Pictured left to right with the 2009-10 NATYCAA Cup: Ryan Hughes (Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach), Mike Dickson (Head Baseball Coach), Brian Rowan (Head Men's Tennis Coach and Assistant, Director of Athletics), Ron Case (Director of Athletics)

It was an exciting year for the Gloucester County College Athletic Program and all of the success of the Roadrunner teams paid off in a big way! The Roadrunner Athletic Program was awarded its first NATYCAA Cup recognizing GCC as the best overall non-scholarship NJCAA program in the country. NATYCAA's (National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators) prestigious award was presented to GCC Director of Athletics Ron Case recently at the NATYCAA Convention in Anaheim, CA.

Rankings in the NATYCAA Cup are formulated by awarding institutions with points based on competition at NJCAA Championship events. A first place finish is worth 20 points; second place is worth 19 points; etc. The Roadrunners won two NJCAA National Championships in 2009-10 (Men's Tennis and Baseball) to help them outpace Herkimer CCC and Mohawk Valley CC in the NATYCAA Cup standings.  Six other teams (Men's and Women's Cross Country, Women's Tennis, Wrestling and Men's and Women's Track & Field) contributed to the Roadrunners' winning total of 131 points.

This marked the fourth straight year that GCC has finished in NATYCAA's top three with a second place finish in 2006-07 and third place finishes in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Click here for more on the NATYCAA Cup Award and complete standings from NJCAA.org...

Gloucester County College Athletics 2009-2010 in Review

The Gloucester County College athletic program has had many great years and earned a number of awards over the years but 2009-10 may be remembered as the best ever. For the first time the Roadrunners have won the NATYCAA Cup Award for the best overall non-scholarship two-year college athletic program in the nation. The award measures an athletic programs success overall. The Roadrunners earned this award through the hard work and dedication of many and the program is grateful to all the athletes and coaches who work so hard.

The 2009-10 athletic year finished with two of the most exciting events in a matter of weeks as both the Men’s Tennis Team and the Baseball Team won NJCAA Division III National Championships in the month of May. The Men’s Tennis Team captured their first national title behind individual national champions Aaron Hartman and Jared Randazzo and national coach of the year Brian Rowan. Remarkably, this is the first men’s tennis intercollegiate national championship for any college or university from the state of New Jersey. The Baseball Team then went on to dominate the Division III World Series behind great pitching and powerful hitting. The Roadrunners were the top team heading into the tournament but had to defeat host Tyler Junior College twice in extra innings to earn the championship, the sixth for this powerful program at GCC. Logan Morello was named Tournament MVP and Alexi Colon was later named National Player of the Year. Pitchers Matt Smith and Nick Alloway joined Colon as NJCAA All-Americans. Head Coach Mike Dickson was named National Coach of the Year.

Other teams that had great success nationally were the Outdoor Track & Field teams. The women ran and threw to a fifth place finish at the NJCAA National Meet and the men finished third overall. The Women’s Tennis Team also had a great year as they repeated as Garden State Athletic Conference Champions and NJCAA Region XIX Champions and finished fourth at the NJCAA National Tennis Championships.

Of course there were individual accomplishments as well. Long distance specialist Ozzie Huerta was named the Athlete of the Year in Men’s Outdoor Track & Field after winning the 5,000m and 10,000m and finishing second in the 3,000m Steeplechase at the NJCAA National Championships.

The Roadrunner athletic program knows that winning is not all that matters. This year our program produced ten Academic All-Americans overall, six of which were listed as Distinguished All-Americans for earning a 3.8 grade point average or higher. The Roadrunners also made an effort to improve the lives of others by contributing their efforts to many charitable causes. Notably, the Women’s Basketball Team raised funds and awareness through its Pink Zone Night, the Baseball Team loaded trucks for the United Way of Gloucester County Food Drive, and the Men’s Soccer Team did a clinic and made a donation to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club in Paulsboro, NJ.

All in all another great year for the Gloucester County College Roadrunners!