Elise Paier named GNAC 2024 female student-athlete of the year

Elise Paier of West Springfield, a 2024 Elms College graduate with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, has been named the student-athlete of the year for women’s sports by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

Her selection on July 25 means she is automatically in the running for the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year Award and the Division III Commissioners Association’s Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year Award.

All three awards celebrate graduating student-athletes who distinguished themselves in their collegiate career by their accomplishments in athletics,  academics, and community service.

In winning the GNAC award, she was chosen from a field of 12 nominees. The GNAC is made up of 16 Division-III schools across New England with more than 4,000 student-athletes.. 

Elise, a two-time captain of the Elms College Women’s Lacrosse Team, set the school single-game record by scoring 11 goals in a one-point win versus Lasell College on April 13.  She closed out her collegiate career with 123 goals and 165 total points, which puts her 4th on the school leaderboard for women’s lacrosse. She also was named to the GNAC All-Conference Team in 2023, and to the conference’s All-Sportsmanship Team in 2023 and 2024.  She was also the recipient this past year of the Elms College Dr. Joachim Froehlich Award for athletic and academic excellence.

Elise graduated in May as a co-valedictorian for the 2024 class with a perfect grade point average of 4.0. She has also been named a member of the GNAC Academic All-Conference between 2022-2042, and this past year was inducted into the Kappa Gama Pi, Delta Epsilon Sigma, and Sigma Theta Tau national honor societies. She was named to the Dean’s List multiple times between 2020 and 2024 and recognized with college awards for the highest academic achievement in each of her first three years at Elms.

Elise was also very active out in the community too. She volunteered at flu vaccination clinics, was involved with canned food drives on campus, and coached the West Springfield girls lacrosse program. She was also a member of the National Student Nurse Association, and a member of the Elms Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Reflecting on her time at Elms and her achievements on the field, in the classroom, and in the community, Elise said: “ I want to be the positive in someone’s life, no matter how short the duration of our interaction is, which has always been my motivation to have an impact on the world.” 

“I try to empower young women that they can achieve anything they put their mind to, and I have exemplified that in both my academic and athletic achievements. Leadership roles on campus have also greatly influenced my life because I have learned the importance of holding myself and others accountable.”