Shenandoah University

Shenandoah University's School of Business awarded five $5,000 Legacy Scholarships during its sixth annual Legacy Golf Tournament on April 21 at the Winchester Country Club. This year's recipients were Hanniel Osorio Vasquez '29, Serena Hepner '29, Matthias Rivera '27, Brynna Nesselrodt '27 and Afsara Chowdhury '28. The endowed Legacy Scholarship supports high-achieving, first-generation regional business students and reflects the power of experiential learning, leadership and community partnership. Including this year's recipients, $67,500 in Legacy Scholarships has now been awarded to 14 business students through proceeds generated by six Legacy Business classes - a legacy mindset in practice.

The Legacy Mindset Business Class in Shenandoah University's School of Business held its annual Legacy Awards Ceremony in May, during which students were recognized for outstanding leadership, fundraising achievement and service.

Shenandoah University's Matt Conroy has earned the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's Harry G. "Doc" Jopson Award, the conference's top senior scholar-athlete award, for the 2025-26 year following a vote from the conference's board of directors. Each year, the ODAC awards the Marjorie Berkley and Harry G. "Doc" Jopson awards to one female and one male senior (or graduate student), respectively, who exhibit the highest athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements. The ODAC's 2026 Berkley Award went to Washington and Lee two-sport star Sarah Zimmerman.

Shenandoah University outfielder Jaime Padilla earned his second All-America nod of the 2026 postseason after being named to the American Baseball Coaches Association's fourth team on May 29. The senior from Yonkers, New York, who was named an All-American by D3baseball.com on May 28, has earned five All-America awards over the last two years. Padilla was named a preseason All-American by D3baseball.com earlier this year and earned postseason awards last season from D3baseball.com and the ABCA.

Shenandoah University outfielder Jaime Padilla was named a fourth team All-American by D3baseball.com on May 28, becoming the first Hornet since 2017 to earn preseason and postseason All-America honors in the same season. Padilla, a senior captain from Yonkers, New York, helped lead Shenandoah to the 2026 ODAC tournament title with a .385 batting average, a 1.101 OPS, 72 hits, and 60 RBIs while starting all 49 games. He led the Hornets in runs scored (66), doubles (21), triples (3), total bases (114), and slugging percentage (.610), while ranking second on the team in stolen bases (21). In center field, Padilla had a .991 fielding percentage, recording 112 putouts, two outfield assists and just one error in 115 total chances.

Shenandoah University's baseball program earned multiple all-region awards on May 26, with Jaime Padilla and Liam Stewart earning All-Region VI recognition from D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association, and JP Williams and Carl Keenan joining the duo on the ABCA squad.

Shenandoah University had 437 students earn a spot on the President's List for the 2026 Spring Term. To qualify for this prestigious academic recognition, students must be enrolled full-time in baccalaureate degree programs and attain a semester GPA of 3.90 or higher. All President's List honorees are also recognized on the university's Dean's List, which includes students who earn a semester GPA of 3.50 or higher.

Shenandoah University first-year track and field student-athletes Roman Bernard and Molly Donaldson were named United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region South for the 2026 outdoor season. Bernard raced his way to all-region status in the men's 400-meter dash, while Donaldson was named all-region in the women's shot put. Donaldson now has two all-region accolades after claiming the honor for shot put during the 2025-26 indoor season.

Shenandoah University had 1,019 students earn a spot on the Dean's List for the 2026 Spring Term. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must be enrolled full-time in baccalaureate degree programs and earn a semester GPA of 3.50 or higher. Dean's List students who achieve a semester GPA of 3.90 or higher also qualify for the university's President's List.

The 2026 outdoor track and field season will continue for the Shenandoah University men's track and field program as first-year Roman Bernard has qualified for the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Bernard qualified for nationals in the 400-meter dash with a seed time of 47.28 seconds, which ranks 21st in the nation. That mark is a school record, which Bernard set in the finals at the 2026 ODAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, placing him second in the conference meet.

