HAWK HIGHLIGHTS
Four athletic luminaries were honored during the
10th annual induction gala of the RCC Sports Hall
of Fame, held January 21 at the Nyack Seaport.
The former athletes were recognized along with
the recipient of the Dr. Cliff L. Wood Service
Award, joining the 45 members, four Service
Award winners and one team already enshrined.
Sports Hall of Fame inductees Jo Rene Valentin, Andre Chiavelli, Michael Gill,
Loren Green and Jerry Elicks.
This year’s honorees included:
JERRY ELICKS
LOREN GREEN
Class of 1977, Hockey
Soccer Coach
SPORTS
At RCC, Elicks paced the team his first
year with 44 goals and 41 assists for a
record-breaking 85 points. The team
went 26-0 for the league title, and 31-2
overall. The following year he again led
the team with 25 goals and 27 assists.
He later starred for SUNY Binghamton. Elicks
worked as a litigation attorney and was president
of an insurance management firm, and is now a
private practice attorney and insurance consultant.
ANDRE CHIAVELLI
Class of 1981, Baseball
H A L L O F FA M E
Enshrines
New
Members
JO RENE VALENTIN
Class of 2006, Soccer
Green was an assistant coach for two
years and head coach from 1984 to 2015.
His teams won several Mid-Hudson
Conference and Region 15 titles, reached
the national tournament in 1993 and
made the regional finals in 1995 and
1996. His teams were ranked in the top 20
nationally five straight years in the 1990s,
and he coached nine All-Americans.
MICHAEL J. GILL, EDD
Class of 1991
DR. CLIFF L. WOOD SERVICE AWARD
Chiavelli was a two-time MVP and earned
All-Region 15 and All-Mid Hudson
Conference honors both years. His first year
he hit .358 and the second year .410, and he
led the team in multiple offensive categories
both years. He was offered a pro contract
by the NY Yankees but instead played
baseball at Mercy College. He is an executive
global vice president for Farouk Systems.
A native of Haiti, Valentin was named first-team
All-Region and All-American in 2005, and
the following year led his team to the regional
semifinals. He paced the team in goals both
years. Academically, he was a member of Phi
Theta Kappa. At NJIT, Valentin led the team
in goals and was second-team All-Region. At
St. John’s, he earned his bachelor’s in Math and
Science with a minor in Business Management,
and now works for People’s United Bank.
forward, scored more than one-third of the team’s points this year and
also averaged a strong 7.3 rebounds per game. Due to a variety of factors,
the Hawks finished the season with only six healthy players, and the lack
of bench strength translated to a draining 40-minute workload for most
of the unit, testing their stamina and resolve. Health issues also beset the
coaching staff, compounding the squad’s misfortune.
Throughout a campaign of adversity, however, Martinez offered a
glimmer of brilliance. “Personally, it was a good season for me. I played
every minute like it was the last time I will play in a uniform,” said
Martinez, a second-year student who is unsure whether he will play
competitively after RCC. “It was a rough season for our team, and we had
Dr. Gill has been principal of North Rockland
HS for 10 years, and previously served as a Special
Education coordinator, middle-school assistant
principal and elementary school principal in the
district. He was an Honors student at RCC.
At North Rockland, he collaborates with RCC
in the College’s High School Program. Dr. Gill
also serves as adjunct faculty at Manhattanville
College and The College of Mount St. Vincent.
some tough losses, but you try to learn from the experience.”
After graduating from Clarkstown South in 2014, Martinez spent
a year at the College of Mount St. Vincent in Riverdale, NY, before
transferring to RCC. An outstanding student, he holds a 3.93 GPA
while majoring in Finance and expects to graduate in May with an AS
in Business Administration. He hopes to pursue a bachelor’s in Finance
at either NYU or Baruch College, CUNY, and plans on a career as an
investment banker or financial advisor.
“RCC was definitely the right choice for me,” he said. “It gave me the
opportunity to develop more as a player and as a student. Everything fell
into place when I came to RCC.”
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