NVU-Lyndon’s Falkenburg named NAC Man of the Year
WATERVILLE, Maine – Northern Vermont University at Lyndon’s
Zach Falkenburg, a three-sport student-athlete for the Hornets and an All-North Atlantic Conference selection in both men’s basketball and men’s tennis, has been selected as the 2022 NAC Man of the Year.
Falkenburg was the top pick among seven finalists for the NAC’s preeminent annual award for a male student-athlete, in voting conducted among the conference’s athletics directors and senior woman.
Falkenburg is the third NVU-Lyndon student-athlete to earn the NAC Man of the Year award, following in the footsteps of Craig Johnson (2012) and Josh Grant (2013). NVU-Lyndon is now tied with Maine Maritime Academy for the most NAC Man of the Year selections in the history of the award program with three apiece.
A four-year member of the NVU-Lyndon men’s basketball team, Falkenburg finished his career with 1,249 points, including 456 points during the 2021-22 campaign, behind a .489 career field goal shooting percentage (439-of-878) and 142 career three-pointers. Falkenburg’s career point total is the most by a Lyndon men’s basketball player since the school joined the North Atlantic Conference. He hauled down 362 career rebounds and dished out 236 career assists and recorded 104 career steals. Falkenburg was a 2022 First Team All-NAC selection and the conference’s men’s basketball Senior Scholar-Athlete, after earning Second Team All-NAC honors in 2020. He received Academic All-District recognition from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in both 2021 and 2022, and was also a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court selection in those two seasons.
On the tennis court, Falkenburg guided the Hornets to the 2021 NAC Men’s Tennis Championship, the first in program history. He earned First Team All-NAC honors in both singles and doubles in 2021 and 2022, posting a 14-5 overall singles record, 8-1 in the NAC, over the past two seasons.
Following the conclusion of the 2022 men’s tennis season, Falkenburg joined the Hornets’ men’s lacrosse team and played in three games.
Falkenburg was selected for NVU-Lyndon’s Dudley Bell Award, recognizing Lyndon’s outstanding male athlete, in both 2020 and 2022.
Away from athletics, Falkenburg has been a student coach and a student trainer within Lyndon’s Exercise Science Department, working as a climbing wall monitor and a fitness center monitor.
In conjunction with the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, Falkenburg worked with area youth. He also helped coordinate student-athlete volunteer efforts at the Caledonia County Fair and in stacking wood for area residents in need. He participated in the campus community Trunk or Treat Halloween program and Save Second Base, an initiative to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.
Falkenburg is currently interning at world-renowned Cressey Sports Performance. He has previously interned with Division I athletic programs at Syracuse University and the University of Vermont, as well as Kompf Training Systems. Falkenburg also represented NVU-Lyndon in the College Bowl competition at the American College of Sports Medicine, New England Chapter, Fall 2021 Conference.
This Fall, Falkenburg will begin graduate school at Springfield College, where he will pursue his Master's degree in exercise science with a focus on strength & conditioning. He graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a concentration in strength and conditioning, and was a four-time Dean’s List honoree.
Member schools nominate student-athletes from their own institution, then NAC athletics directors and senior woman administrators vote to select the
Man of the Year. Scoring for the academic achievement section is based on the undergraduate cumulative grade-point average of the nominee. Scoring for athletic excellence is based on the nominee's honors and accomplishments including awards and championships, and scoring for service and leadership is based on their involvement in campus and community activities and organizations over the course of their collegiate career. Administrators also consider a short personal statement written by each nominee.