Posted on Jun 25, 2004

Flag football, softball, basketball and volleyball were some
of the activities that took place during the second annual Student-Athlete
Festival. The yearly event is the brainchild of Ramsey Baker '91, the College's
associate director of athletics. The intent is to bring together Union's large
student-athlete population (approx. 550) for a few hours of competitive fun.

“I
was excited to see that we had such a large number of participants this year,”
said Baker. “This year's SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which is
made up of representatives from each of the College's 25 intercollegiate
athletic teams) group took more ownership of the day and they developed a
schedule of events that brought more head-to-head competition into the
activities. We experimented with the idea of moving to a weekday and it looks
to have paid off.

“This is a
great opportunity for our athletes to witness first-hand the outstanding
athletic ability of their peers,” Baker continued. “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.”

Posted on Jun 25, 2004

Now you can have every issue of “Headliners” delivered right
to your computer.  Click on link below
and you will receive “Headliners” the moment it is published.  Don't miss any of the accomplishments and disappointments
of the student-athletes who proudly wear the Garnet uniform while competing on
Union's 25 intercollegiate athletic teams.

Posted on Jun 25, 2004

Each
year Union opens its academic calendar by involving freshmen and other members
of the campus community to take part in a day-long community service project.
On September 6, 2003, members of the Union family wielded brooms, paint
brushes, and shovels as they took to the streets for the ninth annual John
Calvin Toll Day (who was one of the College's first graduates in 1799).

The
commitment to community service does not stop at the stroke of midnight for
most of Union's population. In fact, the athletic department has been committed
to community service for as long as John Calvin Toll Day has been observed.

“Being
involved in community service projects allows our team to give something back
and shows our kids how other people live and what they have and don't have,”
said head football coach John Audino, whose team is involved in several activities
throughout the year. “Getting involved also helps with team chemistry,
leadership, and allows our kids to have fun outside of football and Union.”

The Dutchmen's activities included tutoring grammar school
children at Zoeller School in Schenectady on Tuesdays during the spring
semester; a project in Hamilton Hill that saw team members painting and
repairing a house on Strong Street for a family of seven; and volunteering at
the Schenectady City Mission.

On
Saturday, May 22, the men's and women's crew teams joined in the Stockade
Association's annual spring clean up of Riverside Park – a five-block stretch
of riverfront maintained by the city for the benefit of city residents and
visitors. Working alongside area residents, Union's crew teams trimmed trees,
raked leaves, cleaned flower beds, picked up trash and planted several large
gardens.

Members
of the women's lacrosse team have been involved with community youngsters from
kindergarten to second grade. They have helped children with reading skills and
stressed the importance of community and family, to name just two topics that
have been covered. Through the Kenney Center, team members maintain their
involvement with this age group. A number of players are also members of Big
Brothers/Big Sisters. Many children from the Schenectady community attend some
practices and games through their relationship with team members.

The
men's and women's hockey teams work with children in the Capital Region's local
hospitals. Stuffed animals were collected at two home hockey games and
distributed to the Ronald McDonald House and to Albany Children's Hospital
youth pediatric ward prior to the holidays and on Valentine's Day. Two young
children from the Children's Hospital in Albany were able to attend a men's game,
visit with the players, and go out on the ice after the game for pictures and
autographs. A couple of the players have maintained e-mail communication with
the families since their visit.

The volleyball team participates in the UCARE Day through
the Kenney Center, where the Dutchwomen had a booth of temporary tattoos and
bead bracelet making. “This was the second year of our participation in UCARE
Day,” said head coach Sandy Collins. “Our team members enjoyed it last year and
expressed a desire to participate again this year. I believe it is extremely
important for teams to be involved in community service in the local
community.” For a second consecutive year, the Dutchwomen also participated in
the RELAY FOR LIFE, which was held at Union to benefit the American Cancer
Society.

