Women's Lacrosse | 8/26/2026 2:48:19 PM
Maddie Lowney, a member of the St. John Fisher University women’s lacrosse team, was named the 2025-26 Division III Commissioner's Association (DIIICA) Region III Women's Student-Athlete of the Year. Each of the 10 regional winners will advance to the national ballot for consideration for 2025-26 D3CA Women’s Sport Student-Athlete of the Year and Women’s Sport Student-Athlete of the Year.
Conferences were permitted to submit two nominations for each award if at least one of the nominations was an international student/ethnic minority. Graduating seniors were the only student-athletes eligible for this award. Selection criteria for the awards included considerations based on academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership and a personal statement submitted by each nominee.
Voting was conducted by the commissioners within each of the ten regions, with the top male and female honoree recognized as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner’s Association Men’s Sport and Women’s Sport Student-Athlete of the Year.
The two national winners will be announced on September 3.
Lowney, a native of Baldwin, Md., was named the 2025-26 Empire 8 Conference Woman of the Year in July. She recently earned her bachelor’s degree in both legal studies and sustainability from St. John Fisher, while carrying a tremendous 3.91 grade-point average and graduating summa cum laude. She is a six-time member of the Empire 8 President's List for maintaining at least a 3.75 grade-point average, while earning St. John Fisher Dean’s list honors eight times.
She excelled on the lacrosse field, leading the Cardinals to four consecutive Empire 8 Championships, never losing a game against a league opponent in her time at the university (39 straight wins including regular season and postseason). She was a two-time Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-American, earning second team honors in 2025 and 2026. Lowney was also a four-time IWLCA All-Region first team selection and competed in four NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship Tournaments.
Lowney was named the 2023 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year before being named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year in 2024, 2025 and 2026. She was a four-time All-Empire 8 first team selection and four-time Empire 8 Championship All-Tournament Team pick, culminating by winning the E8 Championship Most Valuable Player in 2026. Lowney enjoyed a tremendous senior season for the Cardinals, serving as team captain and appearing in 21 games for the E8 Champions, recording career-best totals of 85 draw controls and league-leading marks of 67 ground balls and 64 caused turnovers.
She finished her remarkable career as the Empire 8 all-time leader with 167 caused turnovers to go along with 273 draw controls and 231 ground balls. In 2023, she had 51 ground balls, 36 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers. The following season, Lowney recorded 77 draw controls, 60 ground balls and 38 caused turnovers, before recording 75 draw controls, 53 ground balls and 44 caused turnovers in her junior season.
Lowney won both the St. John Fisher Sustainability Award and Excellence in Legal Studies Award in 2026 was a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. In addition, she earned 2023 and 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors and IWLCA Division III Academic Honor Roll Recipient in both 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Outside of the field and classroom, Lowney excelled in engagement within the greater Rochester community, serving as a Rochester Ecology Partners Volunteer, creating an interactive workbook on Rochester-area pollinators for younger students and organized a planting and cleanup event at Griffin Garden with the World of Inquiry School. In addition, she attended programs on law school admissions, legal careers and LSAT preparation, while connecting with fellow legal studies students. Lowney also interned with the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office, meeting with clients, visiting incarcerated individuals, helping prepare them for court proceedings and assisted her mentor attorney by reviewing discovery materials and writing evidence summaries.
For several years, Lowney supported beach cleanup and community outreach efforts in Ocean City, Md., including adopting a beach, collecting more than 400 pounds of trash in one weekend and assisting with a youth leadership and surf camp.