NJIT Board of Trustees Honors Baseball and Fencing Teams in Historic Season

NJIT President Dr. Joel Bloom and the Board of Trustees recognized two programs Thursday, Sept. 23, inside the Campus Center. NJIT's baseball team had a historic 2021 season, which culminated with an NCAA Tournament berth and a trip to the NCAA Fayetteville Regional, and NJIT's men's and women's fencing teams captured the first NCAA trophy in program history with a fourth-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Fencing Championships.

"It's truly an honor to be recognized by our wonderful University's Board of Trustees and President Bloom," said baseball Head Coach Robbie McClellan. "One of the best parts of our NCAA Regional run last season was the support and pride from so many people on campus. The support meant a lot to our program and continues today with such a nice proclamation honoring the team. It's a great time to be a Highlander!"

"It truly means a lot for our programs to be recognized by President Joel Bloom and the Board of Trustees," 2021 USFCA Men's Coach of the Year Jason Henderson added. "Success is never achieved in isolation. The longstanding support from the entire University provided multiple programs with the opportunity to achieve unprecedented success this past season. We appreciate and thank President Bloom and the Board of Trustees for their ongoing support, and celebrate these accomplishments together, as one school and one team."

NJIT baseball concluded the Spring 2021 season with numerous accomplishments:

-- Qualified for first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament
-- Earned the America East's automatic berth to qualify for the tournament
-- Recorded the first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament win for any sport, defeating Northeastern 3-2 on June 5, 2021
-- Tied the program record with 27 wins
-- Sophomore Ryan Fischer, who was the winning pitcher vs. Northeastern, was named to the NCAA Fayetteville All-Regional Team
-- Seniors Jake Rappaport and Julio Marcano were named the program's first ABCA All-Region honorees
-- Sophomore Albert Choi was named the America East Rookie of the Year
-- Julio Marcano and David Marcano were named to the 2021 America East All-Academic Team
-- Junior Andrew Elcock was named the America East's Elite 18 Award recipient
-- The Highlanders held a 3.51 GPA during the 2021 spring semester as 33 of 37 student-athletes maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher and 26 were named to the Dean's List

Similarly, NJIT men's and women's fencing concluded the Spring 2021 season with numerous accomplishments:

-- A program record of five men and four women were named All-Americans
-- Robert Hondor advanced to the final four in the men's epee competition, finishing tied for third
-- A program best 11 fencers qualified for the 2021 NCAA Fencing Championships
-- Head Coach Jason Henderson was selected as the 2021 USFCA Men's Coach of the Year
-- Marina Arrese earned the Elite 90 Award, holding a 4.0 GPA, marking the second time in women's fencing program history the Highlanders have earned the prestigious Elite 90 Award
-- Marina Arrese was selected as the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America At Large Second Team (third Highlander student-athlete to earn the All-America honor)
-- The NJIT men's and women's fencing teams earned 2021 USFCA Team Academic Recognition; 17 Highlanders were named to the USFCA All-Academic Team, including 10 recognized as a Scholar of Distinction
-- The Highlander men held a 3.51 GPA for the 2021 spring semester; 13 student-athletes maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher and 12 student-athletes were named to the Dean's List
-- The Highlander women held a 3.48 GPA for the 2021 spring semester; eight student-athletes maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher and seven student-athletes were named to Dean's List

Earlier in the year, NJIT student athletes marked their 25th straight semester that Highlanders have held above a 3.0 cumulative GPA—a streak extending over 12 years.