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OCC Baseball Player Honored As Region XIX Robert Zifchak Male Scholar Athlete of the Year

Peter Dacenko of Ocean County College was honored as the 2008-2009 Robert Zifchak Men’s Student Athlete of the Year on October 8th, 2009 at the Region XIX Awards Dinner after completing a successful year on the field and in the classroom.

Dacenko, a member of the Vikings baseball team, entered OCC as a NJSTARS scholar-athlete and continued the hard work and dedication that earned him that achievement. While at Ocean County College, Peter earned the top academic honor of being named an NJCAA Academic All-American. In addition to the Academic All-American honor, Peter was named to the Academic All Conference and Academic All Region teams in both 2008 and 2009.

Peter was a force on the baseball diamond as well, earning spots on the All Garden State Athletic Conference and All Region XIX teams in 2009.

Peter’s determination on and off the field was also noted by his OCC coaches who named him Team Most Valuable Player.

The accomplishments of Peter Dacenko of Ocean County College have earned him many distinctions, and now Peter can add the honor of receiving the Robert Zifchak Men’s Student Athlete of the Year to his resume.

Pete Dacenko Region XIX Male Scholar Athlete of the Year 2009The Region XIX Scholar Athlete Awards are given annually to one male and one female student athlete of the 28 two year colleges that comprise Region XIX (NJ, Delaware & Eastern PA).  The criteria consists of a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher, athletic achievement, and All Region, All Conference or All American and college campus contributions.

Pete's Accomplishments While a 2-year Student-Athlete at OCC:

              • NJCAA Academic All-American 2009
              • Academic All-Region 2009
              • Academic All-Conference 2009
              • Academic All-Region 2008
              • Academic All-Conference 2008                                                  

Other athletic honors include:

              • All-Conference 2009
              • All-Region 2009
              • Team MVP 2009

 

Pictured Above (left to right):
Robert Zifchak and Peter Dacenko

 

The Robert Zifchak Male Scholar Athlete Award & The John Stauff Female Scholar Athlete Award The Scholar Athlete Awards are named for the former Men's Region Director Robert Zifchak and Women's Region Director John Stauff. These two pioneers and advocates of Junior College Athletics were responsible for much legislation that was enacted and is still used today regionally and nationally.