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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Athletes earn Academic All-American honors


The Monroe Community College athletic program received its share of accolades during the 2005-2006 school year as four national championship-winning teams brought with them a bevy of exposure on both the local and national levels.  But a trio of MCC student-athletes proved their mettle in the classroom as well.

Swimmers Casey Degon and Melissa Ashby and baseball player Ryan Sullivan were named National Junior College Athletic Association Academic All-Americans, honoring the work student-athletes do on the playing fields as well as in the classroom.

Degon finished with a 3.80 GPA, which was high enough to earn  Distinguished Academic All-American honors.  Degon, a two-year member of the MCC men's swimming and diving team from Malone, NY, was a regional champion in the 100-yard breaststroke and as a member of the 200-yard medley relay team. At the national meet, Degon finished sixth in the 200 breaststroke and seventh in the 100 breaststroke.

Sullivan finished with a grade point average of 3.72.  A two-year catcher, Sullivan was named the MVP of the 2006 Region III baseball tournament after going 4-for-13 with four runs scored, eight RBIs, two home runs, and five walks.  One of the home runs was a grand slam. Sullivan, from Hilton, NY, finished the season with a .342 batting average, four home runs, and 52 runs batted in. Sullivan was a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar Athlete Award.

Ashby wrapped up her sophomore year with a 3.65 GPA. Hailing from St. George's, Grenada, she is a former Summer Olympian for her native country.  Ashby was one of the top swimmers for MCC this season.  She was a six-time regional champ, taking first in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke while helping the 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 400 free relay, and 800 free relay teams to victory. She finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 200 breaststroke at the national meet.  Ashby was also a SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar Athlete Award winner.

Tom Garigen
Athletics
07/05/2006