Cuyahoga Community College Athletics is the 2023-24 recipient of the Ohio Community College Athletics Conference (OCCAC) All-Sports Award. The Triceratops’ first OCCAC All-Sports Award in school history includes two conference titles and top-3 finishes in four of five OCCAC sports.
“On behalf of our coaches, support staff and administration, we are proud to accept the All-Sports Award for the 2023-24 school year,” said Anthony Cipollone, Tri-C’s executive director of athletics, wellness and recreation.
Cuyahoga was crowned champions for both women’s basketball and baseball. In addition, the softball squad went 11-5 to finish as runner-up and men’s basketball’s 12-4 mark was third-best in the OCCAC.
“When the college reinstated sports and reorganized how athletics would be run about two and a half years ago, our stated goal was to become a nationally recognized NJCAA program, and that journey begins with being as competitive as possible in the rugged OCCAC. The OCCAC schools provide great competition for all our programs, and we are humbled and honored to receive the award for this season.”
Cuyahoga coaches earned the league’s top annual honor in three sports as Jasmine Frierson and Dion Griffin (women’s basketball), Bryan Komlos (softball) and Kyle Stahlberg (baseball) were all named OCCAC Coach(es) of the Year for their respective sports.
“The most important people to thank, however, are our student-athletes, especially our sophomores and second-year student-athletes, who placed their trust in our coaches and a college that hadn't competed in more than two seasons. We thank them most of all, and this award is theirs."
Student-athletes Kyle Koehler (baseball) and Marcos Vazquez (men’s basketball) also brought home some hardware as the Player of the Year and Playmaker of the Year, respectively. Overall, 16 Triceratops earned All-OCCAC distinction with a half dozen making the First Team.
The OCCAC All-Sports Award is tallied by issuing points to schools based on their place of finish in each OCCAC-sponsored sport and dividing by the total number of sports at each respective school. Conference champions earn 10 points, second place earns nine, and so on. Ties are divided (i.e., a two-way tie for second place would result in both schools receiving 8.5 points; a three-way tie would give each team 8.0 points). A three-sport minimum is required to win the award.