SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – William Paterson associate athletic director Cindy Cohen was a recipient of a 2013 New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) Honor Award, and WP women's soccer senior forward Michelle Marabondo (Kenvil, N.J./Roxbury) was the winner of William Paterson's Outstanding Athlete Award at New Jersey's 21st-annual award luncheon in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.  The event, which was held Jan. 27 at Seton Hall University, honored student-athletes and staff members at Garden State colleges and universities.

A fixture in New Jersey collegiate athletics for 30 years, Cohen is in her 10th year as William Paterson's associate director of athletics.  She is responsible for assisting with the daily operations of the WP athletic department, and is in charge of NCAA and New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) compliance and eligibility, supervision of 11 professional staff and graduate students, and coordination and scheduling of all 13 sports' practices and varsity contests at WP. She monitors the eligibility status and transfer process for all student-athletes, and acts as a liaison to the WP Registrar's Office for priority registration and schedule conflicts.

In addition, she has served as the chair of search committees for the hiring of field hockey, football, and baseball head coaches, as well as the sports information director and assistant and head athletic trainers.  She also held a position on the CAANJ (College Athletic Administrators of New Jersey) Executive Committee for four years, serving as the group's president (2009-10) and assisting with the organization and implementation of the Fall Forum and an annual golf outing.

Before arriving at William Paterson in 2003, Cohen served as the associate director of athletics at the University of Rochester for three years.  There, she oversaw the daily operations of 22 varsity sport programs, the business office, sports information and the training room staff.

Prior to entering an administrative position, Cohen was the head softball coach at Princeton University for 18 years and compiled an overall record of 560-277-2 (.669 winning percentage).  From 1987-98, her program was ranked among the top seven out of 57 teams in the Northeast Region, and she earned four National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Regional Coach of the Year awards (1988, 1994-96).  During her time at Princeton, her team won 12 Ivy League championships, recorded a league record of 129-22-1 (.854 winning percentage), and qualified for the Women's College World Series twice.

A coach of four All-Americans, 45 regional All-Americans, 11 academic All-Americans and one Rhodes Scholar, Cohen produced a 100% graduation rate while performing duties including recruiting, fundraising, scheduling, practice organization, game strategy, tournament management, and media, alumni and player and parent relations.  In addition to her softball duties at Princeton, Cohen served as a member of the athletic department salary review committee (1995), member and co-chair of the Coaches Council (1997-99), was the assistant to the Ticket Office Manager (1987-89) and was the assistant basketball coach (1982-86).

From 1992-98, Cohen served on the NCAA Division I Softball Committee, and was responsible for administrative aspects of the organization and operation of the Division I Softball Championship, including development and implementation of event management policies and procedures, site and team selection, and long-term planning for the national championship.  She acted as a spokesperson for the NCAA Committee with the national and local media, and was elected chairperson consecutively from 1994-98.

A cum laude graduate of Temple University, she holds a bachelor's degree in health, physical education and recreation.  She received her master's in health education from The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College), where she worked as an assistant basketball coach in 1982 and assistant softball coach from 1980-82.
The 2012 NJAC Women's Soccer Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Marabondo received her third straight first-team all-conference award this fall (2010-12). Named to the 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-South Atlantic Region Third Team and the ECAC All-Metro/Upstate Region Team, she led the league with 24 goals (ninth in Division III) and 55 points (ninth nationally), adding seven assists (tied-third in league).  Also ranked among the NJAC leaders in points/match (2.75, first, 13th in Division III), goals/match (1.20, first, 13th nationally), game-winning goals (six, tied-first, 19th in Division III) and assists/match (0.35, tied-fifth), Marabondo broke the WP single-season records for both goals and points this season.  In 77 career matches, she finished second in school history with 63 goals, 19 game-winning goals and 144 points, and is tied for fifth with 18 assists.

Marabondo was an all-ECAC selection in 2011, and a first-team NSCAA all-region honoree in 2010.

For all of the latest information on the Pioneers, visit http://www.wpupioneers.com, http://www.facebook.com/wpupioneers, http://www.youtube.com/thewpupioneers and http://twitter.com/wpupioneers.