Top 10 Moments: #7 – Former Bears and Lady Bears Shine in Professional Spotlight

St. Joseph’s College prides itself on its ability to prepare student-athletes for success in life after college and outside of their respective sports.  This credo continues to be evident specifically when it comes to these three alumni, who all achieved significant notoriety in 2013 with their noteworthy accomplishments.

Leading off our list, St. Joseph’s was honored to welcome back former Bears basketball player and chemistry major, Steve Somers, who served as the keynote speaker at this year’s Athletic Awards Banquet.  Somers inspired the capacity crowd of student-athletes, coaches, parents and faculty by delivering a speech full of anecdotes and sprinkled with secrets to his success post-SJC. After graduating in ’82 with a degree in chemistry, Somers fulfilled his lifelong dream nearly 20 years later by creating and building his own incredibly successful flavor and fragrance company, Vigon International. During May’s ceremony, the Whitestone native captivated the audience with his tale of striving to be the best he could be in his chosen profession and recounting the amount of work and determination needed to accomplish his life-long goals.  Somers, a standout baseball star during his high school years at Cathedral Prep, struck an immediate bond with the Bears’ student-athletes, who saluted him with a rousing ovation upon the conclusion of his speech.

Chris Distefano may have finished his basketball career at St. Joseph’s ranked among the all-time leaders in scoring but today he is excelling in quite a different arena.  Back on June 20th, DiStefano performed on the national stage as the featured comedic guest on the “Late Show with David Letterman”.  Distefano has quickly made a name for himself on the New York City comedy scene, performing at many major clubs including the famed Comedy Cellar and Caroline’s.  The two-time United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) All-American and 1,800+ point scoring machine has previously appeared on other television programs including MTV's hit show Guy Code. In addition, DiStefano was selected from hundreds of comedians across the country to be one of Comedy Central's "Comics to Watch" as part of the 2012 New York Comedy Festival where he was also selected as a finalist as "New York's Funniest”.  Equally adept at scoring with jump shots and punch lines, DiStefano transformed a successful career on the hardwood to the big stage and certainly appears destined to achieve great things in the world of comedy.

Rounding out our famous trio of Alumni, Kim McCorkell, another one of SJC’s past hoop stars was honored recently by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, as he presented the first-ever Annual Big Apple Awards recognizing Teacher Excellence in New York City.  McCorkell, a former Lady Bears basketball player was one of only 11 teachers in the city to receive the prestigious honor, which carried with it a $3,500 classroom grant.  After completing a successful career on the basketball court, where McCorkell served as team captain and led the Lady Bears to their first-ever appearance at the USCAA Tournament back in 2001, her passion for the LB’s led her back to the team as an assistant coach from 2003-2007. Currently, McCorkell provides academic intervention services to 4th and 5th graders at P.S. 222 The Katherine R. Snyder School in Marine Park, Brooklyn. The Big Apple Awards is the first citywide teacher recognition program open to all full-time teachers in public schools across New York City.

Kudos to all of our Bears' and Lady Bears' Alumni on their fine accomplishments in 2013 !!!  We wish them all the best for continued success and are extremely proud of their achievements !!!

If you know of any other notable alumni accomplishments, please let us know so we can feature them in our new Alumni Spotlight.

# # #

Our summer feature on www.SJCBears.com, we look back at the highlights from the 2012-2013 season in St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn Athletics. We will reveal a new moment on the list every Wednesday throughout the summer ending in August right before the start of the new season. 

#10 – Mangan Captures First Cross Country Win in Lady Bears History
#9 – Diamonds Sparkle on the Dance Floor and in the Classroom
#8 – Softball Rallies From Eight Down, Caps Season With HVWAC Crown
#7 – Former Bears and Lady Bears Shine in Professional Spotlight
#6 – Check back on July 17th!