17th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards

Honorable Mention Scholar-Athletes

Name	Sport	GPA	College	Major
Honorable Mention Scholar-Athletes
NOSA AIGBE	Soccer	3.27	Medgar Evers	Biology
EUGENE BALAGULA	Tennis	3.84	Baruch	Ad Hoc Biology
FADUL BAMBINO	Baseball	3.80	Queensborough    Community	Liberal Arts
ALBINA BJELIC	Volleyball	3.52	Bronx Community	Undecided
KIM BROWN	Tennis, Cheerleading	3.20	Lehman	Speech Pathology
MONAIR BROWN	Soccer	3.61	John Jay	Computer Info. Systems
BJORN BURKE	Soccer	3.19	Manhattan Community	Business
GARY BYRNE	Soccer	3.28	City College Of NY	Electrical  Eng.
LAUREN CARGILL	Basketball	3.34	City College Of NY	Communications
SALAHUDIN CLARK	Basketball	3.29	Hostos Community	Liberal Arts
JAMILLA DICK	Track & Field	3.24	Medgar Evers	Environmental Science
CHRIS FUGARINO	Volleyball	3.90	Hunter	Political Science
TARA GIANOULIS	Swimming	3.88	College Of Staten  Island	Bio-Informatics
PIERRE GORDON	Swimming, Track	3.38	York	Biology
ORVILLE HALL	Basketball, Soccer	3.77	Bronx Community	Computer Science
ADOLFO LEE	Soccer	3.24	Hunter	Film & Media Studies
ANDREY LOGVINENKO	Swimming	3.58	College Of Staten  Island	Computer Science
MARIA LOZA	Swimming	3.52	John Jay	Criminology
KATE LUSHPENKO	Swimming	3.65	College Of Staten  Island	International Studies
JUNIOR MANON	Volleyball	3.36	Lehman	Fine Arts
NICOLETTA MASULLO	Softball, Track, Volleyball	3.29	Queensborough  Community	Liberal Arts
IRWIN PASCAL	Volleyball	3.85	Medgar Evers	Environmental Science
JUNIOR PIERRE	Cross Country, Track	3.49	Hunter	Media Studies
REGINALD RALPH	Soccer	3.80	Manhattan Community	Computer Operations
YUSUF RANSOME	Soccer, Track & Field	3.36	Brooklyn	Business & Finance
IRIS RESTREPO	Volleyball	3.29	Hostos Community	Liberal Arts & Science
ANDRES RODRIGUEZ	Soccer	3.53	Hostos Community	Liberal Arts & Science
JEN ROGERS	Basketball	3.19	Hunter	Physical Education
STEPHANIE TRAHAN	Basketball	3.35	Baruch	Business Communications
MICHAEL YEE	Lacrose	3.92	City College Of NY	Biomedical Education
VITALY ZUBRY	Tennis	3.45	John Jay	Criminal Justice

CUNY 2002-03 All-Americans

2003 CUNY Student-Athletes of the Year

Owen Niles - City College Of New York

One of the most gifted athletes ever to grace a CUNY school, Owen Niles, a three-time CUNYAC Player of the Year, led the CCNY men's volleyball team to a 74-24 overall record the last four seasons. In 2002, the only year Owen did not win the CUNYAC award, he earned the NECVA (a 32-school regional league) Player of the Year honor, as well as the ECAC Championship, where the 6'3" middle hitter was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. In 2000, his freshman season, fresh from playing on the National Volleyball team in his home country of Barbados, he led the Beavers to the CUNYAC title and was named Tournament MVP. Owen finished his NCAA career ranking first in NCAA in blocks per game (3.3) and second in hitting percentage (.497). Meanwhile, Owen will be graduating in May of 2003 with a Bachelor's of Science while maintaining a 3.53 GPA. Now living in Queens, NY, Owen is enrolled in a five-year program at CCNY that allows him to graduate with a Bachelor's of Architecture, a professional degree which is necessary to the field, in May of 2004. Owen has already achieved many academic accolades including CCNY's Fred L. Leibman Book Award (School of Architecture, 2001), and the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Award in 2002. He is on CCNY's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a teaching assistant in the first year design studios program.

Israel Henriquez - Queensborough Community College

A former all-conference basketball player in high school, Israel Henriquez, chose to skip the hardwood for the track in college. “If I played basketball there was a chance I'd get hurt and not be able to run track," said the Great Neck, NY native, a secondary education major with a 3.62 GPA. The 5'11" guard has been a very successful runner, finishing in sixth place overall (senior and community college runners included) at the 2002 CUNYAC Cross Country Championships, followed by a bronze medal performance at the CUNYAC Indoors in the 800 Meters and a second place nod in the Distance Medley Relay. Israel has competed in the Penn Relays (2001 and 2002) and the Millrose Games (2002 and 2003), the country's two biggest track events. At the Indoor District Championships in 2002, he won the gold in the 800 Meters, followed by a 9th place showing in the same race at the NJCAA National Championships, where he competed every semester at QCC. An NJCAA Academic All-American as well, Israel also plays men's volleyball for QCC's club team. He's a member of the Spanish and Philipino Clubs and still has time to be a counselor at Great Neck high school, a tutor at QCC and a part of a youth ministry service. Israel expects to transfer to Hunter College next semester to take on a double major of special education and language and play on the Hawks teams' as well.

Maria Castro - Lehman College

After beginning her athletic career for Lehman as a swimmer, a workout with a teammate and a conversation with coach Lesleigh Hogg put Maria Castro on a different track. Since joining the Lightning cross country and track program, Maria has made her mark in the CUNYAC record books, finishing in the top four at the CUNYAC Cross Country Championships each of the last three years and winning six gold medals at the CUNYAC Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the same span, helping the Lightning to four CUNYAC titles. A distance specialist both on the track and in the pool, Maria moved to the Bronx with her family in 1993 from Puebla, Mexico. The first-ever HSS Scholar-Athlete of the Month (September 2002), Maria will be graduating this month with a Bachelor's degree in Multilingual Journalism with minors in Italian and computer graphics with a 3.75 GPA, while working full-time in the Lehman College provost's office. She is also a freelance writer for the “Meridian", a staff reporter and copy editor of the Bronx Journal, a staff reporter for Lehman's television show “Inside Lehman," and a volunteer Spanish-English translator for Prima News. Maria will pursue a master's degree in legal and financial translation at New York University in the fall with hopes of working for the United Nations in the near future.

Brigette Burke - Queensborough Community College

Being a successful multi-sport athlete takes dedication, perseverance and energy – Brigette Burke has all of those qualities. “She's a remarkable person and player," said Queensborough head coach and athletic director, Pete Marchitello. “Brigette displays sportsmanship, athleticism and enthusiasm at all times. She leads by example on and off the field." The captain of the Tigers' softball team, Brigette plays shortstop, pitcher and catcher, while batting over .500 each of the last two seasons. Born and raised in Queens, she was named to the NJCAA Region XV Second Team All-Star in 2002 – all while maintaining a 3.40 GPA, majoring in psychology at QCC. This past year, she decided to run indoor track with hopes of getting faster for softball and participated in the NJCAA Championships in the 200 meter dash and the 4 x 400 relay. Brigette was also named Academic All-Region XV the last two years and has been on the dean's list for both the spring and fall semesters of 2002. She will be graduating this May and hopes to transfer on scholarship to a four-year college where she plans to study forensic psychology.