VILLANOVA, Pa.—Two members of the Villanova men's track & field/cross country senior class were among the top award winners on Monday night at Finneran Pavilion as Villanova Athletics held its annual celebration to recognize the career accomplishments of the graduating Class of 2023. Sean Dolan was named the Male Senior Student-Athlete of the Year winner and Haftu Strintzos was announced as this year's Male winner of the prestigious Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award.
 
The Senior Student-Athlete of the Year Award is the highest honor Villanova Athletics bestows upon its student-athletes. The two individuals honored with the award have excelled in the classroom and in athletic competition. They have made significant contributions to their teams and to the University as a whole, and the award winners have established themselves as true leaders on their teams and ultimate competitors as athletes. As representatives of the Class of 2023, the winners of the Senior Student-Athlete of the Year Award have exhibited a true passion for Villanova and will leave a lasting impact on their sport programs for many years to come.
 
Dolan is graduating this week with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and will be returning for a fifth year to pursue his graduate degree. He has achieved Dean's List status four times during his career while being named to the national United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team twice in track & field. He has been the winner of a BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award, has been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team each year and is a five-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
 
When it comes to competition, Dolan has been one of the best to wear a Villanova singlet. He is a four-time All-American and a seven-time BIG EAST champion, and just this past weekend became the fourth men's athlete in program history to win the same individual event (800 meters) at least five times at the indoor and outdoor BIG EAST Championships. Dolan's season is continuing beyond this week as he will earn selection to the NCAA East Preliminary meet in Jacksonville, Fla. later this month.
 
Dolan is a Penn Relays champion, a school record holder in the distance medley relay and a Villanova Stadium record holder in the 4x800 meter relay. He is one of 45 members of the Wildcats vaunted sub-four minute mile club and during his undergraduate career competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Ore. two years ago. As a junior in 2022 he was named the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year for the indoor track & field season.
 
The second major award of the night for the men's track & field/cross country teams was presented to Strintzos as the Male Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award winner. This award was established by Villanova Athletics in 1985 to honor an outstanding Male and Female student-athlete each year. The recipients of the Sister Cribben Award are described as unselfishly sacrificing time, effort, body and soul to lead and motivate their teammates in excelling for Villanova through inspiration.
 
Sister Mary Margaret Cribben was a campus staple for decades and a member of the Mercy Sister RSM order. She was a beloved sister and faculty member who taught countless student-athletes during her years at Villanova, and would often offer support, care and concern throughout her many roles on campus. Sister Cribben could be seen cheering on the Wildcats student-athletes from the sidelines and was a source of inspiration for everyone within Villanova Athletics.
 
"It has been a privilege and an honor for me to be associated with [Haftu] for the last four years and to have played a small part in his life's journey, Villanova head coach Marcus O'Sullivan said. "I am blessed to have had him in my life. Five years ago I got a recruiting call from a young boy in Australia who was an orphan from Ethiopia who had been adopted by an Australian aid worker. Haftu arrived at Villanova, stayed all four years and was an inspiration to me and his teammates."
 
Strintzos has overcome many challenges and the constant worry of a civil war in his home country to earn an Electrical Engineering major who earned selection to national USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams four times. He has been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and is a four-time selection to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
 
"Haftu never lost sight of why he was here even while he was troubled about his family and relatives back home in Ethiopia," O'Sullivan said. "He has been an inspiration to me and to anyone in Villanova Athletics and on campus who has gotten to meet him. Through it all it is amazing what he has overcome to be a BIG EAST champion in cross country and in outdoor track & field in the 5000 meters. Haftu has also run six of the 11 fastest 10,000 meter races in school history. I have only nominated two people for the Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award in my 25 years of coaching. It is an honor and a privilege to present this award to Haftu."