WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – The East Coast Conference honored two Pioneers at the annual awards dinner June 4 for their tireless pursuit to overcome adversity and excel on the field and in the classroom, presenting them both with the John Smillie, Jr. Award.
 
The award is given in honor of former NYIT athletic trainer, John Smillie, Jr. who passed away two years after battling cancer. The John Smillie, Jr. Award is given annually to a student-athlete or student-athletes who have overcome personal or physical challenges and hardships to pursue their intercollegiate athletic careers.
 
Football redshirt-senior Mike Williams and men's lacrosse junior Thomas Liantonio garnered the special award after overcoming major health obstacles before returning to the field this season.
 
Mike Williams
 
In April 2016, during the spring football season, Williams developed major health issues went to the hospital for evaluation. After ordering a colonoscopy, doctors found that Williams had developed Ulcerative Colitis, a disease which causes inflammation of the digestive system. Despite being placed on medications, his symptoms did not subside and doctors elected to try a surgical procedure to aid in his treatment. Williams continued to lose weight after the first procedure, leading to a second, and eventually a third surgery to help treat the issue.
 
After the failed attempts to cure the disease, Williams decided to transfer hospitals to be cared for by an expert in the field. At the new location, physicians decided to remove his Colon and implanted a catheter to aid in digestion. The procedure finally helped to stabilize his condition and the weight loss subsided. Williams was listed at 185 pounds during on the football roster, but eventually dropped all the way to 110 pounds throughout the course of the disease.
 
Physicians informed Williams that he would need two more surgeries to reconfigure what was once his colon and intestinal track and in September 2016, he underwent his fourth surgery and finally in December 2016, doctors were able to remove the catheter complete the reconfiguration of his digestive system. 
 
Williams re-enrolled in classes at LIU Post and began working out. After six months, Williams had regained his weight and strength and was medically cleared to return to the field in late July. Athletic Trainer Shawn McNamara remembers the grit and determination shown by Williams during his road back to the gridiron. "I was personally amazed and in awe of the hard work and dedication portrayed by Mike. He is the toughest, and one of the hardest working individuals I have come across in my tenure as an athletic trainer."
 
Williams returned to action in 2017, compiling 109 rushing yards on 27 rushing attempts, averaging 4.0 yards per carry. He also added 13 receptions out of the backfield for 123 yards.
 
Thomas Liantonio
Liantonio entered an urgent care facility in early 2017 with chest discomfort. Little did he know, the decision to seek help that day was one that may have saved his life. After being transferred to a cardiologist, doctors found that he had a potentially life-threatening inflammatory cardiomyopathy, a viral heart infection that weakens the heart. Liantonio went through a long a grueling treatment with medications and eventually was cleared to return to action in late 2017.
 
The clearance did not last long however, as nearly one year after entering the urgent care for chest pain, Liantonio went back to the doctors for severe headaches. Once again, the news he eventually received was much worse than a simple migraine.
 
Doctors revealed to Liantonio and his parents that he had a brain tumor that was putting pressure on his brain and left eye. Within three weeks of the initial trip to the doctor, Liantonio had a craniotomy, a procedure to remove part of his skull and an eventual eye socket reconfiguration to remove the mass from his brain. Liantonio was back around the team throughout all of preseason and throughout the year before receiving clearance to return to the field against the University of the District of Columbia on April 17 where he led the Pioneers in scoring with four goals and an assist.
 
The Miller Place native continued to shine throughout the rest of the season, appearing in six games with 12 goals and nine assists, including the game-tying goal in the final minute of the ECC Championship against the New York Institute of Technology.