Front Row (L-R): Kristine Bates, Carolyn McCrea, Kelly Karp, Raisa Silva, Jackie Ferranti, Shannon Gill, Monique Riddick. Back Row (L-R): Eric Pfeifer, Nick Mele, Kara Burnham, Adrienne Moe, Cornell Hunt, Vin Varcadipane, Maurice Torres, Will Brown, Ken Dudley, Ryan McCoach

Montclair, NJ (5/12/08) - Montclair State University seniors Nick Mele (Delran, NJ / Delran) and Jackie Ferranti (Bergenfield, NJ / Bergenfield) were named Male and Female Outstanding Athletes of the Year, respectively as the Red Hawk Athletic Department handed out their awards for the 2007-08 academic year. The seniors were two of 15 student-athletes honored at the Annual All-Sports Banquet as the department on May 6.

Jackie Ferranti (left) and Nick Mele received the Carol Blazejowski Outstanding Female and Sam Mills Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year honors.

Ferranti helped Montclair State to one of the finest seasons on the softball diamond as the Red Hawks finished 43-6 (school-record for victories) and captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships. The NJAC's Co-Player of the Year and First-Team NFCA All-Region selection, Ferranti led the conference in virtually every offensive category. Last year's Scholar Athlete Award winner, Ferranti batted .431 with 66 hits, 60 runs scored, 16 doubles, four triples and eight home runs while driving in 38 runs. Named to ESPN The Magazine District 2 All-Academic First Team, Ferranti also drew a single-season record 38 walks and amassed 114 bases, the second-highest single-season total. She also handled 126 of 128 chances at third base, a .984 fielding percentage.

Mele, who was selected as a Second-Team All-American, played an integral part in leading the Red Hawk men's soccer team to its second consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship and a No. 7 final national ranking. One of the top goalkeepers in the nation, Mele was named the conference's Goalkeeper of the Year and earned First-Team All-Region honors by both the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCA) and D3Kicks.com. Mele posted a 0.60 goals against average and made 87 saves while posting 12 shutouts. A three-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week award winner, Mele set the Montclair single-season record for victories and posted the second-highest total for shutouts in a season as he led the conference in both those categories. In addition, he was second in the league in save percentage (.870) and fourth in total saves. In the final NCAA Division III statistics, Mele was ranked sixth in save percentage and 18th in goals against average. The Red Hawks were ranked in the Top 20 as a team in goals against average (16th), save percentage (9th) and shutouts per game (9th).

Ryan McCoach (Rockaway, NJ / Morris Hills) and Carolyn McCrea (Wharton, NJ . Jefferson) were named the Outstanding Senior Athletes of the Year. McCoach led the NJAC in rushing for a third straight season and earned First-Team All-NJAC honors and Third-Team All-East honors by D3Football.com. McCoach helped the Red Hawks to a 9-2 mark and the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Championship as he claimed Most Valuable Player honors in the 17-13 win against Albright. He finished with 1,005 yards becoming just the second back in MSU history to record consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns and scored 14 touchdowns. A two-time NJAC Offensive Player of the Week pick, McCoach had seven games of 100 yards or more, including .a 173-yard, four touchdown performance against William Paterson and in his final game as a Red Hawks he

Eric Pfeifer (left) was presented with the James J. Poet Sportsmanship Award from MSU Hall of Fame member Jim McGilvray, Class of '41.

ran for 140 yards and one score as Montclair defeated Albright. He finished his career as the fifth all-time leading rusher with 2,802 yards and also scored 29 career touchdowns which is also fifth-best and ranks second in career rushing attempts and seventh in points scored. What Ferranti was to the softball team's offense, McCrea was for the Red Hawk pitching staff. The all-time wins leader in MSU history, McCrea went 24-4 this season with a 0.94 ERA and a season-record five saves. The NJAC Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season, McCrea allowed just 30 runs in 183.1 innings, fanning 201 batters. A First-Team NFCA All-Region selection, McCrea, the holder of two of the six recorded perfect games in MSU history, led the conference in wins, shutouts (10) ERA, strikeouts and saves and finished her career with a sparking 74-20 record with 28 shutouts and nine saves while striking out a school-record 597 batters.

The MSU softball team added a third winner on the evening as designated player Kelly Karp (Edison, NJ / Edison) was chosen as the Junior Athlete of the Year along with football linebacker Cornell Hunt (North Brunswick, NJ / North Brunswick). Karp earned First-Team All-NJAC honors and Second-Team All-Region accolades as she batted .307 with six triples, two home runs and 26 RBI while also scoring 29 runs. In addition, Karp provided pitching help as well posting a 16-1 mark with 67 strikeouts in 99.1 innings. Hunt, the Sophomore Male Athlete of the Year, was the leader of the Montclair State defense leading the team in tackles from his middle linebacker position. In 11 games, he recorded an amazing 127 tackles, which for the second consecutive season led the NJAC and ranked among the best in Division III. He would earn numerous honors throughout the season as he helped Montclair to a 9-2 mark and the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Championship. Twice this season he would be named the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week, including his performance against No. 9 Springfield when he recorded an astounding 20 tackles. Nine times during the season he total double-digits in tackles and also registered nine tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and three pass breakups. He became the first MSU player to record back-to-back 100-tackle seasons in 1989-1990 and he would be named First-Team by both the NJAC and the Eastern College Athletic Conference as well as earning All-East Region honors from D3Football.com.

