Atlantic Cape Recognizes Outstanding Contributions of Student-Athletes at 4th Annual Athletics Awards Luncheon

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Atlantic Cape Community College honored its Buccaneers student-athletes for their hard work, determination and perseverance in the classroom as well as on their respective fields and courts of play this year at the 4^th Annual Athletics Awards Luncheon on May 9 at Harbor Pines Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township.

Each of the College’s 10 athletic program coaches and players were recognized and applauded by nearly 125 guests for their Buccaneer spirit throughout the 2024-25 academic year along with many who worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

“To our student-athletes, congratulations to you on a successful academic year and athletic season. You have demonstrated that you have devoted your time and effort to your practices, games and tournaments this past year. It takes dedication and focus to successfully juggle the responsibilities and demands of your studies and your sport, and you have really risen to the challenge of combining those two, and we commend you for that,” said Atlantic Cape President Dr. Barbara Gaba. “I know that your coaches, advisors, teammates, and families have all contributed to your success by supporting you and guiding you along your path, and for that we are very grateful because when we reach successes we can't do it all by ourselves.”

Dr. Gaba also highlighted some of the many exciting on-field and on-court achievements made this year:

• Welcomed our new women’s cross-country program.
• Hosted our first game on our new Mays Landing campus baseball field.
• Men’s and women’s basketball teams both qualified for the NJCAA Region 19 playoffs.
• Several student-athletes earned scholarships to continue their athletics at Division I and II colleges and universities.
• Archery competed in the Eastern Regional Collegiate Championships at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Vice President, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Natalie Devonish thanked Dr. Gaba for her commitment to growing Atlantic Cape’s athletics program from four to 10 teams in the past four years.

“When I came on in 2021, Dr. Gaba said to her Cabinet and leadership team that she didn’t get why we don’t have a big athletic program. She asked that we, as an institution, focus on rebuilding our athletic program,” said Devonish. “Today, we celebrate our 10th active sport only four years later. So, thank you Dr. Gaba for your vision and your support for what we have done over the past four years.”

Awards were presented by the respective coach(es) to their student-athletes for excelling in their particular athletic program:

• Archery (Head Coach John Repnicki and Assistant Coach John Ward): Most Dedicated Archer, Katherine Smith, and Team Leadership Award, Dan Luna.
• Baseball (Head Coach Alex Tafaro, Assistant Coaches Joseph Schipsi and Ryan Jose): Most Improved Player, Brian Juzaitis, and Most Valuable Player, Josh Witmer.
• Men’s Basketball (Head Coach Allen Ragland and Assistant Coach Jamal Edwards): Most Valuable Player, Christopher Parker; Sportsmanship Award, Omero Chevere and Most Improved Award, Jeremy Ellis.
• Women’s Basketball (Head Coach John Miller and Assistant Coach Ricky White): Heart & Hustle, Angelina Bell, and Most Valuable Player, Millinda Marigliano.
• Women’s Cross Country (Head Coach Shane Ritchie): Most Improved Runner Award, Aaqsa Nimreen.
• Men’s Soccer (Head Coach Luis Paz and Assistant Coach Abdoulaye Cisse): Most Valuable Player, Nicholas Maldonado, and Most Improved Athlete, Dillon Bacchetta.
• Women’s Soccer (Head Coach Wesley Raywood and Assistant Coach Abigail Flemming): Team Spirit Award, Malina Becker, Coaches Award, Braelyn Brant, and Most Valuable Player, Millinda Marigliano.
• Men’s Volleyball (Head Coach Karla Maisto and Assistant Coach Josh Concepcion): Most Valuable Player, Alec Barnes, and Coaches Award, Nasir Hernandez-Haines.
• Women’s Volleyball (Head Coach Karla Maisto and Assistant Coach Josh Concepcion): Most Valuable Player, McKenna Weber, and Season Savior Award, Gianna Cox.

The following student-athletes were recognized for being named to the All-Academic Team for earning a GPA of 3.0 or higher: Carlvin Altidor, Alex Armstrong, Dillon Bacchetta, Alexander Barr, Angelina Bell (2), Nicholas Boehm, Victoria Bollo Bottger, Nataly Castro, Alejandra Ceballos, Omero Chevere, Samantha Cosme (2), Jeremy Ellis, Anette Bautista Escobedo, Allison Osorio Giraldo, Juno Gregory, Nasir Hernandez-Haines, Rosalie Jogno, Giselle Lopez, Dan Luna, Millinda Marigliano (2), Alexandra Montoya, Aaqsa Nimreen, Kaitlynn O’Keefe, Christopher Parker, Renata Riesenberg, Lily Robert, Justin Sawyer, Brandon Stolfo, Gianna Tanner, Chuck Taylor, Madison Ventura, McKenna Weber and Josh Witmer.

Men’s basketball student-athlete Christopher Parker, who has accepted a full scholarship offer to Division I South Carolina State University in the fall, was also named the Garden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Player of the Year, 1^st Team All-Region NJCAA Region 19 and 1^st Team All-Conference GSAC.

Freshman women’s basketball and soccer student-athlete Millinda Marigliano was also named 1^st Team All-Conference GSAC and 2^nd Team All-Region NJCAA Region 19.

Student-athletes named to the 2^nd Team All-Conference GSAC included women’s volleyball sophomore McKenna Weber, and men’s volleyball sophomores Alec Barnes and Nasir Hernandez-Haines.

Twenty-one student-athletes from the Class of 2025 were presented with a framed commemorative Atlantic Cape Buccaneers athletics patch for their contributions to their respective athletic programs.

After thanking the College’s leadership and all of the parents in attendance, Athletic Director Jamal Edwards praised his student-athletes.

“I see you and I appreciate you because I have a front row seat to see all that you go through. All of the dedication you put in, all the time, the tears and all the sweat,” said Edwards. “From all of the late nights, all the hard work, the yelling and screaming that you get from some of us coaches. I see it and I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for all of the hard work you put in.”

View a photo gallery from this event on Flickr at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCdGog.

Learn more about Atlantic Cape Athletics at atlanticcape.edu/athletics.

About Atlantic Cape Community College

Atlantic Cape Community College is a Middle States accredited, 2022 Achieving the Dream Leader College and Hispanic Serving Institution proudly serving the residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties. As a comprehensive, two-year community college, Atlantic Cape offers 46 undergraduate degree programs, and 32 certificate and professional series programs at its Mays Landing, Atlantic City and Cape May County campuses. Atlantic Cape is home to the renowned Academy of Culinary Arts, rated the top culinary school in New Jersey, and for more than 50 years, our highly-acclaimed Nursing program. Atlantic Cape also partners with more than 30 colleges and four-year universities to offer students the opportunity to seamlessly earn a bachelor’s degree upon graduation.