Last year, more than 1,300 donors contributed more than $500,000 to the Blue and Gold Athletics Fund, providing essential funding that impacted our programs in the areas of scholarships, coaching excellence, recruiting, and team travel, helping our nearly 400 student-athletes excel in the classroom and on the field of competition. Because of donors’ support, we celebrated several program highlights during the 2023-24 year, including: • Baseball outfielder Jackson Strong became the 16th player in program history to be drafted as he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round (206th overall ) in the 2024 MLB Draft. One of 10 players in program history to earn All-MAAC First Team honors on multiple occasions, Strong led the Griffs in hits (62), runs (55), RBI (44), triples (3), home runs (11), total bases (110) and steals (42). He established a program record with his 42 stolen bases while his 0.88 stolen bases per game led the nation. • Hockey forward Matteo Giampa garnered Atlantic Hockey Association Rookie of the Year, All-AHA Second Team and AHA All-Rookie Team honors following a freshman campaign that saw him pace the Griffs in goals (18), assists (17) and points (35), becoming the first Canisius rookie to lead the team in scoring since the 2006-07 season. Giampa was a named to the watchlist for the Tim Taylor Award, given annually to the top freshman in college hockey. • Hockey defenseman Cody Schiavon was named to the College Sports Communicators 2023-24 Academic All-America® men’s at-large team. Schiavon was a third team selection, becoming the first player in program history to garner Academic All-American accolades. • The softball team advanced to the championship series of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Softball Championship for the fourth consecutive season. Junior pitcher Megan Giese was named an All-MAAC First Team performer for the third consecutive campaign while fellow senior Christie McGeeRoss garnered All-MAAC First Team accolades as well as NFCA Great Lakes All-Region Second Team distinction. • In swimming and diving, freshman Marin de Villard was named the Male Rookie of the Meet as turned three All-MAAC performances, each of which established a program record. Overall, the Golden Griffins garnered 12 broken program records, six All-MAAC performances and one MAAC Champion at the meet. • Women’s soccer hosted its first postseason contest in program history as it finished the 2023 season with a 9-4-6 overall record and a 6-2-2 ledger in conference play. A total of seven Griffs earned All-MAAC distinction, highlighted by first-team honoree Emma Oliphant. • Women’s basketball advanced to the semifinal round of the MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The 17 wins were also the most by the Griffs since the 2008-09 season. • A total of 38 Canisius student-athletes were named to their respective all-conference teams during the 2023-24 academic year, highlighted by five student-athletes winning major individual awards. • The Canisius Athletic Department enjoyed another solid semester in the classroom as 19 of its 20 varsity programs registered a cumulative team grade point average of 3.25 or better during the 2024 spring semester, highlighted by 12 squads posting a team GPA of 3.40 or higher. • The 2024 spring semester 54 student-athletes earn a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Those 54 student-athletes highlighted a group of 327 student-athletes to post a term GPA of 3.0 or higher, representing 85.0 percent of the University’s student-athlete population. Thank you in advance for supporting the Blue & Gold Fund and our students! JUNIOR PAUL MCMILLAN IV
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