Conde Continues to Collect Honors and Awards
     The soccer season ended many months ago, but the accolades for sophomore halfback Manuel Conde kept coming right through Lakeland’s commencement ceremony.
     Conde graduated Summa Cum Laude with an Associate of Science degree and a perfect 4.0 grade point average.  He was a finalist for the Dean’s Award and was a commencement speaker.
     A few days before graduation, he was honored as the 2010 Outstanding Mathematics Student.  Earlier he had been inducted into Lakeland Mathematics Honor Society, Mu Aplhpa Delta.  He is also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
     Conde was one of two Lakeland students honored at the Ohio State House as a member of the All Ohio Academic Team, and received a $500 scholarship with that honor.
     At Lakeland’s annual athletic banquet, Conde was lauded as the college’s Scholar Athlete of the Year for demonstrating outstanding academic progress, leadership and character and for making significant contributions to his team.  He was also his team’s representative for Male Athlete of the Year and was named his team’s Best Halfback.
     All of these honors come after a rather significant list of post-season honors.  He was a named to the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference first team for the second consecutive year; and was the conference’s Midfielder of the Year.  
     He was named second team NJCAA Region XII and the NSCAA’s Division I Junior College All-North Region second team.
     His on the field accomplishments have earned him an NCAA Division I scholarship to play soccer at Cleveland State University where he will study mechanical engineering.  Long range goals include obtaining a Master’s of Business Administration degree, as well as some day studying at MIT.
     Manuel Conde was not only an accomplished soccer player and student; he was a valued teammate, friend and member of the Lakeland Community. 
     This native of Caracas, Venezuela was never at a loss for company.  His friendly smile and accommodating demeanor helped him make friends all over campus whether with his teammates or other athletes, his co-workers at Breakers, classmates or members of the faculty or staff.
     Lakeland soccer coach Djuro Peric says that while Conde will be missed, he is sure that he will continue to have much success.      

S.T.A.R. Student Athletes
     The Athletic Department at Lakeland Community College strives for academic excellence, as much as it does athletic excellence.  The department has implemented the S.T.A.R. program (Striving Towards Academic Responsibility) to help our athletes achieve their academic goals, and recognizes those student-athletes who achieve a 3.0 GPA while carrying a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester.
     The Lakeland soccer program consistently leads the Athletic Department in academic achievement.
     During the 2009-2010 school year, ten of the eighteen players on this roster achieved at least a 3.0 GPA during the fall semester and nine of them did it again in the spring.  Manuel Conde and Steven Collins posted perfect 4.0s in the fall and Sebastian Rodriguez had a 4.0 in the spring.
     Spring S.T.A.R. students were:  Juan Aguinaga, Steven Collins, Manuel Conde, Mario Duvnjak, Dean Miller, Pedro Ribeiro, Sebastian Rodriguez, Daniel Rosbottom and Anton Trifonovs.  (It should also be noted that four soccer players carried 18 credit hours or more – up to 23 – this spring, and their GPAs  ranged between 2.95 and 3.80)
     Fall S.T.A.R. students were:  Juan Aquinaga, Steven Collins, Manuel Conde, Aldo Maiorano, Dean Miller, Miroslav Pezer, Sebastian Rodriguez, Patrick Sheridan, David Shook and Antons Trifonovs.