BOSTON, Mass. – UMass Lowell field hockey forward Megan Salsinha (Westport, Mass.) and men's cross country/track & field distance runner William Cole-French (Hanoi, Vietnam) have been honored with nominations for the 2023 America East Woman and Man of the Year awards, respectively, as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
 
The honor recognizes one senior male and female student-athlete from each of the conference's member institutions. The representatives are selected for having distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in areas like academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership.
 
Salsinha, UMass Lowell's 2023 Laurie A. Mann Award winner for exemplary athletics, academics, leadership and service, has already been honored with numerous university accolades to close out her collegiate career. A standout in the classroom, the Honors College biology major received the University Scholar-Athlete Award, which recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA, as well as a Chancellor's Medal for Distinguished Academic Achievement and the Trustees Key for completing all four years of her undergraduate degree with a perfect 4.0 GPA. However, Salsinha's impact has been felt far beyond her team and classroom, as she also earned a Chancellor's Medal for Community Service after serving as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Co-President for the last two years. She has advocated for student-athlete mental health as a Morgan's Message Ambassador, while also volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club and serving as a pen pal to local students.
 
Cole-French has also turned in years of achievement both on and off the track. The distance runner has been part of a whopping six America East Championship-winning teams, including three in cross country, two in indoor track and field and the first ever men's outdoor track and field championship team this past spring. Boasting a 3.944 GPA in psychology, Cole-French is a five-time America East Commissioner's Honor Roll recipient and a member of the 2023 America East Indoor All-Academic Team. As a freshman in 2019-20, Cole-French earned one of the conference's top honors, as he was named to the America East Helping Hands Team, which recognizes students' dedication to leadership. He worked in a program created by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Lowell and the Lowell Public Schools, matching college students with elementary school students, where he matched with a second-grade boy at the Murkland Elementary School in Lowell.
 
The America East Woman of the Year will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will select the top 10 winners in each NCAA division (I, II and III). From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
The America East began honoring a Woman of the Year in 2006 and introduced the Man of the Year award in 2015. Kelly Freitas '16 of the UMass Lowell field hockey team was the first River Hawk to ever earn the America East Woman of the Year title, while Christian Lutete '20 became the first River Hawk to win America East Man of the Year.
 
To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in their primary sport by the end of the 2023 spring season, or received their undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2023 term, and have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.50 (4.00 scale).
 
The nominees will be narrowed down to three finalists per gender, who will be announced on Wednesday, May 31. The 2022-23 America East Man and Woman of the Year will be unveiled on Wednesday, June 7 at the conference's annual awards dinner.