Thanks to the skills he's developed as a Shenandoah University business student - and the network he's built along the way - David Mann has secured an internship with USA Baseball as he continues to make strides toward a career in the sports industry. Mann '27, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration with concentrations in sport management and entrepreneurship, begins his internship in baseball operations with USA Baseball in May and will split his summer between the organization's facilities in Arizona and North Carolina.

The Shenandoah University Research Expo (SURE) showcased the depth, creativity, and rigor of student scholarship during its two-day event on April 28-29 at the Hazel-Pruitt Armory, and 27 students were announced as winners in 11 award categories following the conclusion of the annual expo. The Shenandoah University Research Expo is an annual event that showcases undergraduate and graduate students' research and creative projects, allowing students to present their work to the Shenandoah community in a supportive, professional setting. To learn more, visit su.edu/sure.

Shenandoah University infielder Brenna Westwood was named All-Region VI in NCAA Division III by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on May 16, becoming the first Hornet to earn an all-region nod since 2016. The junior from Pittsburgh helped the Hornets to a 30-win season, the program's first since 2011. Westwood also garnered first team All-ODAC recognition earlier this month. In 41 games this season, Westwood hit .405 with 49 hits, all of which were singles. She tallied at least one hit in 32 games and had 13 multi-hit contests. Westwood also posted a .468 on-base percentage to go along with 22 RBIs, 21 runs scored, 13 walks and five steals. Defensively at second base, Westwood had 80 assists and 75 putouts, both ranking among the top three for the Hornets. She posted a .969 fielding percentage in 160 chances.

Shenandoah University women's lacrosse team had two players named to the 2026 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division III All-Chesapeake Region Team on May 15. Attacker Ayla Jantz and defender Talia Maria represent the Hornets on the second team. It's the second straight season that Maria has earned an IWLCA All-Region accolade.

Shenandoah University's men's tennis team was awarded four All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference honors in selections released by the conference office on May 13. Dominick Suwak was named to the All-ODAC first team in singles and earned first-team distinction in doubles for his pairing with Aryanth Chintharlapalli. Shine Tokas was named to the second team for No. 2 singles, and Artem Babaiev earned second-team honors for No. 4 singles.

Shenandoah University's women's tennis team took home two All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference second-team honors in selections announced on May 13, with Olivia Guzzo earning No. 2 singles honors and Leigha Montrief and Kendra Gillette winning the award for No. 3 doubles.

Shenandoah University announced the winners of the 2026 Student Leadership Awards during a ceremony on Sunday, April 26, at Winchester Country Club. Thirty-five individuals and organizations were nominated for 10 awards, which included two organization awards, six individual awards and two Shenandoah University Leadership Academy (SULA) Awards of Distinction.

Shenandoah University's baseball program earned four All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference honors in selections announced by the ODAC on May 7. Reliever Liam Stewart and outfielder Jaime Padilla led the Hornets on the first team, while JP Williams earned second-team honors as a catcher and Carl Keenan closed out the honorees on the third team as a second baseman.

Shenandoah University midfielder Cody Griffis earned third team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference accolades for men's lacrosse in selections announced by the league on May 6. In 10 ODAC games, the sophomore from New Market, Maryland, led the Hornets with 25 goals and 28 points. Additionally, he had three man-up goals in conference play to go along with eight groundballs and one caused turnover. Griffis scored in each ODAC contest and had eight multi-goal games. The midfielder registered a season-high six goals in the team's 16-4 win at Averett University in April.

Shenandoah University's women's lacrosse team earned six All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference selections, while first-year Natalie Opatovsky earned the league's Rookie of the Year award in an announcement made by the conference office on May 5. The Hornets had three first-team selections with Ayla Jantz, Addison Harmel, and Talia Maria each earning a spot. Opatovsky, Emily Ransom, and Alex Ripkin rounded out SU's selections with second-team honors.

