Head volleyball coach, Sandy Collins (sitting) helped with the registration for the “Fun Run.” Collins
also oversaw the activities of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SACC) who played a major role
in organizing the event.
Over 100 student-athletes participate in the first-ever athletic festival on Sunday, May 25. A 2k “Fun Run” kicked off the day with a well deserved picnic. In between, the students rotated to stations that included, volleyball, soccer, flag football and softball. The events coordinator, Ramsey Baker, (Union Class of 1993, and the Colleges Assistant Director of Athletics, was pleased with both the turnout and the positive feedback he got from those who did participate.
“For a first time event I was very pleased with the number of student-athletes that came out to participate,” said Baker, “especially considering that it was Spring Fest weekend and a number of our student-athletes had prior commitments to other organizations that that are a part of.”
“The idea for a student-athlete festival came out of discussions during senior staff meetings in the fall,” Baker continued. ” Val has wanted to do something at the end of the year for students to bring them together since he got to Union and this was the year to get the program started. I have been a part of several student-athlete festivals run by the Institute for International Sport and I borrowed some of the ideas from those events to create our program. Working with SAAC we pulled together the concept for the festival this year. I consider it a work in progress that we can adapt each year as the momentum for the event grows. I think that the student-athletes who took part in this year's festival will be our best advocates and promoters of the event in the future.”
As with any successful event, a lot of time and effort is needed from talented people.
Ramsey Baker (top left), Class of 1993 and the College's assistant director of athletics, was excited about
the day went and already has some ideas for next year.
“The event came together and worked because of the efforts of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members that served as captains,” Baker explained. “The group showed good leadership skills and they adapted with the changing schedule and the uneven teams to make things work and make the event fun. We also had a number of coaches and staff members volunteer to help run the day, cook at the barbeque and participate as a team. It was great to see the coaches and staff come together as a team. A special thank you to Sandy Collins for working so hard on getting t-shirts for the event, and for Larry Cottrell for designing the fun run t-shirt.”
Baker has already developed some ideas for next year's festival.
“As the programs grows I would like to add some non-athletic events to allow our student-athletes to showcase some of their many of their non-sport related talents,” he said. “We will be able to do this as the momentum of the event builds and the festival becomes an end of year tradition.
“Although it is important for the student-athletes to integrate into the general campus population, we also feel it is important that they get to know each other and develop friendships between sport teams” Baker continued. “For that reason, we will keep the festival for student-athletes only, with the exception of the fun run which we hope to grow to involve faculty staff and other non-athletes students in the future”.
Members of the men's basketball team (top) shared the “Fun Run” experience. To the right is Brian Speck, head women's soccer coach. From the photo, can you guess if Coach Speck (1) Is Leading the Pack , or
(2) The Best of the Rest?
Jill Ring (left with her parents) pulled off a sweep as she was voted the freshman, soph- more, junior and senior “Athlete of the Year.”
Union honored and “thanked” the 79 members of the class of 2003 for their contributions on the athletic fields, courts, rivers, and pools, over the last four years. The Third Annual Senior Appreciation Dinner was held on Wednesday, May 21 at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia.
Among the many highlights of the event was the announcements of the Presidential Award for “Academic Excellence” and the Director's Awards for “Sustained Competitive Excellence” for the recently concluded 2002-03 campaign.
Union College President Roger Hull recognized the women's cross country team and the men's crew team for their overall grade point averages of 3.52 and 3.11, respectively.
Val Belmonte, Union's Director of Athletics, awarded Justin Sievert as the 2002-03 “Student-Athlete of the Year” (see story above), and named sixth-year head softball coach Peter Brown as the College's “Coach of the Year.” Brown, led the Dutchwomen to their first-ever NCAA tournament (in the program's 28-year history) The Dutchwomen, who lost their opener to the 2002 National Champion Ithaca Bombers, advanced to the championship round, (knocking Ithaca from the double elimination tournament, 7-3, in a loser's bracket game) before losing to top-seeded Cortland, 3-1, in the Eastern Regional finals. Union finished the year at 26-7, tying the school record for wins in a season set by Brown's 1999 squad, which qualified for the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association's championship tournament. New York State
Assemblyman James Tedisco (Union, Class of 1972), who still holds many who still holds many of Union's basketball records (despite playing for only three years and without the three-point field goal), was the main speaker and challenged the seniors to go out into the world and always be ready to raise the bar higher and to never cheat themselves or their teammates by letting the fear of challenges. Tedisco also reminded the student-athletes that because of their insolvent with athletics and because they worked with coaches who genuinely care about them as people, first and foremost.
