Release courtesy of CNR Athletics
NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The College of New Rochelle has announced it will introduce three additional sports teams in 2017/18—women's soccer (fall 2017), men's cross country (fall 2017), and men's baseball (spring 2018). With these additions, the College will offer a total of 13 NCAA Division III men's and women's teams competing in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Association of Division III Independents.
A national search has begun to hire coaching staffs for each program.
"As we continue to expand our athletics program at CNR and build on our recent successes, we are excited to offer these additional opportunities to our students," says Jay Butler, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Wellness Center at The College of New Rochelle.
The fall 2016 season for the CNR Blue Angels, which included the introduction of men's sports for the first time in the College's history, was its most successful.
Women's volleyball won its fourth straight HVIAC championship and sixth overall, putting the program in first place for the number of HVIAC titles in any women's sport in the conference. The team also earned its first NCAA post-season bid (and the first for CNR athletics in over 30 years). Meanwhile, women's tennis marked its first appearance in the finals after defeating Vaughn in the semifinals. The fall season also saw CNR shatter records for the number of individual awards. Combined, the fall teams went an impressive 40-24, with both men's soccer and women's volleyball going undefeated at home.
The men's soccer team won its first Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) regular season title with a perfect 8-0 mark. The soccer team ended the season leading the NCAA in goals and goals per game and had the best first season on record with the NCAA. Freshman Jovanni Garcia (Garden Grove, CA) became the first CNR student-athlete to win a major NCAA statistical title since 2009, when Casey Cappelli won in women's basketball for blocks. He finished the season first in the NCAA in three categories, with 30 goals, 20 assists, and 80 points. Garcia also become the first Blue Angel to win AD3I's Student Athlete of the Month twice and topped that off by becoming the first Blue Angel to win the ECAC's Metro Region Offensive Player of the Year.
Altogether this fall, CNR student-athletes were honored 24 times for Player of the Week or Rookie of the Week by the HVIAC. Additionally, they received four National Player of the Week honors from the Association of Division III Independents.
As they conclude their winter season, the Blue Angels continue to enjoy similar success with both the women's and men's basketball teams appearing in the HVIAC Championship games, both finishing as runner-up. Freshmen Dar'Neisha Brice (Lexington Park, MD) topped Garcia's short lived record, earning her third straight AD3I Student Athlete of the Month for women's hoops. In the pool, men's and women's swimming shattered the record board with 20 individual records. For the first time, CNR sent swimmers to the Metropolitan Swimming Championships, as five swimmers represented the Blue Angels at the largest regional post-season event.
With the addition of the three newest teams, the CNR Blue Angels, who compete in the College's state-of-the-art Wellness Center, will field 13 athletic teams for the 2017-18 academic year, including women's and men's basketball, women's and men's swimming, women's and men's tennis, women's and men's cross country, women's and men's soccer, women's volleyball, women's softball, and men's baseball. In addition, the Blue Angel Cheerleaders promote school pride and school spirit, cheering at all home basketball games, numerous campus events, and the New Rochelle Thanksgiving Day Parade.
For more information about the CNR Athletics Program, visit www.cnrathletics.com.
