For the second consecutive year and the fifth time in six years, an athlete from Mohawk Valley Community College was selected as the scholar-athlete of the year by the National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA). This award is presented to the top male and female athlete from all community colleges across the country.
MVCC's Kyle Richardson (Rome/Rome Free Academy), a sophomore majoring in Sports Medicine, was named Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Richardson is graduating this week from MVCC with a 3.94 grade point average and has been awarded a scholarship to St. Johns University.
Richardson is a two-year starter on the College's baseball team as a center fielder and a pitcher. He is this MVCC's team captain and has helped lead his team to consecutive NJCAA Region III final four appearances.
Richardson has virtually rewritten the college's record book, placing either first or second in 13 individual offensive categories for single season and career marks. He is a 2010 All-Region selection and was named as the Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year. He was named as the team MVP in both of his years at MVCC. He has been active in community service, serving as a Rotary guide for international students, clinician at youth baseball clinics, councilman on his parish's church council, and has participated in toy drives for underprivileged children and Crop Walks to raise food for the hungry. He has received a scholarship to attend St. John's University to compete in baseball and major in pre-med next year.
The Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year is Anne Beinetti of Monroe Community College.
"This is a huge honor for our athletes as well as for the College," said MVCC Director of Athletics Gary Broadhurst. "There are only two athletes chosen and for Mohawk Valley to have another winner attests to how exceptional our athletes are in the classroom as well as on the playing field."
The winners will be recognized in June at the NATYCAA Convention in Anaheim at the NATYCAA Awards luncheon scheduled for Tuesday, June 22. MVCCs Lauren Penc, a graduate of Whitesboro High School, was NATYCAA's recipient of the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2009.
The NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete Award was first presented in 1992. It is given to the male and female student-athlete who best demonstrates outstanding accomplishment and leadership in academics, athletics and citizenship.