August 8, 2019

CIA Student-Athletes Stand Out in Academics and Sportsmanship, Too!

The Culinary Institute of Americas basketball team

The Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) has named its All-Academic and All-Sportsmanship teams for the 2018-19 seasons. Students who wear the green and gold for athletic competition against other colleges are also stars in the classroom and as ambassadors for the CIA.

Eric Eastman, CIA Sophomore on both the All-Academic & All-Sportsmanship teams.
CIA student Eric Eastman earned a spot on both the All-Academic and the All-Sportsmanship teams.

To earn a spot on the All-Academic team, a student must reach sophomore year in their studies and maintain at least a 3.3 grade point average. Five CIA Steels players achieved that honor:

  • Christopher Coley (sophomore, Upton, MA), basketball
  • Eric Eastman (sophomore, Groton, NY), basketball
  • Melanie Russo (sophomore, Waldorf, MD), tennis
  • Cassidy Seo (senior, Dallas, TX), tennis
  • Jade Yvanovich (junior, Poughkeepsie, NY), tennis

This year, the conference created its first All-Sportsmanship team to highlight student-athletes who demonstrate fair play, graciousness in victory and respectfulness in defeat, and are ambassadors for the team—both on and off the field.

The inaugural list of students who epitomize the ideals of sportsmanship includes Eastman and tennis player Alex Cordell (junior, Avondale, PA).

The CIA’s sports teams are named for the tool chefs use to sharpen knives. The Steels compete in the HVIAC in cross country, soccer, and volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter, and tennis in the spring. The conference is comprised of 10 four-year specialty colleges in New York State. Some of the teams the CIA competes against include Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Vaughn College of Aeronautics, and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.