The LEAFYs Athletic Awards Show

The 2025 LEAFYs Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 14, at 7:00 pm in Umble Center on the campus of Goshen College. The LEAFYs are a yearly award show designed to recognize Goshen student-athletes in several categories for their achievements from the previous school year. The athletic department head coaches and administrators nominate individuals for these categories and then vote for winners among the nominees.

Livestream: The LEAFYs will be livestreamed here.

Tickets: Tickets are free but limited – you must have a ticket to attend. Contact Justin DeWeese at jdeweese@goshen.edu to claim your ticket and arrange a time to pick it up. Your ticket includes a reception following the awards ceremony in the church fellowship hall. All student-athletes will receive a ticket from their head coach.

Time: Doors will open at 6:30 pm, and the show will start at 7:00 pm. Attendees will walk to the church fellowship hall after the show for desserts, mingling and photo opportunities.

What to wear: Attendees are asked to dress in at least business casual, as this is a formal event.

Categories: Winners will be awarded for the Team Service Award, Performance of the Year, Fan of the Year, Highest Men’s Team GPA, Highest Women’s Team GPA, Coach of the Year, Live FULL Award, Comeback Player of the Year, Male Rookie of the Year, Female Rookie of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, John Ingold Award Career Achievement Award and Ruth Gunden Career Achievement Award.

Nominees: Nominees for each category will be shared on the main Goshen College Athletics social media pages.

Presenters: Solidia Brown (assistant to academic programs), Cheryl Caffee (associate professor of nursing), Spencer Castillo (admissions-athletic liaison), Chad Coleman (associate athletic director), Michelle Horning (professor of accounting, program director), Daniel James (news and media manager, ex-mascot), Kathy Meyer Reimer (professor of education, director of elementary education), Rebecca Stoltzfus (president), Ann Vendrely (vice president for academic affairs, academic dean), Steve Wolma (vice president for enrollment management).

Emcee: Dante Stanton joined the ABC57 News team as a Digital Content Editor in May of 2022, and transitioned to Multimedia Journalist in April of 2023. He hosted Friday Night Football in the fall of 2023 and transitioned to the role of weekend morning anchor and reporter in May of 2024.

Stanton was born in Elkhart and went to Concord Community Schools, where he ran cross country, worked with the school tech crew and played trumpet for seven years, including four in the marching band. He also played in several jazz groups and graduated with Academic Honors in 2020.

Dante’s career in journalism began in 2018 thanks to an internship with the Regional Radio Sports Network. During his internship, he gained valuable experience as a sportscaster, running both play-by-play and color commentary broadcasts while managing video/audio production for streams. In 2019, Dante had the opportunity to broadcast as a sideline reporter live from Lucas Oil Stadium for the IHSAA State Football Finals.

He followed his passion for sportscasting to Goshen College, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting with a minor in Journalism.

He started working for Goshen College’s on-campus terrestrial radio station, 91.1 The Globe in December of 2019 before graduating high school. He joined the Globe staff as Sports Director in charge of radio and television in the fall of 2021 and held that role for two years. At the 2023 Indiana Association of School Broadcasters awards, 91.1 The Globe was named the Best College in Indiana for Sports coverage and secured their fifth consecutive award for Best Radio Station at the state level.

In 2023, around a year after beginning work at ABC57 News, Dante transitioned to a primarily video role at the Globe, becoming the Executive Producer and Student Director of Globe TV.

Since joining 91.1 The Globe/Globe TV, Stanton has been nominated for 24 awards by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, and won four, including the award for Best College Sports Director, Radio. At the 2023 College Media Association Awards, Dante received a total of eight awards, including three first-place finishes for Audio Sportscast, Audio Promo and Video Sportscast. At the state level, Dante has been awarded the Indiana Broadcasters Association Scholarship three times and won more than a dozen state awards for video and audio production in his four years of school. Dante has also been recognized as a national scholarship winner by the Broadcast Education Association.

In his free time, Dante enjoys spending time with his fiancé, playing board games, and watching horror movies. He is a huge fan of the Chicago Bears, Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawks.

While he has good experience in the realm of sports, Dante loves covering community stories throughout Michiana and isn’t afraid to trek out into severe weather to bring a clear picture of what conditions are like. Dante was part of an Emmy-nominated newscast that covered the Holiday Blizzard of 2022.

Some of his favorite moments with ABC57 include sliding the hill at Wilson Park, shining a light on a local child dealing with CASK disorder, covering State Finals Football, putting together a feature on a disabled veteran who was gifted a wheelchair ramp, and introducing Michiana to the first new gym floor at Benton Harbor High School in 70 years.