Saint Francis Universty secured the NEC Building Communities Award presented by Insperity to complete the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee community service triple crown. Earlier this year, SFU claimed first place in both the SAAC Canned Food Drive contest as well as the Money Wars competition.

Completing the SAAC service trifecta, Saint Francis topped runner-up Central Connecticut by more than 400 points in the Building Communities Award's weighted scoring system.

It is the second year in a row that the SFU Red Flash have captured the Building Communities Award, which was established in 2010.

"I'm excited to recognize Saint Francis U as a repeat winner of the NEC Building Communities Award, an honor that recognizes the student-athlete population that has the highest percentage of participation in community services activities as well total hours donated," said NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris.

With 477 student-athletes pitching in, the Red Flash amassed a single-year conference record 9,210 hours of service during the recently-completed academic year.

"The student-athletes, coaches, and staff here at Saint Francis continue to embody the Franciscan spirit and what it means to 'Become That Someone' in everything that they do," said Associate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete and Leadership Development, John Krimmel.

"It is such an honor for the Department of Athletics and entire University to receive this award, which recognizes our outstanding work in the community and here on campus.  Our student-athletes put countless hours into their academics and athletic endeavors, but also put so much time into making a difference locally, nationally, and globally."

"I would be remiss if I did not give special recognition to our outstanding leadership groups within the Department of Athletics. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Student-Athlete Mentors program, Bob & Sharon Krimmel Flash Leadership Institute, and APPLE Leadership Team all do a great job spearheading many of our community service and engagement efforts.  I also want to give special recognition to the great work and leadership of our Student-Athlete Development & Academic Services team of Jaime Lipski (Associate Director), Sarah Ross (Assistant Director), and Carly Gromel (Graduate Assistant)," Krimmel continued.

"Each year we recognize a team in the department that has been a leader when it comes to community service and engagement efforts. This year our women's soccer team won the Community Service Award for the fourth straight year after team took part in over 1,000 hours of community service/engagement!   

"While awards are nice to receive, I know our student-athletes give back not because they want recognition, but rather they want to make a difference and feel great pride in doing so."