Athletics Ended a Successful Year with The YESPYS Awards

The York College Athletics Department once again ended the academic year with the inspiring York Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (YESPYS) in honor of the college’s athletes.

Held in the HPE building last month, the event featured scholar-athletes across the spectrum of York College sports. Dressed to impress, the students “showed up and showed out” to receive their awards at the dinner-time gala.

“Scholar Athletes award is the foundation of everything we do,” said Carl Christian, director of Athletics. “This has been a challenging year for us due to (locker room renovation), but we put all our efforts into making it a good year.”

Christian continued by thanking departmental staffers by name, as well as the various coaches, for their hard work and commitment to their respective roles, including the team physician, and concluded with the battle cry, “Go Cardinals!”

Awards given at the event included Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Team Academic Award, Appreciation Awards, Men’s & Women’s Cross Country, Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Volleyball, Men’s & Women’s Indoor Track & Field, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Men’s Tennis, Men’s & Women’s outdoor Track and Field, softball, CUNYAC All-Star & Sportsmanship Awards, Senor Awards, Newcomer of the Year, Career Awards, I am a Cardinal Awards, Coach of the Year Award, Team of the Year and Student-Athlete of the Year.

Attendees at the YESPYS included President Claudia Schrader, Vice President Eduardo Rios, and Vice President Karen Williams, whose portfolio as Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management provides oversight of Athletics.

“As Vice President, I am incredibly proud to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our student-athletes at York College, CUNY,” Dr. Williams said. “Their dedication to both their academics and their respective sports exemplifies the true spirit of our institution. We commend their hard work, resilience, and the positive impact they have on our campus community.”

Additional attendees included Stephannnia Cleaton, director of Communications and External Affairs and members of her team.

Like all award shows, the YESPYS also gave out swag. Attendees were given a Cardinal shirt in their pre-selected size of choice.