Westfield State University senior women's basketball and lacrosse standout Lucy Barrett (Williamstown, Mass.) and senior baseball pitcher John Gegetskas (Windsor, Conn.) were named as the 2018-19 John Kurty Award winners at the Owls Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's Senior and Awards banquet on April 30.
The Coach John Kurty Award for Contributions to Athletics is named after the Owls' Hall of Fame soccer coach, and is presented to a student-athlete who best exemplifies Coach Kurty's many outstanding qualities, including commitment, loyalty, hard work, dedication, sportsmanship, leadership and athletics ability. It is considered the highest award from the Westfield State Department of Athletics, and considers the 4-year body of work and the contributions to the athletics program at Westfield State University.
Barrett, a shooting guard, led the Owls' women's basketball team to its' fourth-straight MASCAC tournament title and fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season. The Owls were 51-5 in conference play in her tenure. A two-time all-conference selection, Barrett was named the MASCAC women's basketball Player of the Year in 2019, averaging 19.2 points per game with five rebounds and three steals per game.
For her career, Barrett totaled 1385 points (which ranks fifth all-time at Westfield), 174 three-pointers (third) and and 84.8 (first) free throw percentage with 230 steals (sixth).
A two-sport athlete, Barrett has also been a significant contributor to the Westfield State women's lacrosse team as a midfielder. She has helped the Owls win two MASCAC regular-season and two postseason titles, and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round both times. She has lacrosse totals of 40 goals and 43 assists, 65 draw controls, forced 54 opponent turnovers.
Gegetskas has been the number one starter on the Owls staff for all four years of his career. An All-New England selection and the MASCAC pitcher of the Year as a junior in the spring of 2018, he has helped carry the Owls to two MASCAC regular season titles, one tournament title, and an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. This year the Owls are sitting in first place in the league standings with a handful of games left in conference play as Gegetskas has a 5-2 record with one save and a 2.78 earned run average. For his career, the Owls' lefty has a 20-7 record in 37 starts and has struck out 246 hitters in 228 innings. He set the Owls' career record for strikeouts this season, and set a school record with 86 strikeouts last season.
Coach Kurty, who retired from the Westfield State faculty in 1988 and passed in 2014, compiled a brilliant men's soccer coaching record of 153 wins, 36 losses, and 13 ties from 1966 to 1977. Kurty led the Owls to five NCAA Tournament appearances and three New England championships, and his 1974 team finished third in the nation – the best-ever performance from a Westfield State team.