Athletics Earns Program-Record Third Place in the National Ron Case Cup
Final Standings - https://nacda.com/documents/2025/6/30/2025_FINAL_DAKTRONICS_NonScholarship.pdf
CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu,(518) 629-7898 or (518) 416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, July 21, 2025
Hudson Valley Community College's Department of Athletics capped a successful 2024–25 season with a program-record third-place finish in the Ron Case Cup, presented by Daktronics. The Ron Case Cup is a national competition that recognizes overall program excellence among two-year colleges, organized by the National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA).
HVCC finished third in the NJCAA Non-Scholarship Division after accumulating 113.5 points—highlighting the national success achieved by Viking athletic teams throughout the 2024–25 academic year. The 113.5 points were the highest total among all NJCAA Region 3 programs. HVCC trailed only Gloucester (161.5 points) and Joliet (147 points) in the overall standings.
"This is a true testament to the College's commitment to our athletics programs," said Justin Hoyt, HVCC Director of Athletics. "It all starts with our student-athletes and coaches, who dedicate countless hours to recruiting, coaching, and teaching. While we celebrated one of the most successful athletic years in our program's history, I am most proud of the academic records our student-athletes achieved this past year." Hoyt continued, "We look forward to building on this success as we head into the 2025-26 academic year."
At the start of the spring semester, Hudson Valley sat outside the top 20 in standings released in early February by NATYCAA. However, beginning with the men's and women's bowling championships in March, the Vikings launched what would become a historic spring season for the department.
The men's bowling team finished runner up in the NJCAA Bowling National Championships to garner 20 cup points as the NJCAA's top non-scholarship program in the final team standings. The program finished with a record-high three NJCAA All-Americans as Aidan McCarthy, Salvatore IaVarone and Tyler Drexel placed fifth, sixth and seventh in the All-Events standings, respectively. The women's program grabbed cup points as they finished 11th overall in the final national standings, accumulating 10,637 pins.
The women's tennis program performed well at the NJCAA Women's Tennis Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. Led by Jocelyn Richter, who finished runner-up in the top singles flight, the Vikings secured a fifth place finish in the overall standings. Richter was named a second-team NJCAA All-American for her individual accomplishments.
The men's and women's track and field programs had one of its best combined seasons since the program returned to the Valley in 2018. The men earned a fourth place finish (best finish was 3rd in 2022) as recorded 77 team points behind four national championship performances from Jair Oliva, Samuel Faga, Xavier Hughes and Makai Gordon.
Oliva, who broke a 47-year old school record in the 400m event earlier in the year, won the national title in the 400m event with a final time of 50.58 seconds. Faga earned All-American status after winning the 10,000m event, posting a time of 33:48.97. Hughes grabbed the 400m hurdles title and Gordon soared to new heights as he won the men's high jump with a jump of 2.03m (6 feet, 8 inches). In total, the men's program had six individuals grab NJCAA All-American honors, which is awards to individuals who place in the top-3 of each individual event.
On the women's side, they placed seventh overall with 39 team points. The team was led by Athena Seebald, Inara Bradford and the women's 4x100m relay team (Taiwo Omoya, Emily Wilson, Abigale Dunlavey and Bradford). Seebald accumulated 16 team points with runner-run finishes in the women's 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase events. Bradford grabbed points on the relay team and added eight more points with her second place finish in the 100m dash.
Following the track and field success, the softball program accomplished its stated goal of winning a Region 3 championship and earned its first NJCAA Championship berth since 2015. In the opening round of the championships, the fifth-ranked Vikings defeated Community College of Rhode Island and advanced in the winners-bracket. The Vikings placed fifth overall (tied with Surry) to close out their historic season. Softball was led by Moira Collins, who garnered several prestigious honors, including NJCAA First Team All-American, NJCAA Region 3 Player of the Year and Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year. She became the first Vikings softball student-athlete to be named a First Team All-American since Tracy Cheesebrough accomplished the feat in 2007. Following the season, Collins was named the SUNY Spring Scholar Athlete of the Year and the Capital District Sportswoman of the Year.
The men's golf team closed out the 2024-25 athletic year with another historic performance as they earned a top-5 finish in the 2025 NJCAA Men's Golf Championships. The team posted a +34 team score, finishing 8-strokes behind fellow Region 3 member, Niagara, and were led by All-American, Jonathan Reynolds. Reynolds placed 11th overall with a final four-round score of +13. Reynolds is the first All-American since Lane Jenkins was named to the All-American Honorable Mention team in 2023.