WINTHROP, Mass. - The Regis College sports information office, consisting of Sports Information Director Jason Behenna and Assistant Sports Information Director Anthony Casparriello during the 2022-23 academic year, has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Athletic Communications Staff of the Year, as voted on by the 14 core member sports information/athletic communications offices in the league.
Under Behenna's leadership and with significant assistance from Casparriello, the Regis sports information office in part oversaw the statistical output at over 100 athletic events hosted by the Pride, updated the official Regis Athletics website (GoRegisPride.com) after every athletic event, both home and away, and kept track of 273 Regis student-athletes as they participated in intercollegiate competition.
The Regis sports information office updated Pride supporters on the athletics website and through social media as 14 different Regis teams participated in GNAC postseason tournaments or championships, highlighted by the women's track and field team's overall victory at the 2023 GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championship. In total, 49 student-athletes received All-GNAC postseason honors, 102 student-athletes earned Academic All-GNAC honors, and 42 Regis student-athletes were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
"I am so thrilled that Jason Behenna and our sports information team are being recognized as the 2022-2023 GNAC Athletic Communications Staff of the Year! Jason is the consummate professional, and he demonstrates this in many ways including: producing accurate statistics for every home game, writing and posting timely and impactful game stories, soliciting ideas for feature stories on our current student-athletes and coaches, and promoting the overall growth and achievements of Pride Athletics through stories and photos. This is a well-deserved honor and we appreciate the job our sports information staff does on a daily basis," Pam Roecker, Regis College Dean of Athletics, said.
Behenna, completing his fifth year at Regis and 23rd year as a collegiate sports information professional, has assisted the GNAC and his peers by working both the GNAC Swimming and Diving Championships and the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships since 2020. In April, he received the 2022-23 Regis Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Faculty/Staff Appreciation Award for "working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure each contest, home and away, is taken care of properly and is cared for as the only game or meet that matters," as stated by 2022-23 Regis SAAC President Santiago Pedraza Novak in presenting the award at the Athletics Awards Ceremony.
"I am honored to receive this year's GNAC Athletic Communications Staff of the Year Award, especially from my peers within the conference," Behenna said. "Since I arrived at Regis in August 2018, I have strived to give Pride student-athletes every opportunity to be recognized for their successes while treating our opponents, especially those within the GNAC, with respect. I am also grateful for the support of Pam Roecker, Mark Clemente, Laura Ladino, Ron LeClair, the Regis athletics staff and coaches, and our amazing student-athletes. Anthony Casparriello was a major part of this office's success during his two years, and I am glad that our work has been recognized over the past few months."
Casparriello, earning his master's degree in strategic sports communication, enhanced the social media outreach over the past two years and successfully oversaw the statistical output at several home events. He traveled with the Regis softball team and provided support in many ways during Spring Break trips to Florida in 2022 and South Carolina in 2023, and he played a significant role in the creation of gifts for graduating seniors from several teams, including the volleyball and track and field teams.
Regis College sponsors 20 intercollegiate sports within NCAA Division III as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.