John Jay College of Criminal Justice women’s swimming standout Lorraine Virgilio (Woodside, NY/ Riverbend) was named the Hospital for Special Surgery CUNYAC Scholar Athlete of the Month for the month of Nov. 2006.
Virgilio, a sophomore criminology major who was named last season’s conference rookie of the year, won the award after a stellar month of November for the John Jay women’s swimming and diving team.
Virgilio, who ironically had a surgery of her own this past summer on her shoulder, has led John Jay to a 3-1 (2-1 CUNYAC) record this season picking up wins against the College of St. Elizabeth as well as CUNYAC foes Lehman College and York College.
“Lorraine is a true team player, and despite her age, being only a sophomore, she exemplifies true leadership in the pool and outside the pool,” said John Jay head coach Jane Katz. “The fact that she can commit so much time in the pool and maintain such a high level in the classroom should be a true inspiration for all.”
Despite having to swim with one arm most of the season due to her rehabilitating shoulder, Virgilio has won most of her races while competing against fellow CUNYAC opponents York College, the College of Staten Island, and Lehman College.
She has competed in the 1000 yard free three times this season, while winning twice in times of 16:12.60 and 14:57.00.
She won all three races in John Jay’s meet against the College of Staten Island on Nov. 16, winning the 100 breast (1:24.66), 100 fly (1:11.10), and 200 individual medley (2:34.55) to qualify for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) meet on Dec. 3 where she finished 52nd out of 71 swimmers (2:30.27).
“I’m flattered and thrilled to receive the recognition,” said Virgilio. “Sometimes it’s hard to balance swimming and school with all the training and the class load, but you do what you have to do to get it done.”
Virgilio, who holds a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.657, is a justice scholar at John Jay, a scholarship given to a small number of students who maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA while at John Jay. The scholarship was formed as a way to remember the victims of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 where Virgilio lost two uncles that day who served as New York City firefighters.