Senior Danielle Ruggiero and her brother, junior Chris Ruggiero of Westbury, were named Manhattanville College's Scholar Athletes of the year at the school's annual awards banquet April 27. The award is presented annually to a female and male athlete in recognition of outstanding academic and athletic achievement. The athletes also serve as a source of pride to the college on and off the playing arena. All juniors and seniors with cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher are eligible for this award.

Danielle has a 3.87 cumulative GPA and also received a perfect 4.0 last fall, while studying in Spain. She is a four-year member of the softball team, where she is hit .315 with 15 runs scored and nine RBI for the Valiants. And despite missing this past soccer season because she was abroad, she still ranks as the number seven all-time leading scorer in Manhattanville's women's soccer history.

Her younger brother, Chris, led the baseball team in hitting with .387 batting average and has an on-base percentage of .400. This week, he was named to the Skyline All-Conference baseball team. He leads the team in hits, average, doubles and slugging percentage, and is second on the team in RBI. In the classroom, Chris has a 3.92 cumulative grade point average and received a perfect 4.0 in the fall semester.

The daughter and son of Dorothy and Ernest Ruggiero, Danielle graduates with a Spanish degree, while Chris is a political science major.