Bill Scanlon introduces New York State Assemblyman James Tedisco (Class of 1972) as the event's main speaker. Scanlon was Union's assistant basketball coach when Tedisco, who was not allowed to play as a freshman in accord- ance with what was then the
Here are the names of the seniors who were honored
Orly Amir – ice hockey
Kate Barber – cross country
Emily Barron – swimming
George Beebe – football
Alicia Bertoni – cross country
AJ Bodden – football
David Bookman – soccer
Tristan Boscardin – track
Elizabeth Brogan – cross country
Calvin Brown – baseball
Chris Burns – soccer
Oliver Collins – tennis
Kevin Cox – soccer
Dan Croce – football
Aaron D'Addario – swimming
Randy Dagenais – ice hockey
Thomas Daigle – baseball
Megann Denefrio – tennis
Andrew Eisler – track
Nicole Encarnacao – track
Stephen Erickson – track
Jeff Fairfield – track
Alan Fiore – football
Bill Fitzgerald – football
Colin Fletcher – lacrosse
Brian Foy – soccer
Ryan Gallo – football
Nathan Gillies – ice hockey
Kris Goodjohn – ice hockey
Anil Gupta – tennis
Ridgely Harrison IV – swimming
Chris Hartnett – baseball
Phil Henry – basketball
Robert Herbst – baseball
Adam Hollenbach – football
William Holmes – soccer
Chris Johnson – soccer
Corinn Jordan – volleyball
Jason Kean – ice hockey
Robert Kelley – football
Joe Kelmanovich – track, cross country
Randy Kerwin – football
Joseph Kilcullen – lacrosse
Matt Lallier – track
Grant Lanterman – football
Terra Lederhouse – field hockey
Erin Lefkowitz – softball
Graham Lombardo – soccer
Katie Lombardo – lacrosse
Nina Mandel – lacrosse
Tony Metz – football
Brinley Mooney – swimming
Matt Murphy – lacrosse
Eric Papandrea – football
Mike Ranfone – football
Ashley Rinear – cross country
Jill Ring – softball, Bball
Katherine Rosenberg – lacrosse
Katie Round – track
Adam Schwaber – track
Robert Seidenkranz – tennis
Molly Semler – ice hockey
Polina Shcherbatov – tennis
Amos Sheldon – swimming
Justin Sievert – track, football
Carolyn Simon – hockey
Pat St. Denis – football
Lee Starker – lacrosse
Carolyn Stead – soccer
Chelsi Stevens – field hockey Union President Roger Hull, who was a track athlete
during his undergraduate days at Dartmouth, recognized
the women's cross country team and the men's crew
team for their overall grade point averages of 3.52
and 3.11, respectively.
Allison Sturma – crew
Erika Tilley – crew
John Vandervoort – swimming
Shawn VanVeghten – football
Ben Waite – cross country, track
Lauren Wander – swimming
Matthew Weber – cross country, track
Abbie West – soccer
Marc Wise – ice hockey
Would like to thank the following sponsors
for their generous donations:
Justin Sievert concluded an outstanding career last week. On Wednesday, May 21, he was recipient of the “Director's Award” as Union's Outstanding Athlete for the 2002-03 academic year at the third annual senior banquet. Sievert, however, was not there to accept the honor as he was with head track coach Larry Cottrell at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships. On Saturday, May 26, Sievert's last shot put throw in a garnet uniform earned him All-American status.
The 6'2, 265-pound native of New Paltz, New York (he now resides with his family in Hudsonville, Michigan), took home eighth place with a throw of 53-4 1/2 (16.27m). It was Sievert's 37th outdoor honor.
No…that was not a misprint. Sievert's All-American accomplishment was his 37th outdoor honor in the last four years. Those 37 outdoor honors go along with the 21 (twenty-one) indoor honors he has won.
