The Mid-State Athletic Conference (MSAC) named their annual Athletes of the Year for 2024 - 2025 this week. Cayuga Community College's Jacob Botteril is the 2025 MSAC Male Athlete of the Year and Jefferson Community College's LaKaiya Butcher is the 2025 MSAC Female Athlete of the Year.
Botteril, a sophomore midfielder for the Spartans Men's Soccer program, helped lead the program to an undefeated regular season and the MSAC Conference Championship with a record of 14-0 before falling to the eventual NJCAA Division III national champion Mohawk Valley Community College Hawks in the finals of the Region 3, NJCAA North A District Finals. Jacob ended his career at Cayuga as one of the most accomplished student-athletes in program history. A two-time NJCAA Division III leader in goals scored, Botterill finished with 69 goals in his career at Cayuga, including 38 in 2024. He also led the nation in points in 2024 with 96 and was fourth nationally with 20 assists.
He was named to the NJCAA Division III Men's Soccer All-American First Team, the NJCAA Region 3 Player of the Year, and Mid-State Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Jacob excelled in the classroom as well leaving Cayuga with a cummulative GPA above 3.0.
Butcher, also a sophomore, excelled both in the classroom and on the court for the Cannoneers Women's Basketball program as a two-year team captain. LaKaiya has been the cornerstone of JCC's program in her two years. As a dynamic and vocal leader, LaKaiya led the Cannoneers to an impressive 26-6 record and a historic run to the 2025 NJCAA Division III National Championship Game. As the #10 seed, Jefferson upset the #7, #2, and #3 seeds en route to the finals, where LaKaiya was deservedly named to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team.
This season she averaged 18.9 points per game, third in Region 3, 10.3 rebounds per game, sixth in the Region, and 4.3 assists per game, third in Region 3. She led the Region in field goal percentage as the only player to shoot at least 50% from the floor. She was named MSAC Player of the Year in both 2024 and 2025, and helped guide Jefferson to a 13-1 conference record this season, earning a share of the 2025 MSAC Championship. She also helped lead Jefferson to the 2025 NJCAA Region 3 Championship, where she was named Tournament MVP after an outstanding performance with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists in the title game win over Herkimer. She was named 2025 Region 3 Player of the Year and a 2025 1st Team All-American in 2025 after being named to the third team in 2024.
Beyond the court, LaKaiya shines in the classroom. She was named to the Jefferson Community College President's list for both the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 terms and will be named to the 2025 NJCAA Academic All-American Third Team, and has earned Academic All-Region honors along with a place on the MSAC Commissioner’s List.
