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the Racquette
April 22, 2016
Track and Field Teams Become Offical in 2017 Forest Ashley Staff Writer
SUNY Potsdam Athletics is welcoming two new teams to the NCAA Division III sports offered: the SUNY Potsdam Men’s Track and Field team and the Women’s Track and Field team. The Track and Field Club received news this semester that the club has been granted NCAA Division III status. The teams’ statuses will become official in fall 2017. The teams have to go through a trial period during the 2016-2017 school year, during which the club will work in conjunction with a coach, and then will be able to compete. After completion of the trial, SUNY Potsdam will have an official men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field team. James Zalacca, who has been the college’s athletic director for about 16 years, said that no coach for the team
had yet been selected, but the search was ongoing. “Currently soliciting applications for the position,” Zalacca said. “We have a search committee in place who have already begun their work with the selection process.” The search for a track and field coach is nationwide, Zalacca said. The athletic department is excited about the opportunity and is hopeful that a new addition to the coaching staff will happen soon. The search committee wants to be sure that the person selected is good fit for SUNY Potsdam. “The sooner the better,” Zalacca said. “Yet at the same time, we don’t want to stumble over ourselves in haste either. I think a fair estimate of time would be certainly by the end of the academic year, and hopefully prior to that.” The plan is that the new coach will work with the track and field club during the trial period and start recruiting for the official NCAA Fall 2017 season .
The process of making the track and field club an official intercollegiate sport was a long one. The athletic department had been in discussions for about three to four years. “These things take time,” Zalacca said. “It all came together, and we’re excited about the opportunity. All of our decisions are done under the Intercollegiate Athletic Board, or IAB, and the President’s Council gives final approval.” Carrie Hunter, a senior studying psychology, has been the Track and Field Club president for two years and a member for three. She said she has been working toward the goal of making the club an official varsity sport here at SUNY Potsdam. The club’s goal had always been to become an official varsity sport at SUNY Potsdam, but the one thing standing in their way in the past was a lack of membership. “What we did was table every couple of days during the week [and] the tabling helped get members,” Hunter said.
“It’s more stable than it’s ever been now.” The Track and Field Club did what they could to feel like a team, meeting every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday to practice from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Meetings usually consisted of a variety of workouts depending on the type of runner — distance or sprinter — and athletic preference in the club. Club member Marcus Painter, a senior majoring in mathematics and psychology, said the club also competed in a scrimmage match with Clarkson’s track and field team last fall at the Field House at Maxcy. Now that the club has gone through all the channels and is becoming an official varsity sport, the club has reached its goal. “[It’s] such a relief,” Hunter said. “It’s exciting; I’m looking forward to it. Glad I could graduate knowing our goal was met to become a Division III sport.” Painter said that the Track and Field Club received the news from the club’s adviser and cross country coach, Peter Culter, at a
club meeting the same day the decision was made. “I think it’s good that the school is adding additional sports option to the school so they can pull in more athletes,” Painter said. “Student athletes tend to be hardworking and care about the academic side and athletic side, especially in a Division III. I think it’s always good to have more options for students.” SUNY Potsdam will be the ninth of 10 schools in the State University of New York Athletic Conference to offer men and women’s indoor and outdoor Track and Field. “I think it’s an opportunity not only for the department but for the college to grow and expand, student-population wise,” Zalacca said. “We’re very excited about it. I think it’s a great sport for our campus to have.”
Oneonta Outlasts Bears for Sweep Cassandra Chase Contributing Writer
After falling to SUNY Oneonta (15-10, 6-2 SUNYAC) 6-0 in game one, the SUNY Potsdam softballteam (9-14, 2-4) continued to battle back in game two before falling 5-4 in nine innings. Oneonta got the first run of the contest on a perfectly executed bunt by sophomore center fielder Ashley Lefebvre (Waterford, N.Y./Waterford-Halfmoon) that scored freshman first baseman Dana DelGenio (New Hartford,N.Y./ New Hartford). Junior left fielder Katie O’Gorman (Clifton Park,N.Y./ Shenendehowa) followed with a triple to center and Oneonta led 2-0 after two and a half. The Red Dragons got three more in the fifth on long homer from sophomore right fielder Cori McFall (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington, N.Y.). Junior shortstop Marlene Cuevas (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./ Roy C. Ketcham) doubled in O’Gorman;Gorman for the final run of the contest in the top of the seventh. Potsdam threatened the bottom of the seventh, but didn’t score. Senior captain Alexis Lerman (Fayetteville,
N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) followed with a single to right, moving Marsman to third. However, Red Dragon junior pitcher Sabrina DeAngelis (East Meadow, N.Y./Kellenberg) recovered to retire the last two Bears and complete the shutout. Sophomore pitcher Sami Hubinsky (South Glens Falls, N.Y./SUNY Adirondack) allowed six runs on eleven hits and two walks over the full seven innings. She struck out two. DeAngelis scattered five hits and struck out five. An RBI triple by O’Gorman and an RBI single from Cuevas put Oneonta up 2-0 in the top of the first in the second contest. The Bears countered with an RBI double from Hubinsky that plated Ott in the bottom of the first. Whittam put the Red Dragons up 3-1 in the top of the second with a sacrifice fly to left field. In the bottom of the third, Ott knocked in freshman center fielder Brooke Falsion (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) to get Potsdam within 3-2. Lerman tied the game in the next inning, coming home on an errant throw by the catcher after she had stolen third base. Lefebvre led off the top of the
fifth with a double that ended sophomore pitcher Meghan Dougherty (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) day on the mound. Freshman Alissa McCauley (Malone, N.Y./Franklin Academy) took over and quickly retired the next two batters, including a strikeout of McFall with an impressive fastball. She then induced what should have been an inning ending ground ball, but the throw pulled first baseman Marsman off the bag and Lefebvre came in with the go ahead run. Potsdam placed runners at second and third with no outs in the bottom of the fifth, but was unable to capitalize. In the sixth, senior third baseman Samantha Cohn (Monticello,N.Y./Monticello) delivered a clutch twoout single to right center that in turn knocked Marsman to tie the game at 4-4. McCauley worked around a leadoff walk to preserve the tie in the top of the seventh. DeAngelis came in to pitch the bottom half of the inning for Oneonta She was sacrificed to third, but Potsdam was unable to bring her home. The Red Dragons threatened with runners at first and second and one out in the top of the eighth, but McCauley again
Players huddle as they prepare to go up to bat.
shut them down. In the ninth, McFall drove in Lefebvre with a single to left for the eventual game-winning run. The Bears didn’t go quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Dougherty reentered to pinch hit for McCauley and laced a base hit to right field. Falsion bunted her to second. Chirinko then reached on an error to give Potsdam runners at the corners with two outs before DeAngelis was able to record the final out. Dougherty allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks, while striking out two in the first four innings. Junior Amanda Graziano
Photo by Marcus Wolf
(Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) pitched the first four innings for Oneonta and received a no decision. She allowed two earned runs on five hits in four innings. Freshman Kate Wood (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) allowed a run on two hits and two walks in the next two innings. DeAngelis (6-6) claimed her second win of the day after pitching three scoreless innings of relief and allowing two hits. Ott was 3-for- 4 in the second game with one run scored and another driven in.