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.
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:
- Hudson River Bank And Trust Company–Senior Awards
- Game Creek Video–Event's Highlight Video
- Boathouse Sports–Dinner Table
- I Love NY Pizza–Dinner Table
Student-Athlete Sponsors
- Thomas & Christine Bodden
- Stephen Bodmer '83
- Charlotte Borst
- Mary Lynn & Marco Boscardin
- Cherryl & M. Craig Brown
- George Estefani
- N.A. Mark Estes III
- Sig & Betty Giambruno '51
- Eric & Wendy Goidel '79
- William Grant '49
- John Parillo, MD '57
- Dorothy Scarpinato '80
- Kevin Wolf '82
- Gershon's
- Marty's True Value
- CHA Tech Services
- In Style Salon
- Sofco
- Accent Furniture
- Family Tire and Auto
- Visage
- Union
Cleaners - Peter Pause
Restaurant - Stadium
Systems - Holiday
Liquiors - Whalen
Tent