The Envoy

The spring season gave us everything we wanted and more: two conference champions in outdoor track and field, runner-ups in men’s volleyball and men’s tennis, and several standout individual performances. In the end, the Hawks walked away with the biggest reward of the season: the Commissioner’s Cup trophy!

Men’s Volleyball

This season was a thriller for the men’s volleyball team. Expectations were high with the return of conference outside hitter Ahmed Mohamed. The team also made significant use of the transfer portal, adding young talent such as middle blocker Emmanuel Cochran from Lehman College and outside hitter Sebastian Gomez from York College.

The team finished with a 17-10 overall record. The highlight of the season came in a sweep of conference rival Baruch College in a thrilling regular-season finale. Strong performances from Cochran, Mohamed, and Gomez secured the Hawks’ first win against Baruch in three years. Other notable victories came against Drew University and Manhattanville University.

The Hawks earned the No.2 seed in the conference playoffs, which gave them and conference newcomer New Jersey City University a first-round bye. Their semifinal matchup came against Baruch, a bit of a far cry from their usual conference championship meetups. Despite their best efforts, the Hawks fell to the Bearcats in a 3-0 sweep.

 For postseason accolades, Mohamed was named Player of the Year. Mohamed and Gomez also earned all-conference honors, while Brandon Yeh was named to the all-sportsmanship team.

Men’s Tennis

The men’s tennis team put together another strong season, finishing with a 7-7 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play. 

Statement wins came against John Jay College in a (7-0) sweep and St Joseph’s University by a (6-1) score. Strong performances from Alexander Hagiu and Nicholas Cooper battled it out in duos and singles for the Hawks. This strong campaign led to a second seed reward in the playoffs.

The Hawks opened the playoffs against a familiar conference opponent Brooklyn College.

Strong performances from Nicholas Cooper, Alexander Hagiu, Jason Parmar, and Savio Francis in singles and doubles helped the Hawks defeat the Bulldogs 4-1. The victory sent the Hawks to another conference final matchup against Baruch College. Despite their best efforts, the Hawks lost to Baruch 4-0 in the conference final.

The Hawks, despite the loss, were rewarded with many postseason accolades.  Cooper was on the first team all-conference. Odin Dibra, Francis, and Hagiu were all on the second team all-conference. Parmar was named on the all-sportsmanship team.

Outdoor Track and Field

This outdoor track and field season saw the Hawks break individual records while gaining some team ones as well. The conference championship saw many individual and team performances work together to give us the ultimate reward in the end.

Shannon Ferri won individual gold in the 1500 and 5000m, while Mikaelle Caesar took first place in the 800m. Ferri finished second in the event while Leila Nouri placed third. Taelyn Murry took first in discus, while the 4×400 relay of Cesar, Orianna Blackman, Rachelle Griffith, and Alicia Clarke placed first in their event. On the men’s side, Leonardo Kaplan finished first in the 3000 steeplechase, while Hengzhi Zhu (first) and Robert Liang-Xu (second). Hunter also swept the 10000m with Zhu, Harrison Abarca and Brian Arias taking the top three in that event. The Hawks also swept the 5000m, with Penafil, Zhu and Arias taking the top three in that event as well. Benjamin Landheim and Jack Treacher took first and third place in the 400m, while Anthony Coccarelli helped grab another first-place gold in the discus.

The women’s team finished with 223 points, while the men finished with 176 points to defeat Medgar Evers by 199 and 167, respectively. Post-season accolades came for both teams. Coach Marvin Hawkins won the coach of the year in women’s outdoor track and field. Melanie Liu, Blackman, Cesar, Clarke, Ferri, Griffith, Murray, and Nouri made all conference on the women’s side. Landheim, Asuncion, Coccarelli, Daniel, Kaplan, Penafiel, and Zhu made all conference on the men’s side.

Softball

This year’s softball team had a successful and productive season. The softball team had a 13-30 overall record. Standout games against Sarah Lawrence, Lehman, and York prepared the team for a challenging postseason run. 

The Hawks ended the regular season as the fourth seed. Softball has double elimination in the conference tournament, and so this saw the Hawks play against each of the three seeds on day one of the conference championships. The Hawks upset Baruch, 9-6, in the first game against them while losing the second game to John Jay, 9-5. The Hawks lost to Brooklyn, 4-7, on the second day, which eliminated them from the championships altogether.

Giordana Bowen was named to the all-sportsmanship team, while Grace Basil, Elizabeth Thompson, and Abigail Bidinger were named to the all-conference team.

Reflection and Looking Forward

Cross Country and Track and Field athlete Mateo Penafil was also awarded conference men’s athlete of the year alongside Paz Moran of Baruch. Penafil is a senior majoring in nursing and has been part of the cross country/track and field teams for three years.

The Hawks’ mighty efforts across three seasons of sport and almost a calendar’s length of play gave us the biggest reward of all: The Commissioner’s Cup trophy. For the first time since the 2019-2020 season, Hunter College has won the trophy again. On CUNYAC’s website, the trophy is listed as being “presented at the CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete Ceremony in May to the top overall athletic program, based upon championship standings for all CUNYAC sports (determined by a point system).” 

 Congratulations to all the teams, athletes, and staff in the Athletics department that made this achievement possible. And while the summer is straight ahead with rest and relaxation, the fall is right behind it with another athletic year ahead, full of potential and growth.