Baseball | 7/18/2024 4:36:00 PM
Charlotte, North Carolina – The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) announced their 2023-24 All-Academic Team on Thursday afternoon, and nine Borough of Manhattan Community College student-athletes received NJCAA All-Academic Team honors for their impeccable work in the classroom. Student-athletes qualify for the NJCAA All-Academic Team with an overall grade-point average of 3.60 or higher for the 2023-24 academic year. A total of 12,245 student-athletes total were honored for the 2023-24 NJCAA All-Academic Team.
"It's outstanding to see our student-athletes perform at a high level in athletic competition and the classroom," said Matthew Ruiz, Director of Athletics & Recreation at BMCC. "Our student-athletes this year continued to play a major part in laying the foundation for what we want to achieve both academically and athletically at BMCC."
Student-athletes are eligible to earn academic honors by achieving an overall GPA of 3.60 or higher for the 2023-24 academic year. The criteria for the three All-Academic teams are listed below:
- NJCAA All-Academic First Team: 4.00 GPA
- NJCAA All-Academic Second Team: 3.80-3.99 GPA
- NJCAA All-Academic Third Team: 3.60-3.79 GPA
Men's Soccer's Nanga Adam Coulibaly (Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast) and Billy Hoyos (Bronx, New York) joined Lea Reimer (Paderborn, Germany) and Miguel Trejo (Brooklyn, New York) from the women's cross country and men's volleyball team on the NJCAA All-Academic Second Team after achieving GPAs between 3.80-3.99 for the 2023-24 academic year.
Coulibaly and Hoyos joined their teammate Abdoul Sinare (Brooklyn, New York), who also landed on the NJCAA All-Academic Third Team to lead the Panthers men's soccer program to a second straight CUNYAC Community College Men's Soccer Championship in 2023 and its first CUNYAC Community College Men's Soccer Regular Season title since 2018. All three also landed on the 2023 CUNYAC Fall Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and the 2023-24 All-Region 15 Academic Team.
Coulibaly registered two goals, an assist, and five points in 10 games in 2023, posting an insurance goal during a 2-0 win over Monroe Bronx on September 7, 2023, and a season-high three points with a goal and an assist during a 4-2 victory over Orange County Community College on October 10, 2023. Sinare finished the 2023 campaign on fire with all five points on his season in his last three matches against Kingsborough Community College, registering an assist during the Panther's 3-1 win against the Wave in the season finale on October 12, 2023, that clinched the program's first league regular season crown in four seasons, while also notching a pair of markers in the Panthers Region XV quarterfinals matchup against KCC on October 19, 2023.
Reimer elevated the cross-country program during its second season and guided the BMCC indoor and outdoor track and field to an outstanding inaugural season. Reimer also made history as the first Panther runner in school history to claim the Individual CUNYAC Community College Cross Country Crown, finishing second at the 2023 CUNYAC Cross Country Championships as the top Junior College runner while also becoming the outdoor track and field program's first-ever USTFCCCA (United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) All-American selection.
Reimer was a three-time CUNYAC Community College All-Star during the fall, winter, and spring seasons in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, dominating the Panther's first-ever appearances in the 2024 CUNYAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships with two first-place finishes in the women's mile and 3000 meters at the Indoor Championships and taking the top spot in the women's 10,000 meters at the Outdoor Championships. The Paderborn, Germany native registered personal bests in the women's mile and 3000 meters with times of 5:55.59 and 12:26.51 at the CUNYAC Indoor Championships and was the first female runner in program history to qualify for Nationals with a personal record in the Queensborough Relays with a time of 43.31.47 and a second-place finish in the 10,000 meter run during the outdoor season. Reimer was also named to the 2023-24 All-Region 15 Academic Team and CUNYAC Winter/Spring Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll last month.
Trejo, a 2024 All-Region 15 Sportsmanship Team honoree, was also named to the 2023-24 CUNYAC Winter/Spring Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll back in June, was second on the Panthers this season with 36 assists, headlined by a career night to end the regular season with a game and career-high 18 assists and 11 digs, which was also a career-best against Kingsborough Community College on March 28, 2024.
Trent Santoro (Queens, New York) from the men's cross country program joined women's soccer's Yamile Bastidas (Quito, Ecuador) and God'slove Ukpe (Port Harcout, Nigeria) and Taino Rodriguez from the men's basketball and baseball team on the NJCAA All-Academic Third Team after posting GPAs between 3.60-3.79 for the 2023-24 academic year. Santoro made the NJCAA All-Academic Third Team for the second straight season after earning the honors last year.
Santoro helped the cross-country program reach new heights during its second season and became the second-ever student-athlete in BMCC history to receive CSC (College Sports Communicators) Academic All-District® College Division At-Large team honors last month. The Queens, New York native also became one of the men's cross country program's first-ever top 10 finishers in school history with a fourth-place finish and a time of 34:26.90 in the 8K at the Medgar Evers College Legacy Invitational and also posted his second straight top 20 finish in the Conference Cross Country Championships, crossing the tape in 17th and posting a time of 32:18.
Santoro kept it on that dial during the men's indoor and outdoor track program's inaugural seasons. Santoro finished in the top 10 in the men's mile with a sixth-place finish and a career-best time of 5:11.16 during the 2024 CUNYAC Indoor Track and Field Championships and followed it up with two more top 10 finishes during the 2024 CUNYAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing sixth and ninth with times of 4:45.12 and 2:19.04 in the men's 1500 meter and 800 meter runs, with his 1500 meter mark being a new personal best.
Bastidas, a 2023 All-Region 15 Second Team selection, was crucial in leading the BMCC women's soccer program to their first-ever CUNYAC Championship with a decisive 7-0 victory over Queensborough Community College. Bastidas ranked third in goals (4), including the game-winner in the 2023 CUNYAC Community College Women's Soccer Title Game, while also finishing the 2023 season third in points (10) and assists (2).
Ukpe played in four games for the Panthers, scoring three points in the season opener against Middlesex County College on November 4, 2023. Rodriguez served as a significant vocal leader for the Panthers during the 2024 season. Santoro, Bastidas, Upke, and Rodriguez were all named to the 2023-24 All-Region 15 Academic Team last month, while Santoro, Upke, and Rodriguez also landed on the 2023-24 CUNYAC Winter/Spring Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll.
The Panther's nine selections were tops in the City University of New York Conference (CUNYAC).
Here are the following nine Panther student-athletes selected to the NJCAA All-Academic Team (sorted by All-Academic Team and sport):
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of 13 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. Also, become a follower of the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and "LIKE" Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).
