Mariah Bair Female Student Athlete of the Month

Central Penn College would like to congratulate Mariah Bair on being named Female Student Athlete of the Month for the month of August! Our Student Athlete of the Month award is not only someone who excels on the field/court, but someone who takes pride in academics and is involved in community service/leadership. Thanks so much to our partnership with Duck Donuts, we are able to provide our honorees with some Duck Donuts merch as well as a gift card for a dozen of their amazing donuts!

Coach Grubesky’s nomination:

I am nominating Mariah Bair, one of the leaders on our team for Student Athlete of the Month for August.

Mariah was one of the first players that we recruited as part of our 2023 class when I started my tenure as head coach. I knew her club team coach who is also an assistant D-III college coach and he told me that Mariah was a captain on her club and high school teams. He added that she would be an asset to our program and he was right.

Mariah has helped with everything from recruiting prospective student athletes, to getting players to our team’s indoor women’s league matches, to helping with youth clinics, to assisting with fundraising projects. Mariah has also overcome several challenges and continues to improve in the classroom.

Mariah has bought into our college’s mission and core values, especially community service. She has taken the lead on our team’s volunteering at a food pantry in the City of Harrisburg. Our team has helped twice this year, but Mariah along with several teammates try to go on their own every Tuesday to continue to assist with food distribution.

This summer Mariah helped to coordinate our team’s participation in assisting the Harrisburg Heat with their summer youth camps. We have been able to forge an excellent partnership with the Heat’s front office and their coaching staff. Part of that is a credit to our players’ performance when coaching younger players at the various Heat camps this summer.

Our players are looking forward to our second season this Fall. Our coaching staff expects Mariah to continue to be a team leader and solidify our midfield by playing center mid. She will also get playing time as one of the anchors on our defense at center back on our backline line.

I am pleased to nominate Mariah for this award as she is most deserving of this recognition for her efforts on the field and on campus. 

Congratulations, Mariah! Go Knights!