ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell seniors Caroline Allen, Matt Galajda and Jeff Teat took home the Charles H. Moore Outstanding Senior Varsity Athlete Award on Thursday evening during the school's Virtual Senior Banquet and Awards Show. Tristan Mullin and Ellie Walsh 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. Solomon Lawrence and Maddie Mills were recognized with the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Leadership Award for embodying leadership, athleticism and a strong work ethic, while JT Baker and Carly Swetz were 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 nine award winners:
Caroline Allen, Women's Lacrosse
• Allen was a two-time All-Ivy League selection, including a first-team pick as a junior when she was an IWLCA All-Northeast Region second team choice.
• Led the team in goals and points in each of her final three seasons.
• Paced the team in points (60), goals (40), assists (20) and draw controls (62) as a junior and led the squad as a senior in goals (18), points (21) and free-position goals (six) before her campaign was ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Was a second-team All-Ivy pick as a sophomore in 2018, tying the school record for free position goals in a season (17) and leading the team in points (47), goals (35) and assists (12).
• Had seven goals against Marist to open her senior year, the third-most goals in a game in school history.
• Scored eight points, the eighth-most in a game at Cornell, at Villanova as a junior.
• Closed her career second in free-position goals (35), 13th in Cornell history in points (135), 14th in assists (37), 15th in draw controls (86) and 17th in goals (98).
JT Baker, Football
• Four-year member of the Big Red football team.
• Became the first student-elected member of the Board of Trustees at Cornell that was also a student-athlete.
• Heavily engaged in Cornell's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice reform and many other issues surrounding the University.
• Served on the School of Hotel Administration's Advisory Board and as a Student Ambassador.
• Did intensive internships at the Big Ten Conference Office, with the Minnesota Vikings and with J.P. Morgan, where he will work after graduation.
Matt Galajda, Men's Ice Hockey
• Led the nation with a 1.51 goal against average and nine shutouts in a historic freshman season in 2017-18.
• Became the first freshman to ever be among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which is presented annually to the best player in college hockey.
• In his penultimate game in a Cornell jersey, Galajda recorded his 19th career shutout — tied for the most in program history with Ben Scrivens '10.
• Finishing his career with a gaudy 60-15-9 career record, Galajda's 1.64 career goals against average ranks third in program history.
• He was twice named the Ivy League Player of the Year and twice named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award (annually presented to the nation's top goaltender).
• Posted two shutout streaks of more than 200 minutes over 85 career starts.
Solomon Lawrence, Men's Track & Field
• Lawrence helped Cornell's 4x800-meter relay team to the 2020 Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal title, earning first-team All-Ivy League honors.
• He was a consistent point-scorer for the Big Red at championship meets, recording a pair of top-three finishes at the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships over the course of his career, including in the 500-meter in 2019 and the 800-meter in 2020.
• Lawrence holds the ninth-fastest indoor 500-meter time (1:03.57) in Cornell men's track and field history.
• For his efforts on the track and in the classroom, Lawrence was named Winter Academic All-Ivy in 2021.
Maddie Mills, Women's Ice Hockey
• Tied for the team lead in scoring with 41 points during the 2019-20 season, Mills accrued 113 career points in just 102 collegiate games.
• By leading the team with eight power-play goals during that season, Mills sits second on the program's all-time list with 23 goals on the power play.
• Named to the second team for both the All-Ivy League and All-ECAC Hockey teams after the 2019-20 seasons.
• Racked up an impressive plus-68 rating over her career, including a plus-35 mark during her final season.
Tristan Mullin, Men's Ice Hockey
• Often part of a line that was tasked with neutralizing the opposition's top players, Mullin was also a dependable offensive presence with 49 career points on 21 goals and 28 assists in 89 games.
• Led the Big Red with seven power-play goals during the 2019-20 season, with that average of 0.24 power-play goals per game ranking 11th in the nation.
• Presented the team's Crimson Cup Award in 2019 for his standout performances against Harvard — highlighted by the winning goal in a 2-1 victory in Cambridge.
• Scored a goal in each of the final three rounds of the 2019 ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs, including a game-tying strike in the championship game with 5:41 left in regulation time.
• Mullin had the rare distinction of scoring his first collegiate goal at The World's Most Famous Arena — a goal that proved to be the game-winner in the Red Hot Hockey game against Boston University in 2017 at Madison Square Garden.
• Graduated from Cornell in December and is currently playing professional hockey in the American Hockey League for the Cleveland Monsters, the affiliate team for the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets.
Carly Swetz, Women's Soccer
• Captained the Big Red as a senior despite never seeing game action.
• Her first three seasons were wiped away by injury before her senior year was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Was an inspiration from the sideline as a constant positive, loud big red-loving voice through injuries, a coaching transition, a global pandemic and the cancellation of her senior season.
• Member of the Red Key Society.
Jeff Teat, Men's Lacrosse
• Over the course of his decorated career, Teat was named a three-time USILA and four-time Inside Lacrosse Media All-American, including earning first-team honors from both organizations in 2018.
• A two-time Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, Teat graduates from Cornell ranked third in Big Red history in career points (268) and assists (152), as well as ninth in career goals (116).
• A three-time All-Ivy honoree, he was twice named a unanimous first-team selection in 2018 and 2019.
• He remains only one of two players in Big Red history (Mike French '76) to register three 30 goal, 30 assist seasons in a career and is just one of four to amass 70 points in three-consecutive campaigns from 2017-19.
• He is also just the eighth player in Ivy League history to score 250 career points.
• Over the course of the past year, Teat was drafted No. 1 overall in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) Drafts, becoming the first Big Red men's lacrosse player to be the top selection in the PLL College and NLL Entry drafts, as well as the first to go No. 1 overall in multiple professional drafts.
• To date, only two other athletes in Major League Lacrosse (MLL), NLL, and PLL history have been selected as the top pick in multiple professional drafts (Stony Brook's Kevin Crowley '11 and Albany's Lyle Thompson '15).
Ellie Walsh, Women's Lacrosse
• Walsh earned second-team All-Ivy honors as a sophomore after leading the team's midfielders in assists (11), points (27), ground balls (14) and draw controls (39).
• Had five goals, five ground balls, four caused turnovers and six ground balls during the Big Red's 4-2 start to 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely ended its season.
• Elected to be a two-time team captain and was a three-year starter.
• Was an active member of Cornell's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), Red Key Athletic Honorary Society, the Big Red Leadership Institute and Sphinx Head Honor Society.
• Played a key role in Cornell's SAAC partnering with NAMI Finger Lakes and its Virtual Mental Health Awareness Challenge in May 2021 as part of Mental Health Awareness Month.
