Caldwell College's Corino Administrator of the Year

Caldwell College Executive Director of Athletics Mark A. Corino has been selected as the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference Jostens Male Administrator of the Year.

The ECAC awards are presented annually to administrators from ECAC member schools or conferences in recognition of outstanding or meritorious service to the ECAC. Sharon Beverly of Vassar College is this year's female recipient.

Corino and the other ECAC scholar-athlete award winners will be recognized at the ECAC Honors Banquet, presented by Jostens, on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

Corino will be joined by softball player Kyrie Timbrook, who received the ECAC Scholar-Athlete award and Caldwell College softball coach Dean Johnson, who was named the ECAC Softball Coach of the Year.

"First of all, it is truly an honor to be recognized by an organization such as the ECAC, which has a long and great history," Corino said. "That makes this a special achievement. But receiving this award is more about the support of the institution and the staff, and having a shared vision of the quality of athletic department we strive to be.

"It's fitting that I will receive the honor at the same time that Kyrie, one of our outstanding student-athletes, and Dean Johnson, one of our fine coaches, receive their awards. They represent the good people I have surrounding me who have helped our department achieve success." 

Caldwell College begins its seventh year as a member of the ECAC, joining the organization in the fall of 2004. Corino has served on the ECAC Board of Directors for three years and Caldwell has hosted the ECAC Holiday Classic, featuring some of the top Division II men's and women's basketball teams in the region, for the past three years.

This fall marks the beginning of Corino's 23rd year at Caldwell College. As Caldwell's first full-time athletic director, Corino has seen the athletic department grow from three intercollegiate athletic programs to 10. He oversaw the college's transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, which was completed in 2002, as well as the construction of the state-of-the-art George R. Newman Center, home of the basketball and volleyball teams.

This year, Corino has been involved in projects to resolve the school's lack of a home baseball field and to expand Cougar Pride, the official booster club of Caldwell College Athletics.

Corino and the municipalities of Caldwell and West Caldwell have been working together to try to renovate the Kiwanis Oval that would benefit all three entities. This spring the funding was approved, ending a long effort to give the Caldwell College baseball team a home closer to campus.

Additionally, the cooperative project will give the community a state-of-the-art recreational facility that will be used for several sports by the local youth recreation departments. This aligns with the NCAA Division II initiative on community engagement.

Corino also has been expanding Cougar Pride, the official booster club of Caldwell College Athletics that supports a degree completion program for student-athletes who have exhausted their athletic eligibility but have yet to graduate.

This summer, Cougar Pride hosted its inaugural golf outing in memory of former Caldwell basketball assistant coach Bruce Gallagher, who passed away in 1998. A portion of the proceeds from the outing were used to fund a scholarship to Caldwell College for a student from Nutley High School, where Gallagher taught history.

This fall, the Caldwell College Athletics Hall of Fame, sponsored by Cougar Pride, will induct its first class of honorees. Corino has played an integral role in the creation and development of both the golf outing and the Hall of Fame.

In addition to his role as athletic director, Corino has served as coach of the men's basketball team. Over 22 seasons, he has been named the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year four times, won six CACC Tournament titles and advanced to six national tournaments while compiling a record of 362-281.

His overall coaching record, which includes five years at Bloomfield College, is 457-329 and ranks him among the all-time winningest college men's basketball coaches in New Jersey.

Corino and his wife Susan reside in Cedar Grove. Their daughter, Michele, is a senior at Monmouth University.

The ECAC's membership includes approximately 300 colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Caldwell student-athletes have received weekly and year-end honors from the ECAC since joining the organization in 2004, and the men's and women's soccer teams and men's and women's basketball teams have competed in ECAC championship tournaments.