The
women's hockey team set up the Animal Protective Foundation's Fireplug 500 Dog
Walk in Central Park; hosted a “Skate with the Dutchwomen Night” and post-game
receptions for local Girl Scout Troops; visited the Ronald McDonald House in
Albany; and visited Albany Medical Center children's ward.

The
men's soccer team conducted a “Shootout Station” at UCARE earlier this spring
in Memorial Fieldhouse. The event is a community outreach for local “at-risk”
youth. The Dutchmen's point person on the event was sophomore Wade Cheatham
(Vail, Colo.) “Wade did a great job of organizing the event and getting the
players to volunteer their time,” said head coach Jeff Guinn. “Our team gets as
much out of the day as the UCARE participants, just getting to interact with
the kids and to see them enjoy the event.”

Posted on Jun 25, 2004

The 2003-04 intercollegiate athletic season is in the history book and that
means the final standings for the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup
are complete. Union picked up 212.5 points to finish 63rd among the
nation's NCAA Division III colleges and universities. Of the 430 eligible
colleges and universities in the NCAA Division III, a total of 283 (66 percent)
scored points in the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup competition.

Williams College, meanwhile, defended its title by winning
its eighth cup in the last nine years and topped the 1,000-point mark for the
second consecutive year. The Ephs recorded 1,081.75 points – 270.75 points
ahead of runner-up Emory University.

The prestigious award is presented annually by the National Association of
Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), United States Sports Academy, and
USA TODAY to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country.

This marked the third consecutive year that Union's programs finished among
the top 70. The College's 23 Division III intercollegiate athletic teams
finished 57th last year (with 231 points) while the end of the
2001-02 campaign found the Garnet in 59th place with 223.5 points. All points are based on an institution's finish in the NCAA
or NAIA championships. 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.

“Union is continuing to make great strides
on the national scene,” said Val Belmonte, Union's director of athletics.
“However, just as important as the ranking is the hidden performances not
mentioned in that number – the
tremendous athletic efforts of our student-athletes, the incredible mentoring
of our coaches, and the invaluable support of the Athletic Department staff.
This is not to leave out the four UCAA Players of the Year; our two UCAA
Coaches of the Year; 42 All Conference Selections in the UCAA; the 83
All-Academic Honors; and the 14 All American selections.

“The 2003-2004 season was a banner
year for Union Athletics.”

Women's soccer, basketball and softball picked up Union's “team” points
while senior track star Sean Washington (Dale City, Va.) and sophomore swimmer
David Hogenkamp (E. Aurora, N.Y.) earned “individual” points for the Garnet.
The soccer team, which earned its fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA
tournament, earned 64 points with its ninth-place national finish while the
basketball squad, which earned the first NCAA invitation in the program's
30-year history, captured 50 points with its 17th-place finish. The
softball team, which made its second consecutive appearance in the national
tournament, contributed 50 points with a 17th-place finish.

Washington, who earned All-American honors during the indoor and outdoor
season in the 100-meter dash, earned 24 points while Hogenkamp earned 24.5
points.

The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) enjoyed a very
successful season as it placed seven of its 11 member schools in the top 50.
Middlebury closely followed Williams with its third-place finish while Amherst
was sixth. Bowdoin (20th), Tufts (31st), Trinity (44th),
and Bates (48th) were the conference's top teams.

Cortland, meanwhile, topped the New York State institutions as the Red
Dragons finished eighth. They were followed by Ithaca (11th), New
York University (18th), Rensselaer (43rd), the University
of Rochester (54th), Brockport (56th), and Oneonta (57th).
Geneseo was the first New York State school behind Union as it placed 64th
while Skidmore, which was 94th overall, trailed Rensselaer,
Rochester and Union among the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association teams.

