Youngstown State student-athletes Luke Laubacher (track and field) and Miriam Frass (women's swimming) were honored as the 2024-25 YSU Joseph F. Malmisur Student-Athletes of the Year last evening at the Scholar-Athlete Banquet in Kilcawley Center.
Other awards presented during the event included the SAAC Leadership Awards - Female Recipient: Taylor Berry, Male Recipient: Terin Frodyma, the Team Outreach Award - Softball and the Bounce Back Player of the Year Award (sponsored by NovaCare Rehabilitation) – David Wilkerson – Men's Basketball
Student-athletes Preston Zandier (football) and Lili Minich (women's tennis) served as the Masters of Ceremony's for the fun event.
YSU President Bill Johnson spoke highly of the accomplishments of all those in attendance and saluted the women's bowling program for winning the National Championship over the weekend. Most of the team was in attendance at the event last night and brought their shiny new championship trophy.
Dr. Chet Cooper and Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Academic Services spoke about the tremendous success of all the student-athletes in the department. Those with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above were invited to be part of the evening.
Paul McFadden of the YSU Foundation thanked the Scholarship Endowment donors who were in attendance at the event.
Laubacher's Highlights:
2025 Indoor: Named the HL's Alfreeda Goff Athlete of the Year...also tabbed the co-Outstanding Field Performer at the HL Championships...won the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.84 seconds...ran a race of 7.76 seconds in the prelims...also won the long jump with a leap of 7.56m...was fifth in the 200m as well...won the 60m hurdles at the Mount Union Tuneup, the YSU Last Chance Invitational, the YSU Collegiate Invitational and the YSU Icebreaker...took first in the long jump at the YSU Mid-Major Invitational with a career-best leap of 7.78m...ran a career-best time of 7.72 seconds in the hurdles on two occasions...ranked 22nd nationally in the long jump and 38th in the 60m hurdles. 2024 Outdoor: Honorable-Mention Outdoor All-American in the 110m hurdles...finished 21st in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.86 seconds at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships...finished 12th in the 110m hurdles at the NCAA Regionals with a personal-best time of 13.71 seconds to advance to the national meet...won the Horizon League title in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.69 seconds...placed third in the 100m at the HL Championships with a time of 10.59 seconds...came in second in the 200m with a time of 21.52 seconds at the league meet...added a third-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 7.50m...placed second in the long jump at the Jesse Owens Classic with a leap of 7.45m...finished second in the 110m hurdles at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational with a time of 13.83 seconds.
Frass's 2024-25 Highlights:
Named the women's swimmer of the meet at the 2025 Horizon League Championships, becoming the first athlete in program history to win the award...won the 1650 freestyle title with a time of 16:40.80, while also finishing first in the 400 IM with a time of 4:18.91...was second consecutive year winning the 400 IM...was also a member of the 800-free relay team that won the HL title with a time of 7:20.87, the first relay team in program history to win a conference title...all three of her championship swims set new school records for each event...other notable finishes at the conference championships included a second-place finish in the 500 free with a personal-best time of 4:50.10, a fifth-place finish in the 200-free relay with a school-record time of 1:34.98, as well as a fifth-place finish in the 400-free relay with a school-record time of 3:27.12...won 16 events across 11 meets throughout the season, with an astounding 41 top-three finishes altogether...claimed victory in the 500 free five times, 200 free four times, 1650 free and 100 free twice each, and she finished first in the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly once this season, with each victory being claimed at a dual vs. Denison...another remarkable performance on the season occurred at the 2024 CSCAA Open Water Championships at Florida International University, where she claimed a second-place finish out of 108 swimmers in the event, clocking a time of 1:06.40...named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year, while also being named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for the second straight year as well.
