COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College Department of Athletics unveiled its 14th induction class of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society, on Monday, as 30 Purple Knights carrying at least a 3.7 grade-point average were honored. This year's class is the Saint Michael's chapter's second-largest ever, behind only the 34 inducted last April.
 
Eight of the top nine classes have come since 2019, with at least 22 inductees earning recognition for the sixth time in seven years. In all, 285 Purple Knights have now gained entry into Chi Alpha Sigma over the past 14 years. The 30 members from the induction Class of 2026 were:

• Junior Kayley Bell (Caribou, Maine/Caribou), women's cross country/Nordic skiing
• Senior Matthew Bellis (Groton, Mass./Austin Prep), men's lacrosse
• Junior Adam Bilodeau (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston), men's cross country/outdoor track
• Junior Michael Brännare-Gran (Haslum, Norway/Dønski VGS), Nordic skiing
• Junior Rylee Burnham (Hartland, Vt./Hartford), women's cross country/outdoor track
• Junior Zoe Devine (Ely, Minn./Memorial), Nordic skiing
• Junior Layne Doherty (Belmont, Mass./Belmont), women's lacrosse
• Junior Victoria FitzGibbon (Stittsville, Ontario/East Ottawa Junior Stars U22 AA), women's ice hockey
• Junior Hans Forselius (Guilford, Conn./Seahawks Hockey Club), men's ice hockey
• Junior Isabel Goolie (Anchorage, Alaska/Gilmour Academy), women's ice hockey
• Junior Emma Gredenhag (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny), women's tennis
• Junior Casey Gunnip (Cicero, N.Y./North Syracuse-Cicero/Saint Rose), baseball
• Junior Casey Havrda (Hanover, N.H./Hanover), women's soccer
• Junior Kennedy Holsapple (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme), women's cross country/outdoor track
• Junior Phoebe Hussey (Ripton, Vt./Green Mountain Valley School), Nordic skiing
• Junior Ada Jones (Williston, Vt./Green Mountain Valley School), Alpine skiing
• Junior Kyleena Lathram (Avon, Colo./Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy), Alpine skiing
• Junior Ashley Marshall (Escondido, Calif./Escondido Charter), women's volleyball
• Junior Bridget McLoughlin (Latham, N.Y./Shaker), women's soccer
• Junior Oliver Miatke (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East), Nordic skiing
• Junior Kate Michael (Newport, R.I./Rogers), women's swimming & diving
• Junior Fran Peterson (Barron, Wis./Barron), women's cross country/Nordic skiing/outdoor track
• Junior Maddie Quinn (Chicago, Ill./Team Illinois AAA), women's ice hockey
• Junior Meredith Reilly (Ashland, Mass./Ashland), women's cross country/outdoor track
• Junior Andrew Reynolds (Southport, Conn./Saint Joseph), men's lacrosse
• Junior Lola Ribe (Logroño, La Rioja, Spain/Green Mountain Valley School), Alpine skiing
• Junior Aidan Robin (Stowe, Vt./Burke Mountain Academy), Alpine skiing
• Junior Chris Robinson (Williston, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), baseball
• Senior Jocelyn Sommers (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah Regional), women's cross country/outdoor track
• Junior Henrik Wist (Trondheim, Norway/Heimdal VGS), Nordic skiing

All current senior student-athletes who are members of Chi Alpha Sigma also earn special cords they can wear as part of their graduation regalia. The following 28 current student-athletes from previous induction classes have already claimed this additional honor: 

• Senior Astrid Bakke (Nedre Høvik, Norway/Dønski VGS), Nordic skiing
• Senior Owen Balfour (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee), men's lacrosse
• Senior Erin Boyd (Islip, N.Y./Saint Anthony's), women's cross country
• Senior Ryan Canty (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), baseball
• Senior Jackson Cole (Newark, Del./Vernal Oilers), men's ice hockey
• Senior Kathleen Dean (Auburn, Maine/Saint Dominic Academy), field hockey
• Senior Ellie Drinkwater (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown), women's lacrosse
• Senior Brooke Edgerly (Morley, Mich./Morley Stanwood), softball
• Senior Lawton Jones (Williston, Vt./Green Mountain Valley School), Alpine skiing
• Senior Faith Kosiba (Dunstable, Mass./Groton-Dunstable Regional), women's soccer
• Senior Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State), men's swimming & diving
• Senior Annika Lavender (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), women's ice hockey
• Senior Jake Lincourt (Smithfield, R.I./Walpole Express), men's ice hockey
• Senior Cole Manahan (Hermantown, Minn./Vernal Oilers), men's ice hockey
• Senior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), men's basketball
• Senior Emersynn McGillis (Ottawa, Ontario/Nepean Jr. Wildcats), women's ice hockey
• Senior Gavin Nelson (Winona, Minn./Winona Senior), men's swimming & diving
• Senior Arianna Petta (Brookfield, Conn./Immaculate), women's swimming & diving
• Senior Connor Quirbach (Lowell, Mass./Chelmsford), men's swimming & diving
• Senior Silas Recica-Sullivan (Bakersfield, Vt./Twin City Thunder), men's ice hockey
• Senior Benjamin Riggs (Plainville, Mass./King Philip Regional), men's lacrosse
• Senior Bridget Shaw (Norwell, Mass./Norwell), women's soccer
• Senior Ashley Silveira (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk), women's swimming & diving
• Senior Matti Tauriainen (Grapevine, Texas/Valley Jr. Warriors), men's ice hockey
• Senior Livy Waranis (Narragansett, R.I./Narragansett), women's swimming & diving
• Senior Abbie Whitley (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry), women's lacrosse
• Senior Nick Wracker (Columbia, S.C./Northeast Generals), men's ice hockey
• Senior Clara Wyatt (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman), Nordic skiing

Saint Michael's is one of just five schools in the 10-college Northeast 10 Conference to claim membership in Chi Alpha Sigma, which is the first national scholar-athlete society to honor collegiate student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom and in athletic competition. Purple Knights carrying a minimum 3.7 cumulative GPA in their junior or senior years, and who have completed at least three semesters at the College, are eligible.
 
Saint Michael's, which was designated the Vermont Beta chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma after becoming the second college in Vermont to join the organization - Norwich University was the other - is among 551 schools in 46 states and the District of Columbia with an active chapter. Founded in 1996 at DePauw (Ind.) University, the society's mission is to bring honor and recognition to deserving student-athletes, their families, teams, athletic departments, and NCAA and NAIA colleges in much the same way that other societies primarily honor scholastics. Chi Alpha Sigma also encourages good citizenship, moral character, and friendship among the high academic achievers in college athletics.