CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, December 11, 2002
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has named Hudson Valley freshman running back Emmanuel Marc (Spring Valley/Spring Valley High School) an Honorable Mention All-American for the 2002 season.
"Emmanuel Marc improved a lot as the season progressed," said Hudson Valley head coach Bob Jojo. "He became the person we wanted to get the ball to in the second half of the season."
Marc led the Northeast Football Conference (NFC) and was eighth in the NJCAA with 1,235 rushing yards this past fall. He earned First Team All-Conference accolades from the NFC this season and was named the NFC's Player of the Week on three occasions. JC Football Network also named him the national Player of the Week after he rushed for 152 yards and one touchdown against Nassau Community College on October 26.
Marc rushed for over 100 yards in five of his final six games, including 265 yards against Union JV and 243 yards against Canton.
It is the third straight season that the Vikings have had a player on the NJCAA All-American Team. Wide receiver Shawn Miller, currently at the University at Albany, was honored in 2000 and 2001. Current Appalachian State University defensive back Derrick Black also picked up All-American accolades in 2000.
Hudson Valley's football program was established in 1969. At the time, Hudson Valley was one of only two junior colleges in New York to field a varsity football team. Since then, nearly 300 Hudson Valley football players have earned scholarships to four-year schools and 15 have gone on to play professionally. The Vikings competed in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Iowa in 1980. In 1996, Hudson Valley posted an 8-0 record, part of a dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.