ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell seniors Jaime Bourbonnais and Yanni Kaldis took home the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award on Wednesday evening during the school's Virtual Senior Banquet and Awards Show. Ryan Bayne, Gabby Rizika and Micah Zandee-Hart earned the Ronald P. Lynch Senior Spirit Award, given to student-athletes whose leadership on and off the field model the ideals of the Big Red athletics department. Jelani Taylor and Maddy Conklin were recognized with the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Leadership Award for embodying leadership, athleticism and a strong work ethic, while Taylor Knibb was chosen to receive the Inspiration Award given when a student-athlete's accomplishments on and off the field inspire not only his or her teammates and coaches, but also his or her fellow classmates, professors and the entire Cornell University family.

Below are bios of each of the eight award winners:

Ryan Bayne, Men's Soccer
• Bayne was a first team All-Ivy League selection as a senior following a season that saw the Big Red finish 10-5-2.
• A three-time captain, Bayne was a key component of the Cornell defensive line throughout his career, making 57 starts and earning 66 total appearances.
• Over his final three seasons with the Big Red, Bayne rarely left the pitch logging over 4,300 minutes in his final 49 matches.
• In addition to his play on the field, Bayne was a key contributor to the culture shift within the men's soccer program that saw the team improve its record from 1-14-2 in 2016 to 10-5-2 in 2019.
• Scored three career goals with three assists, with two of his goals coming as overtime game winners (Colgate in 2017 and Akron in 2019).
• Captured Ivy League Player of the Week honors once as a senior.
• Recovered from an ACL injury as a sophomore to become a rare three-year captain.

Jaime Bourbonnais, Women's Ice Hockey
• A four-time all-league selection in ECAC Hockey and the Ivy League, Bourbonnais earned first team All-America honors in 2020 and second team accolades in 2019 for the Big Red.
• The two-time ECAC Hockey Best Defenseman, Bourbonnais graduated after earning 34 assists in a shortened season (due to COVID-19), which was good for ninth in Cornell's single-season records.
• A two-time Patty Kazmaier Award nominee, she was a top-10 finalist during her senior season.
• She consistently ranked among the top players in the nation for points per game and assists per game.
• Her 41 points in 33 games topped the nation's defenders throughout the 2019-20 season.
• The two-time first-team All-USCHO honoree spent time competing with the Canadian National Team when not on the ice with the Cornell Big Red.

Maddy Conklin, Field Hockey
• Conklin was a two-time All-Ivy honoree before being named a first-team All-Ivy and first-team All-Mideast Region selection following her senior season.
• Conklin, who appeared in all but one of her collegiate games, was named third-team All-America by Synapse Sports.
• After a successful career as a midfielder, Conklin earned an invitation to the NFHCA Division I Senior Game.
• Tallied six goals and seven assists (19 points) in 66 career games (55 starts).
• A member of Red Key Athletics Honorary Society, she was active in raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and working with people who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis, which she also has been diagnosed with.

Yanni Kaldis, Men's Ice Hockey
• Kaldis was the program's first-ever four-time selection to the All-Ivy League first team, capping a stellar collegiate career with a spot on the 2020 CCM/AHCA Division I All-America second team for the East Region.
• He played in all of Cornell's 133 games and helped lead the team to three consecutive selections to the NCAA tournament before being aligned for a fourth (which would have been a first in program history) before his senior season was canceled after the regular season due to COVID-19 concerns.
• Kaldis racked up 85 points while serving as a pillar of the defense corps, the most points accrued by a Cornell defenseman since 2002-03.
• He excelled at production on the power play, serving as the primary playmaker from the center point on the top unit for each of his last three seasons.
• While more visible on the offensive side, Kaldis was depended upon in all three zones.
• He was named to three All-ECAC Hockey teams (first team in 2020, second team in 2019, third team in 2018) after being named to the league's All-Rookie team in 2017.
• He was the 11th All-American among Cornell defensemen in program history.

