BOSTON – The America East Conference announced on Monday that Abby Kraemer of the University of Maine women's soccer program and Luke Marsanskis of the University of Maine men's cross country/track and field program have been named nominees for the 2024-25 America East Man and Woman of the Year awards.

The award recognizes the conference's senior male and female student-athletes who have best distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership.

The nominees will be narrowed down to three finalists per gender, who be announced on May 27 with winners announced at the America East awards dinner on June 3.

Kraemer earned second team All-American honors in 2023 and followed it up with a third-team nod in 2024 to become the first two-time All-American from the America East in 25 seasons. The Waterloo, Ontario native finished her Maine career with 74 points on 31 goals and 12 assists and ended her career as the conference active leader in points, goals, shots and shots on goal. She was a four-time America East All-Conference honoree and two-time United Soccer Coaches All-Region honoree. Kraemer scored 10 game-winning goals in her career. This past season, she helped Maine to the first America East regular-season title in program history – scoring the game-winning goal in the regular season finale and title-clinching victory on the road at rival New Hampshire – and also helped the team earn a second consecutive America East Championship and NCAA Tournament bid. In addition, she earned All-Tournament Team honors for the second time in her career. 

Off the field, Kraemer earned First Team Academic All-American honors and was named the America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as the 2024 'M' Club Dean Smith. She also earned two America East All-Academic team spots. While a student, Kraemer worked in the Maginnis Laboratory, a virology research lab at UMaine, and helped publish a research paper on the JC polyomavirus infection and served as a teaching assistant at the Virus-Host Cell Interaction Discovery Lab. She also worked and spent time volunteering in the medical field as at Eastern Maine medical center, Down East Medical Center and coaching soccer at the Bangor Mighty Mites soccer clinic, Seacoast United Soccer and Maine Soccer camp. Kraemer earned her bachelor's in Biochemistry in December 2024 with a 3.902 GPA before going on to play professionally in Portugal's first division.
 
Marsanskis, who holds three school records, claimed the 2024 America East Cross Country Championships individual title this past fall, running a 23:51.8 to punch his ticket to the NCAA Regionals. Marsanskis then finished seventh regionals with a time of 30:07.5 and went on to finish the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships with a time of 29.54.1. Marsanskis has two all-conference honors in cross country as he also finished fourth in 2023. On the track last year, Marsanskis was the 2024 indoor champion in the 3,000 and the outdoor champion in the 10,000. Marsanskis has earned six all-conference accolades on the oval: in the indoor 5,000, 3,000 and mile and twice in the outdoor 10,000 and once in the 5,000.

Off the track, Marsanskis is a three-time America East Cross Country All-Academic Team member and two-time Indoor Track and Field All-Academic Team member. Marsanskis also claimed USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors in 2024 and was the America East Scholar-Athlete in both cross country and indoor track this year to follow up a Spring Scholar Athlete accolade in spring 2024.  The Cumberland, Maine native, who has spent time at the Acadian Running Camp, earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with a 3.64 GPA and is currently pursuing a master's in Mechanical Engineering. Marsanskis performed researched in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and School of Forest Resources and also interned at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

America East began honoring a Woman of the Year in 2006 and introduced the Man of the Year award in 2015. Maine has had three winners in Connor Goodman (2024), Holly Stewart (2015) and Kelton Cullenberg (2014).

 All-Time America East Man & Woman of the Year Award Listing.