Perez, Berrios Named Miami's Top Scholar-Athletes
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Goalkeeper Catalina Perez of the University of Miami soccer team and wide receiver Braxton Berrios of the Hurricane football team have been tabbed as Miami’s Top Scholar-Athletes for 2015-16.
Each ACC institution has one male and one female winner, and the honor is given to the student-athlete who best balances athletics and academics, achieving high success in each.
Perez, a redshirt junior, represented Colombia at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and at the 2016 Olympic Games. She was one of just 13 active Division I women’s soccer players at the Olympics, including one of only two from the ACC and the lone goalkeeper, per Top Drawer Soccer.
Last season, Perez started eight matches and ranked third in the ACC in saves per game with 4.60. Her play in the double overtime shutout victory over No. 14/4 Notre Dame earned her ACC Defensive Player of the Week, College Soccer 360 National Primetime Player of the Week and Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week honors.
“I came to the University of Miami because I knew here I would be pushed in both academics and athletics,” Perez said. “When I arrived here, I received so much more support than I could have imagined to work towards my goals in both. I am very honored and am thankful to UM.”
Perez, a finance major, has an outstanding 3.921 cumulative GPA and posted a 3.77 mark during the 2015-16 school year. In addition, Perez is a member of the prestigious Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society.
A junior from Raleigh, N.C., battled back from an early-season injury in 2015 and became the Hurricanes’ top punt returner by the end of the season.
Berrios ranked ninth on the team in all-purpose yards despite missing nearly three full games. He was one of just two players on the Miami roster to tally at least 65 yards rushing, receiving and on returns last year.
In the Hyundai Sun Bowl, Berrios had a 60-yard carry that was good for the Hurricanes’ longest rush of the 2015 campaign.
“This is a tremendous honor and I could not be more excited to receive this recognition from the ACC,” Berrios said. “There are so many great scholar-athletes at the University of Miami and to be recognized as the best is truly humbling.”
Through two years, Berrios has recorded a stellar 3.957 GPA and had a 3.88 GPA in 2015-16. He is majoring in entrepreneurship at Miami.
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