Hudson Valley ’s Kristina Jenkins Named Nation’s Top Female Student-Athlete by NJCAA

CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063 or (518) 429-9486
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The list of past winners includes All-Americans, national champions and Olympians, and now the list includes a student-athlete from Hudson Valley Community College.

Hudson Valley sophomore bowler Kristina Jenkins (East Greenbush/ Columbia High School) is the 2006-07 Betty Jo Graber Female Student-Athlete Award winner, which is given annually to the nation's top National Junior College Athletic Association Student-Athlete.

"This is a tremendous honor for Kristina, her team, and the entire athletic department," said Athletic Director Tom Reinisch. "Kristina has placed her name among the all-time elite athletes in two-year college history."

Jenkins, a two-time NJCAA All-America selection, won the Kerm Helmer Award as the Individual All-Event Champion and paced her team to a runner-up finish at the 2007 NJCAA Championship. Also this season, she won the Hawk Invitational and was a member of the team that finished tied for ninth at the United States Bowling Congress championship. The Lady Vikings were ranked 16 th in the final Bowling Writers Association of America final poll, capturing the highest rank among two-year colleges.

During her freshman campaign, Jenkins finished second in the All-Event standings at the NJCAA championships, was a First Team All-Region III selection and won the Mohawk Valley and Dutchess Invitational. As a team, Hudson Valley finished second at the national tournament and won the Region III Championship.

"Kristina ranks as one of the top players I have coached in my 19 years at Hudson Valley," said Head Coach Joe Prest. "She is a team player first and you will never find a nicer person to coach and a better team leader than Kristina. No matter if she was having a bad day, she always continued to cheer on her teammates and that is a hard trait to find in a young person."

Jenkins was selected from more than 18,000 female student-athletes on 1,535 NJCAA women's teams. She is the first Graber winner from Hudson Valley and the first bowling selection since the inception of the award in 1992.

Betty Jo Graber spent 35 years advancing opportunities for women in NJCAA athletics. Along with a successful basketball coaching career at Weatherford College, she was also the Region V Women's Director, the NJCAA Women's Basketball Committee Chair and a founding member of the NJCAA Women's Division. Graber is member of the inaugural class inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Tennessee. Graber was the perfect model of hard work, discipline, ethics and excellence in community college athletics. This award is given annually to the NJCAA Student-Athlete that best exhibits these traits.