COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey May graduate Nick Wracker (Columbia, S.C./Northeast Generals) and biology professor Mark Lubkowitz earned major Northeast 10 Conference awards on Monday evening at the league's year-end banquet, held in the College's Roy Room at the Dion Family Student Center. Wracker was introduced as the College's first selection for NE10 Man of the Year, and Lubkowitz became the fourth Saint Michael's professor to earn the conference's Dr. Dave Landers Faculty Mentor Award.
 
Wracker claimed an accolade the NE10 established in 2013 in an effort to recognize an individual who represents their campus community through success in athletics, academics, community service and leadership.
 
The Dr. Dave Landers Faculty Mentor Award is chosen by a group of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members at NE10 institutions. It is named for Landers, a long-time Saint Michael's professor and Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR). The College's faculty member of the year award also bears Landers' name, and is an accolade Lubkowitz earned this year from the Saint Michael's SAAC. As the NE10's winner, Lubkowitz will be forwarded as the league's nominee for the national NCAA Division II Dr. Dave Pariser Faculty Mentor Award.
 
Wracker, who was chosen as the student speaker during the Department of Athletics' Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society induction on April 13, was lauded once again during a historic awards season. In his final week as an undergraduate alone, Wracker was first recognized with the Michael D. Samara Award from Residence Life before claiming two awards at the Senior Awards Brunch, the Roger F. Keleher '15 Award as the top male scholar-athlete in the graduating class and the Saint Michael's Award, presented to a member of the graduating class who has been involved for the betterment of the class and the community, signifying unselfish commitment to others. At the Block 'M' senior ceremony, Wracker was introduced as the College's institutional winner of the NE10 Man of the Year. Two days later at the College's 119th Commencement, he was recognized with the Father Prevel Memorial Award, one of Saint Michael's College's two major senior accolades, claiming an award which honors a graduate who has demonstrated commitment and achievement related to the intellectual, spiritual, moral and social values of Saint Michael's College.
 
While serving as an assistant captain this past winter, Wracker tied career highs in goals and points, won nearly 46% of his faceoffs while centering a line for the first time, and led the Purple Knights to an NE10 semifinal. He seemed to find the net in some of his team's biggest games, as five of his final seven career goals came against rival Saint Anselm College. Away from the ice, his impact was felt throughout campus. Wracker was Hope Happens Here tri-chair for his final three years, also serving as a SAAC executive board member during that time, as secretary of finance as a sophomore and junior and secretary of athletics as a senior. He was an Edmundite Campus Ministry liturgical minister, Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE) leader, Founders Society tour guide, Be Well ambassador, resident assistant, Office of Admission ambassador, Special Events coordinator, peer tutor, and heavily involved in numerous roles in the Office of Purposeful Learning. As a first-year, his immediate impact was recognized with the Student Government Association's (SGA) Jennifer Cernosia Exceptional Student Leader Award.
 
Wracker landed on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll every semester and twice claimed Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Awards and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District. He helped the Purple Knights secure the NE10 Championship as a junior, earning academic all-conference and winning the NE10 Elite 24 Award as the top scholar-athlete competing in the championship game. Wracker has been inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma (college athlete), Delta Epsilon Sigma (Catholic universities) and Omicron Delta Epsilon (economics) honor societies. He was a double major in environmental science and economics with a chemistry minor, and held a 3.99 cumulative grade-point average.
 
Lubkowitz initially earned the College's Dr. Dave Landers Faculty Mentor Award thanks to his support and dedication to the College's student-athletes, and SAAC members from around the NE10 lauded him further with the conference honor by the same named. A biology professor at the College for more than 25 years, Lubkowitz has also been the Nordic skiing team's faculty affiliate since 2016.
 
"Professor Lubkowitz is concerned about athletes and all of the students at Saint Michael's as people," said Nordic skiing and women's cross country and outdoor track rising senior Fran Peterson (Barron, Wis./Barron), a biology major, upon him winning the College's institutional honor. "He has taught our team a lot about balancing priorities and how to do our best in sports and academics. His dedication to showing up for our team and the athletes at Saint Michael's as a whole has taught everyone how to be passionate about athletics long after their college career is done. He also has many connections to post-grad science programs, and has helped many student-athletes with networking after undergrad."
 
A member of the Saint Michael's faculty since 2001, Lubkowitz co-created the Teaching Gardens with education professor Valerie Bang-Jensen, was recognized with the Class of 2011 Appreciation Award, and earned the 2015 Joanne Rathgeb Teaching Award. In 2024, Lubkowitz won the Maize Genetic Leadership Award, a prestigious international accolade. A member of the Vermont Biomedical Research Network executive committee, Lubkowitz has directly supervised the research of more than three dozen Saint Michael's students and mentored another two dozen who conducted research at institutions such as the University of Florida, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, and Purdue University.
 
Ray Patterson won the inaugural NE10 Dr. Dave Landers Faculty Mentor Award in 2017, then known as the NE10 SAAC Faculty Mentor Award before being renamed for Landers in 2018. The first three honors went to Saint Michael's faculty, as Paul Olsen (2018) and Joan Wry '79 (2019) completed the threepeat.