WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – On Thursday afternoon, the East Coast Conference announced its three recipients for the annual John Smillie, Jr. Award, an award named in honor of former ECC-member NYIT athletic trainer John Smillie, Jr., who passed away after battling cancer. The honor is given annually to a student-athlete or student-athletes who have overcome personal or physical challenges and hardships to pursue their intercollegiate athletic careers. This year’s honorees are St. Thomas Aquinas softball senior Tara Hagan (New City, N.Y.), District of Columbia women’s basketball senior Latavia Jackson (Waldorf, Md.), and Mercy women’s lacrosse graduate student Erin Shimborske (Farmingdale, N.Y.).
Tara Hagan
St. Thomas Aquinas | Senior | Softball | Utility
After feeling something wrong while working as a Westchester County park ranger last summer, St. Thomas Aquinas softball senior utility player Tara Hagan had open heart surgery this past September 19. She woke up 19 hours later after a successful procedure, and remained in the hospital until October 2. Doctors were unsure if she was going to be able to take the field again, but on January 19, exactly four months since her surgery and two weeks before STAC’s season opener, Hagan was fully cleared for action… and she enjoyed her best collegiate season yet, hitting .290 with a .355 slugging percentage, 11 doubles, and 29 runs batted in in 55 games played.
Latavia Jackson
District of Columbia | Senior | Women’s Basketball | Guard
In Fall 2023 during preseason conditioning, District of Columbia women’s basketball senior guard Latavia Jackson was rushed to the emergency room for chest pain and difficulty breathing, where she was diagnosed with a nonmalignant cyst close to her heart that required cardiothoracic surgery to remove it. Following successful surgery, recovery required absolute rest followed by a gradual process of return to cardiovascular fitness safe for full participation in sport. Not only was this a physical setback, but also a mental and emotional blow for Jackson, who was an ECC All-Conference First Team and CCA All-East Region Second Team selection in 2022-23. With UDC's Sports Medicine and Sports Performance staffs, Jackson worked on extra conditioning to get back to the game she loves. She finished the year as an ECC All-Conference Third Team honoree, averaging 12.3 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game in 27.6 minutes per game to help lead the Firebirds to the ECC Championship semifinals.
Erin Shimborske
Mercy | Graduate Student | Women’s Lacrosse | Midfield
Mercy women’s lacrosse graduate student midfielder Erin Shimborkse had a laparotomy in Fall 2023, in which she had surgery for an open ovarian cyst. Incisions were made from her belly button down to her lower abdomen to remove the cyst, which was about 10 centimeters large, from her right ovary. She also had a cholecystectomy to remove her gallbladder, which was done laparoscopically, but required three more incisions on her right side. Shimborske was admitted in the hospital for three days, with a catheter in for two days because she could not walk. It took two weeks after surgery until she could begin walking normally again, with minimal pain. The full recovery time after surgery was around seven to eight weeks, at which point she was able to begin running and being active again. Shimborske had to eat a fat-free diet for four weeks and wore an abdominal binder to help with movement for four weeks, as well. She overcame all of this to not only play her fifth year but to excel, as she was named an ECC All-Conference First Team midfielder this spring after recording 24 points on 14 goals and 10 assists, 27 ground balls, and 10 caused turnovers in 19 games.
Information was provided by the athletic training staff at St. Thomas Aquinas, District of Columbia, and Mercy.