Springfield, Mass. – July 16, 2026 – Recent Springfield College graduate Craig Connell (Goshen, N.Y.) of the football program was named as a finalist for the 2026 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award.

An Awards Committee comprised of Athletic Communicators from across the conference reviews the nominees annually and selects the NEWMAC's honorees. The conference office will announce the 2025-2026 NEWMAC Student-Athlete of the Year recipient(s) on Thursday, July 30. The recipient(s) of the 2025-2026 award will become the NEWMAC's nominee(s) for the Division III Commissioners Association Student-Athlete of the Year award.

The NEWMAC selected a total of seven men from across the league as finalists for the Male Student-Athlete of the Year Award including Craig Connell of Springfield football, Lucky Delgnan of MIT football, Everett Mosher of WPI men's cross country & track and field, Michael O'Gara of Wheaton College men's soccer, Dominic Relter of Emerson College men's soccer, Bennett Smith of Babson College men's lacrosse and Shane Williams of Salve Regina University baseball.

Connell, a physical therapy major with a 3.749 grade point average, played in all 11 games as a senior and totaled 35 appearances over his career.  He paved the way for Springfield to have the nation's best rushing offense as the Pride has averaged 342.5 yards per game on the ground this year. Not only did Springfield lead Division III in rushing but the Pride ranked second across all NCAA Divisions including FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III only behind Harding (457.3 yards per game). Springfield also ranked first nationally in time of possession (35:48) and tenth in third down conversion percentage (53.7-percent).

Off the field, Connell earned D3football.com All-America accolades as a junior and took home a pair of D3football.com All-Region selections. Connell was a two-time NEWMAC All-Conference honoree and earned spots on the NEWMAC Academic All-Conference team three different times. Academically, Connell excelled as he was selected for Academic All-District honor from the College Sports Communicators (CSC) twice.

Connell was also active in community and was a three-year member of Springfield's Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT). 

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