2024-25 Delaware Athletics, Community, & Campus Recreation Year in Review
7/8/2025
The 2024–25 year marked the close of an incredible chapter in Delaware Athletics history. Our student-athletes delivered record-breaking academic success, championship performances, and national recognition—while closing out our time in the CAA with pride. Now, we look ahead to a new era as we begin our journey in Conference USA.
CONTINUED ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
The 2024-25 academic year was nothing less than extraordinary for our student-athletes in the classroom. The 3.41 cumulative GPA for all student-athletes is the highest ever, outside of a COVID-impact year. This was coupled with the best semester GPA of 3.40 during fall 2024 and the second best-ever with the spring’s 3.39. In total, 20 programs finished with a 2024-25 team GPA of 3.0 or better. UD student-athletes have now gone 23-consecutive semesters with a GPA of at least 3.0.
Rowing’s Cornelia Meiss was named University of Delaware’s High Index Senior, recognizing the graduating senior who has achieved the highest grade-point index. A cognitive science and computer science double major, Meiss earned a 4.0 GPA after taking 150 total credits during her time at UD.
The Blue Hens also tallied another impressive showing in NCAA Academic Performance Rate (APR). Overall, the department posted a 991 average institutional single-year score for the 2023-24 academic year. Factored into that are 12 of 20 perfect scores of 1,000 by varsity programs. For multi-year APR, the Blue Hens averaged 988.5, with five teams (men's golf, women's golf, women's soccer, women's tennis, and volleyball) touting a perfect 1,000 multi-year score. Those five programs also rank in the top 10-percent in the nation.
Each academic year, every division I program across the country calculates its APR using a simple and consistent formula set by the NCAA. Each term, scholarship student-athletes can earn one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. For schools that do not offer scholarships, recruited student-athletes are tracked.
INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL & CONFERENCE RELEVANCE
The Blue Hens were represented on the international stage by a cheer stunt group. Demi Schlotter, Diana Rodriguez, Jill Dougherty, and Tamara Harmon—became the first from Delaware to compete with Team USA at the ICU World Cheerleading Championships. Their performance contributed to a dominant win and Team USA’s third-consecutive world title. The quartet took home the bronze medal at the UCA National Championships for group stunt.
Also on the mat in Orlando, YoUDee claimed their 10th national championship. For the first time ever, Baby Blue competed on the national stage and finished as the national runner up alongside their sibling.
Overall, the Hens collected 19 All-American selections this past season.
- Brock Gingrich, football
- Stats Perform All-American Second Team
- Phil Steele FCS 2024 All-American Fourth Team
- OJ Morris, men’s lacrosse
- USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American Honorable Mention
- United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) DI All-American Honorable Mention
- United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Scholar All-American
- Gavin Currie, men’s swimming & diving
- College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Second Team
- College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Third Team
- Matvei Namakonov, men’s swimming & diving
- College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America First Team
- College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Third Team
- Toni Sabev, men’s swimming & diving
- College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Second Team
- Morgan Hess, softball
- College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America First Team
- Sydney Shaffer, softball
- College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Third Team
- Mary Grace Dunigan, women’s golf
- Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar
- Lilia Henkel, women’s golf
- Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar
- Hyunji Kim, women’s golf
- Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar
- Marissa Malosh, women’s golf
- Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar
- Anushka Sawant, women’s golf
- Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar
- Keira Allison, women’s swimming and diving
- College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Second Team
- Mania Tasakou, women’s swimming and diving
- College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Second Team
At the conference level, 11 Hens landed a major CAA annual award, with two picking up ECAC major accolades. A total of 101 all-conference honors were also awarded to Blue Hens this past year.
Kyla Burns, women’s soccer - CAA Goalkeeper of the Year
Marius Stenner, men’s soccer - CAA Rookie of the Year, ECAC Rookie of the Year
Lily Rogers, volleyball - CAA Setter of the Year
Izaiah Pasha, men’s basketball - CAA Rookie of the Year
Payton Sherrill, women’s swimming & diving - CAA Co-Diver of the Year
Matvei Namakonov, men’s swimming & diving - CAA Swimmer of the Year
Sydney Shaffer, softball - CAA Player of the Year
Billie Kerwood, softball - CAA Pitcher of the Year, ECAC Pitcher of the Year
Mary Beth Cahalan, softball - CAA Defensive Player of the Year
Piotr Siekanowicz, men’s tennis - CAA Rookie of the Year
Olamide Ayeni, track & field - CAA Rookie of the Year
Three teams corralled a championship in 2024-25 and seven individual/relay championships returned to Newark.
Field hockey won its 10th CAA Championship in the last 12 years and defeated Fairfield in the NCAA Tournament First Round for the program’s 11th all-time win in the big dance.
Softball celebrated its 50th season in historic fashion. The Hens claimed their third CAA Regular Season Championship in four seasons. The Blue Hens broke numerous program records during the year including home runs, doubles, strikeouts, conference wins, consecutive conference wins, run-rule victories, consecutive run-rule victories, and postseason honors in a season. The 23 conference wins were the most ever by a CAA team. The Hens are one of eight Division I teams with at least 20 conference wins in the last two seasons.
Volleyball finished the season with a .741 winning percentage, the sixth-best in program history. It is the fourth time Delaware recorded at least a .700 winning percentage in back-to-back seasons in program history (also done from 2009-2010, 2006-2007, and 1976-1977). The Blue Hens made the CAA Tournament Championship Match for three-straight seasons, the ninth team in CAA history to go to at least three-consecutive CAA Championship matches. The Blue Hens won at least 20 games in a season for the second-straight year. It's the first time Delaware has won at least 20 matches in two-straight years since doing so in three straight seasons from 2009-2011.
