NEWARK, NJ — NJIT men's swimming and diving senior Zac Kuzak and women's soccer senior Mikayla Balio have been nominated for the 2025-26 America East Man and Woman of the Year awards, the conference office announced Thursday.

The honor recognizes senior or graduate student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, leadership and community service. Each of the America East's nine member institutions nominated one male and one female student-athlete.

Zac Kuzak | Men's Swimming and Diving
A four-year member of the NJIT men's swimming and diving program, Kuzak, a native of Kirkland, Quebec, will graduate in May with a degree in financial technology. He carries a perfect 4.0 GPA and has earned Dean's List honors seven times.

Earlier this spring, Kuzak was named one of 42 winter recipients of the 2025-26 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, which recognizes excellence in academics, athletics and leadership.

A two-time CSC Academic All-District selection (2025, 2026), Kuzak was also named to the America East All-Academic Team this season. In 2025, he earned the Kirkland Barry Fanning Memorial Scholarship for Elite Student-Athletes in College.

A two-time team captain, Kuzak helped lead the Highlanders to a runner-up finish at the 2025 ECAC Championships, where NJIT totaled 18 finals appearances.

Outside the pool, Kuzak has been a strong advocate for student-athletes, serving as one of NJIT's two representatives on the America East Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Within the Martin Tuchman School of Management, Kuzak has excelled academically and professionally, working the past two summers as a data analyst at RBC Wealth Management. He also mentors nearly 25 undergraduate business students and was selected to help teach the school's new AI bootcamp for incoming freshmen.

Mikayla Balio | Women's Soccer
A four-year member of the NJIT women's soccer program, Balio, a native of Winchester, Virginia, will graduate in May with a degree in civil engineering. She owns a 3.721 GPA and earned Dean's List recognition eight times.

For the past two seasons, Balio has served as NJIT's SAAC president, representing more than 350 student-athletes while leading committee meetings, campus initiatives and collaborative efforts with America East Conference leadership. She also participated in the America East SAAC, helping develop conference-wide student-athlete programming.

She founded NJIT's first Morgan's Message chapter and served as the department's ambassador for student-athlete mental health. In that role, she organized programming and awareness initiatives centered on mental health advocacy, including events tied to the America East's Better Together campaign.

Balio spent the past two years as a project management intern with NJIT's Campus Planning, Design and Construction branch. She assisted university project managers — including the Senior Vice President of University Operations — by reviewing project documents, attending coordination meetings and conducting site visits to monitor construction progress.

She also worked for three summers with the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a summer student trainee supporting civil engineering projects for the Middle East District, gaining hands-on experience with Civil 3D and Revit design software.

On the field, Balio appeared in 17 matches during the 2025 season, recording six points on two goals and two assists. She scored in the final match of her Highlander career at UMBC on Oct. 30, 2025.

Balio has also volunteered at her alma mater, John Handley High School, as an assistant girls soccer coach, helping lead practices while serving as a mentor and resource for student-athletes.

America East Man and Woman of the Year
The nominees represent all nine America East institutions and seven different sports. Most nominees have earned all-conference or all-academic honors during their careers, while six nominees — three men and three women — were major award winners during the past year.

To be eligible, nominees must have competed in an America East-sponsored sport, completed intercollegiate eligibility in their primary sport by the conclusion of the 2026 spring season or earned their undergraduate degree before the end of the summer 2026 term, and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5. Institutions were permitted to submit up to two nominees per award if at least one nominee was an international or ethnic minority student-athlete.

The field will be narrowed to three finalists in each category on Tuesday, May 26. The 2025-26 America East Man and Woman of the Year winners will be announced Tuesday, June 2, at the conference's annual awards dinner.