Drexel Athletics 2024-2025 Annual Report | Honors & Awards

Cuocco and Kwasny Named Semanik Award Winners

Drexel seniors Jenika Cuocco and Jakub Kwasny have been named Drexel's 2025 Mary and John Semanik Award Winners. The awards are given to Drexel's top female and male senior student-athletes who best exemplify the scholarship and athletic ideals of the former Directors of Athletics, Mr. and Mrs. Semanik. The awards were presented at the Best of the Blue and Gold Awards.

Cuocco was named CAA Goalkeeper of the Year for the third consecutive year, the first player in conference history to win three straight major postseason awards. She also received CAA Rookie of the Year honors in 2023, making her the first athlete to collect four major CAA awards. The Sound Beach, N.Y., native was a USA Lacrosse All-American Honorable Mention this season, after receiving accolades from Inside Lacrosse (Second Team), USA Lacrosse (Second Team) and IWLCA (Third Season) a season ago. The Rocky Point product ranked in the top-20 nationally this season with 173 saves (9th), a .493 save percentage (10th) and 9.61 saves per game (19th). Cuocco had ten or more saves in eight games her redshirt junior campaign, including matching a career-best 18 saves in the CAA Championship game. Off the field, she was named to the CAA Commissioner's Honor Roll all four years as well as the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll. Cuocco was also named Drexel's CAA Female Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2024-25.

Kwasny concluded his career at Drexel as an eight-time CAA gold medalist and two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American. The graduate student earned six All-CAA honors during the 2024–25 season, highlighted by gold medal performances in the 100 butterfly (45.50) and 200 butterfly (1:44.10) at the CAA Championships. He also contributed to CAA-record gold medals in the 200 free relay (1:18.01), 400 free relay (2:52.71), and 400 medley relay (3:07.40), and helped Drexel take silver in the 200 medley relay with a school-record 1:25.25. At the CSCAA National Invitational, Kwasny placed first in the 100 fly with a meet-record time of 45.90, and added first-place finishes in the 200 fly and two medley relays. He was also named to the Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area Team. The Chorzow, Poland native graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Business Analytics.

Best of Blue and Gold Award Winners

Male Team of the Year: Golf
Female Team of the Year: Women's Rowing
Coaching Staff of the Year: Field Hockey
Victory of the Year: Field Hockey
Male Game Performance of the Year: Jasiah Queen, Wrestling
Female Performance of the Year: Anna Maria Gragnani, Women’s Lacrosse
Play of the Year: Griffin Mitchell, Golf
I Am A Dragon Award: Chloe Hodges, Women's Basketball
SAAC Service Award: Adam Leach, Rowing
Dragon Cup: Softball and Men's Rowing
Spirit Team Performers of the Year: Katie Prikril (Cheer) / Maddie McCoy (Dance)
National Strength and Conditioning Association All-Americans: Amaris Baker (Women's Basketball), Liz Chipman (Field Hockey), Alexia Louca (Women's Lacrosse), Griffin Mitchell (Golf), Desmond Pleasant (Wrestling)

Van Hellemont Earns Second Team All-America, CAA Player of the Year Honors

Valentine Van Hellemont was named a Second Team All-American by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). She became the program's eighth player to receive this honor after posting 22 points. Van Hellemont was also recognized as CAA Player of the Year and an NFHCA First Team All-Region selection.

Qasim Earns Squash All-America Honors

Drexel senior Haris Qasim was selected as a Second Team All-American by the College Squash Association (CSA). Qasim was one of just 20 players nationally to earn All-America recognition. This honor recognizes the top student-athletes who have demonstrated exceptional performance throughout both the regular season and the championship events.

Cuocco Earns All-America and IWLCA All-Region Honors

Jenika Cuocco of Drexel women's lacrosse was named a USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American. Cuocco is one of seven Dragons to gain Honorable Mention status or better in program history. She also was named the CAA Goalkeeper of the Year for the third time. She ranked in the top-20 in the NCAA with 173 saves (9th), .493 save percentage (10th) and 9.61 saves per game (19th).

Nathan Lavery Named CAA Men's Swimming & Diving Co-Coach of the Year

Nathan Lavery was named CAA Men's Co-Coach of the Year as Drexel men's swimming and diving finished in third place at the CAA Championships. Lavery led the Dragons to an 8-0 regular season record. The Dragons as a group set three CAA records and eight school records as well as compiling 16 medals.

Drexel Rowers Compete at U23 World Championships

Members of the Drexel rowing teams represented their nations at the U23 World Rowing Championships from July 23-27 on Lake Malta in Poznan, Poland. Andrei Axintoi (Romania), Matthew Kennedy (United States), Bartek Socha (Poland), and incoming freshman Ryan Miller (United States) of men's rowing and Sarah Ghazaz (Morocco) of women's rowing all participated in the Championships.

Kennedy and Miller competed together in the Men's Double Sculls, while Axintoi raced in the Men's Quadruple Scull, Socha was in the Men's 4 and Ghazaz rowed in the Lightweight Single.

Additionally, head coach Matt Weaver and assistant coach Gary Wielgus coached Kennedy and Miller in the U.S. Men's Double Sculls at the event. This was Weaver's third time participating as a coach and Wielgus's second.

Azevedo Named EIWA Coach of the Year

Mert ’67 and Joanne ’69 Hill Head Wrestling Coach Matt Azevedo was named EIWA Coach of the Year after guiding Drexel to a second place finish at the EIWA Wrestling Championships. It was the Dragons best-ever finish at the conference meet. Three Dragons automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship and all ten Dragons placed on the podium, the most of any team.

Cuocco and O’Donnell Selected to U.S. Women’s Lacrosse Training Camp

Jenika Cuocco and Drexel Mary Semanik Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Katie O'Donnell were invited to the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Field Nation Team training camp in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Cuocco and O'Donnell joined 37 other players at the camp, that took place from January 7-9. This was the second of three camps held by the U.S. women's team, as they work towards the 2026 World Lacrosse Women's Championships in Japan.