Chris Steele and Vanessa leon Velasquez Earn GBC Athlete of the Month Honors
PIKE CREEK, Del. – Senior Chris Steele of the men’s soccer team and freshman Vanessa leon Velasquez of the women’s tennis team have been named Goldey-Beacom College male and female athletes of the month for the month of October.
Both of these athletes led their respective teams to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference playoffs this Fall season. leon Velasquez led the tennis team to the program’s first-ever conference finals and Steele, as a co-captain, has guided the soccer team to its first playoff appearance since 2003.
Velasquez, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, was 6-2 at No. 4 singles and 5-3 at No. 2 doubles in the month of October. Among her six singles wins was a clutch 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 win, played for over five hours, at two different sites, against Liana Lui of Holy Family in the conference tournament semifinals. That win gave GBC the deciding fifth point in a 5-4 match and sent the Lightning to their first-ever conference finals. According to head coach Joe Kissel, that will go down as one of the most exciting matches in GBC’s short tennis history.
A business administration major, Velasquez finished her rookie season with marks of 13-3 in singles play and 12-3 in doubles competition. The women’s tennis team finished the season second in the CACC standings to undefeated Concordia with a record of 13-2. The Lightning were a perfect 8-0 at home this Fall.
Steele, a Wilmington, Del. native, has had a major impact on the men’s soccer team on and off the field this season, according to assistant men’s soccer coach Fran Kulas. His versatile style of play and his work ethic impresses and inspires his teammates, who voted him a captain prior to the start of the season.
A business administration major with a concentration in finance, Steele has scored two goals and recorded one assist all season, but Kulas insists Steele’s impact goes beyond what shows up in the stat pages.
“As a midfielder, Chris’s ball-winning abilities thwarts opponents’ scoring opportunities, and at the same time, starts the attack for us,” Kulas said. “While his style of play isn’t one that produces statistics, he does all of the little things that those with a keen eye for the game, understand make a team go. Without question, we’re a different team when we have Chris Steele on the field.”
Steele’s impact was most felt when he blasted a shot from 25 yards out for the first of two Lightning goals in a crucial 2-1 win over Caldwell on Oct. 28. That win helped propel the Lightning into the eighth and very last playoff spot.
The men’s soccer team (6-11, 4-7 CACC) play its first-round CACC playoff game today at top-seeded Wilmington University today at 2 p.m. at Kirkwood Soccer Complex.
Past Winners:
September 2009 - Angel Rodriguez, Luciana Pereira
