Mike Ryan, a senior forward at Rutgers University–Camden, was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year

w16_SportsShorts_inline.jpg

Mike Ryan, a senior forward at Rutgers University–Camden, was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year. Sara Corson, a senior forward at Rutgers University–Newark, was the conference’s Women’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Photography: 
Tyler Jarrell; Larry Levanti

For its Class of 2015, Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame inducted Gary Brackett CC’03 (football), Keith Cromwell RC’01, SMLR’01 (men’s lacrosse), Fred Hill (baseball), Dick Lloyd GSE’68 (men’s basketball/special contributor), and the 1990 men’s soccer Final Four team. Rutgers University–Newark Athletic Hall of Fame added former Scarlet Raiders Estiven Benitez NCAS’13 (men’s soccer), Dominic DiGrazio NCAS’92 (baseball), Jon Keller NCAS’11 (men’s volleyball), Krystyna Kosz NCAS’94 (women’s volleyball), Bill Mercurio NCAS’07 (baseball), DeShawn Singleton UCN’12 (men’s basketball), and Luis Valle SCJ’11 (men’s soccer).

In a 75–51 win over Tulane in the opener of the Paradise Jam, Scarlet Knights women’s basketball head coach C. Vivian Stringer achieved her 435th win, surpassing Theresa Grentz as the all-time leader in basketball victories—men or women—at Rutgers. The team captured its third Jam title.

Rutgers Athletics and The V Foundation for Cancer Research honored the 1966–67 Scarlet Knights men’s basketball team and raised funds for the foundation, founded in 1993 by ESPN and Jim Valvano. The 1966–67 team went 22-7, finishing third in the National Invitation Tournament. A new mural depicting the basketball inductees adorns the RAC lobby and includes Jimmy V’s signature phrase, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” The basketball court in the College Avenue Gym (the Barn) will be named in honor of Valvano RC’67, a 1999 inductee into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

At Rutgers University–Camden, senior forward Mike Ryan was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, joining senior midfielder Connor Hurff on the NJAC First Team as six teammates made the 2015 All-NJAC Men’s Soccer Team. Riding a five-game unbeaten streak, the squad (14-8-2) captured Rutgers–Camden’s fourth NJAC title in five years with a 5–4 shootout victory over Montclair State in the NJAC championship game. The Scarlet Raptors competed in the NCAA Division III Tournament, but fell to nationally ranked SUNY-Oneonta in the second round. Three members of the Rutgers–Camden women’s soccer team (6-8-2) earned All-NJAC honorable mention: sophomore back/midfielder Aubrey Andrews, junior forward Catherine Fiore, and senior midfielder Tori Gerstenacker.

Five members of the Rutgers University–Newark men’s soccer team, winners of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Metro/Upstate Championship, were honored by the All-NJAC: junior Anthony DeRisi was named to the second team and four Scarlet Raiders earned honorable mention: junior Adrian Mayorga, junior Dylan Elias, sophomore Arek Szoldrowski, and senior goalkeeper Matt Broomall. For the women, senior forward Sara Corson was the NJAC Offensive Player of the Year, senior midfielder Cristina Estremera was named first team all-conference, and sophomore midfielder Nicole Gomez earned All-NJAC honorable mention. The women’s team (15-9-1) made it to the NJAC Tournament semifinal round, and the men’s team (16-7-1) lost to Rutgers–Camden in the first round of the tournament.

Rutgers–Camden women’s tennis senior Amanda Hickman, a four-year member of the All-NJAC Singles Team and once the NJAC Rookie of the Year, finished with a record of 44-12 in singles and 34-20 in doubles, setting a Rutgers–Camden record in each category. She also received a College Player of the Year Award from the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association.

Scarlet Knights men’s basketball, men’s golf, gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, and women’s soccer teams posted perfect scores of 100 in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate for Division I institutions; 17 out of 20 teams earned marks higher than 80 percent. With an overall score of 86, Rutgers notched its seventh consecutive year with a score of 84 or above.