Recreation presented George Jacobson with the Richard B. “Mike” O’Keefe Award for outstanding service to the athletic program. Jacobson has been a part of the Salem State family for over 50 years as a professor, advisor and golf coach and recently retired as an official basketball scorer for the Vikings after 40 seasons. Senior baseball player Madoc Fisher (Wayne, N.J.) and three-sport athlete Casie Curtin (Wrentham, Mass.) were recognized with the CHAMPS/Life Skills Award for their contributions to the community and their fellow students.
Senior women’s lacrosse player Joni Hill (Dracut, Mass.) was honored with the Viking Award, which recognizes a student-athlete who has overcome significant challenges to reach a level of success in athletics and academics, and who inspires others through perseverance and leadership.
Junior tennis player, Anastasia Startseva (Volgograd, Russia) and senior men’s basketball player, Hakeem Animashaun (Dedham, Mass.) received the Salem State President’s Cup, which is awarded to the top male and female athletes at Salem State.
Startseva was recognized for the second year in a row as the President’s Cup winner. The junior earned consecutive Little East first team honors at first singles, going 8-1, while losing only three sets all season. The former LEC Player-of-the-Year and Rookie-of-the-Year has a two-year conference mark of 17-1 (.944). Startseva was also named to the LEC first doubles team after compiling an 8-2 record. The junior currently ranks in the top-10 at Salem State in career singles victories (22) and doubles wins (21).
Animashaun, a three-year player, was the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Player of the Year while also earning National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III All-District Second Team and D3hoops.com All-Northeast Third Team honors. The two-time All-MASCAC first-team selection led the conference in points per game (23.4), total rebounds (338), offensive rebounds (118), defensive rebounds (220), rebounds per game (12.5) and blocks (70). His 12.5 rpg game ranked fifth in the country while his 23.4 ppg average ranked 19th nationally. Animashaun’s 2.59 blocked shots per game were seventh best overall and he led all of Division III in free throw attempts (276). He finished third in the nation with a school-record 22 double-doubles and became just the seventh player in Salem State history with 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds.
Senior women’s soccer player, Katie Brown (Milford, Mass.) and senior ice hockey player, Brandon Wolfe (Granger, Ind.) were the recipients of the John D. Galaris Scholar-Athlete Award.
Brown, a three-year starter was team captain in 2019, earning Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) second team honors and was named offensive MVP for the Vikings after leading the Vikings to a second place conference finish and its highest post-season tournament seed. Brown was President of Psi Chi (Psychology Honor Society) and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi (Multidisciplinary Collegiate Honor Society) and Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society. The four-time All-MASCAC Academic and Dean’s List member carries a 3.92 grade point average in Criminal Justice and has the highest GPA amongst all Salem State female student-athletes.
Wolfe, a four-year member and current captain of the Salem State men’s hockey team, is in the top-10 all-time in games played (109) at Salem State and was a member of the 2017 team that won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. A three-year SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) member and Special Olympics volunteer, he was inducted in Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society this year. A four-time All-MASCAC Academic and Dean’s List selection, Wolfe carries a 3.92 grade point average in Biology and will attend Lincoln Memorial University-Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in the fall.
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VeSPY Award Winners
Best Play – Lucas Amaral (Peabody, Mass.), men’s soccer
Clutch Performance – Allison Couillard (Tewksbury, Mass.), field hockey
Rookie if the Year – Co-winners Nick Ramos (Middleboro, Mass.) – men’s soccer, Madison Pesce (Danvers, Mass.) – women’s soccer
Breakout Performance – Field Hockey Team
Team MVP’sÂ
Men’s Golf – Aaron Paskowski (Danvers, Mass.)
Men’s Soccer – Patrick Filetti (Newburyport, Mass.)
Women’s Soccer – Devyn Malatesta (Wilmington, Mass.)
Field Hockey – Marissa Laganas (Beverly, Mass.)
Women’s Tennis – Anastasia Startseva ((Volgograd, Russia)
Women’s Volleyball – Sarah Janco (Methuen, Mass.)
Winter
Men’s Basketball – Hakeem Animashaun (Dedham, Mass.)
Women’s Basketball – Courtney Paschal (Waltham, Mass.)
Men’s Ice Hockey – Sean Cleary (Barnstable, Mass.)
Women’s Ice Hockey – Ally Webster (Hanson, Mass.)
Spring
Baseball – Madoc Fisher (Wayne, N.J.)
Men’s Lacrosse – Preston Dougherty (Upton, Mass.)
Women’s Lacrosse – Kirsten Bradley (Peabody, Mass.)
Men’s Tennis – Co-MVP’s Noah Hodgkins (Winthrop, Mass.), Mitchell Dyer (North Attleboro, Mass.)
Softball — Co-MVP’s Ivy Bonoldi (Medfield, Mass.) and Dominique Del Vecchio (Stoneham, Mass.)
