America
East will highlight one of its student-athletes each month for the
length of the school year. “Shining Stars, Star Students” documents the
life of some of the conference’s star athletes beyond just their
athletic achievements. In the third installment, the spotlight is on a pair of Stony Brook softball players, Sara and Crista Cerrone, written by Craig Schroeder of the Stony Brook University sports information office. Earlier this fall, the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association announced the Seawolves' as having the 24th-highest GPA in Division I, and named five student-athletes, including both the Cerrones, Academic All-Americans.
Academic success has always been a top priority in the Cerrone household. Sara and Crista Cerrone, natives of Floral Park, N.Y., both remember back to elementary school when they used to sit in their room together quizzing each other for the next day’s vocabulary or spelling tests.
Ten years later, while the classes have gotten a little bit harder, the routine has not changed much. Sara, a senior co-captain of the Stony Brook softball team, and Crista, a sophomore infielder and pitcher, are still roommates and are still quizzing each other for the next day’s tests.
“We still study together whenever we get a chance,” says Sara. “Crista is taking a lot of classes I’ve already taken so I try to help her out as much as I can.”
Both Sara and Crista are biology (pre-med) majors at Stony Brook University, both carry a 4.0 GPA and both still find time to be major contributors to the Seawolves’ softball team. Sara is a regular fixture in the outfield and led the team in batting average her sophomore season (.313) while tallying three home runs and 18 RBI in 2007. Crista, a sophomore trying to break into a junior and senior dominated infield, brings great speed to the Seawolves off the bench and has a very promising future.
“Sara and Crista both have incredible work ethics,” says head coach Megan Bryant. “They are determined young women who are physically and mentally tough.”
While their physical toughness is on clear display whenever the sisters take the softball field, it is their mental toughness which impresses Courtney Sanfelippo, the Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development at Stony Brook, the most.
“What they’ve done academically would be like pushing a car uphill for eight miles physically,” says Sanfelippo. “Stony Brook is well-respected as a science institution and they make it look effortless.”
But maintaining their 4.0 GPAs is anything but effortless for the Cerrones. Their typical day starts at 6:30 a.m., when they review their notes from last night’s studying before heading off to their early morning classes and labs. After three or four hours of classes, they grab a quick bite for lunch (usually eaten in the locker room) before practice starts. Once practice wraps up, they head over to Stony Brook’s Goldstein Student-Athlete Development Center, where they study with Ms. Sanfelippo before heading back to their rooms for even more studying.
“Practice is usually the easiest part of my day,” says Sara. “It’s a relief to get away from school sometimes and just focus on playing softball.”
“But sometimes it’s tough to refocus after practice,” adds Crista. “The last thing you want to do after a hard practice is study some more, but it’s what you have to do.”
And, according to Coach Bryant, it’s their ability to seamlessly transfer from student to athlete and then back to student that makes them great role models for their teammates.
“They set a wonderful example for our other student-athletes. Their teammates, coaches and peers have a great deal of respect for them and what they’ve been able to accomplish.”
The Cerrone sisters are so respected by their teammates that they are often bombarded with requests to be roommates when the team is on the road.
“People ask me all the time to room with them because they know I’m going to be doing my work when we are at the hotel and it’ll help them stay focused and get their work done too,” says Sara.
But it’s not just their dedication to the books that has earned them such great respect; it’s also their dedication to their teammates. This past year one of the sisters’ teammates was struggling academically and over the summer semester Sara approached the Academic Development staff and asked what she could do to help her teammate not only stay eligible for the following season, but achieve her full potential as a student.
“She has put that teammate under her wing,” says Sanfelippo, “and it has really helped her a lot. Sara and Crista’s positive attitude and work ethic just rubs off on all their teammates. They look at them and say ?Wow, look at what the Cerrones are doing, I guess I can’t really complain about my two-page paper.’”
While teammates often look to Sara and Crista for help or inspiration, the two sisters have learned to turn to each other for support and some friendly competition.
“There is a competitive edge in everything we do,” says Sara. “Whatever grade I get in a class, she’s got to match it when she takes it.”
“It carries over to softball, too,” adds Crista. “Whenever we run sprints I’m always focused on trying to beat her. Competing against each other keeps us motivated and on our toes, because we don’t want to let the other person down.”
Sara and Crista are also members of Stony Brook University’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program. The WISE program is a very select group of 70-80 women who excel academically and want to go into a career in either science or engineering. Both Cerrones are WISE mentors who not only help incoming freshman choose classes, but also serve tutors.
It is programs like WISE and the support from the Stony Brook staff and coaches and of course, their family, that the Cerrones credit for most of their success.
“Our parents are a huge reason for our success,” says Crista. “They are always checking up on us and showing us they care about how well we do.”
“Without Courtney and the rest of the Goldstein staff there’s no way I’d be a 4.0 student,” adds Sara. “And Coach Bryant is great too, she’s always asking us how our classes are going and she actually cares about how well we do. She knows it’s our academics that are going to carry us into our future.”
The two sisters still have plenty of work ahead of them, as they both plan on becoming doctors. Crista is currently leaning towards going into pediatric care, while Sara, who has already been accepted to medical school, hopes to stay at Stony Brook and go into orthopedic surgery (a torn ACL and a broken ankle before her sophomore year is what peaked her interest in that field). If Sara does start her medical schooling at Stony Brook next year, the sisters plan on living together once again for yet another year of study sessions.
