BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Holy Cross' softball player Anna Brait and Colgate men's lacrosse player Hunter Drouin were voted the 2025-26 Patriot League Sportsmanship Award honorees when the League office announced the accolades on Tuesday. Brait and Drouin were selected by administrators of the League's institutional Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Brait becomes the second Crusader in school history to receive the honors (Katelyn Hartnett, 2011-12).
The Patriot League Sportsmanship Award is in its 21st year and was created to honor student-athletes who uphold the principles on which the League was founded – fairness, equality, and excellence in academics and athletics, in addition to the NCAA's core principles of respect, fairness, civility, honesty and responsibility. The League's 10 full-member institutions are eligible to nominate one male and one female student-athlete. Patriot League teams from associate members are also eligible to nominate for the annual honor.
Patriot League Sportsmanship Award History
Anna Brait
Holy Cross Softball
Few student-athletes have demonstrated the resilience, determination and sportsmanship that Anna Brait displayed throughout her career at the College of Holy Cross.
A four-year starter at shortstop, Brait was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin's lymphoma in October 2025, requiring immediate chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Throughout her battle, she continued taking classes remotely while working toward graduating alongside the rest of her teammates. She also remained determined to return to the field, refusing to let cancer define the end of her collegiate career.
Brait was declared cancer-free in February 2026 and "once she was given full clearance to participate in workouts and practices, there seemed to be a permanent grin that you could not wipe off her face," said Holy Cross' SAAC E-Board. In her final season on the Hill, she started 37 games, tallied 24 hits and 13 RBIs, while delivering late-game heroics that helped power the Crusaders to multiple marquee wins during the 2026 season.
The 2025 Second Team All-Patriot League selection concluded her career tied for ninth in program history in hits (151), sixth in doubles (34), fourth in RBIs and sixth in walks (54). She also became just the 11th player in program history to reach 150 career hits and finished with a .946 career fielding percentage.
At the annual Crusader Awards, Brait was selected as the 2025-2026 winner of the Honorable John P. Cooney Memorial Award. Presented by the Holy Cross Varsity Club in memory of Judge John P. Cooney (Class of 1923), the Cooney Award goes to a senior letterwinner who performed beyond all expectations with courage, loyalty and dedication. Brait became the first softball player to receive the Cooney Award in its 44-year history.
Off the field, Brait excelled as an accounting major and completed internships at high-ranking accounting firms back home in Florida. She was active in community service, including the annual BCH Pediatric Transplant Center's Family Day, the Holy Cross Team Impact Football Game, the Crusader Community Festival, both the Holy Cross Softball Fall and Winter Clinics, the Halloween Charity 5k, Healthy Minds Survey, and the 12u VooDoo softball team visit.
"The fight, determination, and dedication that Anna has maintained throughout this ordeal have been truly inspirational to our student athletes and program, said Head Softball Coach Jon Ladino. Finishing cancer treatment in four months, just to be able to return to play softball, the thing she loves was something that not even I believed would happen."
Patriot League Sportsmanship Award Nominees
Other nominees for the 2025-26 Patriot League Sportsmanship Award include Ben Roy, Otto Landrum and the Bench Mob (Boston University Men's Basketball), Christian Ross (Holy Cross Football), Victor Izquierdo (Navy baseball), Meg Cole (Colgate women's lacrosse), Katie Hurt (Lehigh women's basketball) and Maggie DeFabio (Navy women's lacrosse).
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League's athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.
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