Montana Wilson (Hopewell Junction, NY), a senior tennis player at SUNY New Paltz, has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Peter J. Cahill Award as voted on by the conference coaches. The award, presented to the State University of New York Athletic Conference's (SUNYAC) Most Valuable Player in women's tennis, was named to honor the commitment and success of Cahill, a former Cortland tennis coach.

Wilson competed at first singles and with senior partner Kayla DiPaulo (Liverpool, NY) at flight one doubles this season and was undefeated in conference play and at the SUNYAC tournament.  She ended the season with an overall record of 9-0 in singles and 5-5 in doubles dual-match play. New Paltz, finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC East Division and ended the season with a second place finish in the SUNYAC Championship. Wilson is a two-time All-SUNYAC honoree (2009, first team; 2010, second team).

New Paltz head women’s tennis coach Rob Bruley describes Wilson as a role model student-athlete both on and off the courts.

“Montana is a very respectful student-athlete who plays a very high level of tennis,” Bruley stated.

Peter Cahill taught and coached at SUNY Cortland for 30 years until his retirement in 2002. In 1998 he became the Women's Tennis Coach and won the next five of seven SUNYAC Championships while posting an impressive 59-29 record. He was selected the Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005 before he passed away in 2006.