The United States Collegiate Athletic Association held its 2016 USCAA Fall Championship banquet at the Virginia Beach Convention Center on Thursday evening in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The evening served as a commemoration of the accomplishments of a plethora of the conference's student-athletes from multiple sports, including men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, and women's volleyball.
The Berkeley College Department of Athletics was represented very well at the banquet, with four student-athletes receiving National praise. The institution's New York soccer team – which qualified for competition in the HVIAC tournament but fell short of reaching Nationals this season – was represented by Ali Dawha and Salim Drammeh. Dawha racked-up multiple awards tonight – as he was selected as a First Team USCAA All-American while also earning All-Academic All-American recognition. Additionally, Salim Drammeh was announced as an All-Academic All-American. Following the announcement of these awards, Head Coach Stavros Zomopoulos gave his thoughts.
"This is a fantastic accomplishment for our student-athletes this evening, and especially for Ali, as he became the first Berkeley College soccer player in the history of the institution to be tabbed as a First-Team All-American," Zomopoulos said. "I am so proud of him. In a way, this piece of news softens the blow of the tough season that we had. As far as Salim is concerned, he is a very hard worker on and off the field. He puts plenty of time into his studies, and he is very much deserving of being named an All-Academic All-American."
The Knights' women's cross country team was represented by veteran Kimberly Acevedo and first-year Berkeley College runner Amanda Ekornes, as that duo earned All-Academic All-American recognition. Following the announcement of their accomplishments, Head Coach Adam Rosen expressed his gratification.
"Amanda and Kimberly are two of the hardest-working student-athletes that I have had the opportunity to coach, and it is tremendous to witness their hard work pay off right before my very eyes at tonight's banquet," Rosen said. "They certainly are enjoying this trip to Virginia Beach, and on the eve of tomorrow's big meet, it was excellent to them earn these awards. I couldn't be more proud of them."
The women's 6K race will be ran tomorrow at 9:30am, followed by the men's 8K event at 10:30am.
Berkeley College's New Jersey men's soccer team was also present at the banquet, as the squad is set to play its first-ever USCAA National Men's Soccer Tournament match tomorrow, as the Knights will take on Dean College at 2:00pm. Berkeley – which earned a spot in Pool D – will have an opportunity to eliminate Dean College from the pool tomorrow with a victory. Should the Knights lose tomorrow, they'll have an opportunity to defeat Florida National on Saturday to force a three-way tie in the pool (which would then send the pool to a slew of tie-breakers to determine its winner).
