The 1998-99 athletic season was clearly the year that the women's programs took a step into the limelight.
The success started last fall with soccer, tennis, field hockey, and volleyball; continued through the winter with basketball; and was capped in the spring with lacrosse and softball.
Overall, the twelve women's teams had a record of 102-66-1 (.607). Three — soccer, lacrosse, and softball — won Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) championships, and three — field hockey, softball, and lacrosse — qualified for New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association postseason tournaments.
Lacrosse was also invited to the NCAA tournament, the first time a women's team sport had qualified for the national championship tournament.
The success came three years after a campus committee suggested that all of Union's coaches have just one head responsibility to go along with one season as an assistant. The new system means that coaches can focus on recruiting, professional growth clinics, and scouting of the opposition, and can work with players one-to-one outside of the traditional practice time.
Dick Sakala, director of athletics, says that the College has gone beyond the minimum compliance with the gender equity mandates of Title IX, which called for a more equal division of funding and opportunity between men's and women's sports.
“The recommendations that came out of the gender equity committee pointed us in the right direction and gave the programs additional support that we needed to move to the next level,” Sakala says. “We've made a commitment to be in full compliance, as far as the proportion of numbers in participation and in introducing and developing new programs.”
The fall
The soccer team kicked off the year with a record-setting 13-1-1 season. While the team was disappointed that it wasn't selected for the NCAA tournament, it did beat William Smith and tie Williams, both of which went to the NCAA event. Union finished the year ranked second in New York State and sixteenth in the country.
The field hockey team had an 8-6 regular season record and qualified for the state tournament for the sixth time during the 1990s. The tennis team finished third in the state tournament (Union's previous high was sixth) and third in the UCAA event. The Dutchwomen tied the College record for wins in a season with their 9-2 mark, equaling the 1982 and 1994 seasons.
The volleyball team just missed the state tournament when it lost its season finale. Still, the Dutchwomen rebounded from last year's 10-24 season to post a 20-14 mark and finish third in the UCAA tournament.
The winter
While the swim team slipped during the dual-meet phase of the season, it still finished a respectable fourth (out of sixteen) in the state tournament. And the basketball squad won nine games for its best season in the last six years. Happily, the Dutchwomen did not have a single senior on the squad.
The spring
Softball tied Rensselaer for the first UCAA championship, and its 26-11 final record was a Union record. Crew, which is in its second season as a varsity sport, had a 2-2 regular season record. The junior varsity women were third in the state meet, and the varsity women finished tenth (out of thirty) in the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.
The best performance of the year belonged to the lacrosse team. Not only did the 1999 team establish a Union record for wins in a season (fourteen), it won its first UCAA championship and became the first women's team ever to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The team won a Union-record ten consecutive games while finishing the year ranked second in New York State and thirteenth in the country. Over the past two seasons, the Dutchwomen are 24-11 with two state tournament appearances to go with the NCAA invitation.
The team success also meant individual recognition for coaches and students.
UCAA “Coach of the Year” honors went to Brian Speck in soccer and Linda Bevelander in lacrosse. Katie Smith earned UCAA “Rookie of the Year” honors in soccer, Sarah Moss was named “Player of the Year” by the lacrosse coaches, Julie Cardettino was “Player of the Year” in softball, and Melissa Colon was the “Rookie of the Year” in softball. Numerous others earned All-Conference and state honors, and Moss, Abby Harris, and Samantha Ryall of lacrosse were named All-Americans.
Sakala says that the College has added personnel and recruiting dollars to the women's program without taking anything away from the men's program. “I think we're poised to see most of our programs on both the men's and women's sides be very competitive for many years to come,” he says.
The College will celebrate twenty-five years of women's athletics in 1999-2000, and it is obvious that a strong foundation has been established for success.