Internally, Union's 25 intercollegiate athletic programs just missed
finishing the recently concluded season at the break-even mark. The overall
record of 185-187-8 left the Garnet at .497 – down from a winning percentage of
.520 in 2002-03 and a high of .568 in 2001-02. Women's softball (25-5),
basketball (24-4), and soccer (19-2-1) spearheaded the Garnet's success in the
victory column. Men's basketball, which finished at 20-8, and women's lacrosse,
which set a program standard for wins in a season with its 15-5 record, also
enjoyed exceptional seasons (both teams qualified for ECAC tournament
championships).

A complete list of the final rankings is available on NACDA's web site at: www.nacda.com.

Posted on Jun 22, 2004

The success of the women and men's soccer teams has been the
highlight of the fall season thus far. 
Two weeks into the schedule, the Dutchwomen are nationally ranked with
their 5-0-1 record while the Dutchmen have produced a 4-2 mark in their first
six games. 

p>The Dutchwomen, who entered the week ranked 11th
in the country (up from last week's No. 16 position), have outscored their six
opponents by a margin of 12-1 while enjoying an overall shot total of 106-25
(including a 49-14 shot on goal advantage). 
All of this is quite remarkable seeing as the Dutchwomen graduated seven
players from last year's 19-2-1 team that qualified for the NCAA tournament by
winning the Liberty League's regular-season and tournament championship. 

Union's midfield and defensive units have obviously
performed extremely well thus far.  The
only goal given up this year was a breakaway late in the game against Oswego in
the Garnet's 4-1 victory. 

Senior Brianna Bailey (Easthampton, MA/Easthhampton) leads a
defensive corps that includes junior Linsey Capeclatro (Orange, CT/Loomis
Chaffee), and freshman Cristin Tenety (West Islip, NY).  Freshmen Jenna Riley (Poughkeepsie,
NY)Bridget Duffy (Albany, NY), Jenna Riley (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington), and
Bridget Duffy (Albany, NY/Guilderland) back up the starting corps. 

Molly Flanagan (Simsbury, CT/Loomis Chaffee) is the lone
senior on a midfield unit that includes junior Marissa VanWoeart (Schenectady,
NY/Schalmont), sophomore Jenna Ondash (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) and freshman
Caitlin Cuozzo (Norfolk, MA/King Phillip Regional).  Freshman Brianne Sosa (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) is the first player
off the bench and has played in all six contests.

In goal, junior Julie Gawronski (Dunkirk, NY/Dunkirk)
continues to have a remarkable career. 
Among the nations leaders in every single goaltending category,
Gawronski now have 15 career shutouts and an overall record of 30-5-2.  She has not given up a goal this season
while facing just 13 shots.

Junior Cassandra Mariani (Boonton, NJ/Morris Catholic) leads
the team in scoring with 11 points (four goals and three assists) and is
closely followed by senior Brittany Cressman (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and junior
Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk), who has two goals and nine points.  Freshmen Leah Muzzioli (Belmont, MA/Belmont)
and Danielle Pamarole (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) back up this explosive
unit.

Two players, Cressman and Mariani have been selected as the
Liberty League's “Offensive Player of the Week.”  Cressman picked up the honor with a two-goal, one-assist weekend
in the season-opening sweep of Clark (1-0) and Oswego (4-1) while Mariani
scored a pair of goals as the Dutchwomen swept Allegheny and Geneseo (both by
the score of 2-0) in week No. 2. 

This weekend (September 24 and 25) the Dutchwomen open a
five-game homestand that will carry them into mid-October.  William Smith, the team Union usually has to
battle for the conference championship and the automatic NCAA berth, will be in
Schenectady on Friday for a 4 p.m. showdown. 
The  16th-ranked
Herons come into the weekend with an overall record of 4-2 and have outscored
their opponents 12-3 while posting three shutouts.  The game will be the Liberty League opener for both teams.

The Dutchmen, meanwhile, got off to their best start under
eighth-year head coach Jeff Guinn as they won four of their first five
games.  They go into this weekend's
Liberty League opener at Hobart and Hamilton with an overall record of 4-1.

