The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) Department of Athletics held their annual Student-athlete Awards Ceremony Thursday afternoon in the Alumni room on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick. The CCRI Department of Athletics presented nine departmental awards along with every team honoring the Most Valuable Players (or Athletes) in each sport.

Garnering the Ann Cullen Scholarship Award for being the overall to student-athlete was Sophomore Nick D’Ambra (Coventry, RI) Co-Captain Left Fielder on 20-10 Knights Baseball team. D’Ambra is ranked second on Knights with .423 batting average which is also 75th in the by the NJCAA. He has 35 hits, 9 doubles, and is ranked No. 7 in nation with five triples while adding three Homeruns with 27 RBIs, 37 runs scored and 14 stolen bases and a perfect Fielding Percentage.

Garnering the Mary O’Neill Scholarship Award was Sophomore Tatyana Correia (Cranston, RI). Correia, a two-year starter for the Lady Knights basketball team started 42 of 44 games she played in for CCRI. She was named Co-Captain in sophomore year. Tatyana is an extremely hard worker who leads by example is undersized for her position but does not let that affect her game. She does all the little things to make her team successful and is an excellent defender.

Earning the Charlie Wilkes Scholarship Award was Sophomore Dave Cabeceiras (Warwick, RI) a Co-Captain shooting guard/small forward on 28-4 Knights Basketball team. Cabeceiras started in 20 of 32 games for Knights this year. He averaged 8.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, 1 assists and 1 steal per game. Is ranked No. 24 in nation in 3pt Field Goal Percentage shooting 43.7 percent and ranked No. 34 in nation in total 3-pointers with 69.

Earning the Joseph Andre Jr. Award as the top freshman Athlete were two equally talented freshmen ball players: Anthony Ramos (Cranston, RI) and Mackenzie Doyle (Glocester, RI). Ramos is the top hitter on the Knights who is ranked No. 16 in the Nation with .471 batting average He is ranked No. 9 by the NJCAA with .586 On Base Percentage and No. 8 in in stolen bases with 25. He is also ranked No. 12 in with 48 runs scored. Ramos has 41 hits including 12 doubles and three triples 16 walks and 16 RBIs He is an  excellent fielder in CF with perfect fielding percentage utilizing speed and also has a very good arm.  For his efforts Ramos was also named Co-MVP of the CCRI Baseball team. Doyle is the top hitter in the all of Division II NJCAA Softball with a .632 Batting Average. She also sports the best On Base Percentage in the Nation with .679 OBP.  Doyle led CCRI with 43 hits including eight doubles and a Homerun with 28 runs scored, 15 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.  She was also an excellent fielder in CF utilizing speed and also has a very good arm

The Izzy Siperstein Award was earned by Peter Wilson (Providence, RI) Co-Captain shooting guard on 28-4 Knights Basketball team. Wilson earned First Team All-Region XXI for his efforts on the court this year. He led the Knights with 19.1 point per game which ranked him 42nd by the NJCAA in Division II. Wilson led Knights with 44.1 percent shooting from 3-pt arc which ranked him 21st I the Nation.  He also recorded 5.0 Rebounds per game, 5.2 assists per game, and 2.1 steals per game. Wilson ended his career by passing Colin Burns (705) to become No. 35 on CCRI All-time scoring list with 712 career points.

The final two awards were the Ralph Catuogno Scholar Athlete awards for the top GPA for Male and Female student-athletes Nicholas D’Ambra (Coventry, RI) who had the highest GPA of any CCRI student-athlete at 3.77 and Samantha Muller (North Stonington, CT) who had the highest GPA for a female Student-athlete with a 3.10 GPA.  

D’Ambra who earned the Ann Cullen Scholarship Award earlier in the ceremony along with being named Co-MVP of the Baseball team earned his third honor of the day with the Catuogno Award for highest GPA. It was an excellent day for the top student and one of the biggest leaders among student-athletes in the CCRI Department of Athletics.    

Muller played on the on the 3-3 Lady Knights Soccer team where she scored three goals with two assists for eight total points in three games played. Muller was also a Co-Captain on 11-11 Lady Knights Softball team where she had a .300 batting average with 15 hits including two doubles, a triple, 11 RBIs, 12 Runs scored and two stolen bases. As a Pitcher she threw 15 innings with 15 Strikeouts recorded.  Muller was also honored in mid-April as the

RIAIAW Distinguished Athlete Recipient at their ceremony held on the Campus of the University of Rhode Island. 

The Balance of the team MVPs were as follows: Men’s Soccer: Juan Gonzalez (Providence, RI), Women’s Soccer: Kat Raposo (Warwick, RI), Women’s Volleyball Samantha Elkas (Cumberland, RI), Cross Country and Track Most Valuable Athlete: Saramarie Cerullo (Smithfield, RI), Women’s Basketball: Waleska Kelly (Pawtucket, RI), Men’s Basketball: Peter Wilson and JC Santos (East Providence, RI), Men’s Club Volleyball: Anthony Vega (Providence, RI), Softball: Hannah Caliri (Pawtucket, RI) and Club Swimming: Kelsey Traenor (Smithfield, RI) and Josh Hernandez (Cranston, RI)   

CCRI is still finishing up their baseball season. We wish good luck to the Knights as they begin play in the Region XXI Baseball Tournament Thursday at 3:30 vs Massasoit Community College at Fell Field in Warwick. However, the Awards Ceremony was an excellent day where we got to honor our best and show our appreciation for them choosing to continue their academic and athletic careers at CCRI.