Nine Brookdale Community College student-athletes are academic All-Americans

Brookdale Community College (BCC) student-athletes distinguished themselves in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena in 2009-10. It was a big year for BCC athletics with Bo Scannapieco’s women’s softball team capturing their third national championship. But it was just as big of a season in academics as nine Brookdale student-athletes were named to the Distinguished Academic All-American and AcademicAll American teams, as announced by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

Among the Jersey Blues honored, two finished the year with the highest award, a distinguished academic All-American status with a 4.0 GPA. Jacqueline Baron (Marlboro) and Alec Moran (Shore Regional), both of the cross country teams that made their varsity debuts last fall, earned that prestigious accolade.

Under NJCAA rules and regulations, Academic All-American award winners must have completed three full semesters of college work. In order to achieve Distinguished Academic All- American a student-athlete must achieve a 3.8 or better on a 4.0 scale, while Academic All-American honors require a 3.6 minimum GPA.

Moran, who is the current president of the Student Life Board at Brookdale, led the men’s cross country team this year to an 11thplace finish at the NJCAA Championship. Along with Baron, Moran received the highest academic honor presented by the NJCAA and will have his photo published in an upcoming issue of the organization’s namesake catalog.

Four others joined Moran and Baron with Distinguished AcademicAll American honors while three more student-athletes achievedAcademicAll-American status.

Both previous Gold Star award winners, Jessica Bogert (Wall) of the women’s soccer team and Anthony Esposito (Middletown South), men’s golf representative, were among the Distinguished Academic All-Americans. BaseballAll Region XIX outfielder Ed Martin (Raritan) and men’s lacrosse Region XIX tournament MVP John Tanner (Rumson-Fair Haven) round out the team.

Other academic All-American award winners include: the women’s basketball Region XIX tournament MVP Tia Curtis (Monmouth Regional); Katelynn Horn (Henry Hudson), who was a member of the 2010 National Championship Softball team; and women’s lacrosse player Stephanie Robertson (Jackson Memorial).