Madera receives Peter Mazza Athletics Award

Date: 5/23/2014

WESTFIELD – Westfield State University track and field standout Zack Madera of Southwick was the recipient of the athletic department’s 2014 Peter Mazza Award.

The Peter Mazza Athletics Award is named in honor of Dr. Peter Mazza, the former vice president of student affairs at Westfield State who was and remains a big proponent of the student-athlete experience.

The Peter Mazza Athletics Award recipient must excel in academics, athletics ability, sportsmanship, character, service, leadership, and personal development.

A senior sprinter for the track and field team, Madera was a two-time Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) champion and earned six All-New England honors during his four-year collegiate career. As team captain during the 2013-14 academic year, he led the underclassmen-dominated track and field squad to the MASCAC indoor and outdoor championships.

A highly active member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Madera served as the SAAC treasurer during the 2013-14 academic year.

In the classroom, the ethnics and gender studies major earned conference All-Academic honors.

Three days after his final collegiate race on May 9, Madera ’14 began working full time for the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C.