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In a banner day for the Brooklyn College Athletics program, three head coaches were named CUNYAC Coach of the Year in their respective sports. Lya Kushnirovich took home the award for her work guiding the Women’s Tennis team, Alex Lang earned the honor for his work at the helm of the Women’s Cross Country squad, while Steve Podias copped the hardware for his work with the Men’s Cross Country Team.
Kushnirovich, in her first season as head coach of the Women’s Tennis team, made an immediate impact. She led the Bridges to a 10-6 overall record, including a 6-2 slate in conference play. Her charges, led by senior Joy Rotstein, junior Ruth Perez and CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Olexandra “Sasha” Ovsiy, earned the number three seed in the postseason tournament before bowing out to eventual runner-up Baruch College in the semifinals.
“I was fortunate to coach a group of talented and motivated young ladies,” said Kushnirovich. “My job was made much easier by their dedication and efforts. There was an overwhelming desire to do better today than we did yesterday. When players come in with that attitude, success is bound to follow.”
Lang, in his second season as women’s cross country coach, led the Bridges to three consecutive team meet titles to close out the season, including the 2008 CUNYAC Championship, the first for Brooklyn College. In eight weeks of competition at Van Cortlandt Park this year, BC never placed lower than third. Led on the course by CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Joanne Mundo, stellar senior Huan “Kayllen” Zangh and two-time Rookie of the Week Krystyna Uhlitskykh, the Bridges improved drastically from a sixth place finish in the 2007 CUNYAC Championships, to win by nine points over second place Staten Island.
“All the credit goes to my team – they did a remarkable job training and never stopped competing until they reached their ultimate goal of winning the CUNYAC championship,” Lang said.
Podias’ team won the school’s first-ever Men’s Cross Country Championship at Van Cortlandt Park by the absolute slimmest of margins. Led by sophomores Timothy Mann and Arvind Badhey, the Bridges appear poised for more success in the upcoming season.
“This award belongs to my runners who did everything we asked of them,” said Podias. “This award is a testament to them.”
Bruce Filosa, Director of Recreation, Intramurals, and Intercollegiate Athletics, noted the magnitude of having three coaches named Coach of the Year in their respective sports.
“The combination of dedicated coaches working with gifted student-athletes has made this Fall 2008 season one to remember at Brooklyn College and has laid the groundwork for more successful seasons to come.”
For more information, please go to http://www.brooklyncollegeathletics.com
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