Back to news
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Mail
Caldwell Athletics CAANJ Awards

Corino Receives Prestigious Garden State Award; Janssen Earns CAANJ DII Female Student Athlete of the Year; Caldwell Athletics Receives DII Cup

CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University volleyball’s Katrina Janssen (Seville, Australia) was selected as the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey (CAANJ) Division II Female Student-Athlete of the Year. The Caldwell University Athletics Department earned the DII Cup for their outstanding athletic accomplishments during the 2017-18 year. In addition, Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Mark A. Corino received the prestigious Garden State Award from the organization.

Caldwell Athletics as a department has another outstanding year on the field and in the classroom in 2017-18. The Cougars won two conference championships in women’s volleyball and softball, which both won their respective regular season titles as well. Caldwell three major award winners with Janssen earning CACC Player of the Year, while her teammate Jessica Mitchell (Plainfield, Ill.) was selected as the CACC Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season. Women’s basketball Sharell Sanders (Dorchester, Mass.) also earned CACC Defensive Player of the Year honors. The department featured five all-region players and two honorable mention All-Americans. Women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and softball earned berths in the NCAA Division II Championship, while women’s lacrosse reached the CACC Final Four for the first time in program history. Caldwell earned 19 CACC All-League honorees, including eight on the first team.

Janssen ended her collegiate career in 2017 with an outstanding senior season. She was selected as the CACC Player of the Year and was a CACC First Team All-Conference selection. Janssen helped lead the Cougars to their third CACC Tournament Championship as she earned the CACC Tournament MVP honors for her standout play in the tournament. She was selected to the AVCA and D2CCA All-East Region First Team and was named the D2CCA East Region Player of the Year. Janssen also earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors, the first All-American in the program’s history.

Corino enters his 31st year as the Director of Athletic and Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Caldwell. As a longtime administrator at Caldwell, Corino has spearheaded the growth of the athletic department from three programs in 1988 to 16 programs by 2019-20 with the addition of men’s lacrosse. From 2011-2020, Caldwell will have added seven new sports under Corino’s leadership (Women’s track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s cross country and track and field, women’s bowling, sprint football and men’s lacrosse). Originally a NAIA member school, Caldwell made the transition to NCAA Division II beginning in 1998 and was completed in 2002, under Corino’s guidance. Also in 2002, the George R. Newman Center, Caldwell’s state-of-the-art indoor athletics facility, was completed following years of planning and fundraising. Corino was selected as the CACC and NAIA Region X Administrator of the Year in 2000 as well as the 2010 ECAC Administrator of the Year.

He ranks second in the state of New Jersey

Corino, Janssen and the department were honored at the CAANJ luncheon on Thursday,