On Friday, four Bronx Community College student-athletes were named National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Academic All-Americans, the nation’s top academic honor.
Men’s soccer freshman goalkeeper Vsevolod Orlov from Moscow, Russia, earned First Team Academic All-America honors, achieving a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He was one of only two First Team honorees throughout the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC).
Women’s volleyball libero Alondra Mesa from the Bronx and women’s basketball forward and fellow sophomore Kayla Smith from Brooklyn were named Second Team Academic All-America winners. Smith was also named a CUNYAC Student-Athlete of the Year Honorable Mention in May.
Mesa will attend the University of Houston in the fall, while Smith will enroll at Hunter College.
Baseball sophomore starting pitcher Esteban De Los Santos of the Bronx was named to the Third Team. He will attend Brooklyn College.
De Los Santos, Orlov, Mesa and Smith were named to the NJCAA Region XV All-Academic Team earlier this week.
“We’re extremely proud of Vsevolod, Alondra, Kayla and Esteban for how hard they work, how studious and flexible they are, and the example the set before their teammates,” said Director of Athletics Ryan McCarthy. “We take great pride in our students’ academic performance, particularly given how challenging 2020 has been. Credit goes to our student-athletes, as well as our coaching and support staffs. Our student-athletes continue to shine academically at the top of our league.”
Student-athletes are eligible to earn academic honors by achieving an overall GPA of 3.6 or higher for the 2019-20 academic year. The criteria for the three All-Academic teams are listed below:
NJCAA All-Academic First Team: 4.00 GPA
NJCAA All-Academic Second Team: 3.80-3.99 GPA
NJCAA All-Academic Third Team: 3.60-3.79 GPA
| College | Academic All-Americans | Sports |
| Bronx | 4 | 5 |
| BMCC | 1 | 6 |
| Hostos | 0 | 2 |
| Kingsborough | 3 | 14 |
| Queensborough | 6 | 13 |
