Capital Region\u2019s top female student-athletes honored at Proctor’s<\/strong>
\nBy Kyra Santicola – Times Union – Aug. 5, 2025<\/p>\nSCHENECTADY\u00a0\u2014 On a night dedicated to honoring the Capital Region\u2019s top female student-athletes, Columbia High School\u2019s\u00a0Alivia Landy and Siena\u2019s Grace\u00a0Dobrzynski were celebrated as the 2025 Grand Sports Women of the Year.<\/p>\n
During Monday\u2019s Capital District Sports Women of the Year (CDSWOY) Awards ceremony at Proctors’ GE Theatre, Landy was named the Grand Scholastic Sports Woman of the Year, while Dobrzynski received the Grand Collegiate award.\u00a0Now in its fifth year, the event recognized 14 student-athletes \u2014 10 high school and four college \u2014 not just for their athletic prowess, but also for their academic achievements and community involvement.<\/p>\n
The evening also paid tribute to trailblazing news anchor Liz Bishop, featured a musical performance from Angelina Valente, and included a video interview with Emma\u00a0Baccellieri, a Sports Illustrated writer and author of the upcoming book \u201cCourt Queens: The Rise and Reign of Women\u2019s Basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Landy, a three-sport star and the first CDSWOY recipient from Columbia High, will continue her basketball career at Wagner College. She earned first-team all-state honors in basketball and volleyball, and scored over 1,000 points in her high school basketball career and was named Suburban Council Player of the Year this past winter. On the flag football field, she helped Columbia reach the state semifinals and was twice named Section II Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
Off the field, she maintained a 95.5 weighted GPA, earned an advanced Regents diploma, and participated in Student Council, Math League and the student newspaper. She also contributed to the community through unified basketball, multicultural events and youth camps across three sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Landy said of the recognition. \u201cKnowing that I can be a role model for younger girls and teammates, so they have someone to look up to, is really special. All the hard work behind closed doors didn\u2019t go unnoticed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dobrzynski, the third CDSWOY honoree from Siena, graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a biology degree. On the lacrosse field, she finished as Siena\u2019s all-time leader in career points (256) and assists (174). In her final season, she scored 62 points\u201426 goals and 36 assists\u2014and was named to the All-MAAC First Team.<\/p>\n
Her influence extended beyond sports. Dobrzynski contributed over 270 hours of community service, including work with the Kenya Lacrosse Association and the Double H Ranch. She was twice named Siena\u2019s Female Student-Athlete of the Year and was nominated for the prestigious Allstate NACDA Good Works Team.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a competitive athlete is hard, and that\u2019s exactly why it\u2019s important for girls and women to do it,\u201d Dobrzynski said during her speech. \u201cThe communication, time management and mental toughness\u00a0\u2014 those skills are indispensable.\u201d<\/p>\n
As she prepares to enter Albany Medical College, Dobrzynski said the night\u2019s honor was a rewarding one to cap her college athletic career.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be recognized beyond my school or conference, it\u2019s really special,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to carry on Siena\u2019s legacy.\u201d
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The Capital District Sports Women of the Year program, led by President Eric McDowell, continues to highlight female athletes who exemplify excellence in sport, scholarship and service.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s scholastic honors included Allie O\u2019Rourke (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), Rachel Chen (Shenendehowa), Annabelle Goyette (Lansingburgh), Morgan Brewer (Holy Names), Mira Ginsburg (Shaker), Kayla Beaudoin (Tamarac), Larissa Lee (La Salle Institute), Jessica Baeckmann (Cairo-Durham), and Keeley Kristel (Scotia-Glenville).<\/p>\n
The college recipients included Leah Madore (Russell Sage), Ava Poupard (University at Albany), and Moira Collins (Hudson Valley Community College).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Published:<\/strong>\u00a0Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:50:12 +0000 by\u00a0d.gardner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hudson Valley Community College’s Moira Collins, a pitcher on the Vikings softball team, was among 14 2025 Capital District…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}