City Colleges of Chicago

04/26/2026 | Press release | Archived content

City Colleges of Chicago honors student athletes during awards banquet for another successful season

City Colleges of Chicago celebrated student athletes across colleges and across sports at the second annual athletic awards banquet, where both team and individual achievements from the year were recognized. Congratulations to all our athletes and teams on a successful year!

High Achievers, High GPAs:

With a focus on academics, of the nearly 400 student athletes districtwide, more than 200 earned CCC All-Academic honors with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Forty-two of those students achieved a 4.0 GPA, successfully balancing the daily demands both in the classroom and their sport of choice.

To honor two of these student athletes, the Student of the Year awards go to the top male and top female athlete who meet both academic standards and a superior level of athletic achievement. This year, the awards went to Ameria Leonard from Olive-Harvey College and Juaquin Dixon from Malcolm X College.

Top City Colleges Honors:

  • This year, Malcolm X College captured the Chancellor's Cup, presented to the strongest overall athletic program based on team athletic achievement, celebrating excellence in competition and encouraging high-level performance across all intercollegiate sports.
  • The first ever Provost Plate went to Truman College, recognizing the City College with the strongest overall academic performance among student athletes. The award celebrates excellence in the classroom and encourages high academic standards across all intercollegiate sports.

Team Highlights:

  • Olive-Harvey College's women's volleyball team was recognized for their City Colleges of Chicago and NJCAA Region 4 Championships.
  • Olive-Harvey College's men's baseball won the conference title this season.
  • Malcolm X College ended a successful seasoning by winning both the CCC Championship and the NJCAA Region 4 title.
  • Harry S Truman College women's soccer team finished first among CCC teams.
  • Harry S Truman men's soccer team won their third consecutive NJCAA Region 4 Championship-including a school record of 17 wins.

Individual Accomplishments:

  • For her efforts on the court, Panthers stand-out Ameria Leonard earned both the City Colleges Player of the Year as well as her previously awarded Region 4 Player of the Year award.
  • Truman's Michael Makonese earned the City Colleges Men's Soccer Player of the Year to compliment his selection as NJCAA Region 4 Player of the Year.
  • Truman Falcon Valentina Sousa was named CCC Women's Soccer Player of the Year.
  • MXC men's basketball stand out Juaquin Dixon earned CCC Men's Basketball Player of the Year for the second time, as well as named NJCAA Region 4 Player of the Year, and a national NJCAA All-America Honorable Mention.
  • MXC Hawks Nia Allen was named the CCC Women's Player of the Year for her on-court performance during the season.

Photo credit: J. Garcia/City Colleges of Chicago

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City Colleges of Chicago published this content on April 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 29, 2026 at 04:12 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]