Congratulations to Vanessa Hernandez and Toknowa Thomas Jr., PCTI’s January Athletes of the Month!
Vanessa Hernandez is a three-year varsity who:
As a junior, she firmly emerged as a leader for the highly competitive Lady Bulldogs Swim team. In her three years swimming for PCTI, Vanessa earned All-County and All-League honors each season. She played a major role in leading the Lady Bulldogs to their second consecutive Passaic County Championship Title. Vanessa currently holds four individual PCTI records and is on two relay teams that are featured on the PCTI record board. She was part of the 200-freestyle relay team which qualified for the State Meet of Champions last season and has already qualified for two relays this year (200-Medley Relay and 400-Freestyle Relay). In the PCCA championship swim meet on January 12, 2019, Vanessa’s talents in the pool where on display as she set a new Passaic County record in the Girls-100 Butterfly with a time of 1:00.26. This season, she looks to firmly etch her name into the school’s record book as she attempts to improve her individual and team relay records. Vanessa is a resident of Clifton and a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice who has a 3.50 GPA. She ranks in the top half of her graduating class. The Athletic department would like to wish Vanessa and the entire Lady Bulldogs Swim team the best in the 2018-2019 season.
Toknowa Thomas Jr. is a four-year varsity starter who:
As a senior during the start of this winter’s basketball season, he helped lead the Bulldogs to a 5-5 record and a qualification as the #5 Seed in the PCCA Tournament. Toknowa is known as the teams’ most talented ball-handler. His shooting guard position was the catalyst for the Bulldogs’ four-game winning streak, which includes victories over league rivals Passaic, Eastside and Kennedy High School (Kennedy was ranked 16th in the state when the Bulldogs defeated them by a score of 53-45 on January 3, 2019). Toknowa averages 12.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. He is a resident of Paterson and member of the School of Business Careers. Toknowa is excited for the opportunity to continue his academic and athletic career at the collegiate level and has gotten a good deal of interest from the local NJAC schools. We wish Toknowa and the entire Bulldogs Basketball team the best in the remaining 2019 season and in their County and State tournament runs.