General | 3/6/2023 9:00:00 AM
New York, New York – The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) released their Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll for the Fall 2022 semester last Friday, handing out 315 citations for academic excellence.
The BMCC Athletics program carried the torch in the community colleges producing a league-best 25 Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll honorees for their exemplary work in the classroom during the fall semester.
The CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll is given to student-athletes participating in varsity-level sports who have a grade point average of 3.2 or better on a 4.0 scale for sports that conducted their championship in the fall (men's & women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball).
"Seeing BMCC lead the way on the field of play and in the classroom amongst CUNY Community Colleges in the Fall is very exciting as the AD," said Matthew Ruiz, Director of Athletics & Recreation at BMCC. "Having the most student-athletes with a 3.2 GPA or higher while claiming two Fall Championships is a feat we all are very proud of. To top it off, with five students obtaining a perfect 4.0 GPA which accounted for 26% of all student-athletes that received a perfect GPA amongst both the community and senior colleges, it is truly remarkable as we continue to grow and redevelop the program post-pandemic, we will strive to ensure academics and athletics will go hand in hand at BMCC."
Five Panther student-athletes finished with a 4.0 grade point average, with
Xheni Doci (Saluzzo, Italy) and
Emmanuella Aurel (Port Au Prince, Haiti), the two representatives from women's volleyball.
Gabriele Dos Santos Mello (New York, New York), Lova Hammer (Stockholm, Sweden), and
Joel Pedrosa were the lone representatives from women's cross country and women's soccer and Esports.
The 2022 BMCC men's soccer team led with way seven players landing on the 2022 Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll, while Esports and the Cross County came in with five, and women's volleyball and soccer had four selections.
BMCC Athletics came back with a vengeance on the field during the Athletic fall season, grabbing CUNYAC Championships in Women's Volleyball, the program's first since 2006, and Men's Soccer, the program's second in three seasons, while the Panther Esports Program's Rocket League squad made the program's first-ever National Title appearance and the brand new cross country program picked up Region 15 awards in its first season.
Sophomore El Hadji Ady Gaye (Dakar, Senegal) delivered the men's soccer program its
13th CUNYAC Championship nailing a game-winning penalty kick to defeat Queensborough Community College 5-4 for the 2022 Conference Title while also winning Championship MVP and becoming the sixth Panther in program history to win
CUNYAC Player of the Year. Freshman
Ademola Opesanwo (Bronx, New York) also received Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll accolades and had an outstanding debut season at forward for the Panthers, leading the Panthers with three game-winning goals and ranking second with seven goals. Classmates
Mohammed Alghanimi (Brooklyn, New York),
Hamilton Azon (Bronx, New York),
James Bae (Brooklyn, New York),
Mohamed Nasr (Brooklyn, New York), and
Oumar Kante (New York, New York) also got Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll nods.
Rodolfo Gonzalez was part of
a BMCC Rocket League squad that advanced to the program's first-ever National Championship.
Terrence Sanchez,
Cristian Yepez,
Abel Sanchez (Bronx, NY), and
Pedrosa also joined him on the Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll.
Freshmen
Trent Santoro and
Mello both earned medals in the 2023 Region 15 Championship for placing in the top seven in the 8k and 5k with times of 30:45.43 and 30:37.0. Freshmen
Nils Schaper (New York, New York) and
Christian Maldonado (New York, New York) also grabbed Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll honors alongside
Alyssa Abrahams (Kingston, Jamaica) who was the other winner from the women's team.
Doci and
Aurel, both named to the 2022 Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll, played crucial roles in leading the Panther women's volleyball program to its
first regular season title since 2008 and
Conference Championship since 2006. Doci, a
2023 Region 15 Setter of the Year and All-Region Second Team selection, was the quarterback of the Panthers attack with an outstanding single-year performance for the Panthers, becoming the fourth player in program history to hand
out 500-plus assists while finishing her career with 549, which is
second most in a single season surpassing Jennifer Chacon and also fourth most in program history. Aurel, also an All-Region 15 Second Team selection, handled the backline for the Panthers, setting a new all-time program record and single-season record for digs with 400. Fellow Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll honoree Sarah Lee (Staten Island, New York) posted 328 digs which were
second most in a single season and third-most in all-time program history. Freshman Albina Rugova (New York, New York) also grabbed Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll accolades.
BMCC women's soccer freshman
Lizbeth Vazquez (Puebla, Mexico) captured
All-Region 15 First Team recognition, and
Hammer was
named to the All-Region Sportsmanship Team while
Eileen Jimenez (Brooklyn, New York) and
Veronica Lozano (Morelia Michoacan, Mexico) also made the Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll.
Below are the following 25 student-athletes selected to the 2022 Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll:
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of eight varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at
https://bmccathletics.com - The official site of BMCC Athletics. Follow the Panthers on Instagram (
@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (
@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (
BMCC Athletics).
