[gallery] CSI Awards Deserving Students at End of Year Gala

In the latest installment of a great tradition at the College of Staten Island, the athletics program spotlighted a host of its student-athletes, coaches, and distinguished staff members with its annual Athletics Awards Banquet held at the Sports & Recreation Center earlier this evening.  A total of over 80 award winners were highlighted as part of the gala, among them members of CSI’s 14 teams in 2012-13.

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After greetings fromnewly appointed Director of Athletics Charles Gomes, CSI President Dr. William Fritz and Vice-President for Student Affairs Dr. Ramona Brown, awards were given for each sport in chronological order beginning with teams last fall, and ending with men’s baseball, which was the last team to finalize its season, winning 30 games and a CUNYAC title.

Major awards were presented to Female Athlete of the Year Victoria Procopio, sophomore pitcher and outfielder for the CSI women’s softball team, one of three schools to make it to the annual NCAA Division III tournament .  Procopio posted 19 wins this season in the circle for the Dolphins, the second highest single season mark in school history, which included a perfect 3-0 in the CUNYAC Tournament.  The slugger also batted a healthy .446 this season.  Just across the way and in the same season, CSI Baseball hurler Richard Anderson earned Male Athlete of the Year honors.  Anderson set school records for single season wins (9) and complete games (8), boasting a 2.09 ERA on the season, leading the team in innings pitched, strikeouts and opponent batting average.  The hard-throwing right hander pitched 21 innings in a span of four days, allowing just two runs in the CUNYAC Tournament, and scored a 4-2 win over Salisbury State, ranked No. 4 nationally at the time.

CSI Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors was given to women’s basketball star and senior Olivia Tierno.  A CUNYAC All-Star this season, Tierno overcame a pair of knee injuries in her sophomore and junior seasons to return to the hardwood, leading the team in scoring this season.  A two-time CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month, Tierno boasts a 3.91 GPA, majoring in Psychology.  Mary Beth Reilly, CSI Vice-President for Enrollment Management, also honored the CSI Men’s Tennis team for posting CSI Athletics’ highest Team GPA, at 3.21.

Nick Zikos, graduating junior from men’s tennis, was awarded the 8th Annual Bill Cali/John Scrivani Sportsmanship Award, named after CSI’s former baseball skippers who earned similar honors from the Staten Island Advance in 2005.  CSI men’s basketball head coach Tony Petosa, who won the same honor from the Advance in 2011, assisted in the presentation.  Zikos, a three-time CUNYAC All-Star enjoyed a stellar close to his career atop the No. 1 Singles position on his team, and was noted for his spirited and fair play on the courts, serving as an ambassador for the sport and team this season.

CSI Bursar Michael Baybusky, a familiar voice of athletic programming on CSI SportsNet, was on hand to offer nearly 30 awards, bestowed to CSI All-Stars scattered throughout the year and the CUNYAC’s three scholar-athletes, including Tierno and Zikos and fellow honorable mention Ilona Stoyko.  A national NCAA honor was given to soccer sophomore Melissa Gelardi, who won the nation assist title in 2012.

Midway through the ceremony, members of the CSI Student-Athlete Advisory Committee presented their Inspiration Award, given this year to Ednita Lorenzo, former SAAC President who has served as a community-service trailblazer since graduation. The SAAC also awarded its fourth-annual G.L.O.V.E. Award to to the CSI Men’s Soccer Team for their model of Giving, Leading, Organizing, Volunteering, and Encouraging.

All told, the rousing event was a great success, according to David Pizzuto, Associate Athletic Director, principal organizer and host of the event each year, who was also honored with an appreciation award at the dinner.

“Every year our event grows in stature and hardware, and it’s a testament to the many deserving individuals we choose to highlight each year,”  he said.  ”We have a lot to be proud of and we set the bar very high with some of our performances this past year.  We are very proud to have this as a close to our athletic season because it captures all that we have achieved on a single night.”

An end-of-year highlight video, prepared by CSI Facilities Manager Anthony Avena was the highlight of the evening.  The video will be posted soon.  The CSI academic year will come to a close in the coming weeks, when Commencement will take place on May 30.

Award winners this year include the following:

Women’s Volleyball

MVP: Jean Marie Lewandowski

Rookie: Selma Kolenovic

Coaches: Pola Pokrobko

Women’s Tennis:

MVP: Jean Baak

Rookie: Sabrina Bragerton-Nasert

Coaches: Madiha Mulla

Women’s Soccer

Co-MVP: Demi-Jean Martorano

Co-MVP: Samantha Wysokowski

Co-MVP:  Melissa Gelardi

Rookie: Deanna Kvetkoff

Coaches:  Christina Jacob

Men’s Soccer

MVP: Alfonso Castaneda

Rookie: Brandon Cadmen

Co-Coaches: Ahmed El-Ghareib

Co-Coaches:  Giovanni Cortese

Women’s Cross-Country

MVP: Victoria Barry

Rookie: Ayat Odeh

Coaches: Kubra Shirazi

Men’s Cross-Country

MVP: Andrew Pate

Rookie: Samuel Obisanya

Coaches: Richard Ruggiero

Women’s Basketball

Rookie: Lisa Galasso

Co-Coaches: Jennifer Coughlan

Co-Coaches: Olivia Tierno

Co-Coaches:  Danielle Kartalis

Men’s Swimming

Co-MVP: Andrey Tarasov

Co-MVP: Yury Zimarev

Rookie: Sergio Garcia

Coaches – John Pignatelli

Women’s Swimming

MVP – Stephanie Collyer

Rookie – Dakota Dawkins

Coaches – Jessica Pifalo

Men’s Basketball

Co-MVP:  Bloochy Magloire

Co-MVP: Jonathan Chadwick-Myers

Coaches:  Matt Van Manen

Women’s Softball

Offensive MVP:  Stefanie Solari

Defensive MVP:  Brittany Smith

Co-Rookie:  Maxine Jasko

Co-Rookie:  Christina Tufano

Co-Coaches:  Victoria Procopio

Co-Coaches:  Danielle Locke

Men’s Tennis

MVP:  Nick Zikos

Rookie: Hector Molina

Coaches:  Daniel Ursomanno

Men’s Baseball

Co-MVP:  Bryan Moreno

Co-MVP:  Chris Ramanauskas

Co-Rookie: Joseph Palmeri

Co-Rookie:  John Baggs

Team Award:  Michael Fitzpatrick

Team Award:  Dan Lynch

Cheerleading

MVP: Nicole Ashley Medina

Rookie: Yenitza Mendez

Co-Cheerleaders:  Ashley Isaacs

Co-Cheerleaders:  Giana Abbrusseze

Distinguished Service Award (awarded seperately)

Kellie Carnevale, former Assistant Sports Information Director

SAAC Inspiration Award

Ednita Lorenzo

SAAC G.L.O.V.E. Award

CSI Men’s Soccer Team

Team G.P.A. Award

Men’s Tennis, 3.21 GPA

Bill Cali/John Scrivani Sportsmanship Award

Nick Zikos, Men’s Tennis

Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Olivia Tierno, Women’s Basketball

Male Athlete of the Year

Richard Anderson, Men’s Baseball

Female Athlete of the Year

Victoria Procopio, Women’s Softball