Matvei Namakonov collected two CAA Championships (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) and became the second swimmer in program history (Toni Sabev in 2023-24) to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The aforementioned Sabev claimed the CAA Championship in the 100 breaststroke after another outstanding season in the pool.
The men’s 200 medley relay team of Gavin Currie, DJ Fechtman, Toni Sabev, and Matvei Namakonov brought home the gold at the CAA Championships to give the men’s program a total of four championships.
On the women’s team, Victoria Novinskiy captured the CAA Championship in the 200 butterfly.
The 800 freestyle relay team composed of Lauren Hartel, Olivia Willemsen, Anthi Lyra, and Judy Liu touched the wall first to claim the CAA title.
During the outdoor track & field season, Olamide Ayeni claimed the CAA Championship in discus, and qualified for the NCAA East First Round. She was joined by teammate Emarie Jackson at the NCAA East First Round, who competed in the shot put. Both Ayeni and Jackson competed at the USATF U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Ayeni finished second in the discus and Jackson finished third in the shot put.
On the tennis courts, Maryia Hrynashka became the highest rated singles player in program history when she checked in at 61st overall out of nearly 2,500 DI women’s collegiate tennis players. The ITA ranks the top 125 singles players based on a comprehensive evaluation of performance and competition level. Rankings consider a player's win-loss record, with greater emphasis on victories over higher-ranked opponents. She outranked others from Power 4 institutions like Georgia, Ohio State, and Michigan.
In May, golfers Egor Zubov and Hyunji Kim swept the individual titles at the 2025 PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship, held at the renowned Whistling Straits. It was the second time that a school has swept the individual championships as the Blue Hens joined Bethune-Cookman in 2000. Zubov carded back-to-back rounds of 5-under par 67 to open the tournament and led wire-to-wire to become the second UD individual men's champion, joining former teammate Sparky Ariyachatvakin who won the tournament in 2022. Kim became the first Blue Hen to win on the women’s side, overcoming a six-stroke deficit on the final day to win in a playoff.
The football program tallied its final season at the FCS level with a 9-2 record, which included an undefeated record of 7-0 inside Delaware Stadium.
Women’s soccer reached the postseason for the first time since 2019 under third-year head coach Kelly Lawrence.
Men’s basketball nearly completed one of the biggest Cinderella stories in NCAA history with four wins in four days to reach the CAA Championship game as the No. 12 seed before falling to UNCW. UD became the first team to ever win four games in the same CAA Tournament.
Women’s lacrosse posted one of its best seasons in program history. The Hens finished the season with the most conference wins since going 6-0 in the America East in 1999. It was also the first time with 10+ back-to-back win seasons since 2015 and 2016.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
The department hosted 32 full-time capstone interns this academic year and benefitted from 399 student workers in positions such as photographers, fitness monitors, lifeguards, equipment managers, athletics events staff, and more. The sports science and analytics cohort provided internship experiences for 87 students over the last year.
Blue Hen student-athletes applied knowledge learned through the Building Leaders Utilizing Education (BLUE) programming to utilize their personal brand and participate in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals. Over the course of the year, Blue Hens engaged in over 175 business activations. Seventeen sports programs participated in NIL deals with over 25 different businesses. The average NIL engagement compensation was over $500 and more than 40% of all activations went to female student-athletes.
CAMPUS RECREATION AND COMMUNITY
2024-25 was another successful year in the campus recreation space at UD.
The department partnered with University Student Life, the City of Newark and BikeNewark to raise awareness for the plethora of outdoor recreation opportunities on campus and around Newark. The initiative has led to signs being posted throughout several locations around Newark to allow visitors to scan a QR code and identify the different outdoor recreation opportunities available near North Newark, South Newark, the North Green and the South Green areas.
A new adaptive fitness space at the EFC, found in room 127 of the Carpenter Sports Building, was renovated to provide a more inclusive opportunity for Blue Hens to work out. Construction began on August 5, 2024, and concluded two weeks later with the installation of new wheelchair accessible fitness equipment. The renovation included a dual cable cross machine, a chest and shoulder machine, and added a push button door opener to make the space more accessible for all users. Both pieces of fitness equipment feature an open design that makes it wheelchair accessible and welcoming to users of all abilities.
In the club space, figure skating placed 2nd at nationals, Jess Maury for gymnastics won the individual Nationals All-Around Championship with a score of 38.5, and men’s ice hockey won the ESCHL Tournament and were regular season conference champions.
The Delaware ice arenas also experienced notable growth and engagement this past year. A new STEM program launched in partnership with six local elementary schools and welcomed more than 1,000 students, parents, and teachers, combining educational programming with on-ice activities. The spring three vs. three hockey league sold out with 19 teams and 275 players –a significant accomplishment! During the holiday break, public skating drew 2,817 participants, reflecting continued interest from students, families, and community members.
302 AND BEYOND
The Hens participated in their third-annual 302 Tour this past June, interacting with the community and teaching student-athletes about the state they represent.
Continuing the department’s statewide strategy, the UD continued to strengthen its relationships with local brands and partners like The Starboard!
GOODBYE CAA, HELLO CUSA AND NEW ERA
Delaware concluded its tenure in the CAA with 61 team championships and 116 individual titles.
The new era includes the addition of women’s ice hockey as the 22nd varsity sport as members of Atlantic Hockey America.
Men’s soccer enters The Summit League, which produced multiple bids in last year’s NCAA Tournament and finished the season with three nationally ranked programs.
The Atlantic Sun will be the new home for women’s lacrosse and both men’s/women’s swimming & diving.
Men’s lacrosse will join the Atlantic 10 in a league that has produced multiple nationally ranked teams over the past few seasons.
Rowing will join the newly formed Mid-American Conference, which is sponsoring the women’s sport for the first time in 2025-26.
