General | 5/14/2014 12:00:00 AM

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The John Jay Athletics Department celebrated its 41st Annual Awards Banquet on Wednesday, May 14, at the Doghouse on the campus of John Jay. The night commemorated the achievements of the student-athletes during the 2013-2014 season. The department concluded the banquet by honoring over 35 graduating seniors. The slogan for the night was "Bloodhounds Moving Forward Year One". 

During cocktail hour, Maddison, the official Bloodhound, took photos with the attendees. Many student-athletes won prizes by spinning a prize wheel that consisted of athletic gear, gift cards, and more.  

The program began at 6:00pm with Director of Athletics, Recreation, and Intramurals, Carol Kashow, addressing the crowd of over 350 people. She began by listing all of the highlights of the year: 30% of the 200+ student-athletes were scholar-athletes, the rifle team won its 10th MAC championship, the men's and women's cross country teams earned the right to represent CUNYAC at the NCAA Regionals, each of the 15 teams qualified for the postseason, John Jay's swim team was the only swim program to go on a training trip to Puerto Rico, Jamecia Forsythe became the first player in John Jay history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and Korede Griffith finished the season second in NCAA Division III in steals. 

Lynette Cook-Francis, Vice President of Student Affairs, then took the podium and expressed her appreciation for the direction the Athletics program is heading in. Assistant Athletics Director for Academic Support and Compliance, Danielle Rosario, followed by honoring over 60 scholar-athletes who have achieved a GPA of 3.2 or higher. 

CUNYAC Commissioner Zak Ivkovic then addressed the audience and asked everyone to look around the gym and recognize all of the improvements from last year. He followed by asking each student-athlete to dream bigger by not only winning a CUNYAC tournament, but by being successful at the NCAA's. He changed the slogan of the night to "Bloodhounds Moving Fast Forward". 

Jeneice Jordan (Operations Manager), Kendal Jordan (Vice President of SAAC), Joleen Richards (President of SAAC), Diane Ramirez (Equipment Manager), and Catherine "Cat" Alves then presented various awards that led to a break for dinner. 

During dinner, Forsythe's Division III Week Video was played and the senior was given an ovation. At the conclusion of dinner, CUNYAC's ESPN3 commercial, featuring several members of the baseball team, was shown on the video screens. 

Brandon Fieland, Sports Information Director, then presented all of the CUNYAC All-Stars and Sportsmanship of the Year Awards.

The rest of the program was broken up into three sections: fall, winter, and spring. Prior to each season, a pre-recorded captains video was played in which captains from each team gave their take on the season: 

Fall Season
Winter Season
Spring Season

After Tony Phillips presented his awards to the men's and women's cross country teams, a video tribute commemorating his 25 years of service was played. In addition, prior to the baseball team awards, a video of the team singing and dancing to Chris Brown's Forever song was shown.

AWARDS WINNERS

Men's Cross Country
MVP – Bassel Ahmad
MIP – Jaspreet "Jesse" Cheema
 
Women's Cross Country
MVP – Kaitlin Hicks
MIP – Megan McCarthy
 
Men's Soccer
MVP – William Ortiz
MIP – Thomas Malloy
 
Women's Soccer
MVP – Katelyn Davis
MIP – Diana Machado
 
Women's Tennis
MVP – Jessica Melchiorre
MIP – Lissette Caravantes
 
Women's Volleyball
MVP – Martina Hot
MIP – Latanya Buckham
 
Rifle
MVP – David Vegvari
MIP – Jeffrey Dupont
 
Women's Basketball
MVP – Jamecia Forsythe
MIP – Tyana Hale
 
Men's Basketball
MVP – Kris Owens
MIP – Korede Griffith
 
Swimming
MVP – Alyssa DeVito
MIP – Laura Galeano
 
Men's Volleyball
MVP – Jack Palleschi
MIP – Nicholas Anderson
 
Men's Tennis
MVP – Franktisek "Frankie" Demek
MIP – Zag Kimpolo
 
Baseball
MVP – Nico Rivera
MIP – Matthew Quirindongo
 
Softball
MVP – Jennifer Pace
MIP – Marlin Rallas
 
Cheerleading
MVP – Olivia Crosby
MIP – Maria Paula Becerra

Professor Al Gotay then presented the clubs awards for boxing, judo, and karate. 

Then to the big award of the night, Male and Female Athletes of the Year. Korede Griffith and Kaitlin Hicks were recognized as this year's winner for their achievements on the court and the track, respectively. Griffith was named a first team all-star in basketball and Hicks was an all-star in cross country.
 
The final award of the night was best dressed. Throughout the night, student-athletes and their families were able to take pictures in a photo booth. Raffles and prizes were given out throughout the event by DJ Joe Tribuzio. To close out the banquet, a senior salute video commemorating all of the seniors and a thank you video were played. 

Congratulations to all the honorees and student-athletes on an outstanding year.


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