FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINTHROP, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference is pleased to announce the appointing of Jhonneris Mendez and Ken Francis as GNAC Specialists for the 2015-16 academic year, CommissionerJoe Walsh announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Mendez (left) and Francis (right) will assist Walsh and GNAC Asst. Commissioner Michael Ghika in a number of areas, including championship administration, the GNAC Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Leadership Forum, volunteer efforts at the 2015 Brian Honan 5K Road Race, athletics communications endeavors, among many other projects.

Mendez is a 2014 graduate from Suffolk University, where he received his Bachelor’s in Sociology, Crime and Justice. The Dorchester, Mass. native excelled on the baseball diamond for the Rams, receiving GNAC First Team All-Conference honors in 2012. He also was honored as Suffolk’s 2013 Athlete of the Year and last year was an assistant coach at Northeast Essex Community College, which compiled a 28-4 record this past season.

Francis graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2013 and currently serves as a Program Manager at Best Buddies Massachusetts. The Quincy, Mass. native was a Community Relations Department Intern with the Boston Celtics back in 2013, and was named the 2015 Patriot League Assistant Coach of the Year after serving on the Quincy High School Varsity Boy’s Lacrosse coaching staff.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #theGNAC –