Posted on Jun 25, 2003

Schenectady, N.Y. (June 25, 2003) – Union College Director of Athletics Val Belmonte
announced on Wednesday the departure of Kevin Sneddon as head hockey coach at Union College. 
Sneddon, who has been on the coaching staff at Union for the past 10 years, serving the
last five as the team's head coach, will be introduced as the new head hockey
coach at the University of Vermont during a press conference in Burlington on Wednesday afternoon.

“This is a wonderful
and challenging career move for Kevin,” said Belmonte, “an opportunity that he
has earned and worked hard to obtain.”

Reflecting on Kevin's
career at Union Belmonte commented, “Kevin's successes at Union should be measured not only by his
team's improvement on the ice, but also by their outstanding achievements in
the classroom and in the community.  A
wonderful representative of the College throughout his career, Kevin has been a
revered and respected member of Union Athletics and he will be greatly missed.”

“Kevin leaves with
the best wishes of all of us in the Union College community.  We will continue to follow the progress of
his bright and promising career, and all of us look forward to November 15 of
this season when Kevin will return to Achilles Rink as the head coach of the
Catamounts.”

In Sneddon's tenure
as the head coach at Union, the Dutchmen posted an overall record of 50-99-18.  The Dutchmen qualified for ECAC post-season
play three times under Sneddon and earned home ice in 2002-03 playoffs for the
first time in school history.  Last
season the Dutchmen finished in sixth place in the ECAC standings, their
highest finish since 1996-97, and the highest under Sneddon's leadership. Sneddon
has coached two ECAC All-Rookie team members and 14 of his players have earned
ECAC All-Academic Team honors, eight earning the honor multiple times. With his
team participating in several community service projects, Sneddon's Dutchmen
have raised thousands of dollars for various local charities, and Jeff Wilson, Union's captain in 2001-02, was the
national runner-up for the Hockey Humanitarian Award.

“Kevin's move to UVM
speaks well of the state of our program at Union College,” said Belmonte.  “We have established a solid foundation of
success and we are ready to take the program to the next level of competitive
excellence.”

“With the ongoing
renovations at Achilles Rink, a strong recruiting class and an opportunity to
bring in a high-level coach, we are extremely excited by the future of men's
ice hockey at Union College.”

Belmonte confirmed
that a national search to replace Sneddon will begin immediately.

-30-

Posted on Jun 23, 2003

Be one of the “Union 8,000.” We're
within striking distance of 8,000 alumni donors for the Annual Fund, and your
gift could be the one that gets us there.

As you know, alumni giving is a
barometer used by corporations, foundations and other grant awarding
institutions to determine alumni support for an institution. 

Gifts may be restricted to
departments or programs on campus, and the deadline for inclusion in this
year's Annual Fund is June 30th.  Click on the link below to go
right to our secure on-line giving page.

https://www.union.edu/Alumni/

Posted on Jun 19, 2003

Rebecca Bonelli's aunt knew just what to get her for graduation: dessert.

So Deborah Bonelli set about creating a cake worthy of her niece's experience at Union: a masterpiece two-foot
high cake representing the Nott Memorial.

The cake, which reportedly took more than a week of painstaking work, captures the rare example of Victorian High Gothic architecture and all its quirky details.

When she left campus after graduation on June 15, Rebecca donated
the cake to Dining Services.

The confection has been the subject of lots of talk and
admiration around Dutch Hollow, where it is on display.

The next step, according to Jonelle Bayer, assistant manager
of dining services, is preserving the cake and finding a more permanent home,
perhaps in Admissions or the Alumni Center
in Abbe Hall.

Posted on Jun 19, 2003

Schenectady, N.Y. (June 18, 2003) – The Union College men's hockey program announced Wednesday the addition of seven freshmen and one transfer student to the 2003-04 squad. The three defensemen, four forwards, and one goaltender join veterans from the 02-03 team that finished in sixth place (10-10-2) in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) standings.

Head Coach Kevin Sneddon made the initial announcement stating, “My assistant coaches, Andrew Will and Greg Klym, worked extremely hard to recruit another excellent class of student-athletes to Union College. This group of eight players will help us to improve upon our past performances while striving to bring Union Hockey to the next level.”

The Dutchmen graduated five seniors at last weekend's commencement ceremony, but return 22 players, including seven of the top-10 scorers from last season. They begin the season on October 11 at Niagara and host their first game on October 18 vs. Merrimack as part of Union's Homecoming festivities.

Defense

Joining Union's six veteran blueliners are the following rookies:

Jason Ortolano comes to Union from the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs. In 49 games played, the Carteret, New Jersey native tallied 18 goals and 20 assists with 76 penalty minutes.

Sean Streich will join the Dutchmen after skating with the Langley Hornets in 2002-03. Streich hails from Kimberley, British Columbia and registered five goals and 18 assists in 43 games last season and served 43 penalty minutes.

Adam Wood rounds out the rookie blueliners, spending last season with the Vaughan Vipers. From Toronto, Ontario, Wood played in 37 games last season and accumulated one goal and 11 assists with 91 penalty minutes.

Forward

Four forwards, including three freshmen and one transfer, will join Union's 14 returning forwards:

Olivier Bouchard, from Quebec City, Quebec, comes to Union from Upper Canada College. In 38 games last season, Bouchard tallied 32 goals and 52 assists, serving only 20 penalty minutes.

