Six Student-Athletes at Farmingdale Receive Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Awards


Apr 20, 2005


The State University of New York’s Chancellor, Robert L. King, recently named six of Farmingdale State’s student-athletes as winners of the 2004-05 Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Awards. The Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award was created to recognize academic excellence and outstanding athletic achievement. One student-athlete was chosen in each sport from one of four SUNY colleges, including Farmingdale State, Old Westbury, Purchase and Maritime. In addition to academic excellence, the student-athlete must have been named to any of the following: the All-Conference Team, All Tournament Team, MVP, etc., in order to be nominated for this award. This year’s winners from Farmingdale State were Reggie Routier (Indoor Track), Melissa Rudy (Volleyball), Patric Santiago (Golf), Anthony Scali (Baseball), Alberto Soberanes (Cross Country) and Devan Weber (Softball). The Chancellor will be honoring these recipients at The 2005 Scholar-Athlete Awards on Monday, April 25th at the Wyndham Hotel in East Syracuse, New York.


Freshman Alberto Soberanes (Elmhurst, NY/Newtown), who holds a 3.0 GPA, was named Cross-Country Team MVP after jumping aboard many All-Time lists in his first season as a cross-country runner. His first cross-country race was on September 27th at the Bard College Invitational, where he started the season off well placing 10th to lead the team to a third place finish out of 17 teams. This finish immediately put him in 4th on Farmingdale’s All-Time Bard College Course list. Alberto would then continue to lead the men’s team throughout the season. He took second place in the Highlander Classic on October 10th, leading the team to a first place finish out of 10 teams. He took 11th place at the St. John’s Invitational, leading the men to a second place finish. He finished in second place at the Halloween Classic at Van Cortlandt Park on October 31st, which put him into 11th place on the All-Time Van Cortlandt Park list. To cap off his remarkable season, he finished 6th in the Skyline Conference Championships at Sunken Meadow Park and 7th in the St. Joe’s Invitational, leading the team to a third place finish in the Skyline Conference.



Men's Cross-Country End of Season Report

Nov 15, 2004

The men’s cross-country team was led by freshman Alberto Soberanes, who finished in 7th place in the Skyline and led the team to a third place finish. Highlights this season for the men included a 1st place finish at the Highlander Invitational, 2nd place at the St. John’s Invitational and 3rd place at the Bard Invitational.

The women’s cross-country team finished 4th place in the Skyline and finished in 3rd place in the WIAC. Individually, sophomore Indiana Ripoll led the team this season, finishing 16th in the Skyline. The Rams finished fourth at the Halloween Classic, 6th at the Highlander Invitational and 7th at the Bard Invitational.

Soberanes Places 2nd at Halloween Classic

Oct 31, 2004

Nick Russo Halloween Classic

Van Cortlandt Park

Bronx, NY

Freshman Alberto Soberanes (Elmhurst, NY) placed 2nd at the Halloween Classic with a personal best of 28:56.11. Alberto moves to 11th overall on the Farmingdale All-Time Van Cortlandt Park list. Following Alberto in 13th place was freshman Imani Charles (St. Albans, NY) in a Van Cortlandt personal best of 31:43.48. Junior Jason Hernandez (Bay Shore, NY) placed 28th in 34:30 and freshman Jonathan Villanueva (Island Park, NY) was 48th in a Van Cortlandt personal best of 38:08.27. Farmingdale did not finish a full team due to injury and illness of three of the team members.

Skyline Conference Cross-Country Championships at Sunken Meadow

Oct 24, 2004

Skyline Conference/St. Joseph’s Invitational

Sunken Meadow State Park

The men’s and women’s Cross-Country team ran this weekend at Sunken Meadow State Park. Both men and women were running for the St. Joseph’s Invitational and Skyline Championship, while the women were also racing for the WIAC Championship. The men’s team finished 3rd in the Skyline Conference and 4th in the St. Joe’s Invitational. Alberto Soberanes (Elmhurst, NY) led the team (6th place Skyline, 7th place St. Joe’s) with a time of 29:34.1. Junior captain Jason Hernandez (Bay Shore, NY) finished in 32:48 and set a new personal record by 4 minutes.

