2024: What A Year For MCCC Athletics

 

 

2024 was a quite a year for MCCC Athletics.  Mercer men’s and women’s soccer were both Region 19 Champions for the first time in 16 years.  MCCC men’s soccer won the Northeast District Championship and advanced to the NJCAA National Tournament for the 37^th time in program history.  Both men’s and women’s soccer were nationally ranked during the 2024 season.  Women’s soccer earned a national ranking for the first time as a Division II program and got MCCC women’s 500^th win in program history.

 

Mercer baseball were 2024 Region 19 Champions and won 34 games before losses in the East District Championship ended their season.  MCCC softball advanced to the Atlantic Region Championship and won 42 games, the most in program history.  Head Coach Ryan Zegarski got his 600^th career win this spring.

 

MCCC men’s basketball qualified for the Region 19 Playoffs for the first time since 2019 and reached the Region Semifinals.

 

Mercer women’s tennis had their best ever finish at the Division I National Championship with a 23^rd place finish.  MCCC men’s lacrosse reached the Region 19 Semifinals.  Mercer men’s tennis finished 4^th at the Region 19 Tournament, one place shy of qualifying for the NJCAA Division III National Tournament with just four players.

 

Mercer had their first men’s soccer All-American since 2015 with sophomore Joao Delgado being named a Second Team All-American. 

 

In 2024, MCCC had 27 All-Region players including three players of the year.  Three student athletes were named Region 19 Players of the Year: Delgado for Men’s Soccer, freshman Eva Sturm was named the Region 19 Women’s Soccer Player of the Year and freshman men’s lacrosse player Owen McAdams was named the Region 19 Offensive Player of the Year.  Mercer had three Region Coaches of the Year: Widmarc Dalce in Men’s Soccer, Ron Stinson in Women’s Soccer and Russ Stupienski in Baseball.

 

Five MCCC sports earned national rankings or received votes in NJCAA National polls in 2024 including baseball, men’s soccer, softball, women’s basketball, softball and women’s soccer.

 

MCCC women’s sports (soccer, softball and tennis) had 64 wins in 2024 and a .820 winning percentage. Mercer men’s sports (including men’s basketball 2023-24 season total, soccer, baseball and tennis) had 69 wins and a .555 winning percentage.  Mercer men’s and women’s sports together had 133 wins in 2024 (again including 2023-34 men’s basketball) had a .655 winning percentage and 133 wins overall.

 

And after not fielding a team in three years, Mercer women’s basketball is back!  They are not just back, but doing extremely well with a 10-3 record and earning a top 25 ranking in the NJCAA DII Women’s Basketball poll earlier in the season.

 

Off the court and field, MCCC also had a great deal off success.  In Spring 2024 and Fall 2024, Mercer had a total of 119 student athletes earn All-Conference All-Academic Honors, which is earning a GPA of 3.0 or higher for either the spring or fall semester of 2024 or both.  Thirteen student athletes earned 2024 NJCAA Academic All-American honors for having a GPA of 3.6 or higher for both the 2023-2024 academic year.

 

2024 proved to be a very successful and amazing year for MCCC Athletics and we can’t wait to see what 2025 brings for our Vikings’ teams!

 

For more on MCCC Athletics, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_home.shtml