Posted: May 30, 2023

Urena, Cordero Named Citrus Athletes of the Year

Citrus College hosted its 60^th annual Achievement Awards last week with multiple student-athletes receiving awards.

Alexis Cordero was named the Female Athlete of the Year and Adam Urena picked up Male Athlete of the Year, while several other student-athletes received Distinguished Student Awards.

Cordero capped off a stellar Citrus career, playing three seasons (covid year) of Owl softball and one season of women's basketball. This past season with the softball team, Cordero finished with a .369 batting average, posting 38 hits on the year – seven of which were doubles, and four went the distance for home runs – and earned All-Western State Conference honorable mention honors. She scored 21 runs and batted in 24 others, while drawing 13 walks on the year.

According to Citrus Softball Head Coach Jessica Brown, Cordero has been a leader on and off the field, showing up and putting in the work every day.

"Alexis is an example of what excellence we have here," said Brown. "Through the support of the coaches in both the women's basketball and softball programs, the academic staff, the athletic staff and all that mentored her, she embraced the situation and every person here at Citrus. Life, education is a process and Lex learned to take life one day at a time and learn to trust and how to succeed."

Urena left his mark on the Owl program, breaking multiple records this past season, but also off the field. As a quarterback, Urena broke three Citrus records this past season: single-game passing touchdowns (six), single-season passing touchdowns (33), and career passing touchdowns (57). He ranked in multiple statistical categories in the State, including second in passing touchdowns, third with 268.3 passing yards per game, third with 213 completions, and fourth with 172.9 passing efficiency.

Off the field, Urena was named to the President's List in the Spring of 2021 and Dean's List in the Fall of 2021 and Spring of 2022. He was a three-time Scholar Baller (2020, 2021, 2022) and earned CCCFCA Academic All-State honors this past fall.

"Adam has the ability to lead on and off the field," said Citrus Football Head Coach Brandon Hayashi. "There was never a point where he dropped his head and thought we were out of games. His confidence and leadership helped us pull out of tight games. He never started or played any significant time in high school, but his preparation, leadership, consistency, and selflessness led him to start 19 of the 21 games he played in his career. It's unheard of for a player to accomplish what he has at this level."

The following student-athletes also earned Distinguished Student Awards, chosen by the faculty of their majors:

Accounting and Business

Adam Urena (Football)

Austin Urena (Football)

Kinesiology

Jesse Carmona (Football)

Takechika Ito (Men's Soccer)

Jayden Johnston (Men's Basketball)

Madison Salisbury (Women's Basketball)

Kinesiology – Competitive Athletics

Luke Pruitt (Football)

Math