2000-2001 CUNYAC Scholar Athletes of the Year

Marisa Duke - Borough Of Manhattan Community College

Marisa's arrival at Borough of Manhattan Community College in 1999 coincided with the Women's Volleyball team's arrival at the National level. The past two seasons with the 5'8 middle hitter from the island of Tobago on the court, the Panthers have won the CUNYAC Tournament.

After winning the Region XV Championship this year, head coach Olga Lorenzo's team finished 7th in the NJCAA Division III Championships. Over the past two seasons, the squad has compiled a 54-6 record. Now making her home in Brooklyn, 31-year old Marisa sports a 3.61 GPA, majoring in Liberal Arts (specializing in hospitality management).

Individually, she was ranked in the top ten in three categories this year and was named as an All-Star by Region XV both years. Upon graduation, Marisa hopes to continue her collegiate career at a Division I or II institution and flourish on the court and off at the next level.

Mukhtar Conry - Kingsborough Community College

On the basketball court, you'll never see the flash and dash from Mukhtar, but more times than not he plays an integral role in his team's victory.

After being one of the top rookies in CUNYAC in 1999-2000 at CCNY, he followed his coach and mentor, Dan Nigro to Kingsborough to lead the basketball team there.

"He's one of the finest student-athletes that I've ever been involved with at any level. Without a doubt, Mukhtar will be successful at anything he chooses to do academically or athletically in the future."

With Mukhtar leading the way, the Wave won the 2001 CUNYAC Championship with only one returning player from the previous year's squad. In his two collegiate seasons, this 6'3 engineering student has averaged 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Mukhtar is an active member of KCC Honors program and the Muslim Student Association. Next season he plans on continuing his two passions, basketball and engineering, at a technological college.

Jana Makajeva - Lehman College

Born in the former Soviet Republic of Estonia, Jana lived for two years in Tacoma, Washington before coming to the Bronx in 1997. Upon her enrollment at Lehman College, she joined the fledgling swim team and immediately became the team's captain, top swimmer and was named Team Most Valuable Athlete three of her four years.

Jana holds four individual school records and two relay records for the Lightning, despite never swimming competitively before. Academically, the 5'9" 23-year old has a 3.82 GPA majoring in Economics with a specialization in Business Management and a minor in Computer Information Systems and Italian.

This year, Jana joined the Track & Field and made the smooth transition to middle distance runner. She also works as a lifeguard at Lehman and has been a volunteer coach with the APEX Swim Club and LC's Continuing Education Program. She plans to attend graduate school and major in International Public Affairs.

Arnold Zelaya - Baruch College

Arnold has been the motivational leader on and off the field for the Baruch men's soccer team the last two seasons. Born in Honduras, Arnold lives in Ozone Park, Queens from where he makes the long commute on the 'A' train to Manhattan to go to school. He is majoring in Finance and plays soccer, while maintaining an astounding 3.98 GPA.

In his career, he scored three goals and dished out nine assists playing as a defensive midfielder. "Sure everyone wants to score, but in order to be an effective leader, you need to sacrifice for the team," said Zelaya.

After his graduation later this month, Arnold plans to move to Chicago to take a position with a pharmaceutical manufacturer for what he calls "an opportunity that I can't pass up at this time in my life."

In his free time, he has volunteered for many organizations; namely the Feed the Homeless Program, for New York Cares Day and has even tried his hand at tutoring elementary school children.

2001 CUNYAC Scholar Athlete Honorable Mentions

Dennis Barengolts College of Staten Island Swimming
3.32 GPA Major: Bioinformatics

Michelline Boston Brooklyn College Softball
3.30 GPA Major: Sociology

Tom Cohill Hunter College Wrestling
3.29 GPA Major: English

Esther Cortorreal Bronx Community College Volleyball
3.23 GPA Major: Business Administration

Michelle DeBella College of Staten Island Softball
3.20 GPA Major: Engineering Science

Marlon Hoyt York College Track & Field, Volleyball & Tennis
3.46 GPA Major: Physical Education

Muso Jahdadic Hunter College Tennis
3.70 GPA Major: Computer Science

Kishel John City College of New York Fencing
3.18 GPA Major: Architecture

Maria Kalogiannis Hunter College Basketball, Track & Field
3.26 GPA Major: Physical Education

Priya Krishnakumar Lehman College Softball, Track & Field, Swimming
3.43 GPA Major: Computer Science

Keisha Kydd NY City Technical College Basketball, Tennis, Softball, Track & Field
3.12 GPA Major: Electrical Engineering

Tafsir Mbodje Manhattan Community College Basketball
3.31 GPA Major: Computer Science

Chimela Okoro York College Soccer
3.34 GPA Major: Occupational Therapy

Dan O'Leary College of Staten Island Basketall
3.17 GPA Major: Communications

Peter Park Baruch College Baseball
3.30 GPA Major: Marketing (Advertising & Communications)

Francesco Pasqualino John Jay College Soccer
4.00 GPA Major: Criminal Justice

Kelly Payne College of Staten Island Softball
3.13 GPA Major: Science, Letters & Society

Althea Phillips Medgar Evers College Track & Field
3.10 GPA Major: CUNY Baccalaureate Program

Alex Poletto NY City Technical College Volleyball
3.69 GPA Major: Radiation Technology

Sydney Sacks Manhattan Community College Volleyball
3.81 GPA Major: Liberal Arts

Oliver Verzosa Baruch College Basketball
3.18 GPA Major: Finance

Samantha Wiltshire Hunter College Track & Field, Volleyball
3.05 GPA Major: Computer Science

2001 CUNYAC All-Americans