Rounding out the top five were:

Sophomore, Armann Leiffson (Melville, NY): 20:40.2 – 12th Skyline, 15th St. Joe’s
Freshman, Nick Kelly (West Islip, NY): 31:41.7 – 24th Skyline, 17th St. Joe’s
Freshman, Imani Charles (St. Albans, NY): 31:42.7 – 25th Skyline, 18th St. Joe’s
Junior, Jason Hernandez: 32:48 – 28th Skyline, 38th St. Joe’s

The next race is the Nick Russo Halloween Classic on Sunday, October 31st at Van Cortlandt Park.

Rams Run at St. John’s Fall Festival

Oct 18, 2004

St. John's Invitational

Oakdale Campus

Oakdale, NY

The Farmingdale men placed 2nd and the women placed 5th on a blustery cold morning at the Oakdale Campus of St. John’s University. Alberto Soberanes’ 30:04.19 was good for 11th place and Armann Leifsson (31:50.84) was 14th for the men. Indiana Ripoll (23:33.6) was 25th and Tia Wofford (25:15.67) was 36th for the women.

After the race, the team participated in a barbeque to raise money for Breast Cancer Research in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They each donated their meal money to this worthy cause.

The Rams look forward to next Sunday, October 24th where they will run for the Skyline and WIAC Championships at the St. Joseph’s Invitational in Patchogue, NY.

Rams Place First at Highlander Invitational

Oct 10, 2004

Highlander Invitational

Branch Brook Park

Newark, NJ

8000m Course

Freshman Alberto Soberanes (Elmhurst,NY) took 2nd place individually with a personal best of 28:32.43 as he led the men’s team to a first place finish out of 10 teams at the Highlander Invitational in Newark, NJ. The Rams also had two more Top-Ten finishers: Nick Kelly (West Islip, NY) in 4th place with a time of 29:10.74 and Imani Charles (St. Albans, NY) in 9th place at 29:54.59. Sophomore Armann Leifsson (Melville, NY) took 14th place in 30:19.95 and junior Captain Jason Hernandez (Bay Shore, NY) rounded out the Rams’ top five. Freshman Jonathan Villanueva (Island Park, NY;46th, 35:08.79) and Paul Proios (Farmingville, NY; 51st, 37:33.73) were the 6th and 7th men for Farmingdale. All seven runners set personal best for the 8000m distance.

Alberto Soberanes Named Athlete of the Week

Sep 29, 2004

Class: Freshman

Hometown: Elmhurst, NY

High School: Newtown

Freshman runner Alberto Soberanes finished 10th at the Bard College Invitational with a time of 28:57. Alberto led the Men’s team to a 3rd place finish out of 17 teams in just his first cross-country race. He now stands as the 4th best Farmingdale runner on the Bard course. Alberto also finished 6th in the Skyline Conference Weekly Top-10 this week.

Men Take 3rd, Women Take 7th at Bard College Invitational

Sep 27, 2004

Freshman Alberto Soberanes (New York, NY) finished 10th in his first cross country race with a time of 28:57 to lead the men's team to a 3rd place finish out of 17 teams. Alberto is now fourth best Farmingdale runner on the Bard College course. Imani Charles (St. Albans, NY, 20th, 30:41), Armann Leiffson (Melville, NY, 21st, 31:11), and Nick Kelly (West Islip, NY, 22nd, 31:13) closely followed Alberto. The top 5 was rounded out by Jason Hernandez (Bay Shore, NY) with a 32nd place finish of 31:58. This was a personal best for Jason by four minutes.

Cross Country Opens at NYU Invitational

Sep 18, 2004

The Farmingdale Men's and Women's Cross Country team opened the season at the NYU Invitational on the nationally ranked Van Cortlandt Park Course. The weather conditions were miserable from Hurricane Ivan with heavy rain and flooding on the course.

The women, led by sophomore Indiana Ripoll (New York, NY), finished 22nd. Indiana ran a personal best of 24:32 for the 5000m. Junior Rachel Siegel (Medford, NY) also ran a personal best, 27:59.4, despite the terrible conditions.

The men's team placed 24th. Sophomore Armann Leiffson (Melville, NY) ran 31:09 to lead the team.

Farmingdale's next meet is on Saturday, September 25th at the Bard College Invitational.