Shenandoah University's softball team earned six All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference awards, the most since the Hornets joined the ODAC in 2013, in selections announced by the conference on May 7. Brenna Westwood (third base) and Cadence Reig (utility) were named first team All-ODAC, Paige Eagleton (first base) and Makayla Cox (outfield) earned second team honors, and Allison McQueeney (outfield) and Gracie Ravenkamp (pitcher) earned spots on the third team.

Shenandoah University's outdoor track and field program had four student-athletes combine to earn five All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference accolades at the ODAC Championships on April 24-25 at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Sophomore thrower Grady Speer (men's hammer throw, discus) led the Hornets with a pair of all-conference performances over the two-day event, while first-year Molly Donaldson (women's shot put), sophomore Maddy Chorney (women's 10,000-meter), and first-year Roman Bernard (men's 400-meter) also each placed among the top three in their respective events.

The Shenandoah University men's tennis team swept the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards on April 20, with Dominick Suwak winning the league's award for singles and Lucas Beasley and Shine Tokas earning the honor for doubles. Suwak has won ODAC Singles Player of the Week for the sixth time this season and has also earned two additional Doubles Team of the Week awards. The Hornets' top singles player went 2-0 this week, starting with a win over Randolph College's Jacob Martin (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) on April 15. Suwak followed it up with a victory on April 18 over Bridgewater College's Corey Beshoar, 6-1, 6-1. For the Hornets' doubles team, Beasley and Tokas played at the No. 2 spot in all three matches last week, going 3-0 against Randolph, Bridgewater and Guilford College. The duo won 6-0 over Randolph's Jason Duval and Aksel Tinnes-Rimehaug, prior to defeating Bridgewater's duo of Levi Widelich and Logan Garner by the same score. Beasley and Tokas finished their week with a victory against Guilford's George Hardie and Turner Johnson, 6-2, in Shenandoah's regular-season finale.

Dominick Suwak and Aryanth Chintharlapalli earned the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Doubles Team of the Week accolade for the second time this season following a 3-0 week for the Shenandoah University men's tennis team. The duo played at the No. 3 spot in all three matches for the Hornets, with three wins as a team. Suwak and Chintharlapalli played their way to a 6-2 win in the first match of the week versus Goucher on April 7 before entering ODAC play over the weekend. In conference play, the duo first downed Averett, 7-6, with a 7-2 tiebreaker, on April 11 before defeating Lynchburg's duo, 6-2, on April 12.

Shenandoah University outfielder Cadence Rieg was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Week on April 13, giving the Hornets their second weekly conference award winner of the 2026 season. During the Hornets' 6-0 week last week, the sophomore from Winchester, Virginia, went 12-for-18 at the plate with six doubles, seven RBIs, five runs scored, seven walks and a stolen base. Rieg posted a .667/.760/1.000 slash line in those six games and entered Tuesday ranked fourth in the ODAC in batting average (.459), on-base percentage (.526), OPS (1.222) and doubles (11), fifth in triples (five), and sixth in RBIs (30) and slugging percentage (.694). Rieg posted four multi-hit games last week, with three hits in each of the two games against Mary Washington and two hits in both games at Lynchburg. Additionally, Rieg scored a run in five of the six games. Her week was highlighted by a game-tying double in the seventh inning of Game 2 at Lynchburg. Later in the inning, Rieg came around to score the eventual game-winning run to help fuel the sweep.

Shenandoah University's men's volleyball team earned its first-ever All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference selections following its inaugural season in 2026, with Alex Schoenen and Kailen Dmitruk earning third-team honors. Schoenen, a middle blocker, played in 47 conference sets and earned 104 kills, a team-high 40 blocks, and 142.5 total points in 14 conference matches. The sophomore had a .300 attacking percentage in conference play as well. Schoenen had at least 10 kills in five ODAC matches and had a season-high five solo blocks versus Eastern Mennonite. The middle blocker was named the league's ODAC Defensive Player of the Week back in March. Dmitruk, an opposite hitter, led the Hornets with 115 kills in conference play, which ranked inside the top 10 in the ODAC. Additionally, the first-year added 11 service aces, 50 digs, a .941 reception percentage, and 17 blocks in 14 ODAC matches.

