Colon Named Winner of East Coast Conference's "E.C.C." Award

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. - The East Coast Conference recently held its annual year-end awards dinner at the New York Institute of Technology, and Queens College senior women's soccer and track and field student-athlete, Katherine Colon (W. Babylon, N.Y.) took home the conference's Excellence in Community and Character (E.C.C.) award.

The E.C.C. Award recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through positive actions and behaviors that are consistent with the NCAA Division II attributes of: learning; service; passion; sportsmanship; balance; and resourcefulness.

"This award is not just for the best student, best athlete, the best sportsman or woman," said ECC Commissioner, Dr. Robert Dranoff. "This is an award for all-around excellence. With many strong nominees, the choices were difficult but we have selected two very deserving student-athletes (along with UDC men's tennis senior, Tomas Gajdusek)."

Colon is the epitome of the student-athlete. Not only is she a multi-sport athlete, but she also serves as the Queens College SAAC President and is a mathematics major with a minor in Spanish. She has been involved in all athletic department events, helping to run MidKnight Madness, which brought in over 600 attendees and over 12 performances, and headed up Take A Kid to a Game Day, where over 125 children attended a Saturday basketball doubleheader and carnival. Colon also makes giving back to the community a priority. She participated in two Midnight Runs, delivering food and clothes to the homeless in Manhattan, while planning and chairing the QC Relay for Life event, which raised over $12,000 in just five months.  She is a selfless motivator that has dedicated her time to her sports, her institution and the community that surrounds it.

On the soccer pitch, Colon, a midfielder, helped the Knights to 42 victories during her four-year career, as well as an ECC Championship finals appearance in 2010. On the track, she sprinted to career-best times of 1:04.07 in the indoor 400-meter dash, and 2:21.59 in the indoor 800-meter run this past winter.