Three Clarendon College athletes were among 1,800 student-athletes from across the nation named to the NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards list released recently.
Clarissa Elizondo (women’s basketball) received the NJCAA Award for Superior Academic Achievement for a GPA between 3.80-3.99.
Ryan Backus (baseball) and Brandon Turner (baseball) received the NJCAA Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement for GPAs between 3.60-3.79.
“I want to congratulate Ryan, Brandon and Clarissa on receiving these national academic awards,” Clarendon College Athletic Director Brad Vanden Boogaard said. “I want to thank them for their dedication to being great role models and leaders for our athletes. They have shown that with good time management and priorities you can be successful in the classroom and as an athlete. These three have shown our other athletes how to compete in all areas of life and they will be very successful in all their future endeavors.”
Vanden Boogaard also served as the women’s basketball coach for 2013-14 and said he is very proud of Clarissa.
“I have grown to admire the effort she puts into everything she does in life,” he said. “Over the past two years she has been a big part of developing a culture in the Women’s Basketball program. She has held herself to very high standards which in return pulled teammates to follow her, and we saw others start to hold themselves to higher standards.”
CC Baseball Coach Devin McIntosh said balancing the demands of a student athlete while maintaining such high academic standards is a tremendous achievement.
“Ryan and Brandon have demonstrated a level of work ethic and commitment both on the field and in the classroom over the last two years that has challenged everyone in the program,” he said. “I wish both continued success beyond Clarendon.”
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