CHARLOTTE, NC – The NJCAA has announced three honorees to be inducted into the NJCAA Women's Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Two student athletes and one coach One coach and two student-athletes have been selected: Navarro College;s Mandt Gomez-Fortner, Iowa Western's Celia Jimenez and Mohawk Valley coach Steve Senior.
Gomez-Fortner is the first Navarro Soccer player to be selected to the NJCAA Women's Soccer Hall of Fame.
Gomez-Fortner was a member of the Navarro College women's soccer team for two seasons. During her time at Navarro, Fortner was an NJCAA All-American first-team two times, NJCAA All-Region first-team two times, and Region 14 Midfielder MVP her freshman season. She also received NJCAA Academic Team of the Year honors and was an NJCAA National Tournament participant.
Fortner led the Bulldogs to a 30-8-1 record and to their first two NJCAA National Tournament appearances. Fortner was the NJCAA and Region 14 number four leading goal scorer, held the record for most goals scored in school history (46) until 2013, and held the single season goals record and single season assists record in 2004. Her single season goals record was 31 and was ranked second in school history.
After Navarro, Fortner went on to play soccer at Dallas Baptist University where she received two bachelor's degrees in Kinesiology and Biology. She also has a master's degree from UT Tyler in Health and Kinesiology. Fortner was inducted into the Navarro College Hall of Fame in 2022
Cela Jimenez Delgado of Iowa Western scored a goal in the Reivers' 3-1 national championshjip win over Navarro in 2013 and eanred all-tournament honors as Most Valuable Forward.
While at Iowa Western, she was an NJCAA National Champion, NJCAA first-team All-American two times, and NJCAA National Tournament Most Valuable Ford. Delgado also made the All-Tournament Team two times, NJCAA Region 11 All-Academic Team two times, and was a two-time NJCAA Region 11 and District K Champion. Throughout her time at Iowa Western, Delgado collected 21 goals with 11 assists across 23 matches.
After Iowa Western, Delgado went on to the University of Alabama where she made the All-SEC second-team her first season, All-SEC first-team her second season and graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. Delgado has also made four total FIFA World Cup appearances for Spain.
Steve Senior became the head coach of the Mohawk Valley Community College women's soccer team in 1996. Senior led the Hawks to nine Mountain Valley Conference Championships, six NJCAA Region 3 Championships, and two NJCAA National Championships including the inaugural Division III championship in 2003.
Senior led the Mohawk Valley soccer team to two NJCAA National Runner-Ups in 2004 and 2013 while finishing third in 2006 and 2009. During his time, he had an overall coaching record of 272-85-11 and coached 13 NJCAA All-Americans and 25 NJCAA Academic All-Americans. Senior was a member of the Mohawk Valley faculty for 41 years where he served as the men's head wrestling coach for 20 years and the men's tennis coach for 41 years.
Off the field, Senior served the college as a member of the College Senate, the Academic Program Review, Academic Advising, Foundation Golf, College-Wide Curriculum, Traffic and Safety Middle States Accreditation, and IBCC committees. He was also very active in many other capacities including the local boy's and girl's youth soccer leagues. Senior was inducted into the Mohawk Valley Community College Hall of Fame in 2022.
