WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior athletes Sarah Hough (Southwick, Mass.) and Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) were awarded the 2026 Coach John Kurty Contributions to Athletics Award, the highest departmental honors for an Owls student-athlete on May 4 at the Student Athlete Advisory Committee's Senior and Awards night.

The Kurty award is bestowed upon a student-athlete who best exemplifies Coach Kurty's many outstanding qualities including commitment, loyalty, hard work, dedication, sportsmanship, leadership and athletics ability. The award takes into consideration the students' four-year athletic career and contributions to the athletics program at Westfield State. This season, Owls athletics had two honorees in Hough and Palmer who both left lasting impacts on their respective programs.

Hough has been a four-year standout on the softball diamond and was named the MASCAC Player of the Year and an NFCA All-Region Third Team selection this season. She led the Owls to three regular-season MASCAC titles and this season guided Westfield to their first ever MASCAC tournament championship title in a 1-0 victory over Worcester State. Hitting in the two spot in the Owls order, Hough and the Owls won their NCAA tournament regional opener over Cortland before falling twice in the regional semifinals, marking a monumental step forward for the program.

Hough played in the second most games in program history at 150 and is the softball's all-time hit leader (184), doubles leader (46), and is second overall with 121 runs batted in and tied for second with 17 career home runs. She finishes her four-year campaign with a career batting average of .375, which is the fifth highest average all-time. She is the first player in program history to hit double digit home runs in a single season, launching 11 long balls this year.

Palmer wrapped up a stint as a five-year member of the baseball team, weathering a season-ending knee injury just two games into his sophomore season. He has perpetually been one of the leading hitters for the Owls and in the MASCAC, playing in 157 games which is the most of any Owls player in program history. He is the all-time leader in runs scored with 163 and produced the second-most hits (196), doubles (36), home runs (27), stolen bases (66), and runs batted in (129) in program history. He is the program's all-time leader with 333 total bases.

Palmer is a four-time MASCAC all-conference first team selection and is a two-time American Baseball Coaches' Association all-region outfielder, making one appearance on the D3Baseball.com all-region team while Palmer serves as a nominee for both teams again this season. He led the Owls in batting average (.380), on-base percentage (.471), slugging (.577), hits (54), doubles (14), home runs (four), extra base hits (19), runs scored (40), and stolen bases (20) during the season.

John Kurty, a WSU faculty emeritus in the Department of Movement Science, was a Hall of Fame men's soccer, volleyball, and golf coach at Westfield who was tragically killed in a bicycle-automobile accident in 2012.  He compiled a brilliant men's soccer coaching record of 153 wins, 36 losses and 13 ties from 1966 to 1977. Coach Kurty led the Owls to five NCAA Tournament appearances and three New England championships, and his 1974 team finished third in the nation, the best ever performance from a Westfield State team.

Complete SAAC Major Award Winners List:
FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
PETER MAZZA ATHLETICS AWARD
FEMALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
MALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR