Flushing, NY -- The City University of New York Athletic Conference is thrilled to announce that two Community College baseball players from the top two teams were recently named All-Americans by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), bringing the league’s 15-member colleges a new all-time record 32 individual All-Americans.

The newest honorees are BERNY POLANCO, a sophomore shortstop for Bronx Community College and JESSE FRIEDMAN, a sophomore catcher for Queensborough Community College, both of whom ranked in the top 20 in the Nation in batting. Both players were named to the NJCAA All-American Third Team following outstanding seasons on the field, with their teams facing off in the 2011 CUNYAC/MCU Championship game and a berth in the NJCAA Region XV Playoffs. In the CUNYAC final, played at MCU Park, Friedman was 2-4 with a run scored, but he was outdone by Polanco, who was 3-4 with a run and run batted in to earn game Most Valuable Player honors.

Following the game, Polanco, a switch-hitter said, “We put trust in ourselves, trust in our coaches and give everything we have on the field every day. That’s what we try to do every time we take the field. I and humbled to be named the MVP, because it’s a total team effort.”

Polanco led CUNYAC and Region XV in batting with a .437 batting average, which placed him ninth among the NJCAA Division III leaders. For the Broncos, he scored 22 runs and had a .543 on base percentage (8th in NJCAA) on the season for the CUNYAC Tournament Champions. Meanwhile, Friedman, the leadoff hitter for the CUNYAC Regular Season Champions batted .423 for the season and boasted a .561 on-base-percentage, which was fourth-best in the Country.

“It is a great source of pride that as a conference our student-athletes were able to set a new benchmark for All-American success this past year,” said Zak Ivkovic, the Executive Director of CUNYAC. “The fact that student-athletes from eleven of our 24 sports earned National recognition is impressive. Besides the fact that Kingsborough had almost half the All-Americans, is that this list includes many scholar-athletes that excel in their academic endeavors as well. We are enormously proud of them all.”

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Following the Fall 2010 season, the first three student-athletes earned the distinguished status as Bronx freshman ASHLEY ARMAND finished as the NJCAA National Runner-up in the 2010 Division III Women’s Cross Country Championship race. Her second place time of 20:09.7 was on the heels of her Region XV Individual Championship one week earlier.

Two men’s soccer standout forwards were named NJCAA second-team All-Americans, KLAUDIO SHALA (Borough of Manhattan) and CEMIL TURAN (Kingsborough). Shala, the Most Valuable Player of the CUNYAC/Applebee’s Community College Men’s Soccer Championship, registered 10 goals and six assists for 26 points on the year. Turan ranked seventh nationally with 50 points (24 goals, two assists).

For the second straight year, at least three basketball players earned All-American honors, led by York senior MARCEL ESONWUNE, who became the first basketball player in York College history to earn All-American status in back-to-back seasons. This year, he finished as the nation’s leading rebounder and ranked second in the country in blocked shots. His 20.1 scoring average put him at 1,818 career points.

FREDERICK SIMPSON led the Bronx Broncos on a magical season and finished the season ranked 9th and 17th in the NJCAA Division III in scoring (20.9 ppg) and rebounding (10.5 rpg), respectively to earn National third-team honors. The NJCAA Region XV Women’s Player of the Year, Hostos’ MYRA MOLINA also earned NJCAA 3rd Team honors. The CUNYAC All-Star finished the year 14th in the NJCAA in scoring at 17.4 points.

Later in March, the College of Staten Island men's swimming program had its best-ever showing at the NCAA Division III National Championship, with a 13th place finish. To top off the extraordinary run, CSI senior and three-time national champion PAVEL BUYANOV took home the silver medal in the 200-yard Breaststroke, the final race of his amateur career. An 11-time All-American, Buyanov also captured bronze in the 100 Breaststroke and led CSI’s 400 Yard Medley Relay that took sixth place, along with NIKOLAY SHEVCHENKO, VLADISLAV ROMANOV and freshman DANILA NOVIKOV. Shevchenko, a two-time CUNYAC Most Valuable Performer, finished his four-year CSI career as a 7-time All-American, while Romanov is now an eight-time All-American after placing in both the 100 Yard and 200 Yard Backstroke. Novikov took home the Bronze in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, finishing less than a second behind the National Champion in the race.

