BOSTON — The Northeastern University Department of Athletics and Recreation honored its high-achieving scholar-athletes on April 16 at the 21st Annual Northeastern Scholar-Athlete Luncheon. Alumna Jennifer Guerriero '05, an honors student and standout performer on the women's track and field team during her time on Huntington Avenue, served as the keynote speaker.
The luncheon, held in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day, recognized one student-athlete from each of the university's 18 varsity sports teams for achieving excellence in academics and athletics, while making significant contributions to the community.
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"You have competed at the highest level of athletics and you have done this while excelling academically at one of the best institutions in the world," Guerriero said, congratulating the honorees. "You've faced adversity and overcome obstacles and in doing so, you've set yourself apart from your peers. You should be very proud of your academic accomplishments this year. You have committed yourself not only to your athletic team but also to academic excellence."
Guerriero graduated from Northeastern in 2005 magna cum laude with high honors with a degree in bio-chemistry. She was a standout track and field athlete and her performance at the 2004 New England Championships still ranks among the top-10 all-time at Northeastern in the pole vault. After graduating from Northeastern, she earned a doctoral degree in molecular and cellular biology and immunology and pathology from Stony Brook University, and now is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. She leads a major research project at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, investigating cancer immuno-therapies that harness the body's own immune system to fight and attack cancer cells within the body.
As part of the luncheon tradition, each honoree invited a professor or mentor to attend the event with them, recognizing the significant role that mentors play in shaping a positive campus experience and building a road to success for all students. The honored scholar-athletes were presented with certificates and introduced their invited mentors.
"Your support and dedication to the student-athlete is indispensable, and today we all honor you for this" Guerriero told the mentors. "You have set the bar high for these students and demanded academic excellence from them. The role you have played in this student's academic career will impact them for the rest of their lives."
The high-achieving student-athletes honored at the luncheon were:
Corinne Austin, women's rowing
Kelly Benfey, women's indoor track and field
Nick Berger, baseball
Jamie Bredahl, women's volleyball
Bianca Calderone, women's soccer
Kaci Coveleski, field hockey
Caleb Donnelly, men's basketball
Dylan Faber, men's soccer
Chelsea Hudson, women's outdoor track and field
Dax Lauwers, men's ice hockey
Jackson MacDonald, men's outdoor track and field
Hayley Masters, women's ice hockey
Amencie Mercier, women's basketball
Anthony Pavlich, men's indoor track and field
Megan Rutter, women's swimming and diving
Stephen Sollowin, men's cross country
Eryn Wheeler, women's cross country
Eric Winkert, men's rowing
Guerriero encouraged the student-athletes not to be complacent, but to continue to strive for greatness. "You will never look back and regret the extra effort you put in, but you will always regret not putting in the extra effort," she explained. "These are the things that define you. These are the things that make the difference between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success."
National Student-Athlete Day is a program of the National Consortium for Academics and Sports. The event recognizes high school and college student-athletes nationwide for their outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, and service to their schools and communities.
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