Greening Recipient of Cornell Leadership Award

Photo by Erica Thum/Ithaca Journal Staff

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell senior forward Colin Greening (St. John’s, Newfoundland) was recognized with the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Leadership Award for most embodying leadership, athleticism and a strong work ethic Monday at the school's annual senior athletics banquet.

Greening enjoyed a tremendous senior campaign, winning the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS and the 2010 ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete-of-the-Year Awards. A second-team Academic All-American as a junior, he was named second-team All-ECAC Hockey and was a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award as a senior. Greening finished the 2009-10 season with 35 points in 34 games, scoring 15 goals and adding 20 assists. Six of his goals came on the power play, while three were game-winners. The St. John's, Newfoundland, native appeared in 137 consecutive games over the course of his Cornell career, one shy of tying the school record. He finished with 118 career points, tying him for 33rd all-time at Cornell. Following the season, Greening, who was a 2005 draft pick of the Ottawa Senators, signed a contract with the NHL club and will begin his professional career in the fall of 2010.

As impressive as he was on the ice, Greening's off-ice activity was even more impressive. A two-year captain, Greening is a member of the Red Key Athletic Honor Society. A two-year winner of the Joe DiLibero/Stan Tsapis Award for efficiency, dedication and hard-nosed application for the Big Red, Greening has spent countless hours volunteering his time within the Cornell and Ithaca communities. Examples of his service range from reading at area elementary schools to working with area hockey teams and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs. He has volunteered his time working at the Franziska Rackers Centers, assisting people with special needs, and participated in the local "Walk for Breast Cancer." Greening worked with the Porte De Belen Foundation's trip to the Dominican Republic in June 2009, spending a week working to build facilities and helping improve quality of life in the area. He was one of 25 students campus-wide to be named a Cornell Campus "Changemaker." Along with teammate Ben Scrivens, he played a large part in the fourth-annual Cornell Hockey Teddy Bear Toss which raises money for the Franziska Racker Centers and donates stuffed animals to the Ithaca Cops, Kids and Toys program.