Senior Spotlight | Women's Track & Field

Julia Freemire | Schuylerville, NY | Biochemistry

Over her four-year career as a member of Niagara’s cross country team and its track and field team, Freemire has been a five-time MAAC All-Academic Team honoree and two-year captain for both squads.

Freemire was a perennial point-scorer for the cross-country team throughout her career, scoring in every meet her senior year. In both her junior and senior years, she qualified to represent the Purple Eagles at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship for cross-country. Her freshman year she received the team’s Unsung Hero Award, and the team’s Taps Gallagher Sportsmanship Award her junior year.

Her cross country personal bests include:

19:36.00 in the 5k

24:00 in the 6k

Her track personal records include:

20:00 in the 5k 

5:11 in the 1500 meters

Freemire is a member of Sigma Alpha Sigma, Delta Epsilon Sigma, as well as the Gamma Sigma Epsilon honor societies. She also serves as the SAAC representative for cross country, is enrolled in the Ethics in Healthcare and Medicine Program, and is a member of Niagara's student chapter of the American Chemical Society.

She will be graduating this spring with a degree in biochemistry, attending D'Youville College’s School of Pharmacy in the fall to obtain her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree.  

Morgan Palmer | East Aurora, NY | Political Science/Criminal Justice – Double Major

A four-year member of the track and field team, Palmer departs Niagara as one of the most accomplished throwers in school history. 

Palmer earned her first first-place finish by throwing a school-record 40.95 meters in the discus at the Geneseo Invite during her freshman season. She broke the discus record two more times that season, including at the 2017 MAAC Championships, where she earned a fourth-place finish with a distance of 42.30 meters. She also set PRs in shot put three times that year, and at season’s end was named the team’s Rookie of the Year.

As a sophomore, Palmer earned five top-five finishes between the discus and shot put over the course of the season, including a first overall finish in discus at the Alfred State Invite and a fifth-place finish at the MAAC Championships.

Palmer’s junior spring was a litany of podium finishes, including:

• First place in shot put at Brockport Multi Invite with PR (12.26m).
• Second in shot put (12.06) at RIT Last Chance Meet.
• Third in discus with PR and school record (42.99m) at Monmouth Invite.
• Third in shot put with PR (12.45m) and 1st in discus (42.50m) at Dave Labor Invite.
• Second in shot put, first in discus, and second in hammer at Alfred State Invite.
• Second in shot put, second in discus, and third in hammer (PR of 34.73m) at UB Invite.

She also finished in the top 10 at the MAAC Championships in shot put, coming up just 0.02 meters shy of her personal record.

Palmer is set to graduate with a double major in both Political Science and Criminal Justice.

Meg Rogers | Troupsburg, NY | Tourism, Event & Meeting Management

This spring, Rogers graduates from Niagara University after only three years with a degree in Tourism, Event & Meeting Management from the College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. During her time at NU, she achieved Dean’s List every semester, was a scholar athlete, and completed her studies with a 3.67 GPA. 

Through the College of Hospitality, Rogers traveled to New York City, completed an internship at the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa in Wisconsin, and completed her major-required study abroad program in Peru, where she learned how to speak Spanish and completed a five-day hike that included spending the night under snowcapped mountains and touring Machu Picchu.

Rogers was very active in a number of activities involving her major and professional interests. She was a part of the Hospitality and Tourism Club for two years, which allowed her to travel to California and tour area hotels, Dodger Stadium, and Warner Brothers Studios. 

On campus, she became a student ambassador within the Code of Professionalism through the College of Hospitality, and was a community advisor for O'Shea Hall for two years. 

Within athletics, Rogers was selected as co-captain of the women’s track and field team in her senior year and won the Unsung Hero Award. Rogers joined the team as a walk-on with more experience within the 400 meters and 100-meter hurdles, but her talents pulled her towards the 400-meter hurdles. She embarked on the challenge with focus and resilience and continued to improve each year, always timing her fitness just right by saving her best races for the MAAC Championships. 

Upon graduation, she hopes to travel and visit her sister in Tunisia before starting a position that she has already accepted at the Rolling Rock Club in Pennsylvania as a Manager in Training.

Elizabeth Suhay | Wheatfield, NY | Nursing

Suhay graduates as a four-year member of the track and field program. She has garnered recognition as a scholar athlete every semester, has been a MAAC All-Academic Team honoree for three years, and has finished her undergraduate career with an overall GPA of 3.66.

Suhay was a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and has interned as a pediatric oncology nurse at Oishei Children’s Hospital. Suhay signed as the first triple jumper in program history, but also competed in long jump as well

A nursing major, Suhay plans to pursue oncology nursing for a few years following her spring graduation in 2020, before going back to school to be a nurse practitioner.

Akira Thornton | Gilbert, AZ | Communications

Thornton has competed for the Purple Eagles since her freshman season in 2017. During her first year in Purple and White, she had a fifth-place finish in the 60 meters at the Golden Eagle Invite, posted a season-best in the 100 meters at Stony Brook (12.86 seconds), and ran her fastest 200 meters at the UB Invite (26.59 seconds).

In her sophomore spring, Thornton placed first in the 100 meters and fifth in the 200 meters, and member of first-place 4x100 meter relay team at the Alfred State Invite. She was also on the second-place 4x100 meter relay team at the UB Invite. At the 2018 MAAC Championships, she placed seventh in 100 meters, ran a season-best 26.41 in the 200 meters, and was a member of the seventh-place 4x100 meter relay quartet.

In 2019, Thornton’s time of 26.41 seconds in the 200 meters at the Dave Labor Invite tied Niagara’s fourth place ranking on the all-time performance list. She placed first in the 100 meters and 200 meters at Alfred State, fourth in the 100 meters and seventh in 200 meters at the UB Invite. Thornton ran a 12.70 in the prelims of the 100 meters to make final at MAAC Championships, placing seventh overall.  She also ran a time of 26.06 seconds in the 200 meters to tie her personal best and post the second-fastest score in program history.

Thornton is set to graduate with a degree in communications.