2009 Michael Steuerman Scholar-Athletes of the Year

The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) hosted the annual Michael Steuerman Scholar-Athlete Dinner tonight and recognized several outstanding student-athletes and administrators from across the 15 schools that comprise the Conference. The four major award winners, the 2009 Michael Steuerman Scholar-Athletes were Marty Petryna of Kingsborough Community College, Max Vergazov of Kingsborough Community College, Catherine Alves of Hunter College, and Brian Scher of Hunter College. Additionally, 26 student-athletes were recognized as Michael Steuerman Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mentions.

The Conference also recognized the two winning schools of the Commissioner’s Cup, 19 All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, five individual national champions, one team national champion, and three Friends of the CUNYAC.

 

The Michael Steuerman Scholar-Athletes were chosen on grounds of both academic and athletic success. Nominees needed to post at least a 3.2 grade point average and be contributors athletically. Extracurricular activities, including community service, were also factors in the decision-making process. Two Scholar-Athletes were chosen from the Community College division and two from the senior Colleges. One male and one female winner were selected from each division.

 

Michael Steuerman, the first-ever Commissioner of the City University of New York Athletic Conference, died at the age of 68 in March of 2006, due to complications from cancer. Steuerman was named the first-ever conference Commissioner in 1987 and served in that post until 1991. During his tenure, Championships in women’s and men’s tennis and men’s volleyball were added to the senior college slate, while complemented by men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, men’s soccer and baseball for the two-year schools. He also oversaw the development of the various events as well as increasing the corporate support for the CUNYAC Championships.

 

2009 Community College Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Marta Petryna, Kingsborough Community College, Women’s Volleyball, Liberal Arts Major, 3.96 GPA

 

2009 Community College Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Maksim (Max) Vergazov, Kingsborough Community College, Men’s Tennis, Physical Education, 3.62

 

2009 Senior College Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Catherine Alves, Hunter College, Softball, Sociology major/Political Science minor, 3.755 GPA

 

2009 Senior College Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Brian Scher, Hunter College, Wrestling, The Classics major/Economics minor, 3.708 GPA

 

Earning Honorable Mention were:

Keiko Akashi, Baruch College, International Marketing, 3.64, Women’s Swimming & Cross Country
Kehinde Alabi, CCNY, Computer Engineering, 3.525, Men’s Soccer
Taiwo Alabi, CCNY, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, 3.682, Men’s Soccer
Daniel Armstrong, QCC, Liberal Arts & Science, 3.396, Men’s Swimming
Fiosa Begai, College of Staten Island, History; Adolescence Education-Social Studies, 3.854, Women’s Soccer
Johnathan Culpepper, Medgar Evers College, Environmental Science, 3.299, Men’s Basketball & Volleyball
Shandu Foster, Hunter College, Sociology, 3.621, Men’s Volleyball
Ramon Shane Johnson, Baruch College, Accounting, 3.216, Men’s Tennis
Amanda Kelly, KCC, Liberal Arts, 3.2, Women’s Volleyball
Kristin Kvetkoff, College of Staten Island, SLS/Early Childhood Education, 3.48, Women’s Soccer
Nikolay Levintov, College of Staten Island, Biology, 3.414, Men’s Swimming & Diving
Olivia Marquez, John Jay College, Criminology, 3.798, Softball
Samantha Marsala, York, Physical Education, 3.2, Women’s Basketball
Jonathan Martinez, BMCC, Liberal Arts, 3.31, Baseball
Kristal McGreggor, Bronx CC, Business Administration, 3.2, Track & Field
Carla McGregor, Hunter College, BS Chemistry / MA Education, 3.585, Women’s Swimming
Daniel Munoz, John Jay College, Criminal Justice, 3.20, Men’s Soccer
Sally Nnamani, Lehman College, Political Science, 3.30, Women’s Basketball
Adetinuke “Tina” Ogunleye, John Jay College, Criminal Justice, 3.33, Women’s Basketball
Armi Piamonte, BMCC, Liberal Arts, 3.55, Women’s Volleyball
Levi Rachmanov, Baruch College, Finance & Investments, 3.24, Men’s Volleyball
Kristel Shu, CCNY, History, 3.487, Women’s Fencing
Michael Sohm, John Jay College, Criminal Justice Planning, 3.42, Men’s Tennis
Irina Statina, Baruch College, Finance, 3.797, Women’s Swimming
Jason Trotman, Brooklyn College, Business Management & Finance, 3.71, Men’s Soccer
Emmanuel Vera, Lehman College, Computer Information Systems, 3.70, Baseball

