College of Staten Island senior tennis ace Soumitri Seshadri, recently named the CSI Scholar-Athlete of the Year and noted as an honorable mention scholar-athlete with The City University of New York Athletic Conference, has now been named a CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American for the Men’s At-Large District II College Division. One of the most respected and distinguished scholar-athlete awards in collegiate athletics, this is the first CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American honor for a CSI student-athlete since 1999.
A member of The City University of New York Honors Program, Seshadri is a four-year Dean’s List student at CSI, majoring in both Engineering Science and Physics while minoring in Mathematics, boasting a 3.827 grade point average. He was recently given a first place award for best poster presentation for his engineering research in the Northeast Region I, District A of the Student Professional Development Conference and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has represented the CSI Engineering department in numerous expos and conventions and has served as President of the campus’ American Society of Mechanical Engineering.
A member of the men’s tennis team for the past three years, Seshadri capped his career as the team’s No. 1 singles and doubles performer. His “team-first” attitude and spirited leadership were prevalent in every match in which he appeared over the past three years. In his spare time, Seshadri would often give free lessons to local youths at the CSI Tennis Center, and he served as a volunteer for the Raganatha Temple in Pomona, New York, serving as an event organizer.
On Wednesday, May 16, Seshadri earned a Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention with the CUNY Athletic Conference, and on Friday, May 18, he was named CSI’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the school’s annual student-athlete awards gala in a presentation delivered by Dr. David M. Podell, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s track & field/cross country, women’s track & field/cross country, men’s at-large, and women’s at-large. A first team, second team, and third team are selected in both the University (Division I and I-AA) and College (Division II, III, and NAIA) Divisions. To be nominated, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for his/her career, and must be of sophomore status or greater.
Selected among hundreds of nominations, Seshadri was happy to receive the honor, the first for CSI since women’s tennis star Gabrielle Nagy received similar honors in 1999.
“The awards and achievements show how hard work pays off,” said Seshadri. “I’m going to use this as motivation to keep working hard in the future and looking onward.”
Seshadri feels that his roles as both a dedicated student and athlete with the men’s tennis squad are a credit to his development at CSI.
“I’ve obtained so many experiences in terms of personal growth in college. Through being involved in sports and working hard in the classroom, CSI has prepared me to go out and present myself professionally and with a positive attitude.”
Graduating on May 31, Seshadri has already obtained employment with Lockheed Martin, a global leader in systems integration and information technology that works primarily with the U.S. Department of Defense and many other U.S. federal government agencies.
First-year Head Coach Paul Ricciardi, who spent the previous two seasons with Seshadri as an assistant, was excited for his pupil.
“I’m extremely proud of what Soumitri has achieved in the classroom. He’s been the rock of our team in many ways than one,” he said. “Judging by his performance on our campus, we know he will be successful in any endeavor he chooses.”
