Tri-C Wins Its First OCCAC All-Sports Award

College won league titles in women’s basketball and baseball

Less than two years after its athletic teams returned to competition, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) won its first-ever Ohio Community College Athletics Conference (OCCAC) All-Sports Award.

The Triceratops won league titles in women's basketball and baseball, with two other top-three finishes during the year. The softball team finished second (11-5 record in OCCAC games), and men's basketball finished third (12-4 OCCAC).

"We are proud to accept the All-Sports Award for the 2023-2024 school year," said Anthony Cipollone, Tri-C's executive director of Athletics, Wellness and Recreation. "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. This award is theirs."

The College suspended its athletics programs during the pandemic for the spring of 2020 and the 2021-2022 academic year. In the fall of 2022, Tri-C's teams returned with lofty aspirations.

"When the College reinstated sports and reorganized how athletics would be run about two and a half years ago, our goal was to become a nationally recognized National Junior College Athletic Association program," Cipollone said. "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."

In addition to the All-Sports Award and two league titles, the Triceratops had several other accolades: 

• Kyle Koehler (baseball) was named the OCCAC Player of the Year, and Marcos Vazquez (men's basketball) was the OCCAC Playmaker of the Year. 
• Sixteen student-athletes earned All-OCCAC distinctions, including six first-team nods. 
• Four Tri-C coaches were named OCCAC Coach of the Year: Jasmine Frierson and Dion Griffin (women's basketball), Bryan Komlos (softball) and Kyle Stahlberg (baseball). 

The College's previous best-ever finish for the All-Sports Award was second place in the 2022-2023 and 2016-2017 seasons.

June 04, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: Anthony Moujaes, 216-987-3068 or anthony.moujaes@tri-c.edu