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Western New York's Premier Division II Team
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Joanna Fretthold presents Mackenzie Donahue with the Female Athlete of the Year Award

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Donahue Named 2015-16 Female Athlete Of The Year

AMHERST, N.Y. - Dual-sport star Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) of the Daemen College women's cross country and track & field teams has been named the College's 2015-16 Female Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made tonight at the Daemen ESPY's held in Lumsden Gymnasium, and the award was presented by Daemen alumnus and former women's volleyball team M.V.P. Joanna Fretthold.  It marked the second straight year that Donahue has won this major award.

After collecting six all-conference honors and three school records in her first two years here at Daemen, Donahue only cemented her eventual legacy among the all-time Wildcat greats this year.

It started with a stellar cross country season that culminated with Donahue becoming the first Daemen athlete in any sport to qualify and compete in a national championship event at the Division II level.  Donahue earned an invitation to the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships held last November 21 in Joplin, Mo. by virtue of her third-place finish at the NCAA Division II East Region Championships two weeks prior.  For that, she earned first-team All-Region honors, which came on the heels of her first-team All-East Coast Conference selection after finishing as the runner-up at the ECC Championships on October 24.

All-in-all, Donahue set a total of four school records during the cross country season.

Shifting to indoor track and field, Donahue was a first-team All-ECC performer in both the 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter runs, winning both events at the conference championship meet on February 26.  She also set new team records in both events, and was a first-team All-Region selection again.

As the track season moved outdoors, Donahue's dominance has only continued.  She has twice broken her own record in the 5,000 meter run, including her time of 17:10.78 earlier this week at the Penn Relays Carnival which also surpassed the provisional qualifying time in the event for the NCAA Division II National Championships.  

Donahue becomes the first two-time recipient of Daemen's Female Athlete of the Year award which was instituted in 2012.  Prior winners were volleyball player Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen), basketball player Monica Kosior (Grimsby, Ont./Canisius College) and soccer player Lindsay Miller (Pocono Lake, Pa./Pocono Mountain West).
 
Nominations for the award are made by Office of Athletic Communications and nominees are then voted on by the department's head coaches and other full-time staffers. Additional nominees this year included triathlon/track and field athlete Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls), volleyball player Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and basketball player Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster).
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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue

Mackenzie Donahue

5' 2"
Junior
Hannah Rice

Hannah Rice

5' 5"
Sophomore
Ashley Cheff

Ashley Cheff

5' 3"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue

Mackenzie Donahue

5' 2"
Junior
Hannah Rice

Hannah Rice

5' 5"
Sophomore
Ashley Cheff

Ashley Cheff

5' 3"
Junior