MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - The NEWMAC is pleased to announce the recipients of the annual NEWMAC Student-Athlete of the Year Award. The men’s sport honorees are Kekoa McArdle (Pittsfield, Mass.) of Clark University and Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) of Salve Regina University. On the women’s side, Babson College’s Olivia Soffer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and MIT’s Natalie Barnouw (Los Angeles, Calif.) garnered the accolade. The recipients were selected by a committee made up of Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Sports Information Directors and Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designees. The Student-Athlete of the Year Award focuses on the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

McArdle graduated Magna Cum Laude from Clark, studying Psychology with a minor in Management. He was named to the NEWMAC Academic All-Conference team from 2022 through 2024 and received National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Academic Honors in 2023-2024. He was Clark’s Russ Granger Award recipient, which is awarded to male student-athletes who have combined academic excellence with athletic achievement.
 
A basketball student-athlete, McArdle led Clark to the NEWMAC title in his senior season, earning NEWMAC First Team All-Conference accolades for his efforts. A 1,000-point scorer, McArdle also earned second team All-Conference honors in 2024.

Off the court, McArdle was equally as active, volunteering for numerous organizations and spending time teaching basketball skills to youth in the community. He also hosted a mental health meeting on campus to share experiences with fellow Clark students.

McArdle has left his imprint on Clark, especially the men's basketball program. "Kekoa truly set the standard of what it meant to be a student-athlete - first and foremost in the classroom," expressed Clark head men's basketball coach Tyler Simms. "On the court, he led and mentored our younger forwards which will continue to help our program for years to come. And lastly, Kekoa leaves the legacy of being a champion - a goal that we have every year as a program and Kekoa was an instrumental part of us achieving." 

Grover graduated Summa Cum Laude from Salve Regina in 2024, with a major in Business Administration. He obtained his MBA with a concentration in Cybersecurity Issues and boasted a 4.0 GPA in the program. In 2024, Grover was the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner in baseball, which is awarded to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships. This year, he was recognized as the Salve Regina Athletics Graduate Student-Athlete of Distinction.

A baseball student-athlete, Grover participated in five NCAA regionals, contributing to the Seahawks winning four regular season titles, two conference championships, two Regional Championships, and was a key part of the Seahawks Division III College World Series run in 2024. He was named the NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Year in 2025. A four-year captain, Grover was also named to the NEWMAC Sportsmanship Team in 2025.

Off the field, Grover was a member of the Salve Regina Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during his undergraduate tenure, serving as Vice-President in 2023-2024.  

Salve Regina head baseball coach Eric Cirella recognizes that Grover was a one-of-a-kind student-athlete. “He's a winner and he is the poster boy for everything that you want in a student-athlete.  He holds himself accountable first, he works hard, he's prepared for everything, he hates losing but he is also a great sport, he never makes excuses, and he makes everyone around him better,” proclaimed Cirella. “Brandon is a generational talent of a human being who I may never see the likes of again. His impact on everyone around him was far greater than any impact we had on him.”

Soffer is a graduate of Babson College, where she graduated Cum Laude with a double concentration in Retail Management and Supply Chain and Strategy and Consulting. Soffer was named to the Dean’s List in her final four semesters at Babson and was a two-time International Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar All-American.

A tennis student-athlete, Soffer leaves Babson with the program record in singles wins (99), doubles wins (97) and combined victories (196). She owns the program’s single season record for singles wins with 31 in 2022-23. Alongside partner Matia Cristiani, Soffer won back-to-back NCAA Division III Doubles titles. She was also the national runner-up in both singles and doubles in 2023. She was named the 2025 ITA Division III Senior Player of the Year and was a singles All-American from 2022 through 2025 and a doubles All-American from 2023 through 2025. In four years, Soffer never lost a conference tennis match, and is the first in NEWMAC history to win the NEWMAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year award in four straight seasons. She was named the 2025 Babson Athlete of the Class.

Soffer volunteered her time working with children around the Babson community, including at the Babson Women in Sports Day, where she helped encourage confidence, teamwork and passion for sports in girls. She also spends time as a youth tennis instructor.   
 
Soffer’s head coach Emma Hall was continually impressed with Soffer's passion and drive. “Olivia set the kind of example every coach hopes for. Her work ethic and competitive nature inspired everyone around her and pushed the team to be better every single day. She led by example in everything she did, whether it was in practice, in matches, or in how she carried herself off the court,” expressed Hall.  

According to Hall, Soffer leaves behind an incredible legacy at Babson. “Her back-to-back NCAA Doubles titles include the first-ever women’s national championship in Babson history. That moment put her in the record books, but her impact goes far beyond that,” said Hall. “Olivia leaves behind a legacy of excellence, leadership, and belief—one that will continue to shape our program for years to come.”

Natalie Barnouw is a graduate of MIT, where she earned a degree in Computational Biology, finishing her undergraduate studies with a 3.84 GPA. She then competed as a graduate student at MIT, where she obtained a Master of Engineering. Barnouw was a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American selection in 2023 and 2024 and was a NEWMAC Academic All-Conference selection from 2022 through 2024. She was named to the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Scholar All-America team in 2023 and 2024. She was also named MIT’s Malcolm G. Kispert Award Recipient for MIT Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2024.

A soccer student-athlete, Barnouw was a USC All-American in 2024 and All-Region selection in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, she led the conference in goals and points and was voted the NEWMAC Athlete of the Year. She was named the Rookie of the Year in 2021. 

Barnouw is a founding member of the Kidney Disease Screening and Prevention Club, serving as the Director of Community Outreach, assisting in organizing screenings to assess risk of chronic kidney disease in underrepresented populations in the greater Boston/Cambridge area. She also spent time volunteering at Massachusetts General Hospital in the hematology/oncology department, and Boston Children’s Hospital as a patient life volunteer, holding weekly game nights for patients and their families.
 
Martin Desmarais, head women’s soccer coach at MIT, recognizes that Barnouw’s legacy reaches far beyond the field she excelled on. “Natalie is very service-oriented, as her work with several health support organizations during her time at MIT has shown. With her Asian heritage, through her mother, and a strong connection to Spanish-speaking communities, having grown up in Los Angeles, Natalie also moves well between different groups of people and can relate to anyone very easily. Teams often have star players, and you have glue players, but Natalie is the rate example of someone who is both,” explains Desmarais.

“Natalie leaves behind first and foremost a legacy of success – she has been a major part of the program’s four-year historic run and has brought the program to new heights. In addition, she leaves behind a legacy of excellence – she has won just about every award you can win in college athletics. And she also leaves behind a legacy of being an example of a true student-athlete – everything she has accomplished on the field she has matched in the classroom and in the lab and in the hospital. Natalie is a special athlete, but she is a one-of-a-kind student-athlete," stated Desmarais. 

Executive Director of the NEWMAC, Patrick B. Summers, is impressed by the accomplishments and successes of the honorees in their respective sport, in the classroom, and in the community.

“These four individuals truly define what it means to be a NEWMAC student-athlete," declared Summers. "They’ve left their mark not only through athletic and academic success, but by lifting up their teammates, classmates, and communities. Their impact has been meaningful and lasting, and we’re proud to recognize them with this honor.”

The recipients of the 2024-2025 awards will move on as the NEWMAC nominees for the Division III Commissioners Association Student-Athlete of the Year award and the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime (Football) and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.