Drexel Athletics 2023-2024 Annual Report | Honors & Awards

Bednarik and Senden Named Semanik Award Winners

Seniors Corinne Bednarik and Youri Senden were named the 2024 Mary and John Semanik Award winners. The awards are presented annually to the 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.

Bednarik was named a USA Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American and CAA Attacker of the Year for the second straight season, adding to her historic career as a Dragon. The attacker was also named IWLCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region First Team, receiving Second Team recognition last season. The fifth-year ended her final campaign by setting Drexel single season records with 99 points and 41 assists. She also set single-game records for points (11) and assists (8). The Glenmoore, Pa. native led the team and ranked this in the CAA with 58 goals, scoring a hat trick in 15 games this season. The captain tied the all-time DU record of 292 points in the NCAA first round vs #18 Princeton.

Senden capped an impressive career as a Dragon by being the first player in Drexel men's soccer history to earn the Coastal Athletic Association Defender of the Year award. The Voerendaal, Netherlands native also earned First Team All-CAA honors for the second straight year after playing all but three minutes this past season. Senden scored one goal, captained the backline across 1,457 minutes and earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District and All-America teams, along with the Philadelphia Soccer Six All-Star Team. To cap off his season, Senden was named the Philly-SIDA Men's Soccer Performer of the Year.

Male Team of the Year: Men’s Rowing
Female Team of the Year: Women’s Lacrosse
Coaching Staff of the Year: Women's Lacrosse
Victory of the Year: Women's Basketball defeats Stony Brook to win CAA Title
Male Performance of the Year: Jakub Kwasny
Female Performance of the Year: Chelsea Gravereaux
Play of the Year: Chloe Hodges (Women's Basketball)
Calvin Hicks Spirit Award: John Little, Rowing
I Am A Dragon Award: Aldercy Bui, Women's Swimming & Diving
SAAC Service Award: Maggie Stillman, Spirit Team
Dragon Cup: Women's Soccer & Men's Swimming & Diving
BSAU Impact Award: Peaches Brown
Spirit Team Performers of the Year: Alexa Fretz (Cheer) / Eliza Covello (Dance)
National Strength and Conditioning Association All-Americans: Grace Abbonizio (Softball), Liam Kammar (Men's Lacrosse), Emma Goodrow (Women's Soccer), Sebastian Smith (Men's Swimming and Diving)

Chelsea Gravereaux Named CAA Swimmer of the Year

Chelsea Gravereaux was named the Coastal Athletic Association's Swimmer of the Year. The graduate student is the second women's swimmer to win the award in Drexel history. Gravereaux earned the 2024 CAA Championship Most Outstanding Swimmer award, becoming the fourth woman in program history to earn the honor, after capturing three gold medals. She won the 50 free (22.29), the 100 free (48.52) and the 200 free (1:47.22), while setting program records in both the 50 free and 100 free. Gravereaux was also a member of the 200 free relay team that captured a bronze medal (1:31.76).

Cuocco and Bednarik Earn Lacrosse All-American Honors, Claim CAA Awards

Jenika Cuocco and Corinne Bednarik earned All-America honors for their performances during the 2024 season. A redshirt sophomore, Cuocco earned Second Team recognition from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse and received Third Team accolades from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. Bednarik meanwhile received honorable mention honors from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse.

The tandem also claimed Coastal Athletic Association Women’s Lacrosse Postseason Awards for the second straight season with Bednarik being named CAA Attacker of the Year and Cuocco earning Goalkeeper of the Year honors.

Spiker Named Big 5 Coach of the Year

Head Men's Basketball Coach Zach Spiker was named the Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year. Spiker led the Dragons to a 20-12 record, only the 11th time in school history and the first since 2012 that Drexel won 20 games, and a second-place finish in the Coastal Athletic Association. The Dragons picked up their first-ever Big 5 win at the Wells Fargo Center, where they defeated No. 18 Villanova for only the second time in school history.

Diggons and Lis Garner Rowing All-America Honors

13 members of the Drexel University men's rowing team have been recognized by the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) as Empacher Bootswerft Scholar Athletes highlighted by Josh Diggons IRCA Second Team All-American recognition and Damian Lis All-American honorable mention.

Williams Earns Record Third CAA Defensive Player of the Year Award

Amari Williams was named the CAA’s Defensive Player of the Year for a record third time. The senior from Nottingham, England averaged 12.3 points per game and led the CAA in blocked shots for the third straight season (1.81 per game), while ranking fifth in the league with 7.8 rebounds per game. This marked the seventh time that a Dragon has captured CAA Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Gannon Named to NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee

Nick Gannon was named to the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee. The committee is responsible for selecting the field of teams that compete in the NCAA Championships, administration of the tournament, and addressing topics within the sport. Gannon represents Drexel and the CAA on a national level and has been instrumental in helping Drexel and the city of Philadelphia secure bids for the NCAA Championships in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2023 and 2024.