“To say that Justin has made an impact on our program is quite the under statement,” said Cottrell. “His athletic accomplishments speak for themselves. What is harder to measure is what he has meant to all of us as a person and as a leader, both athletically and academically. Besides his track and football accomplishments, Justin, who is a political science major, has been a member of the UCAA's All-Academic team for both sports the last three years (a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2…freshmen are not eligible). He has risen the bar, not only for our track performers, not only for all of our student-athletes, but for all present and future Union students who walk this campus.”
Easily one of the most decorated student-athletes at Union in the last 23 years, Sievert was elected captain and “Most Valuable Performer” for both the indoor and outdoor teams the last two years, Surprisingly, he does not hold any Union records. That, surprising fact, however, does not in any way diminish Sievert's overall contributions to the Union Community. Editor's Note: (Rich Pulver, Class of 1995, holds Union's indoor record 54' 4″ (16.56 meters), and is also the outdoor record holder, winning a National Championship with a throw of 56' 6 3/4″ (17.21 meters).
“Justin is a great example of the ideal student athlete,” said assistant indoor track (and head men's soccer) coach Jeff Guin. “Not only is he a very successful football player, is an All-American track and field athlete and an honors student headed to law school. Until recently, he did this with little fan fare. He worked very hard to achieve the excellence which he did achieve.”
Like every other person in the world, Sievert's career has been filled with highs and lows. In track, he points to his fourth place finish in the 2002 NCAA outdoor championship and his 2002 New York State outdoor championships in the shot put and discus among the top finishers on his lengthy list of favorite memories In football, Sievert says that “beating Hobart the week after the passing of Mark Stokes,” (Sievert's friend and linemate who was killed in an auto accident the second weekend in September, 2000) ranks on top of a long list that includes making it to the NCAAs in 2000 and beating RPI in both 2000 and 2002. Among his disappointments are the 2002-03 indoor championships in which an official's error forced a re-throw that resulted in Sievert losing an opportunity to capture All-American status. He is also disappointed that he did not win a national track championship. A 2001 home loss to a sub-.500 Springfield in the regular-season finale, which knocked the Dutchmen out of consideration for an NCAA invitation and injuries suffered during his senior year lead the forgettable category.
Sievert, who has obviously worked very hard to achieve the high standards he set for himself, is very careful in talking about what his goals are for the future and whether or not he has reached or surpassed the goals he set for himself four years ago as a wide-eyed Union freshman who had experienced a very successful high school career.
“People always talk about goals they would like to meet in their athletic careers,” he
says. “It is fine to set goals for yourself and attempt to meet them, but goals just set limits to what you can achieve. When you are finished with whatever sport you participate in the important thing is not what honors or awards you receive, because that's not what athletics is about and it really is not all that important. The important thing is that through either victory or defeat you can honestly look back on your career and know that you did everything possible to better yourself. You should not have any regrets or excuses but rather should be able to just accept the results of your work whether they are positive or negative.”
Captured All-American Honors
In his final throw in a Garnet uniform
At the May 25th NCAA Championships
A political science major with a minor in history, Sivert spent the winter and spring of this year working as an intern in the office of New York State Assemblyman James Tedisco (Union, Class of 1972).
“Justin has served as my Legislative Intern since the beginning of the 2003 Legislative Session in January,” Tedisco explained. “From the beginning, he exhibited a level of maturity, responsibility and efficiency far beyond that of most interns. Within a short time of his arrival, I was able to assign Justin projects that had normally been reserved for more experienced staff. When he was assigned to my office, I knew that he was a gifted athlete, but I was unaware of just how those gifts extended beyond his abilities on the field. It was obvious from the start that Justin places the same dedication and work ethic to his responsibilities in my office as he does in football and track and field.”
Tedisco, who was the main speaker at the third annual senior awards banquet, challenged the 79 graduating student-athletes to go out into the world and always be ready to raise the bar higher and to never cheat themselves or their teammates by letting the fear of challenges. Tedisco also reminded the student-athletes that because of their insolvent with athletics and because they worked with coaches who genuinely care about them as people, first and foremost. Sievert, who was wearing his garnet uniform for the final time at the NCAA outdoor meet, was not at the banquet. Apparently he did not need to be there.