The Shenandoah University women's lacrosse team swept the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards on April 6, as Ayla Jantz won the league's Offensive Player of the Week and Addison Harmel earned Defensive Player of the Week following a 2-0 showing for Shenandoah that featured a pair of ODAC home wins over Bridgewater College and Randolph-Macon College. Jantz scored 10 goals and added an assist for an 11 point week, while also tallying six draw controls. The sophomore from Fredericksburg began her week with a six-goal game against Bridgewater on April 1, during which she also secured five draw controls. On April 3 against Randolph-Macon, the attacker added four more goals and an assist to her resume. Harmel, a sophomore midfielder from Bel Air, Maryland, forced seven turnovers and five ground balls in those two games. Against Bridgewater, Harmel had five caused turnovers and four ground balls, while also scoring three goals and contributing an assist. On April 3 against the Yellow Jackets, Harmel had two caused turnovers in the second half, helping SU secure the win.

Shenandoah University third baseman Tyler Smith was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Week on April 6. Smith, a junior from Crofton, Maryland, hit .462 (6-for-13) with three home runs, nine RBIs and three runs scored in three games last week. On March 31, he hit a game-ending home run against York (Pennsylvania) in a seven-inning, 10-0 blowout, helping the Hornets earn their 10th run-rule victory of the season. On April 3, in a game in which the Hornets trailed Guilford by nine runs at one point, Smith hit two three-run home runs to fuel a Shenandoah comeback and give the Hornets a 12-11 ODAC win. This season, Smith has an ODAC-leading 11 home runs and 47 RBIs, which ranks second in the conference. He is the fourth Hornet to earn ODAC Player of the Week this season, joining Carl Keenan, Jaime Padilla, and JP Williams.

Shenandoah University senior Dominick Suwak earned the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Singles Player of the Week award on April 6, marking the fifth time he's snagged the honor during the 2025-26 season. Suwak won both of his singles matches last week in a pair of ODAC matches against Washington and Lee University and Virginia Wesleyan University. The senior from Arlington, Virginia, won his first match against the Generals 6-3, 6-1 on April 1 on the road in Lexington, and closed out the week with a 6-2, 6-3 win on April 4 against the Marlins' Jed Platts. Suwak is undefeated with an 11-0 record this season, which includes three wins in ODAC play.

In March, Shenandoah University sent a group of 10 students, faculty and staff members to Slovakia as a part of the Global Citizenship Project. The trip, led by Assistant Director of Global Education and Assistant Professor of Music Literature Alanna Tierno, PhD., saw participants take part in a variety of activities, tours and experiences all geared toward immersing them in the local culture. The group began its trip in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. There, the group took a guided walking tour around the city and a Slovakian cooking class before visiting Bratislava Castle the next day. Next, participants made their way to Zilina, taking a day trip out to Terchova for a hike along the Janosikove Diery, a trail packed with scenic gorges and waterfalls, before returning to visit the Vrba-Wetzler Memorial Room. Back in Bratislava, the group took a communism tour of the city, where participants learned about the architectural and cultural history of the area. Then, the group finished the trip with a pottery lesson and tour in Modra before returning back home to the states the following day. Shenandoah University's Global Citizenship Project celebrated its 21st year in 2026 and sent students, faculty and staff members to Slovakia, Saint Lucia, Kenya, Hong Kong and Ghana this spring. Since its inaugural year in 2005, GCP has sent over 1,400 students, staff, faculty, and trustees to over 70 countries and seven U.S. states and territories so that each participant might learn more about the world and themselves. To learn more about GCP, visit su.edu/gcp.