Kuzak Named 2025-26 America East Man of the Year Finalist

NJIT men's swimming and diving senior Zac Kuzak has been named a finalist for the 2025-26 America East Conference Man of the Year award, the league office announced Tuesday.

The America East Conference selected three finalists per gender for the prestigious honor. The 2025-26 America East Man and Woman of the Year winners will be announced June 2 at the conference's annual awards dinner.

Kuzak becomes the first male student-athlete in NJIT Athletics history to earn finalist recognition for the award and just the second Highlander overall, joining former women's basketball standout Aria Myers, who was a finalist in 2023-24. NJIT joined the America East Conference in July 2020.

A four-year member of the Highlanders' men's swimming and diving program, Kuzak graduated on May 20, 2026, with a degree in financial technology from NJIT's Martin Tuchman School of Management. The Kirkland, Quebec native completed his undergraduate career with a perfect 4.0 GPA while earning Dean's List honors seven times.

At commencement, he served as the Gonfalon carrier for the Martin Tuchman School of Management and was recipient of the President's Medal for Academic Excellence, which is awarded to an undergraduate student who achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA. 

He was also an NJIT Latin Honors Medal recipient and earned Summa Cum Laude distinction.

Earlier this spring, Kuzak was selected as one of 42 winter recipients of the 2025-26 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, which recognizes excellence in academics, athletics and leadership.

A two-time College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection (2025, 2026), Kuzak also earned America East All-Academic Team honors this season. In 2025, he received the Kirkland Barry Fanning Memorial Scholarship for Elite Student-Athletes in College.

In 2026, Kuzak was named an America East Presidential Scholar-Athlete and represented the conference at the NCAA Leadership Forum, a three-day national leadership workshop held in spring 2025.

A two-time team captain, Kuzak helped guide NJIT to a runner-up finish at the 2025 ECAC Championships, where the Highlanders recorded 18 finals appearances.

During his career, Kuzak was a four-time America East Conference individual point scorer and a three-time member of NJIT's "A" relays at the America East Championships. He earned a bronze medal as part of the Highlanders' 4x50 freestyle relay and contributed to back-to-back silver-medal performances in the 4x200 freestyle relay in 2024 and 2025. He was also a member of NJIT's bronze medal-winning 4x200 freestyle relay team in 2024.

Outside the pool, Kuzak has been a strong advocate for student-athletes. He served three consecutive seasons as one of NJIT's representatives on the America East Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was also a three-time NJIT SAAC representative for men's swimming and diving.

Kuzak has additionally distinguished himself professionally and academically within the Martin Tuchman School of Management. He spent the past two summers working as a data analyst at RBC Wealth Management, mentors nearly 25 undergraduate business students and was selected to help teach the school's new AI bootcamp for incoming freshmen.

The America East Man and Woman of the Year award recognizes one male and one female student-athlete who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, leadership and community service. Each of the conference's nine member institutions nominated one male and one female student-athlete for consideration.