Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey Department of Athletics and Recreation hosted its annual celebration of classroom achievement for their student-athletes at its Academic Honors Celebration on Sunday morning in the Brower Student Center Room 202.
 
Guests included students who have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or better while participating in intercollegiate athletics. The program also gave tribute to student-athletes who have maintained a GPA of 3.0 – 3.29.

The top honors went to cross country and track athlete Brian Flynn and swimmer Danielle Morrone. Flynn, a Biology major and Morrone, a Communication Studies and Spanish major were awarded the Dr. Harold W. Eickhoff Outstanding Senior Male Scholar-Athlete and Dr. Harold W. Eickhoff Outstanding Senior Female Scholar-Athlete. Both honorees accepted the award and demonstrated their talents when speaking to the audience.

In addition, the team with the overall highest cumulative average was TCNJ's women's cross country team. They were awarded the Dr. R. Barbara Gitenstein Highest Team GPA Award. Head coach Phil Jennings accepted for his athletes.

Junior field hockey player Meredith Jeffries kicked off the event with a brief statement to the audience. She was a member of the 2011 NCAA national champion field hockey team this past fall. Jeffries, a Deaf Education and English major,  was the recipient of the Elite 89 Award for the 2011 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship tournament for carrying a 3.875 grade-point-average. It was the highest GPA of any student-athlete participating in the championship tournaemnt.

The 2012 Alumni Citation Award winner at the brunch was Kimberly Brandley '90 CPA. Brandley is a partner at J.H. Cohn. As a student at the College, Brandley was a catcher, back-up first baseman, and designated hitter for the softball team. She was a member of the 1987 and 1989 NCAA national championship teams, and while playing for the Lions, the program compiled an overall record of 123-21. Brandley appeared in 63 games during her career, posting her best season during her sophomore campaign when she batted .310.
 
Since graduating, Brandley has been a member of The College of New Jersey Foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the institution. She also spearheaded an effort that recently resulted in financial contributions in total of $100,000 - which is intended to establish an endowment fund in support of TCNJ softball, and in the naming of Dr. June Walker Field at the softball stadium complex.
 
For the third consecutive year, Brandley has been instrumental in the creation of two annual accounting scholarships from J.H. Cohn for TCNJ students. She is also involved with the Mercer, Middlesex, and Southern New Jersey Regional Chambers of Commerce and was previously the Treasurer for Hands on Helpers. She also serves on TCNJ's Corporate Advisory Group.