Ian Ross spent last season with the Capital District Selects. The Hibbing, Minnesota native played in 37 games in 2002-03 and registered 17 goals and 18 assists with 38 penalty minutes.

John Thiel comes to Schenectady from Waterloo, Ontario. With the Waterloo Siskins last season, Thiel scored 24 goals and 36 assists in 47 games, serving 94 penalty minutes

Brent Williams will also come to Union this season after skating at Iona College the past two seasons. From Prince George, British Columbia, he will be eligible at the start of the season and will join the junior class. In 35 games last season, Williams had 13 goals and 14 assists with 46 penalty minutes.

Goal

One goaltender will join Union's sophomore goaltending duo of Kris Mayotte and Tim Roth:

Dan Tatar from Queensbury, New York, joins the Dutchmen netminders after his last season with Loomis Chaffe. Tatar is a Western New England All-Star, appearing in 20 games with a 5.05 GAA and .893 save percentage.

2003-2004 Union Hockey Newcomers at a Glance

Posted on Jun 17, 2003

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) final standings (formerly the Sears Cup) saw Union finish in a tie for 57th place among the nation's 278 Division III institutions that scored at least one point. The finish was the College's best, improving upon last season's final placement of 60.

The NACDA's “Director's Cup” is a program which honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men's and women's. The program began in 1993-94 for Division I by NACDA and USA Today, and was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA.

Each institution is awarded points in a pre-determined number of sports for men and women. The overall champion is the institution that records the highest number of points in their division's NACDA “Directors' Cup” standings. The winner receives a Waterford crystal trophy.

Which Division III Sports Are Included?

• Division III — 18, nine men's and nine women's
• Team Sports Include–field hockey, football, women's and men's soccer, women's volleyball, women's and men's basketball, women's and men's ice hockey, baseball, women's and men's lacrosse, softball and women's and men's tennis.
• Individual Sports Include–women's and men's cross country, women's and men's swimming, women's and men's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's wrestling, women's and men's golf and women's rowing.
• An institution's finish in conference championships or ranking in national polls, with the exception of the I-A football poll (USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches' Poll), will not count toward the point tally in the NACDA Directors' Cup standings. All points are based on an institution's finish in the NCAA or NAIA championships.

Contributing to Union's success in the NACDA Cup race were the following teams:

• Women's soccer, which earned 50 points by winning its opening game and finishing 17th in the country;
• Women's volleyball, which earned 25 points by qualifying for the NCAA tournament and finishing 33rd in the country;
• Men's swimming, which earned 61.5 points while capturing 14th place on the strength of Elliot Seguin's two All-American finishes and six other honorable mention finishes;
• Men's indoor track, which picked up 31 points and placed 42nd nationally as Sean Washington finished 5th in the 55-meter dash Justin Sievert qualified for the shot put, and
• Softball, which earned 64 points by finishing ninth in the country.

Justin Sievert's eighth-place finish in the discus gave the outdoor track team 66th place in the country, but he did not earn any Director's Cup points due to the track and field guidelines that allow either indoor OR outdoor results to be counted, using the highest score of the two. Because Union had Sean Washington and Sievert scoring points at the indoor meet, those points (31) were used.

As was the case last year, Union finished third among its Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association rivals (St. Lawrence and Hobart/William Smith finished ahead of Union in 2001-02). Hamilton (which ended 52nd with 255.5 points) and St. Lawrence (54th with 247.5 points) finished ahead of the Garnet this year. Hobart/William Smith was next (71st with 191 points), followed by Rochester (82nd with 172), Rensselaer (106th with 140), Skidmore (138th with 104) and Vassar (139th with 103 points). Clarkson did not have a team or student-athlete qualify for NCAA competition and was not listed.

Union, which ended the 2001-02 season in ninth place among its NESCAC rivals, placed seventh this year. Williams, which won its seventh Director's Cup in the last eight years, scored 1,158.25 points to top the 1,000-mark for the first time. Emory (GA) was a distant second with 779 points. Amherst placed 11th with 502.5 points followed by Middlebury (12th with 499.5 points), Tufts (28th with 321.5), Bowdoin (40th with 288), Bates (50th with 259.5), Trinity (56th with 239.5) and then Union. NESCAC teams finishing behind the Garnet were Colby (84th with 170.25), Connecticut College (128th with 113.5), and Wesleyan, which ended up in 164th place with 85 points.

The Dutchwomen and Dutchmen teams retained their sixth-place showing against neighboring New York colleges. Ithaca, which was second in 2001-02, was again the top-ranked program within the state as the Bombers finished this year in ninth place with 550.5 points. Cortland (15th with 481.5), NYU (30th with 311.5), Hamilton
and St. Lawrence ended the year above Union. Nazareth, which placed 66th with 222.5 points, was the next highest New York State college.

The end of the 2001-02 season saw Union 12th among New England teams, fourth among New Jersey colleges, and third among Pennsylvania schools. This year the Garnet finished 10th among its New England rivals, fourth against the New Jersey programs, and third among its neighbors from Pennsylvania.

“The Director's Cup is a great way to measure the success of the entire department versus the other Division III schools in the country,” Belmonte explained. “We are happy to be among the top 20% in this year's final standings, but we are not satisfied with our finish. All of our programs strive to be the best that they can be and our goal is to get to the point where we are among the top 20 in the Director's cup each year. With the student-athletes, coaches and commitment to excellence that we have I know this is a realistic goal for the very near future.”