West Babylon, N.Y. - On Thursday morning, the East Coast Conference announced that Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) of Daemen University women’s basketball team and Dan Smith (West Nyack, N.Y.) of the St. Thomas Aquinas men's track & field team were selected as the 2022-23 winners of the conference’s Excellence in Community and Character Award.
Recipients of the ECC’s most prestigious award are student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through positive actions and behaviors that are consistent with the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, service, passion, sportsmanship, balance, and resourcefulness.
Marina Maerkl
Maerkl was a key contributor off the bench for the Daemen women's basketball team that has won three of the past four ECC Championships and has advanced to four straight NCAA Championships. Over her career, she appeared in 90 games (89 as a reserve), scoring 2.5 points on 43.5 percent shooting and also pulled down 2.1 rebounds per game.
She also excelled in the classroom. A Physical Therapy major who is now going into her doctoral portion, Maerkl carried a 3.16 GPA in the rigorous and difficult program. She was an academic coach for Physical Therapy-312 and she served on the Student Physical Therapy Association (SPTA) Social Committee, as well.
In addition to her studies, Maerkl was a constant presence in many athletic leadership development opportunities such as Wildcats Will Lead (department leadership program), Peer Mentoring, NCAA Hidden Opponent, and RISE. She also served on Daemen's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during all four years and was on the E-board as Vice President this past year.
She was also a Team IMPACT fellow where she spent a lot of time organizing events for the nationally renowned nonprofit organization that matches children with serious chronic illnesses with collegiate athletic teams. Her work alongside Daemen's other fellow, Maggie Burns of women's volleyball, helped the Wildcats earn Team IMPACT's Division II Fellowship Campus of the Year Award.
When Maerkl is not on campus, she spends time working with her local high school to help coach basketball at the Binghamton Bulldogs Sports Complex.
Maerkl was also this year's recipient of the Daemen C.L.A.W. Award, which is the institution's prestigious award that is given annually to the graduating student-athlete who best exemplifies the traits of character, leadership, academic achievement, and work ethic.
Dan Smith
Athletically, Smith competed as a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas men's track & field team in throwing events. This outdoor season, he was a Second Team All-ECC selection after finishing fourth in the hammer throw (34.41m) at the ECC Championship.
In addition to his athletic prowess, Smith excelled in the classroom, earning his undergraduate degree in Finance with over a 3.5 GPA while pursuing two minors in Accounting and Economics.
Smith has also demonstrated acts of service in many ways. He was an orientation leader for the incoming 2026 class, Treasurer of Student Government, and a student representative for STAC's Campus Wellness Committee along with a host of other roles. As a result of Dan's service, he received the Terence Cardinal Cooke Award for meritorious service at commencement in May.
Smith was proactive in taking advantage of the many resources offered at STAC, among them the Career Development Center and the Alumni Network. He used STAC's Alumni Network to get in contact with professionals in the financial services and accounting industries. This led to Smith participating in the KPMG Mentorship program through STAC where he regularly met with an Alum who works in KPMG's Advisory Business Intelligence sector to learn more about the field and understand how to get his job search started. As a result, Dan has an accounting internship planned for the summer which will more than likely lead to a full-time position for him in the fall.
