Nhavene, Cortez named Athletes of the Year at Cowley College

Celebrating the accomplishments of Cowley College athletics, the school’s Athletes of the Month were recognized at the annual Honors and Awards Banquet held Wednesday in the Earle N. Wright Community Room. 

Cowley College interim athletic director Rama Peroo announced the 2022-2023 Athletes of the Month before revealing the selections for the Male and Female Athletes of the Year. 

With 20 Athletes of the Month recognized at the banquet, it was not easy to pick a Male and Female Athlete of the Year. However, this year’s winners were freshman men’s tennis player Bruno Nhavene and sophomore track and field standout Arantxa Cortez.

Nhavene has reached tremendous heights as a member of the Cowley College men’s tennis team after coming to Cowley from Mozambique.

Regarded as one of the nation’s top singles and doubles players, he teamed with Boruch Skierkier to win the fall doubles title at the ITA Cup in Rome, GA.

Nhavene has helped the Tigers to a No. 1 ranking and a record of 11-1 in the spring season. Individually, he is ranked seventh with a record of 19-1 in singles play and, along with Skierkier, forms the top doubles tandem in the country with a record of 21-2.

He has his team in the hunt for its first national championship since 1991.

Cortez came to Cowley from Lima, Peru where she competed for her country nationally at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games. She continued her success at Cowley where as a freshman she was the indoor national champion and outdoor All-American in the pole vault.

She was recently named the indoor conference and region champion in the pole vault for a second straight year as she helped Cowley place second as a team in the conference. 

She went on to finish as the national runner-up in the pole vault and is currently ranked second in the event in the outdoor season.

The graphic design major has a GPA of 3.39.