* Senior Student-Athlete Banquet Photo Gallery (photos by Patrick Shanahan)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell seniors Rebecca Johnston and Cam Simaz were recipients of the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award on Monday evening at the school's annual senior athletics banquet. Melissa Hewitt and James Voter both earned the Ronald P. Lynch Senior Spirit Award, given to student-athletes whose leadership on and off the field models the ideals of the Big Red athletics department. Sidra Bonner and Keir Ross were recognized with the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Leadership Award for most embodying leadership, athleticism and a strong work ethic. Kaitlin Hardy took home the Cornell University Athletics Inspiration Award for accomplishments on and off the field that inspire the entire Cornell community.

An Olympic gold medalist and three-time All-American, Johnston graduates as the most accomplished skater in the history of the women's hockey program. Johnston, who earned a team-high 30 goals and 61 points during her senior season, was named the squad's most valuable player after a season that saw her become a first-team All-American and earn a Top 10 Patty Kazmaier nomination for the third time. She graduates as the fifth-leading scorer in team history with 188 points (97 goals, 91 assists). She was a four-time first-team all-ECAC Hockey and first-team All-Ivy pick. Johnston was both the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2008 and earned a spot on ECAC Hockey's all-tournament team as a senior. Despite taking a year off for the Olympics, Johnston helped the Big Red to a pair of ECAC Hockey and Ivy League regular season titles, an ECAC Hockey tournament crown and two NCAA Frozen Four appearances. She was team captain as a senior and an assistant captain as a junior.

Simaz, a two-time Ivy League Wrestler of the Year, won an NCAA title as a senior at 197 pounds. He ranks second in the school's career record book with a 145-21 record and first with 100 bonus victories. Simaz was 31-1 for the season with his only loss coming from a medical forfeit. The four-time All-American went 5-0 at the NCAA tournament to top off his stellar career with an NCAA title. At the EIWA tournament, Simaz became just the 11th wrestler in conference history to win four titles. That earned him the Fletcher Award, given to the wrestler that has scored the most points for his team at the tournament in his career. With two wins by fall and a major decision, Simaz was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Simaz finished his Ancient Eight career a perfect 20-0 and was named first-team All-Ivy for the fourth time. During his career, the Big Red won four Ivy League and EIWA team titles and finished in the top six at the NCAAs each year, including national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011.

Bonner was a three-time All-Ivy standout in women's soccer as a defender. The two-year captain has maintained a 3.4 grade point average in Biology and Society with a minor in Global Health, earning her Academic All-Ivy and Dean's List accolades.  Bonner is a Jackie Robinson Scholar and a Sachs Foundation Scholar at Cornell. She helped the Big Red to be honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as a recipient of the 2010 Team Academic Award. She has traveled to the Dominican Republic with the MHIRT program, focusing on health disparities and tropical disease. She volunteered at Clinica Rural in the town of Veron and learned from medical practitioners who deal with patients with diseases ranging from HIV/AIDS to childhood diarrhea. After returning to the U.S., she and a fellow student started Kominote Batey, a student organization at Cornell focused on improving healthcare and education in underprivileged communities, with a focus on the Dominican Republic. As part of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, Bonner volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House in New York City over a weekend, then spent another weekend with the Central Park Conservancy for Park restoration. She taught Sunday School at Colorado Community Church for fourth-sixth graders. Bonner has served as the Managing Editor of the Ivy Journal of Ethics, which is published every year through the Bioethics Society of Cornell and features articles by undergraduate students to raise awareness about bioethical issues facing our society.

The senior captain of the men's hockey team, Ross provided great leadership as a defenseman for a program that competed in three NCAA tournaments during his four seasons. A three-time ECAC Hockey Academic All-League pick, Ross posted a 3.6 GPA in Human Biology, Health and Society, earning a spot on the Dean's List. A member of the Red Key and Sphinx Head Honor Societies, Ross was the coordinator for the sixth annual Cornell Hockey Teddy Bear Toss, which raises money for the Franziska Racker Centers and Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes, while also donating stuffed animals to the Ithaca Cops, Kids and Toys program. Additionally, Ross has worked with Feed My Starving Children, an organization that hand-packs meals specifically formulated for malnourished children that are shipped to nearly 70 countries around the world.

Hewitt has been one of Cornell's all-time greats in track and field, winning nine Heptagonal championships in her four years. A senior captain, she helped the team to three Heps team titles and took over the claim of fastest woman in the history of the Ivy League with her 100-meter mark of 11.66. She also is part of a 4x100 relay squad that holds the fastest recorded time in conference history and also ranks third all-time in the long jump (20-3 ¾) and second in the 60 meters, just .01 behind Cornell track star Jeomi Maduka '08 (6.46). The 2010 Ivy League Most Valuable Track and Field Athlete, she will graduate holding school records in the 100 and 200 meters and as part of the 4x100 relay squad. Though she wasn't able to compete at full strength as a senior, her inspirational attempts to compete while injured at the 2012 Outdoor Heps championships inspired her teammates as the squad finished second.

The co-commodore of the men's heavyweight rowing team, Voter has been credited with helping to change the culture of the Cornell crew through his persistent hard work and positive attitude. After helping the Freshmen 8 earn its first Eastern Sprints medal in 32 years, the Dresher, Pa. native moved into the Varsity 8 boat for his final three seasons. As a sophomore, he helped the Big Red earn a bronze medal in the IRA Grand Finals, coming in behind the two top-ranked crews, Cal and Washington. The third-place finish by Cornell was its best finish at the IRA since taking third in 1994. Last season, he led an exceptionally young crew to a victory in the 2011 IRA Petite Final, while personally posting one of the top-five erg times all-time in Cornell history. This year, Voter has helped Cornell earn a top-six national ranking and led the team to a victory in the Carnegie Cup, defeating Princeton and Yale for just the fifth time since 1984. Off the water, he is an exceptional student and is a student-leader of an ROTC Navy unit. Voter is also a member of Quill and Dagger and Red Key Honor Society.

Hardy became just the second Cornellian to receive the Inspiration Award, joining Khaliq Gant in 2009. A senior gymnast, Hardy battled through injuries throughout her career, including a broken back as a sophomore. That injury triggered the first of a series of grand mal seizures from epilepsy, which had been controlled through drug treatment up to that point. It took her more than a year to get the epilepsy back under control, and all the while she stood side-by-side with her teammates, rarely, if ever, missing a practice. While injured, she founded FACES (For Acceptance and Control of Epileptic Seizures), a student group focused on mentoring youth and college students with seizure disorders. This group is now found on several college campuses around the country. She has been the recipient of a Cornell Community Partnership Board Grant, and also federal funding, for conducting research on the public perception and understanding of seizure disorders on both a local and national level. She is the first undergraduate in Cornell history to run her own laboratory, and is researching the multi-generational effects of epilepsy medication on fruit flies. She is a published author of a children's book depicting neurobiology and epilepsy and has been a featured presenter at conferences in neurobiology. When one of her freshman teammates arrived at Cornell from the West Coast and found out two weeks into the semester that her mother had inoperable cancer, Hardy immediately took it upon herself to start a fund to enable her teammate to afford to travel home to see her mom whenever she needed. Thousands of dollars were raised through alumni, friends, and the coaching community for this cause. Last April at the Collegiate National Championship, USA Gymnastics presented Hardy with the annual Marie Rae Soper award, a national award given to the athlete who, through overcoming personal obstacles, has shown the most dedication to the sport of gymnastics. Next year, she will be attending King's College in England to get a master's degree in neurobiology before returning to the states to pursue to an MD and PhD.