Canisius women's swimming and diving senior Evie Leighton and hockey junior Carter Patterson have been selected as the Milk for Life Canisius Student-Athletes of the Month for October, the athletic department announced Thursday.

A native of Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Leighton has collected four first-place finishes so far this season. The senior claimed two individual victories in a tri-meet against Rochester and Siena on Oct. 17, taking the top spot in both the 200 free and 100 free while setting pool records in each event.

The following week, Leighton continued her strong start to the season against Geneseo, sweeping the freestyle events for the second consecutive week with victories in the 200 free and 100 free.

A sports and exercise health care major, Leighton was named to the MAAC All-Academic Team in the 2025-26 season.

Patterson has played in all eight games for the Griffs this season, registering one goal and one assist while sitting tied for the team lead with 12 blocked shots. Last season, Patterson skated in all 35 games, posting career highs with two goals, seven assists and nine points. He also ranked second on the squad with 53 blocked shots.

A dual major in business and psychology, Patterson is a two-time AHA All-Academic Team selection and a two-time Krampade/AHCA All-American Scholar. He was named an AHA Student-Athlete of the Year following his freshman campaign in 2024-25.

Canisius student-athletes enjoyed another successful semester in the classroom as they posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.49 for the 2026 spring semester.

All 21 of the Golden Griffins' varsity intercollegiate athletic programs fashioned a team cumulative grade point average of 3.10 or higher, with 18 squads exceeding a 3.30 cumulative GPA.

The recently completed spring semester saw a total of 69 student-athletes earn a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Those 69 student-athletes highlighted a group of 363 student-athletes with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher, representing 88% of the University's total student-athlete population.

In May, the NCAA announced its latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) statistics, which showed that 19 of Canisius' 20 varsity intercollegiate athletic teams turned in a multi-year APR of 970 or better out of a possible 1,000 points.

Three Canisius programs registered perfect multiyear APR scores, led by volleyball, which posted a perfect APR score for the fifth straight season and 11th time in program history. Hockey also recorded a perfect multiyear APR for the fifth straight campaign and sixth time in program history (2014-15). Women's lacrosse rounded out the registered its second perfect multi-year APR score and first since the 2018-19 season.
 

MORE THAN A GAME
Canisius athletics encourages you to make your gift to the "More Than A Game" campaign today by CLICKING HERE.
 
Like Canisius Athletics on Facebook
Follow @GoGriffs on X
Follow @GoGriffs on Instagram