Baruch’s Sime Marnika has been named the Hospital For Special Surgery December Scholar-Athlete of the Month. The captain of the Bearcats is one of the premier student-athletes in the CUNY Athletic Conference. This CUNY Honors College student currently serves as the undergraduate school president of the student government at Baruch and owns a 3.4 grade point average in marketing.
The forward from Zadar, Croatia scored 12 points and hauled down eight rebounds in a road win at Hunter on December 12. He added seven rebounds and hit all three of his field goal attempts in the opening round victory over Finchburg State (12/28) at the Western Connecticut State Holiday Tournament and then grabbed 11 rebounds in the championship loss to Western Connecticut State (12/29).
"Sime Marnika has built a strong reputation as a solid basketball player in CUNY and as a strong student in the CUNY Honors College," said Bearcats' head coach Ray Rankis. "He also takes significant interest in campus affairs by serving as Undergraduate Student President. He is a very well rounded-individual and an example of a student-athlete who is making the very most of his college experience."
The senior is currently involved in a 2.5 week winter session class in Brazil, learning about Brazilian Art Heritage and Africa’s influence on it. In addition, the Molloy (Queens, NY) graduate works part-time on weekends at CBS sports.
Marnika averaged 11.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as a junior and was named to the 2003-'04 CUNYAC Second Team. This season, the 6’6” Marnika is averaging 9.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.