Taylor Knibb, Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
• A two-time first team All-Ivy League honoree in cross country, Knibb scored points all four years at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships.
• She qualified for the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships as an individual after finishing fifth overall in the Northeast Regional competition.
• A consistent competitor in the distance races, Knibb contributed to the 2019 Cornell women's cross country team finishing second at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships to earn an automatic bid to the national competition.
• The two-time All-Northeast Region runner finished second for Cornell to help the 2019 team become the first in over 20 years to earn the automatic bid.
• A senior captain, Knibb closed out her cross country career with a 125th-place at the 2019 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
• Won the NCAA Elite 88 Award in cross country for the highest grade point average of all competing at NCAA National Championships in 2018.
• Scored in two events at the Ivy League Swimming and Diving championships.
• In Spring and Summer competes in the triathlon at world class level. Awards include:
• Two-time USA Junior National Triathlon champion, as well as the 2016 and 2017 World Junior Champion and the 2018 Under-23 World Champion.
• Became the youngest woman to earn a spot on the podium at an ITU World Triathlon Series race after she won silver at a 2017 event in Alberta, Canada.

Gabby Rizika, Sailing
• Rizika became the first Cornellian to earn MAISA Sailor Athlete of the Year when she was honored as a senior.
• An ICSA honorable mention All-America skipper as a junior in 2019, she was an all-conference first-team pick.
• She was part of two straight MAISA Fall conference championships. Rizika was the team's top finisher at the Faye Bennett Women's Singlehandeds as a junior, placing seventh overall.
• She sailed the Big Red to the Sperry Women's Finals with her efforts in A division, posting six top five efforts, including a win in the event's final race.
• Rizika also competed in fall conference championships at the MAISA Women's and War Memorial and in the spring at the Prosser Trophy, MAISA Women's national qualifier and the America Trophy.
• She earned second-team All-MAISA as a sophomore, serving as skipper in A Division for the Big Red at the Sperry Women's Western Semifinals and National Finals as Cornell placed seventh nationally.
• She also helped the team to an eighth-place finish at the MAISA Women's to qualify the Big Red for nationals.
• Rizika placed 13th at the Faye Bennett Women's Singlehanded Championship in the fall.
• She skippered B division at the Sperry Women's National Semifinal, posting seven top 10 finishes in nine races, and suited up at the MAISA Women's Fall, MAISA Women's Spring and America Trophy conference championships.
• Her spring senior season ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Competed in the spring of her junior year with a torn ACL, recovering to repeat as an All-American as a senior.

Jelani Taylor, Football
• Taylor was a national finalist for both the William V. Campbell Trophy and STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Awards as a senior following a career as a three-year starter at safety for the Big Red.
• A first-team All-Ivy League selection and candidate for the conference's Defensive Player of the Year in his final season, he led the team and was second in the Ivy League with 76 tackles.
• He also paced the squad in passes defended (14), interceptions (three) and forced fumbles (two) as a senior captain.
• He ranked third in the conference in passes defended (14th nationally) and second in both interceptions (47th nationally) and fumbles forced.
• The two-time first-team academic all-district pick added 2.0 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a two-point conversion breakup from his safety position and was named Ivy Defensive Player of the Week once.
• He was a CoSIDA Academic All-America first team selection as a senior. Taylor ranked in the top 30 all-time in Cornell history in tackles and his 30 passes defended was fifth in Big Red history.
• He closed his career with 187 tackles, including 5.0 for a loss and 2.0 sacks, 27 pass breakups, four forced fumbles and three interceptions in 38 games.
• Taylor was a first team Academic All-District pick as a junior after leading the team in tackles (72) and passes defended (nine).
• Three times he broke up four passes in a game, one off a school record.

Micah Zandee-Hart, Women's Ice Hockey
• A three-year captain, Zandee-Hart was a four-time all-league selection in ECAC Hockey and the Ivy League.
• A leading defenseman on the team for all four years of her career, Zandee-Hart notched third team All-USCHO honors following her junior and senior seasons.
• A Patty Kazmaier Award nominee, she earned a spot on the ECAC Hockey all-tournament team twice.
• Zandee-Hart sat out the 2017-18 school year after being centralized by Team Canada.
• A Saanichton, British Columbia native, Zandee-Hart holds the record for career blocks with 225 blocks.
• Scored 17 goals with 70 assists for 87 career points, while posting a +51 +/- mark in her final two seasons.