Studentathletes excel in sports, in classroom

In past College Matters columns, we wrote that our athletic program was dedicated to building a studentcentric program that was deeply committed to ensuring all our student-athletes can compete at the highest level athletically and achieve at the highest level academically. I am proud to say that, under the leadership of our terrific athletic director Bob Brown, along with his coaches, staff and, of course, our student-athletes, we have made that a reality.

We are proud of the successes our student-athletes have achieved inside and outside of the classroom. Our student-athletes exemplify what intercollegiate athletics is all about. I am in awe of our student-athletes every day; they serve as role models on campus and in the community while exhibiting a passion for their sport and their academics.

At our recent meeting of the CR Board of Trustees, several students and teams were honored for their achievements in the classroom and on the field of competition.

I want to applaud the historic efforts of Golden Valley Conference (GVC) Coach of the Year Ryan Bisio and our men’s basketball team for setting the single-season program record of 25 wins and for earning the coveted title of GVC champions for the third straight year. We are proud that Trey Neff was named conference Most Valuable Player, Jon Nchekwube and Jett Cheong were all-conference first team selections, Kai Purcell was an all-conference honorable mention, and Aidan Atkins-Salazar was selected to the GVC all-defense first team.

We also commend Coach Jain Tuey for her exemplary leadership in guiding our women’s basketball team through a demanding season. Under Coach Tuey’s guidance two of our women basketball athletes — former Fortuna Huskies Gracie Betts and Kendall Stewart — received GVC all-conference honors.

Head cross country coach Reed Elmore led our women’s team to a fourthplace finish in the NorCal Championship and advancement to the state