“Two things that have impressed me most about Justin Sievert,” said Tedisco, “are his ability to quickly develop an understanding of complex issues and his eagerness to apply the extra work necessary to complete difficult tasks. He pays close attention to detail and the quality of his work is excellent. Justin Sievert is a tremendous asset to this office and I have no doubt that he will excel in anything he does.”
Senior Standout Justin Sievert's Outstanding Career
Indoor Track (21 honors)
NCAA Honorable Mention All American Shot Put
(twice)
NYS Champion Shot Shot
(twice)
NYS Field Event Athlete of the Year
NYS Place-finisher Shot Put
(four times)
ECAC Place-finisher Shot Put
(three times)
UCAA Champion Shot Put
(twice)
UCAA Record Holder Shot Put
UCAA Field Event Athlete of the Year
(twice)
UCAA Place-finisher Shot Put
(four times)
Facility Records
Hamilton College Track Record (Outdoor) Shot Put
St Lawrence College Track Record (Indoor) Shot Put
Football Acomplishments
Four-year starter at defensive tackle
131 total tackles on 54 first hits and 97 assists
10 quarterback sacks and 5 fumble recoveries
Captain during his senior season
UCAA All-Conference team
Union College
Athletic Department Honors
2002-03 Director's Cup
Presented to the male or female student-athlete of the year who has demonstrated
“sustained competitive excellence”
2003 William B. Jaffe Medal
Presented to the senior male athlete voted by the athletic department to be the outstanding athlete of the year, taking into account the character and motivation of the individual in addition to athletic excellence
2002 William A. Pike Memorial Award
The trophy is presented to a junior male athlete for attitude, ability, participation, and achievement in intercollegiate sports
Outdoor Track (37 honors)
NCAA All-American Shot Put
(twice)
ECAC Champion Shot Put
(twice)
ECAC Record Holder Shot Put
ECAC Place-finisher Shot Put
(three times)
ECAC Qualifier Discus
ECAC Place-finisher Discus
NYS Champion Shot Put
(three times)
NYS Champion Discus
NYS Field Event Athlete of the Year
(twice)
NYS Place-finisher Shot Put
(four times)
NYS Place-finisher Discus
(three times)
UCAA Champion Shot Put
(twice)
UCAA Record Holder Shot Put
UCAA Champion Discus
(twice)
UCAA Field Event Athlete of the Year
(twice)
UCAA Place-finisher Shot Put
(four times)
UCAA Place-finisher Discus
(three times)
2003 United States Track Coaches Association
Regional Track Athlete of the Year
(Atlantic Region)
Through spring term
Social Sciences Building, faculty lounge gallery
“Vietnam”: A collaborative photography exhibit by fall 2002 Term Abroad Program participants. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Sponsored by IEG, Partnership for Global Education and East Asian Studies.
Through spring term
Humanities Building, faculty lounge gallery
Photography exhibit: Circus photographs by Nori Lupfer '03, winner of Watson Fellowship.
Through spring term
Arts Atrium Gallery
Senior exhibitions
Through Sunday June 1
Yulman Theater
Play: Bertolt Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle. Performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 30 and 31; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 1. Tickets are $7 general admission and $5 for students. Information 388-6545.
Friday, May 30, 7 p.m. to Saturday, May 31, 7 a.m.
Library Field
Relay for Life – a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. For registration/information, contact Angie DeSilva at desilvaa@union.edu or Emily Sweeney at sweeneye@union.edu.
Friday, May 30, through Monday, June 2, 8 & 10 p.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
Movie: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Sunday, June 1
Memorial Fieldhouse
Youth Olympics
Monday, June 2, 3 p.m.
Social Sciences 103
Discussion program featuring Victoria Wohl of the Classics Department at Ohio State University on “White Men Saving Brown Women from Brown Men: Suppliant Women and the Democratic State.”
Tuesday, June 3, 12:30 p.m.
Reamer Campus Center Auditorium
General faculty meeting
Tuesday, June 3, 7 p.m.
Arts 215
“Romantic Chamber Music” by Jasmina Begovic '03, Christine Healey '05, Abra Segerson '04, Rebecca Traver '05, Portia Zwicker '03 and Professor Hilary Tann.)
Wednesday, June 4
West and Upperclass Dining
Good luck and farewell dinner
