CORTLAND, N.Y. -- When you dominate you sport as Cara Pellechia has the past three years, the awards can become plentiful. For Pellechia, her fifth-consecutive pole vault championship has culminated in the junior earning the SUNYAC Female Field Athlete of the Year. Pellechia won her third indoor pole vault championship on Feb. 28th, and has also claimed two outdoor awards.

"When a student athlete can focus and find reasoning both on and off the track they are bound for success, this is Cara!," said head coach Tom Wilson. "She is hyper focused on her success and still spares time to help her teammates. When I think of a successful student athlete and what it takes to get there, it's Cara. I am very proud of her and all her successes thus far and really look forward to her future."

Pellechia cleared 3.60m for the victory at the SUNYAC meet, just short of her personal best of 3.63m. This season, she finished ranked third in the Niagara Region and 36th nationally. 

The Rochester native just missed earning points in two other events, with a ninth-place finish in the 200m, and a 10th place in the 60m at the conference meet.

Pellechia also gets the job done in the classroom. She sports a 3.95 GPA in Communication Disorders and Sciences.

Other winners were Natalia Sawyer of Buffalo State as the Track Athlete of the Year, and Jaiden Schrag of Oneonta as Track & Field Rookie of the Year.