Winning the Super Bowl -- and Other Stories

From the pool to the playing field, a look at Southern athletics.

n Historic Run for Women’s Volleyball

THE OWLS REACHED THE NCAA

TOURNAMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SOUTHERN’S HISTORY, finishing the 2017 season with a 24-11 win-loss record. After a thrilling fourset win over New York Tech in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Southern fell in the regional semifinals.

n Swimming and Diving are NE10 Champs — Again!

THE DYNASTY CONTINUESFOR SOUTHERN’S MEN’S ANDWOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING TEAMS, which both won their respective 2018 Northeast-10 championships. It was the 13th conference championship in program history for the men. The women’s team celebrated their second consecutive tournament victory — the 12th in program history.

n Winning the Super Bowl — and Other Stories

ALLISON STOUTLAND, M.S. ’88,

6TH YR. ’91, HAS A CHAMPION-

SHIP STORY FOR YOU — but she won’t be sharing the finer details. “Everyone calls it the Super Bowl. I call it the Super Blur,” says Stoutland of her stadium-seat view of the Philadelphia Eagles’ victory over the New England Patriots — Philly’s first-ever Super Bowl win. Stoutland is the author of four

children’s books and a monthly blog — inchbyinchbooks.com. She’s also married to Jeff Stoutland, ’84, M.S. ’86, the offensive line coach for the Eagles — and on Feb. 4, she and the couple’s children, Jake and Madison, were at Super Bowl LII, cheering alongside the team’s die-hard fans.

It’s one of the many topics Allison writes about in her blog: the joys and challenges of being the wife of a

n Owls First in NE10 Tournament

THE MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD TEAM brought home its 13th Northeast- 10 Indoor Track and Field Championship in program history. It was the second straight championship win for the Owls.

professional football coach. “In the last 25 years we have lived in nine places — each one we’ve called home. We’ve trained three dogs, raised two children, coached six teams, and adopted over 400 players as our sons,” she sums in a Feb. 2 blog post.

The couple’s romance began in New Haven at Boppers, a dance club with an oldies-music theme. Jeff asked Allison, then a teacher at the Strong School in New Haven, to dance. Six months later, he proposed in front of her classroom of starry-eyed kindergarteners. (Call it serendipity: construction has begun on the new Strong School — to be renamed the Barack H. Obama Magnet University School, which will be located on Southern’s campus. See page 4.)

[From left] The Stoutlands take the field to celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl win. • The family gathers after an earlier victory.

Southern remains a touchstone for the couple, who hold four Southern diplomas and degrees between them. Owls football played a role as well. As a student, Jeff was a three-year starter and captain for the Owls, and he returned to his alma mater twice to serve as an assistant coach. He was inducted into Southern’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.

For Allison, Southern made it possible to earn advanced degrees while teaching in the city. “I went to school by day and taught. I went to school by night and learned,” says Allison, a self-described born educator, who, as a child, assigned homework to her younger sister — and actually got her to do it. Allison left her formal teaching career when the family moved repeatedly to follow collegiate and professional coaching opportunities. Jeff coached at the University of Alabama, the University of Miami, Michigan State University, and Syracuse University before joining the Eagles in 2013.

As the family has grown, Allison, in turn, has focused on writing. Her four children’s books offer simple but profound tips for young readers to create a happier world — which leads to the couple today. On Feb. 8, the Stoutland family joined Philadelphia’s parade honoring the Eagles — riding a double-decker bus alongside the team’s offensive linemen, coaches, and their families. “That I remember completely,” says Allison. “Watching the players, the city of Philadelphia, and the millions who showed up for that parade was one of the happiest moments of my life. It was such an accomplishment, and it was so genuine. Everything about that day was genuine.”

Meet the National Champion

Destiney Coward

2018 NCAA Div. II Indoor Track and Field Champion WEIGHT THROW

• Chemistry major, senior

• Track and Field, throwing events

• Hometown: East Haven, Conn.

Record smasher: Southern’s all-time record holder in the weight throw (21.29 in 2018) and the hammer (62.51 in 2017) • Among the NCAA Div. II All-Time Best Performers in the indoor weight throw (7th) and the outdoor hammer (8th) • Numerous Athlete of the Year and All American honors (indoor and outdoor)

It begins: While Coward comes from a family of athletes, her career as a hammer thrower began at Southern. Before meeting award-winning coach Bill Sutherland, ’73, she had only two seasons of experience as a discus and shot put athlete in high school.

Thanks coach: “He told me, ‘You could be good at those, but great at this,’” says Coward of Sutherland, who also competed as a track athlete at Southern and ranks in the Owls’ top 10 in the discus throw. Sutherland also coached Olympians, including 2004 U.S. hammer performer Anna Mahon, 6th Yr. ’07.

Excelling on the field and in the classroom: “It’s always been about finding the time,” says Coward. “Sometimes one comes before the other. It’s not always perfectly balanced, but I try.”

Olympic dreams: Coward says her next step is Hayward Field in Oregon for the 2020 Olympic trials. While she hopes to later attend medical school and become a doctor, for now, she says her aspirations are on the field.

Most memorable moment: competing at an outdoor event in spring 2017, just after the national anthem played and the players were being introduced • “I was just standing there when they announced that I was in the top 10 of [NCAA] Div. II history — something I hadn’t known about myself. It’s so crazy to think about,” says Coward.

By Isabella Collier, senior, English major

n Owls Fly at Gymnastics Nationals

SIX MEMBERS OF THE OWLS GYMNASTICS

TEAM QUALIFIED TO COMPETE AT THE 2018 USA GYMNASTICS COLLEGIATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, which kicked off on April 12 at Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Congratulations to Kathleen Aberger, Alexandra Avendano, Emily Balasco, Kylyn Dawkins, Morgan Gatewood, and Alexandra Lesperance.