Guinn has taken advantage of the Dutchmen's depth as 17
players have played in at least four games while 15 players have started at
least one game.  Senior goaltender Kevin
O'Connor (Reston, VA/South Lakes), seniors, defender Aaron Iskowitz (Randolph,
NJ/Randolph) and midfielder Mike Carey (Westport, CT/Staples), juniors, defender
Ryan McAleese (Walpole, MA/Walpole) and midfielder Mark Susko (Short Hills,
NJ/Pingry School), and freshman defender Craig Williams (Clifton Park,
NY/Shenenedehowa) have started each of the first half a dozen contests. 

Senior midfielder Jeff Sullivan (Guilford, CT/Guilford) has
started all five games that he has played in while junior forward Kelvin
Martinez (Garifuna, Honduras/Northfield Mt. Hermon), senior midfielder Jeff
Marcoux (E. Hempstead, NH/Brooks School), and sophomore defender Brendon Keinath
(Wilbraham, MA/Minechaug) have started four games each.

O'Connor, who has played all but 37 minutes sports a goals
against average of 0.89 with and has stopped 11 of the 16 shots he has
faced.  On the scoring end, Martinez,
who has three goals and two assists, and Carey (two goals and four assists) top
the Dutchmen's chart with eight points each.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

(Editors Note: The following is a reprint of a
New York Daily News story abut fireman Craig Mosia..Union Class
of 1994.  A three-year starter for the
football team and eighth on the Dutchmen's all-time tackle chart with 227,
Craig saved the life of 13-year old Tab Miller).

MIRACLE IN BAY  (by Daily
News staff writers Tamer El-Ghobashy, Richard Weir and Corky Siemaszko)

A teenager, a firefighter and a homeowner teamed up to
rescue a pair of cousins who were drowning in Jamaica Bay.

Little Devin Erwin, 7, was saved when 15-year old Saide
Palmer tossed him a basketball, enabling the terrified boy to float to shore.

But to rescue 13-year old Tab Miller, Firefighter Craig
Mosia had to swim through treacherous currents and float the boy back to a
private dock in Arverne, where he and homeowner Robert Denni took turns trying
to revive him.

“Hang in there,” Mosia cried as he and Denni pumbed the
boy's chest.  “Spit out the water.”

Tab still had not regained consciousness when an ambulance
arrived.  He was listed in critical
condition after the episode at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Tab had been
face-down in the water between five and 10 minutes.

The drama in Rockaways began just before 1 p.m. when the
boys, who live in the neighborhood, apparently slipped on the rocks off Beach
67th Street and fell into the water.  Relatives said Devin could swim, but Tab could not.

Saide was surfing the web at his Bayfield Avenue home when
he heard Devin's screams and ran into his backyard, which abuts the water.  “I saw one kid in the water floating and the
smaller kid was screaming, and his head went down in t he water and came back
up,” Saide said.  “I panicked and called
the police.”

Then Saide picked up a basketball and tossed it into the
floundering Devin.  “I thold him to get
the ball and to try to float, but he couldn't reach it,” he said.  So Saide ran inside his house, fetched
another basketball and threw it to the boy. 
This one hit the mark.

By then, Mosia and the rest of his crew from Ladder 121,
Engine 365, had arrived and began searching the shoreline for Tab.  When Mosia reached Beach 70th
Street, he spotted the boy about 60 feet from shore.  Mosia, 32, quickly stripped down to his skivvies and leaped into
the water. He felt the tug of the currents and he could see Tab drifting
head-first toward a concrete pylon.

“I was thinking about my kids when I was swimming out to
him,” said Mosia, a father of twin toddlers, Jake and Luke.

The firefighter made it to Tab in time to prevent him from
hitting the pylon.  But rather then
fight back to shore, Mosia cradled the boy in his arms and let the currents
carry them to the dock, where Denni helped them up.

    If you have
story you would like to share, please email it to:  George Cuttita at cuttitag@union.edu