Rockville Centre, N.Y. - Dowling women’s basketball player Simona Bartkova, Queens College men’s soccer player and track and field runner Brian Buckmire and St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s track and field runner Chris Muniz received the East Coast Conference Excellence in Community and Character Award at the ECC Awards Dinner on June 9.
The most prestigious award presented of the night, Excellence in Community and Character Award recipients are student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through positive actions and behaviors that are consistent with the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, service, passion, sportsmanship, balance and resourcefulness.
“This award is not just for the best student, best athlete, the best sportsman or woman,” said ECC Commissioner Dr. Robert Dranoff. “This is an award for all around excellence. With many strong nominees, the choices were difficult but we have selected three very deserving student-athletes.”
Bartkova, a biology major, has compiled a perfect 4.0 GPA as well as earning CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors. As a team captain, she was a leader that went above and beyond and cared about her team and others. In between basketball double headers, you would find her - win or loss - cleaning the bench areas to ensure the men’s team had a clean bench to start the game; she wanted to provide her counterparts with same courtesy she had to start the game. Bartkova’s dedication to the sport is evident in her extra hours spent practicing her shots. However, most notably is what she accomplished in the science lab. Bartkova worked with a professor at Dowling under a research grant to study various fungi and their possible anti-cancer properties.
Over his four years at St. Thomas Aquinas, Muniz has maintained a 3.98 GPA as a History major and is member of Chi Omega, the athletic honor society. He is extremely dedicated to community service and community outreach, volunteering in the Public Relations department for a local politician as well as participating in the SIDS Walk and Relay for Life. Muniz has taken a team first approach to athletics, rather than shying away or thinking about the records that could be achieved, he led by example and worked to motivate his teammates to reach their potential. Throughout his career Chris broke numerous school records in events ranging from the 55 to the 400. During the 2009-10 academic year he was the Spartans’ first ever qualifier for the NCAA National Championships in New Mexico and finished 9th in the nation in the 400 meter dash. Muniz is currently studying for the LSAT and plans to go to law school upon graduation.
From the very first semester that Buckmire was on campus he has asked how he could be involved within the athletic department. He immediately took on a very strong team representative role in SAAC and was elected vice president in 2009 by his fellow athletes. As Vice President, Buckmire has pushed SAAC as well as the department to take each event and bring it to the next level. From National Student-Athlete Day to Midnight Run, Buckmire has pushed to make the events go bigger and better. He has been very involved at the conference level as well, participating in ECC Fitness Challenge and Retreats. A team captain of the men’s soccer team, Buckmire started every game for the Knights and was named to the All-Conference First Team. Buckmire maintains a 3.383 GPA as a Political Science Major with a concentration in Law and is studying to sit for the LSATs in the Fall. In addition to his academics, athletics and community service, he maintains a job to help pay for his educations.