 

Winning the Commissioner’s Cup for the Junior College division was Queensborough Community College, who earned their second consecutive Cup with 74 team points, easily outdistancing second place BMCC, who earned 46 points. Bronx CC placed third with 38 points, followed closely by Kingsborough CC, who earned 34. Finishing in fifth place was Hostos CC with seven points. In the Senior College division, Hunter College nipped Baruch College 125-119 to earn its second Commissioner’s Cup in as many years. Staten Island edged Lehman for third place. CSI scored 66 points while Lehman tallied 60. Rounding out the standings were Brooklyn College, York College, CCNY, John Jay College, Medgar Evers College and New York City Tech.

 

The CUNY Athletic Conference was pleased to recognize only the fourth National Champion in conference history: the 2009 Kingsborough Community College women’s tennis team. KCC claimed the NJCAA national championship in Tucson, Ariz., by scoring 33 team points, well ahead of second place Broome (N.Y.) Community College. Individually, five student-athletes from KCC earned national championships, including Erina Kikuchi at first singles and first doubles, Nina Mayevska at second singles and first doubles, Epraski Yushkova at third singles and second doubles, Taylor Manson at sixth singles, and Herschella Reid at second doubles. They are all joined by Arielle Kamin as All-Americans. Other individual national champions include Pavel Buyanov of the College of Staten Island at the NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships (200m Breaststroke), Claudette Hetmeyer of Bronx Community College (800m Dash) and Deandra Nelson of KCC (200m Dash) at the NJCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The most recent and final individual champions were Sardjor “Sammy” Mamadjanov of KCC (#1 Men's Singles Champion) who later paired up with our Scholar-Athlete winner Max Vergazov to win at #1 doubles at the NJCAA Men's Tennis Championship, giving Kingsborough the top male and female tennis players in the nation.

 

The full list of All-Americans from the CUNY Athletic Conference:

Claudette Hetmeyer, Bronx CC, Women’s Cross Country

Alex Medina, QCC, Men’s Cross Country

Oumar Niang, BMCC, Men’s Soccer

Richard Jean-Baptiste, Brooklyn, Men’s Basketball

Pete Charles, Lehman, Men’s Indoor Track & Field

Pavel Buyanov, CSI, Men’s Swimming

Nikolay Shevchenko, CSI, Men’s Swimming

Vlad Romanov, CSI, Men’s Swimming

Erina Kikuchi, KCC, Women’s Tennis

Nina Mayevski, KCC, Women’s Tennis

Epraski Yushkova, KCC, Women’s Tennis

Taylor Manson, KCC, Women’s Tennis

Herschella Reid, KCC, Women’s Tennis

Arielle Kamin, KCC, Women’s Tennis

Max Vergazov, KCC, Men’s Tennis

Sardjor “Sammy” Mamadjanov, KCC, Men’s Tennis

Claudette Hetmeyer, Bronx CC, Women’s Outdoor Track

Deandra Nelson, KCC, Women’s Outdoor Track

Kouri Falconer, QCC, Men’s Outdoor Track

Shantel Peters, QCC, Women’s Outdoor Track

 

The Friends of the CUNYAC included John Nostro, the newly retired long-time athletic trainer at CSI and Cat Alves of Hunter and Taisiya Zuyeva of CCNY, whose tireless work in creating the CUNYAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) helps give a voice to student-athletes from across the Conference.