Posted on May 21, 2004

The Fourth Annual Senior Appreciation Awards Banquet was held
on Wednesday, May 19, to honor individual and team accomplishments of the 53
members of the Class of 2004 during the past four years. The event was attended
by more than 125 student-athletes, parents, friends, alumni, coaches and
administrators.

Among the evening's highlights was the presentation of the
Directors Cup to senior track and football standout, Sean Washington, and to
women's head basketball coach, Mary Ellen Burt. Joanne Little, Union's
assistant director of Athletics, received the ECAC Appreciation Award.

Dr. Marisa Silveri, Class of 1995
and a former two-year captain of the volleyball team, was the keynote speaker.
Dr. Silveri, who remains among the all-time Dutchwomen leaders in digs and
aces, encouraged seniors to use what they have learned on the playing fields as
well as what they learned in the classroom to their fullest benefit.

Dr. Silveri is a member of the
Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School and McLean
Hospital, where she is also a
Fellow. In 2003 became a member of the faculty at McLean
where she conducts MRI research in the Brain
Imaging Center.

Washington, who has established
several of Union's indoor and outdoor records in the 55-
and 100-meter dashes, will learn next week if he has qualified for the NCAA
Outdoor championships. Already an All-American in track, he is the reigning New
York State and
Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association champion in his events. As a member of
the football team, Washington was
an All-Conference special-teams member as a return specialist.

Burt guided the Dutchwoman hoop
squad to its first NCAA appearance in the program's 29-year history. She and assistant
coach Jamie Seward, led Union to the UCAA championship
(both during the regular-season and postseason tournament) while establishing a
program record for season wins with 24.

Student-athletes in the Class of
2004 greatly contributed to numerous accomplishments during their individual
and collective careers. Their dedication made the 2003-04 season
an especially memorable one. Here are some of the outstanding athletic
achievements by the members of the senior class since they entered Union
in fall 2000:

*
NCAA invitations to the women's volleyball, basketball, lacrosse and soccer
teams (softball, although it did not have a senior on this year's roster, also
qualified for the NCAA championship tournament the past two years); and to the
football and men's basketball teams;

*
Individual NCAA invitations to members of the indoor and outdoor track
teams; and to members of the men's and women's swim teams;

*
ECAC postseason invitations to the men's basketball, baseball, football,
and hockey teams; the women's volleyball, lacrosse, and basketball teams; and to
the men's and women's crew teams;

Individually, Lauren Stellato is among those graduating seniors who will join
the ranks of the College's all-time best in their sport. She is only the second
Dutchwoman to capture the New York State
tennis singles championship out of the No. 1 position and the only Union tennis
player ever to win back-to-back state titles. Lauren leaves Union
as the all-time record holder in career wins for singles (76-15, a winning
percentage of .835) and doubles (43-22, a winning percentage of .662).

*
Collectively, the Class of 2005 helped Union move from 216 in the NACDA
Director's Cup to finishes of 171 as freshmen; 52 as sophomores; 57 as juniors;
and currently 59 as seniors. Softball and track still must be added to that
total.

 

Facility improvements include:

 

*
Renovations of Frank Bailey Field and Frank Messa
Rink at the Achilles Center;

*
Construction of the Viniar Pavilion for
basketball and volleyball;

*
Construction of the turf complex behind the former Ramada Inn.

 

As the Class of 2004 “retires” from
its collegiate athletic career, every graduate can take pride in knowing that each
of their 53 scholar-athlete classmates has left Union a better place than when
they arrived on campus in September 2000. Each member has left a legacy for
generations of student-athletes to follow.

 

Congratulations and most of all, “THANK
YOU” to:

 

Kelly Baker (basketball), Katherine
Beck (cross country), Adam Bekiaris (swimming), Brent
Booth (hockey), Catherine Cahill (swimming), Lisa Capomaccio
(cross country and track), Bernard Carey (track), Brad Coyman
(crew), Julia Davis (lacrosse), Peter Devine (soccer), Kevin Dolan (soccer),
Brett Durie (crew);

 

Cliff Eisenhut
(football & baseball), Kaity Elias (track), Nate
Estes (football), Ryan Frendulich (basketball),
Warren Gardiner (lacrosse), Lindsey Gish (crew), Jim Griglun (baseball), Corinne Hennessy (soccer &
lacrosse), Erin Holmes (soccer), Greg Infantolino
(football), Joe Kelmonovich (cross country), Cory Kinsella (soccer), Lindsay Kroell
(soccer), Steve LaPlante (swimming), Mitch Linder
(tennis);

 

Kirin Liquori (volleyball), Dave Masi (baseball), Dan Mehleisen (football and baseball), Jon
Menz (crew), Stephanie Molé
(soccer), Juliane Moran (volleyball), Dave Packard
(basketball), Seana Phillips (swimming), Sarah
Pontius (volleyball), Theresa Rourk (field hockey),
Katie Ryan (soccer), Glenn Sanders (hockey), Taryn
Scinto (basketball);

 

Beck Seaman (cross country), Scott
Snyder (lacrosse), Elizabeth Soto (field hockey), Lauren Stellato (tennis),
Andrew Street (baseball), Teran Tadal
(track and soccer), Carm Taglione
(football), Shanna Theriault
(crew), Lauren Updegrove (field hockey), Sean
Washington (track and football), Evan White (football), Jon Woods (football), and
Brian Zaro (lacrosse).