CASTLETON, Vt. – Castleton University's spring athletic programs joined together at Castleton University's Casella Theater on Monday evening to announce team MVP awards and hand out the President's Cup for Academic Excellence.
 
The softball program was awarded the President's Cup for Academic Excellence by Assistant Vice President for Athletics and Fitness Deanna Tyson. The award is given each season to the team with the highest cumulative grade point average. The team posted a GPA of 3.64. Six out of Castleton's seven spring sport programs had cumulative team GPAs above a 3.0.
 
Baseball
The 2023 edition of Castleton baseball has been explosive, featuring 16 victories and 24 home runs — more long balls than the previous three seasons combined — which ties the program's 2015 mark with three games left to play. On the mound, the Spartans average 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings to rank in the top 100 nationally. Thanks to doubleheader sweeps of Keene State and WestConn, the squad is currently in playoff position heading into the final week of the regular season. Team MVP Riley Orr has dominated in his fourth season, posting a 2.47 ERA and 58 strikeouts with six quality starts. The Queensbury, N.Y. native surpassed the 100-career strikeout mark and was tabbed the LEC Pitcher of the Week three times in a row early in the season.
 
Men's Lacrosse
After a slow start to the season, the men's lacrosse team found its stride midway through the year, winning three out of four games at the end of March and beginning of April, with the only loss in the span coming in double overtime. Castleton was a tough team to play at Dave Wolk Stadium, winning three times at home on the season. Team MVP Christopher Dindino was a huge addition in goal for Castleton this season, ranking among national leaders in both saves and save percentage. He led the Little East Conference in save percentage and finished second in total saves in the league. On two occasions, he made 29 saves in a game which ranks him tied for eighth-most in a single game this year nationally. His 261 saves were third-most in a single season all-time for Castleton.
 
Women's Lacrosse
The women's lacrosse program found its way into the Spartan record books on multiple occasions, setting new program single-game records for assists and draw controls. The Spartans had 20 assists in win over NVU-Lyndon and 31 draw controls against Rhode Island College—a mark that is tied for second-most in a single game in NCAA Division III history. Team MVP Lacey Greenamyre had seven assists in a win over Mitchell, ranking second all-time in a single game for the Spartans. She finished the year with 118 draw controls—second most all-time in a single season in program history—and ranks third all-time with 260 career draw controls. She is tied for seventh on the all-time career assist list with 53 and her 90 career caused turnovers rank sixth.
 
Softball
The Castleton softball team is still in their regular season sitting at 16-14 with a 7-7 record in conference play, and will look to secure the fourth or fifth seed in the upcoming LEC playoffs Saturday, May 6 when they take on WestConn in their regular-season finale. The Spartans have battled through injuries all season, but when healthy have proven they can compete with the best in the conference, stealing a 1-0 win on the road against UMass Dartmouth in their LEC opener before going toe-to-toe with top-seeded Eastern Connecticut. Team MVP Hannah Mosher is slashing .358/.442/.642 and paces Castleton in hits (34), runs (27), triples (5), and home runs (4) while also serving as one of the best catchers in the LEC.
 
Men's Tennis
The men's tennis program turned in its best campaign since joining the Little East Conference in 2019. The Spartans finished with a 6-8 overall record while outscoring in-state foes 46-8. To end the regular season, the program earned its first LEC victory, redeeming last season's 5-4 loss with a 5-4 triumph over Southern Maine to clinch a spot in the league playoffs. Team MVP Phil Kluge garnered the award for the second consecutive season, notching a team-high six tandem wins at the top slot. In singles play, the Görlitz, Germany, native collected five wins at the second spot and one at the top flight.
 
Men's Track & Field
The men's track and field team continued its steady improvement in 2023, finishing seventh in the LEC Indoor Championships and sixth at the Outdoor Championships. The Spartans set 12 new program records across the indoor and outdoor seasons with several reaching the qualifying mark for the upcoming New England Championships, and won the team's first overall meet in program history at the Mount Saint Mary Invitational. Indoor and Outdoor MVP David Harvey was responsible for three of this year's broken records, now holding eight for his career, and finished in the long jump and sprint hurdles at both the Indoor and Outdoor LEC Championships.
 
Women's Track & Field
The women's track and field team finished eighth in both the Indoor and Outdoor LEC Championships, but saw plenty of individual success in another season of growth in 2023. The Spartans broke a combined eight program records in 2022-23 and had their season highlighted by the program's first ever overall meet victory at Mount Saint Mary's in which four athletes won their individual events. Indoor MVP Amber Cuthbert improved seemingly every meet, breaking her own program record in the mile three times during the season, while Outdoor MVP Gwyn Tatton set a new program record in the shot put and finished third in the javelin at the Outdoor LEC Championships.