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Richard Stockton junior pole vaulter Kim Marino and Montclair State
offensive guard Al Cappello were named the 2002-03 NJAC Female and Male
Athletes of the Year respectively at the conference's fourth annual Awards
Brunch held at the Princeton Hyatt Regency.
The
selection of Marino and Cappello highlighted the annual brunch attended by
a record crowd. In all, 17 team champions, 30 sport special award-winners
and six conference All-Academic team members were honored.
Marino competed in both women’s indoor and outdoor track & field and
proved to be the single best athlete at her event in the country in both
sports. She began the indoor season by delivering a record-setting vault
of 3.97 meters to win the NJAC pole vault championship. She followed by
winning the NCAA Championship with a successful attempt at 12 feet, 10 and
three-quarters inches. In the outdoor season, she again broke the
conference record with a vault of 3.8 meters at the NJAC Championships.
She topped off the year by winning the NCAA Outdoor Championship with a
Division III record vault of 13 feet, 1 and 3-quarters inches for her
second national championship of the year. A 3-time All-American, she has
been selected to Who’s Who In American Colleges and Universities and has
earned a place on Richard Stockton’s Dean’s List four times. Only a
junior, she boasts a 3.40 grade point average in Historical Studies.
An
outstanding football performer on the Montclair State offensive line,
Cappello was instrumental in the success of the Montclair State offensive
unit which produced record-setting performances in both the passing and
running games. A two-time first-team All-NJAC selection, he earned
second-team All-ECAC honors and was named a first-team All-East selection
by Football Gazette. A preseason All-American by Street &
Smith and D3Football.com, Cappello was the recipient of the Alden C.
Coder award for loyalty and unselfishness in the Montclair State football
program. A co-captain for the Red Hawks, he was named Montclair’s
Co-Senior Athlete of the Year and currently serves as the Director for a
Saturday Afternoon Special Activities Program at Montclair State for
special needs children. A National Football Foundation scholar-athlete, he
currently boasts a 3.12 grade point average in Physical Education.
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