POUGHKEEPSIE – Senior Patrick Deedy (Concord, Mass.) earned the first Glenn Marinelli Award for Excellence in Athletic Training on Friday at Marist College's Baccalaureate Awards Ceremony. The award is presented to a graduating senior who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement in the study of athletic training at Marist.

Deedy, a four-year member of Marist's cross country and track & field teams, is graduating with a degree in athletic training. His clinical experience rotations include time at Marist, Vassar, Millbrook Physical Therapy and several local high schools, including Arlington, John Jay, Poughkeepsie and Our Lady of Lourdes.

One of his rotations came under Marinelli as a sophomore, working with the men's basketball team. Deedy said that experience was “one of my best rotations I ever had as an athletic training student.”

Additionally, Deedy has volunteer experience at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, Special Olympics and Girl Scouts. This past April, Deedy passed the Board of Certification exam on his first attempt, which now enables him to practice as a Certified Athletic Trainer.

“It really is an honor,” Deedy said of receiving the award. “Glenn Marinelli is a great man, a great athletic trainer and just a great teacher too.

“To get an award in his name just means so much to me because I respect him so much, and I only wish the best for him.”

Glenn Marinelli has served as Marist's Coordinator of Sports Medicine since 1981. For the past three years, Marinelli has been bravely fighting cancer.

This award was made possible due to the generosity of Roger Coleman, a 1982 graduate of Marist who was a member of the Knickerbocker Conference champion men's lacrosse team in 1981.

"Glenn is a man amongst men,” Coleman said. “His genuine love and care for all students from all backgrounds was, and always will be, the backbone of Marist Athletics. He epitomizes the spirit of Marist College."