For the second straight year, Baruch seniors PABLO OLIVEIRA and ERYK KOWALSKI each earned All-American Honors in Men’s Volleyball. Oliveira was named the 2011 CUNYAC Player of the Year, a First Team NECVA All-Star, and was twice named the AVCA National Division III Player of the Week. Kowalski (407 kills, 3.42 k/s) was named a 2011 CUNYAC First Team All-Star and recorded a career-high 28 kills in the NECVA championship match against Nazareth College on April 3.

Late in the spring, the KCC Wave, who have had 12 tennis All-American the past two years under head coach Barry Goldsmith, had only one earn the honor this year, ROSALIE XUE became a National Champion at the fifth singles flight of the NJCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship with a tough 3-set victory in the final.

The City College of New York enjoyed four CUNYAC Championships this year on the track, but the storied program was overwhelmed when sophomore Athlete of the Year PAUL DEDEWO earned All-American status in his first attempt on the National stage. At the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 29th, he competed in the 400 Meter Dash and in the preliminaries, he finished in eighth place amongst 19 amazing competitors, with a time of 48.17. The following day, he finished in eighth place in the 400 Meter Dash final with a time of 48.44, solidifying himself as one of the eight best in the Nation.

Last but, probably first on the list of significant achievements of the year, was the 2011 NJCAA Division III Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where the women's team of Kingsborough Community College became the National Runners-up and seven events featured CUNYAC student-athletes enjoying a National title, including three relay events. In total, 12 Community College competitors won gold medals, as National Champions and 16 CUNYAC competitors in total (13 from KCC) finished first or second in an event to earn All-American status.

First off was QCC's GERALE MIDDLETON, as the sophomore triumphed once again in her best individual event, the 800 Meter Run. Only fourth after the preliminaries, she won the final going away in 2:23.66, almost six seconds ahead of second place to win her second straight gold medal. On the men’s side, Bronx’ ERROL JEFFREY won the National title in the NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a Shot Put toss with a 16.06 meter mark, well ahead of the 14.92 meter second place throw. Also, QCC’s YOUNES BENZAID was the NJCAA National runner-up in the 1,500 Meter Run, finishing just three (3) - one-hundredth’s (or 0.03 seconds) behind the champion.

Kingsborough sophomore DEANDRA NELSON was the top CUNYAC performer, picking up two individual and two relay gold medals. Nelson won the Women's 400 Meter Dash (58.00) and the Long Jump (4.98 meters). Competing in six events in total, Nelson earned a silver medal in the 200 Meter Dash and finish 6th in the Triple Jump.

With her teammates, the Wave also put their names in the record books, beating the meet mark in the 4x400 Meter Relay, besting the old standard of 4:03.94 set back in 2002 by half a second (4:03.43). BOSEDE DARAMOLA, CHARLENE JACKSON and SHEMEKA MORGAN ran the record setter with Nelson.

Jackson and Nelson also teamed with TIA GARDNER and ZENIA GEORGE to win the 4x800 Meter Relay, racing home in 10:08.59, just over 11 seconds in front of second place. Also, George captured second place in the Javelin Throw, while Morgan made it a KCC 1-2 finish in the Long Jump, earning her a silver medal.

Also noteworthy was the sixth place finish at the National championships by the Kingsborough men, adding 7 National All-Americans, and a national championship in the final race of the competition, 4x400 Meter Relay. The team of TAHSAKA ADOLPH, CALVIN EDMOND, RUBEN PIERRE-LOUIS and ROHAN STEWART won the 4x4 in 3:22.42, to just sneak by their hosts (3:22.48).

Stewart also anchored KCC's second place 4x800 Meter second place relay, as DALTON PALMER, DEVON ALEXANDER, KERONE WHITE and Stewart slotted in with a time of 8:11.95 to round out all of the Outdoor Track and Field All-Americans.

Listed below is a breakdown of the honorees by sport and college, and here’s to an even more rewarding 2011-12 athletic season.