All-Conference selections Ken Dudley (Willingboro, NJ / Burlington Tech) and Kara Burnham (Moorestown, NJ / Moorestown) were named the Sophomore Athletes of the Year. Dudley showed no signs of the “sophomore jinx” as he played a key role in the most successful season by the men’s basketball team in five years. On the offensive end, he ran the Montclair offense from his point guard position where he led the Red Hawks and the NJAC in assists while finishing second in the league in assist-turnover ratio at a +1.48 per game which is incredible. Named the NJAC Player of the Week during the season, he came up big for MSU in several games, including his clutch free throws in the final seconds to cap off a win at Rutgers-Camden or his career-best 25 points versus Ramapo in a key victory in late January. He finished second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game, but perhaps his biggest contributions came at the other end of the floor where he registered 36 steals while guarding the opposing team's top scorer night in and night out. Burnham emerged as one of the top players in the New Jersey Athletic Conference as he led the Red Hawks to the finest season the program had seen. One of the key ingredients to the record-setting season for MSU, she collected 390 kills, the second-highest single-season total in history and ranked third in the NJAC in hitting percentage (.248), sixth in kills per game (2.95), seventh in blocks (0.59) and eighth in points per game (3.77). In 132 games she also had 39 service aces, 78 total blocks, including 47 solo, and contributed 97 digs as Montclair went 22-15, setting a school-record for victories. But it was in the biggest games that this year’s recipient came up with her best performances. In the semifinals of the NJAC Tournament as Richard Stockton, she posted 15 kills as Montclair defeated the second-seeded Ospreys for the first time in school history with a five set victory. Two days later, she came up with 18 kills as the Red Hawks completed an amazing run in the league tournament with a 3-1 triumph over New Jersey to claim its first NJAC Championship since 1997 while also putting the Red Hawks into the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in school history. Named a First-Team All-NJAC selection, Montclair’s First First-Team pick since 2000, in her two seasons, she is already eighth all time in kills (592), seventh in blocks with 139 and 10th in points scored with 760.0.

Kim Benson (center) presents the Gerald "Bennie" Benson Freshmen Athlete of the Year honors to track standouts Will Brown (left) and Monique Riddick (right).

Track and field's Will Brown (Gloucester, NJ / Palmyra) and Monique Riddick (Edison, NJ / Bishop Ahr) were honored with the Gerald "Bennie" Benson Freshman Athletes of the Year named after the former MSU track and field coach. Benson's wife Kim presented the awards to the two standouts, who will both compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Oshkosh, WI in late May. The duo were two of the top athletes in the New Jersey Athletic Conference this season. Brown helped the Red Hawks 4x400 relay team a win in his first collegiate meet and a few weeks later was named the Outstanding Male

Track Athlete at the NJAC Indoor Championships as he blazed to a victory with an NCAA Automatic Qualifying time of 7.54 seconds while also leading the Red Hawks to two Top 4 finishes in the relays. He would go on to the NCAA Division III Championships in Ohio and just missed out on qualifying for the finals. His success continued into the outdoor season as he immediately qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 110 hurdles as he captured the event at the Penn Invitational. A week later he added a second win in the hurdles at the United States Merchant Marine Academy and then recorded victories in both the 110 and 400 hurdles at the CTC Outdoor Championships. At the Penn Relays, Brown ran a split time of 48.1 seconds on the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay team as he pulled the squad from the back of the pack to an eventual third-place finish. And finally, he put together his most impressive performance last weekend at the NJAC Outdoor Championships down at Richard Stockton. He would become a double winner as he won the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.58 which is currently 7th best nationally and then came back to take top honors in the 400 hurdles as he clocked in with a time of 54.02. Just a freshman, he would be named the Outstanding Male Athlete of the conference championships. long to establish herself as one of the top performers in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Riddick won the shot put at the Wesleyan Invitational and a few weeks later in just her third competition she registered an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Indoor championships as she posted a mark of 13.95 meters, or 45-feet, 9 ¼ inches. She would add victories in the event at both the CTC and NJAC Championships and it was on to the NCAA Championships in Ohio, where she picked up her biggest victory, one that almost didn't happen. In the preliminaries, she managed just a throw of 13.14 meters which was ninth among the field of 12 competitors. Still Riddick advanced to the final round where she posted fouls on her first two attempts before registering a mark of 13.14 on her third throw. Her fourth traveled 13.49 and her fifth a bit further at 13.67. With one throw remaining, Riddick made the most of it, tossing the shot put 14.14 meters, just over five inches better than the next competitor. She became the Red Hawks first indoor champion since 2002 and the first female since 1993 to win an individual national championship. Our recipient would win 6-of-10 competitions during the indoor season, a success that would continue in the outdoor campaign as she posted an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark in the season opener at Monmouth and a week later automatically qualified as she posted a mark of 14.27 meters at the Penn Invitational. She would make it 3-for-3 in meets the next week at the US Merchant Marine Academy and fourth among the field of Division I competitors at the Penn Relays. She then made it two Red Hawks to earn top honors at the NJAC Outdoor Championships as she was chosen the Outstanding Female Athlete of the entire meet after winning the shot put with a meet record throw of 14.28 meters, the second-best throw in Division III this season as well as a win in the discus with a mark of 37.74 meters

Also honored were football senior Vin Varcadipane (Totowa, NJ / Passaic Valley) and swimming senior Kristine Bates (Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson) , who were named the Scholar-Athlete Award winners while field hockey junior Shannon Gill (Branchville, NJ / High Point Regional) was the recipient of the Highest GPA Award for the second consecutive year. Eric Pfeifer (Wyckoff, NJ / Ramapo) , a member of the Red Hawk men's soccer team, was presented with the James J. Poet Sportsmanship Award while basketball junior Maurice Torres (Summit, NJ / Summit) was named the TALON Award winner for her outstanding leadership and contributions to the community. The department also handed out its Team Academic Achievement Awards to the male and female teams with the highest team cumulative grade-point average. The Volleyball and Men's Soccer Teams, who each captured NJAC Championships in the Fall, earned those honors.

Past Award Winners