General | 7/30/2026 12:10:00 PM
PITMAN, NJ - Rutgers-Newark placed 60 student-athletes on the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) All-Academic Team for the 2025-26 academic year, highlighting the Scarlet Raiders' continued commitment to excellence in the classroom and in competition.
To be eligible for the NJAC All-Academic Team, student-athletes must be sophomores, juniors, or seniors competing in a conference-sponsored sport while maintaining a minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average.
Joseph Bernardo and Maria Castillo earned NJAC All-Academic First Team honors, while Janelle Atta and Daniel Cortez were selected to the NJAC All-Academic Second Team.
Bernardo, a junior finance major on the Scarlet Raiders baseball team, was previously honored as the Rutgers-Newark Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the University's annual Athletics Awards Dinner. He also earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors after leading Rutgers-Newark with 50 hits during the season.
Castillo, a senior supply chain management major and member of the Scarlet Raiders women's soccer team, was also recognized earlier this year as the Rutgers-Newark Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to earning CSC Academic All-District honors, Castillo was named Honorable Mention All-NJAC following the 2025 season.
Atta, a senior biology major, represented the Scarlet Raiders women's soccer program on the Second Team, while Cortez, a junior political science and history major, earned Second Team recognition for the men's track & field program.
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