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Jeff Stone Honored as GNAC Athletic Trainer of the Year

Suffolk University head athletic trainer Jeff Stone has been recognized as the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Athletic Trainer of the Year, it was announced on Wednesday afternoon.

The honor is the third for Stone, who won the inaugural GNAC Athletic Trainer award in 2008 before earning the honor again in 2011.

Stone, who is entering his 11th year at Suffolk this fall, serves as the athletic trainer liaison to the GNAC athletic directors council and coordinated the conference’s trainers’ meeting last August at the 2014 GNAC Professional Development Seminar (PDS).

“This award comes as no surprise to anybody who knows or works with Jeff,” said Suffolk Director of Athletics Cary McConnell. “He is an invaluable asset to our department and always puts the well-being of our student-athletes first in his actions and decisions.”

A 1976 graduate of Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Stone in 2014-15 served as athletic trainer for the GNAC Men’s Golf, Baseball and Softball Championships.

At Suffolk, Stone is an advisor for “Headucation,” which is a student-sponsored organization that raises awareness about concussions and head injuries and connects students to the appropriate health and wellness departments on campus.

Stone was a 2012 inductee into the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) Hall of Fame, as he is only one of 17 trainers in the state of Massachusetts to receive induction. Throughout a career that has spanned more than 35 years, Stone also received the 2012 Cramer Award for outstanding service to the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association (EATA), as well as the 1991 EATA Henry Schein-MBN Scholastic Athletic Trainer Award.

The NATA District One Director from 2004-10, Stone is a Past President for the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts (ATOM) and was inducted into the ATOM Hall of Fame in 2011.

The longtime Suffolk Rams trainer was also enshrined into the Bay State Games Hall of Fame in 2006. He has served as the organization’s medical coordinator since 2009.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://www.thegnac.com/news/15-16/150722_Stone_Trainer_of_Yr