Posted on May 1, 1994


The major stories of the winter sports season were a team that lived up to high expectations (swimming) and a team that far exceeded expectations (hockey).

First-year swimmer Jackie Crane earned All-American honors at the Division III national championships.


The women's swim team won its second state championship and then went on to finish ninth in the country in the Division III national championships. Eight women gained All-American status.



The men's swim team, meanwhile, won 12 of 16 events and set eight meet records in placing third in the Upper New York State championship meet. The team finished sixth in the national meet, competing with sixty-three other teams and setting a Union record of 200 points. Seven men achieved All­American honors.



In hockey, a team that had finished last in the ECAC for the past two seasons-and which had been picked to finish last again in the preseason polls-wound up sixth. The Dutchmen
ended the year with a nine-game unbeaten streak and knocked off pre­season favorite RPI in the first game of the ECAC tournament before the Engineers regrouped to win the best-of­three series.

SWIMMING


A total of eighty-four teams came to the women's national event, and Union's ninth place finish marked the third year in a row it had ended in the top ten.



Freshman Jackie Crane, of Danville, Pa., and senior Kelly Bevan, of Dalton, Mass., earned All-American honors in the 1650 and 100 breaststroke, respectively. The 400-medlay relay, 200-medlay relay, and 800-freestyle relay teams also gained All American status by placing among the top eight in the country.



In the state meet, the women scored 1,138.5 points to beat fifteen other teams. Ithaca College, which had won eight of the past nine championships, was second with 1,033 points.



The women won twelve championship events, setting meet records in four. Head Coach Susan Bassett, who was named the state association's “Coach of the Year” for the second straight season, said the victory was “a total team effort.” For example, she said, Union had five of the top eight swimmers in the 100-meter butterfly.



Since Bassett became head coach before the 1987-88 season, Union has sent thirty-six women to the NCAA meet. Nineteen have won All American honors and one Julie Benker in the 100 backstroke in 1993-won a national title.



During those seven years, the team has won fifty-six of sixty-four dual meets.
The men's team finished third in the state meet behind Hamilton and Hartwick, winning twelve events. Bassett said the team's members swam well but Union did not have enough depth to win the title.



Junior Scott Bowden, of Guilderland, N.Y., and freshman Mike Humphreys, of New Hartford, N.Y., each had ninety­nine points at the state meet-the highest individual totals. Freshman Kevin Markarowski, of Washington Mills, N.Y., had ninety-five.



To become an All-American, a swimmer must finish in the top eight in his or her event at the national championships.



Union women who attained All-American recognition were Bevan, Crane, Jen Allaire, Maureen O'Donnell, Amy Ambrosini, Jonatha Meade, Cecelia Buchanan, and Jen Baldwin.



All-American men were Bowden, Makarowski, Bill Humphreys, Chip Quarrier, Chris Riley, Mike Humphreys, and Nat Stuntz.



Since Bassett took over as men's head coach in 1988-89, the team has had a dual meet record of 35-18.

HOCKEY

Stopping an Eli: Goalie Mike Gallant turns aside a shot from a Yale player in Union's 3-2 victory. Gallant finished with a record of 10-9-2 as the Dutchman made the ECAC playoffs.


With a roster that featured fourteen freshmen and just one senior, Coach Bruce Delventhal's team moved to sixth in the ECAC with a regular-season record of 10-9-3.



The Dutchmen were 149-4 in the regular season and 15-11-4 overall. They won at home (6-4 – 3), on the road (9-7-1), and in close games (8-4 in one-goal games). The team also had
one of the league's longest unbeaten streaks, ending the year 7-0-2.



“We have a lot to be proud of,” Delventhal said. “We grew both as a team and as individuals. We earned the respect of the league, and we reached-and in many cases surpassed-our preseason goals. There's no question that this
group has set the tone for what people can expect from Union hockey next season.”



In a year of highlights, perhaps none was better than the first round of the ECAC playoffs, when Union traveled down the road to Troy. The Dutchmen had lost eight straight times to the Engineers, and RPI had been the pre­season favorites to win the ECAC.



In a game to remember, Union went ahead 41, held off a strong RPI rally, and won, 43. A measure of the excite­ment was the fact that local television stations flashed the score across their regular programs all evening long. Even though RPI won the next two games and the series, there was little reason to feel downcast.



The lone senior was forward Jeff Jiampetti, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., who scored twenty-nine points and was, according to Delventhal, a hardworking and dedicated team leader. His line­mates, Chris Albert, of Nepean, Ont., and Cory Holbrough, of Burlington, Vt., will return, as will top scorers Chris Ford, of Rochester, N.Y., and Troy Stevens, of Coon Rapids, Minn.



The most satisfying story was that of goalie Mike Gallant, of Hamilton, Ont. Gallant was 0-19 during Union's first two years in Division I. This year he was 10-9-2 and his save percentage of .895 was one of the best in the country. Goalie Luigi Villa, of Mississauga, Ont., was 5-2-2.



“I don't think anyone outside of our locker room expected this kind of sea­son,” Delventhal said. “A lot of people feel we overachieved. I disagree. I'd
like to think that the hard-nosed hockey we played will be the trade­mark that people come to expect from us.”



In a fitting cap to the season, Delventhal was named “Coach of the Year” by his ECAC col­leagues. Three players were honored by the coaches-sophomore defenseman Reid Simonton, who was an honorable mention on the ECAC All-Star team; and Ford and Stevens, who were selected to the All-Rookie team.

MEN'S BASKETBALL


For the first time since the 1990-91 season, Union went to a postsea­son tournament. Despite a loss to Hamilton, the Dutchmen ended 16-10 in a schedule that had a dozen games against teams that qualified for NCAA and ECAC tournaments.



The team set three team records, and two players broke individual records. The team point total of 2,142 broke the old mark of 1,950, the scoring average of 82.4 was the highest ever, and the field goal total of 819 was the most ever.



Senior guard Steve Evans, of Rome, N.Y., set a single-season record with 192 assists and junior forward Mark Stodden, of Pittsfield, Mass., set a single-season mark with 78 blocked shots.



Senior forward Ken Evans, of Ballston Lake, N.Y., finished his career with 1,233 points, for sixth place on the College's all-time scoring list.



Head coach Bill Scanlon is now five wins away from 300, with a record of 295-225. He has never had a team win fewer than ten games in a season, and this year's ECAC invitation was the tenth postseason appearance in Scanlon's twenty-one years at Union.