Cornfield & Kwak Earn SUNY Winter Athlete of the Year Honors
4/24/2025 9:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Swimming and Diving, Office of Student-Athlete Success
BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo women's basketball senior guard Noelani Cornfield and senior diver Marialis Kwak are among 23 student-athletes being recognized with SUNY Winter Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards for combining academic achievement with success in the arena of athletic competition during the 2024-25 winter season.
SUNY honors student-athletes from SUNY colleges and universities sponsoring intercollegiate athletics at the four-year and two-year levels who were nominated and voted upon by representatives of their respective institutions. Nominating information includes cumulative grade point average, current and career statistics, and athletic and academic honors.
Cornfield, who has a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and is currently pursuing a master's degree in criminology, led the Bulls to a historic season, culminating in a WNIT Championship. She earned Academic All-District honors for the first time in her career after also being named to the Mid-American Conference's All-Defensive Team. She is averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, a team-best 5.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while shooting an efficient 45% from the floor in 36 games. The Gowanda, NY native was a menace on the defensive end of the floor as she led the team and ranked second in the MAC in steals per game (2.4) and total steals (77), while often drawing the defensive assignment of the opponent's best player. She also ranked in the top 20 nationally, in assists per game (5.9) and total assists (212).
Kwak, a senior chemical engineering major with a 3.70 grade point average, had a record-breaking season in her final year with the Bulls. The New Jersey native remained undefeated throughout the entire regular season and into conference championships, winning all 17 individual diving events she competed in. Kwak capped her senior season by winning two diving MAC Championships, taking the one-meter (312.05) and the three-meter (319.40) competitions for the second consecutive season. The senior earned her third MAC Diver of the Year award and third All-MAC First Team selection. Kwak also qualified for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships for the third consecutive season. The senior broke Buffalo's three-meter diving school record at the UB Diving Invite with a score of 363.05. Kwak was also honored as the MAC Diver of the Week all six times she was nominated, tying Buffalo's program record for the most Athlete of the Week awards in a single season. No other diver from the conference won the award more than twice last season.
More than 14,000 student-athletes compete at SUNY institutions representing 53 different colleges and universities at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III/USCAA and NJCAA levels and are eligible for the awards.
The four NCAA Division I member institutions that comprise the NCAA Division I Category for the SUNY Scholar Athlete Awards include University at Albany, Binghamton, University at Buffalo and Stony Brook, while 19 institutions make up the NCAA Division III/USCAA Category and include Alfred State, Brockport, Buffalo State, Canton, Cobleskill, Cortland, Delhi, Farmingdale, Fredonia, Geneseo, Maritime, Morrisville, New Paltz, Old Westbury, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Potsdam and SUNY Poly.
SUNY honors student-athletes from SUNY colleges and universities sponsoring intercollegiate athletics at the four-year and two-year levels who were nominated and voted upon by representatives of their respective institutions. Nominating information includes cumulative grade point average, current and career statistics, and athletic and academic honors.
Cornfield, who has a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and is currently pursuing a master's degree in criminology, led the Bulls to a historic season, culminating in a WNIT Championship. She earned Academic All-District honors for the first time in her career after also being named to the Mid-American Conference's All-Defensive Team. She is averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, a team-best 5.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game, while shooting an efficient 45% from the floor in 36 games. The Gowanda, NY native was a menace on the defensive end of the floor as she led the team and ranked second in the MAC in steals per game (2.4) and total steals (77), while often drawing the defensive assignment of the opponent's best player. She also ranked in the top 20 nationally, in assists per game (5.9) and total assists (212).
Kwak, a senior chemical engineering major with a 3.70 grade point average, had a record-breaking season in her final year with the Bulls. The New Jersey native remained undefeated throughout the entire regular season and into conference championships, winning all 17 individual diving events she competed in. Kwak capped her senior season by winning two diving MAC Championships, taking the one-meter (312.05) and the three-meter (319.40) competitions for the second consecutive season. The senior earned her third MAC Diver of the Year award and third All-MAC First Team selection. Kwak also qualified for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships for the third consecutive season. The senior broke Buffalo's three-meter diving school record at the UB Diving Invite with a score of 363.05. Kwak was also honored as the MAC Diver of the Week all six times she was nominated, tying Buffalo's program record for the most Athlete of the Week awards in a single season. No other diver from the conference won the award more than twice last season.
More than 14,000 student-athletes compete at SUNY institutions representing 53 different colleges and universities at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division III/USCAA and NJCAA levels and are eligible for the awards.
The four NCAA Division I member institutions that comprise the NCAA Division I Category for the SUNY Scholar Athlete Awards include University at Albany, Binghamton, University at Buffalo and Stony Brook, while 19 institutions make up the NCAA Division III/USCAA Category and include Alfred State, Brockport, Buffalo State, Canton, Cobleskill, Cortland, Delhi, Farmingdale, Fredonia, Geneseo, Maritime, Morrisville, New Paltz, Old Westbury, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Potsdam and SUNY Poly.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
/ Swimming and Diving
MAC Championships Recap | UB Swim & Dive
Wednesday, March 05
2025 MAC Swimming and Diving Championship Preliminaries 3/1
Monday, February 17
2025 MAC Swimming and Diving Championship Preliminaries 2/28
Monday, February 17
2025 MAC Swimming and Diving Championship Preliminaries 2/27
Monday, February 17
