2008HofstraAthletics
The Hofstra wrestling team has won seven consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championships.
Hofstra Athletics Year in Review continued from page 93 Sue Weber had her #20 jersey retired at a ceremony this past September.
The fall season began with Hofstra announcing that the jersey numbers of 20 former student-athletes would be retired during the 2008-09 academic year, with 10 retirement ceremonies taking place in fall 2008. On the field, four teams – women’s soccer, men’s soccer, field hockey and volleyball – qualified for CAA Championship play. The women’s soccer team lost a heartbreaking 1-0 contest in double overtime at the CAA Championship fi nals, while the men’s soccer team fell in the fi rst round of the CAA Championship. Volleyball advanced to the CAA semifi nals, while the field hockey team was eliminated in the CAA quarterfinals.
Former school scoring leader Steve Nisenson and current leader Antoine Agudio were recognized for their achievements in February 2008.
Jess Crankshaw of the women’s soccer team continued Hofstra’s run of strong defensive players as she was named CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year. The award marked the fifth time in the last six years that a Hofstra player has had at least a share of the honor.
Hofstra student-athletes also excelled in the classroom, as many players earned academic recognition. Among the standouts were: Lauren Engle, who was named CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year in volleyball; Sue Weber, a member of the women’s soccer team who graduated in May and was named CAA Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as the ECAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year; and wrestling’s Lou Ruggirello, who was named to the NWCA Academic All-America team. The Pride also had several student-athletes named to CoSIDA Academic All-District teams, including Nick Altomare (football), Lauren Engle (volleyball), Harmonie Calinda (volleyball), Luka Djordjevic (men’s tennis), Joanna Kralowetz (softball), Pam Dreslinski (softball), Carolann Lubach (softball) and Kris Root (softball). Other highlights from 2008 included the third Hofstra Athletics Hall of Induction Ceremony that took place in February and the Pride Student-Athlete Awards Banquet in May. It was announced at the banquet that the Hofstra Unsung Hero Award would be renamed in honor of Nick Colleluori, a member of the Pride lacrosse team who lost his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in November 2006.
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2008 CAA Volleyball ScholarAthlete of the Year Lauren Engle was twice named to the Provost’s List (4.0 GPA) at Hofstra.