LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Men’s Soccer senior captain Milorad Sobot and women’s soccer senior captain Michele Tremblay are amongst a combined total of just 60 Division I men’s and women’s soccer candidates nationally for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. Siena College is one of just six Division I schools in the country with multiple candidates joining Army West Point, Dayton, Stanford, South Carolina, and Wake Forest, and one of only five with both a male and female candidate.

 

Sobot and Tremblay become Siena’s 17^th and 18^th Senior CLASS Award candidates, with all honorees having come since 2010. Sobot is the men’s soccer program’s third candidate joining Jannis Opalka (2012) and James Beeston (2013), while Tremblay is women’s soccer’s second joining Anna Grant (2014).

 

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition.

 

Each of the two, 30-member candidate lists will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, with each of those names being placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches, and fans, who will select one male and one female candidate as winners. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2017 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup championships in December. 

 

Both Sobot and Tremblay have excelled in each of the four criteria outlined in the Senior CLASS Award throughout their time donning the Green and Gold.

 

A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Sobot was tabbed a Preseason All-MAAC selection after being heralded as a 2016 Second Team All-MAAC honoree. The Saints’ back has started each of the team’s seven matches to date, and has appeared in 57 matches (54 starts) throughout his career while totaling 10 points and logging more than 5,000 minutes.

 

Sobot carries a 3.51 cumulative grade point average while pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Finance. Named a MAAC All-Academic Team and Academic Honor Roll selection in each year of eligibility, he has served as a “Saints Supporting Saints” tutor since last fall while also working as a telephone interviewer for the Siena Research Institute.

 

Thanks in large part of his great character and tremendous leadership qualities, Sobot has been elected a team captain three times. He is a member of the inaugural “Saints Leadership Academy,” and has served as the treasurer for the International Student Association for the past two and a half years.

 

In the community, Sobot has been an active and engaged participant in numerous Siena Athletics “Saints in the Community” initiatives throughout his four years. Along with his teammates, he has cooked meals at the local Ronald McDonald House, volunteered on several occasions with the Albany Police Athletic League (PALS) programs, and served at the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless, just to name a few.

 

A native of Goffstown, New Hampshire Tremblay too was tabbed a Preseason All-MAAC selection after earning First Team acclaim last fall. The Saints’ midfielder has started all nine of the team’s matches to date this fall while totaling six points on a goal and four assists. For her career, Tremblay has seen action in 68 matches (63 starts) scoring 34 points, and currently ranks tied for ninth in program history with 14 assists. 

 

Tremblay maintains a stellar 3.81 cumulative GPA while majoring in psychology and minoring in health studies. Named to Siena Athletics’ “4.0 Club” after achieving a perfect GPA during the Spring 2016 semester, she was inducted into both the Pi Gamma Mu (Social Science) and Psi Chi (Psychology) International Honor Societies last spring.

 

Tremblay was elected as a team captain prior to the start of this season. Head coach Steve Karbowski said in part about Tremblay’s character, “Michele is one of the most tireless and relentless workers on the field, and that effort carries over well beyond the field. She was selected as a captain heading into her senior year for her leadership abilities, as well as for her care and thoughtfulness of her teammates. Michele is truly a coach’s dream."

 

Tremblay has also been an active participant in the community. Most notably, she recently helped organize an American Red Cross Blood Drive and the First Annual Thomas Ducharme Recognition at the Saints’ match last weekend to honor her late uncle who was killed when he was struck by a car while jogging last fall. The recognition match raised $2,000 in his memory for the TOPSoccer program.

 

For more information on both Sobot and Tremblay’s candidacies as well as all of this year’s candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

 

About the Award
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. Premier Sports Management manages the award.