EFSC ATHLETES PROVEN WINNERS on the Field and in the Classroom
EASTERN FLORIDA State College athletic teams had one of the best seasons in school history with nine named as All-Americans and a record 68 named to the NJCAA All-Academic team .
The national championship Women ’ s Soccer team had two students named to the first team All- American teams . Kurumi Arakawa was named a first team NJCAA All-American . Teammate Laura Cetina was named the United Soccer Coaches Women ’ s Soccer Junior College National Player of the Year and also named to the United Soccer Coaches first team All-America team .
The Women ’ s Basketball team ’ s Rapuluchi Ngorka became the team ’ s first NJCAA Division I first team All-American .
Men ’ s tennis player Lucas Gonzalez was named to the ITA Junior College All-America team after reaching the semifinals of the NJCAA Division I National Tournament at No . 1 in singles for the Titans . Gonzalez was also named the Region IV ITA Rookie of the Year .
The Women ’ s Soccer team won the NJCAA Division I National Championship , marking the first time a Titans team has won a national title since the Men ’ s Golf team won a national title in 1991 .
Overall , seven of the 11 sports made it to the FCSAA State Tournament with five teams making it to the national tournament . The Women ’ s Basketball and Women ’ s Golf teams made the national tournament for the first time in school history , both finishing in the top eight in the country . The Men ’ s Golf team placed fifth overall in the national tournament and the men ’ s tennis team finished seventh in the national tournament .
In the classroom , Eastern Florida State College student-athletes also excelled with 17 being named to the NJCAA All-Academic First Team achieving a grade point average of 4.0 .
Four of the 17 made the first team for the second straight year .
Womens basketball player Jillian Schenk , womens soccer player Driade Freitas , mens
tennis player Jaewoo Choi and womens golfer Gabrielle Fernandez were all named to the first team for the second straight season .
Joining those four on the first team are women ’ s basketball players L ’ or Eyeba Mputu , Sarah Winkler and Shadaria Smith ; softball players Makenzie Fore , Trinity Howard and Mandy Hedetniemi-Taylor ; womens soccer players Courtney Butlion and Alexia Spencer ; mens tennis player Gustavo Goncalves ; womens tennis player Kanna Kobayakawa ; mens golfer Ryan McMillan and men ’ s soccer players Leandro Santoro and Luis Sonvegas .
“ The dedication of our student athletes on the field is matched by their dedication in the classroom as shown by the large number who have made the All-Academic team ,” said EFSC President Dr . Jim Richey . “ We ’ re extremely proud of them and salute their impressive accomplishment .”
“ What a tremendous testament to our student athletes excelling in the classroom and on the court / field ,” added Jeff Carr , EFSC Associate Vice President of Athletics . “ Our coaches deserve a lot of credit as well for pushing our student athletes to perform at the highest level on and off the field ! Amazing accomplishments by all .”
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
CONGRATULATIONS to EFSC Alumni , Khadija ‘ Bunny ’ Shaw on leading Jamaica back into the 2023 FIFA World Cup !
10 | EFSConnections Fall 2022