Marist seniors Kerri Mannino (Amityville) and Mike Rolek (Maplewood, N.J.) were named ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District for cross country/track and field last week. By being named First Team All-District, both runners are eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.
Rolek, a sports journalism major, graduated last month with a 3.90 grade point average. On March 5, he became the first student-athlete at Marist to receive an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. A nine-time MAAC All-Academic Team selection in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track-and-field, Rolek was also named Marist’s Male Sportsperson of the Year for 2007-08. Rolek was named All-MAAC in cross-country after finishing 12th at the MAAC Championships on Oct. 26. During the outdoor track season, he set a then-school record in the 10,000m on April 6 with a time of 30:36.66.
Mannino graduated last month with a 3.93 grade point average in finance. She was a nine-time MAAC All-Academic Team selection in cross country and indoor and outdoor track during her career. Mannino finished fifth in the 10,000-meters at the 2008 MAAC Outdoor Championships on May 4, an event she won as a sophomore in 2007.
Three women’s rowers honored by CRCA
Three senior members of the Marist women’s crew team were named to the 2008 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar Athlete Team, it was announced last week. Becky Allison (New Milford, Conn.), Lisa D’Aniello (Niskayuna) and Marissa Eigenbrood (Deptford, N.J.) were the Red Fox honorees.
All three seniors were integral parts of the Red Foxes’ Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship squad that won all seven events at the MAAC Championships. Eigenbrood and D’Aniello were both captains of the ‘08 women’s team and clearly provided leadership in the classroom and on the water.
All members of the CRCA Scholar Athlete Team were required to have a 3.5 cumulative grade point average during their collegiate careers and row in 75 percent their teams’ races.
Men’s varsity four finish second at IRAs
The Marist men’s crew varsity four turned in a second-place finish at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships on Saturday, completing its race in a time of 6 minutes, 20.8 seconds. By placing second, the tandem of Shawn Marion (stroke seat), captain Matthew Keys (three seat), Jonathan Martin (two seat), Kevin Fletcher (bow seat) and Holly Adler (coxswain) earned the highest finish for men’s crew at IRAs in program history.
“I’m really excited for the future of our crew team, and that these guys put in a lot of hard work all year,” first-year Marist head coach Sean Clarke said. “They deserve to be fully rewarded for their efforts. They rowed above and beyond their capabilities.”
By finishing second, Marist earned a medal at IRAs for the first time in program history. The Red Foxes’ previous highest finish in any event at the regatta was fifth.
Washington won the varsity four final with a time of 6:19.9. Following Marist was third-place Cornell in a time of 6:21.7.
This was the final event of the 2007-08 season for Marist athletics.
Men’s basketball names Bashir Mason as assistant coach
Marist head men’s basketball coach Chuck Martin announced the hiring of Bashir Mason as an assistant coach last week. Mason becomes the third assistant coach to be hired by Martin, joining Paul Lee and Tyrone Weeks on the Red Foxes’ staff.
“We’re really excited to have Bashir Mason join our basketball family at Marist,” Martin said. “He’s a young man who has great contacts in the metropolitan area. Bashir is an up-and-coming coach who is a really good communicator and teacher and has a great way with young people. We think he’s a great addition to our staff.”
Mason is a 2007 graduate of Drexel University who was a four-year starter for the Dragons at point guard. He was a four-time member of the Colonial Athletic Association All-Defensive Team. In 2004, he became the first player in the history of the CAA to be named Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman – a season in which Chuck Martin was on Drexel’s staff as an assistant.
Mason led Drexel in assists and steals in all four of his seasons at the Philadelphia-based school. He graduated in second place on the school’s all-time steals list with 226, and third on its all-time assists list with 471.
In his career, Mason scored 1,126 career points. He was also named to the 2006 NIT Season Tip-Off All-Tournament Team.
A native of Jersey City, N.J., Mason played scholastically at St. Benedict’s for head coach Dan Hurley. Mason spent the 2007-08 season at St. Benedict’s as coach of the school’s prep team, which won the New Jersey State Prep A Title by defeating Blair Academy.
Mason graduated from Drexel with a bachelor’s degree in sport management.