NORTH ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts - The Northeast 10 Conference announced its institutional Woman and Man of the Year nominees for the 2025-26 academic year, and American International College had one student-athlete on the list for each award, with Paola Soto Burgos of women's volleyball earning a Woman of the Year nomination, and Rowan Ruggiero earning a Man of the Year nomination.

The awards are patterned after the NCAA's Woman of the Year Award, established in 1991, which "honors the academic achievements, athletic excellence, community service and leadership of graduating women student-athletes." The NE10's Woman of the Year honoree will be put forth for the national award at the Division II level. The NE10 began the Woman of the Year program in 2005-06 and added a Man of the Year award in 2012-13.

Soto Burgos completed one of the most outstanding athletic careers in the history of the department in the fall of 2025, earning an AVCA All-East Region honor for the third time in her career. She was a 2023 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and earned the 2022 NE10 Tournament MVP among a plethora of awards on the court as she helped lead AIC to three NE10 Championships and four appearances in the title game, as well as an NCAA Tournament appearance in each of her seasons with the team. She completed her career sixth in program history in kills with 1177 and fifth in points with 1420.5.

In addition, she was a multi-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Executive Board, leading for two years as a Senior Representative before serving as SAAC President in 2025-26. There, she spearheaded initiatives to address concerns of student-athletes as well as community service initiatives such as the annual SAAC toy drive. 

She also has her own charitable foundation, the Comfort Hearts Foundation, which provides handmade heart-shaped pillows for those undergoing breast cancer treatments. The pillows provide not only an emotional boost, but help with pain relief following surgical procedures. 

Ruggiero was a four-year member of the men's lacrosse team. He was limited by knee injuries to just 18 games in his career, but his health concerns did not stop him from serving his fellow student-athletes with three terms on the SAAC Executive Board, including one year as Secretary and two as Vice President. 

He serves his fellow student-athletes at AIC and in the NE10 as the conference's representative at the national SAAC, and took part in the 2024 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum, bringing best practices, ideas, and information back to AIC and to the conference.

Ruggiero was named the 2025-26 Lt. Alvin J. Carocari Award winner at AIC, given to the student-athlete "who has shown outstanding leadership and made a meaningful contribution to intercollegiate athletics at AIC."

AIC has had one previous Man of the Year winner; Benoit Campion from the cross country and track programs was selected in 2020.