Felician College Athletics Wraps Up Year With Four Conference Titles and Four Coaches Named Coach of the Year in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference

Felician College Athletics Wraps Up Year With Four Conference Titles and Four Coaches Named Coach of the Year in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference

Lodi and Rutherford, NJ—Finishing up a year defined by accolades and honors, the Felician College Athletics Department has much to celebrate. In six short years Felician has gone from being a college without a sports program to one that has become a stand-out in its conference. In this past year alone, four teams—men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s cross-country, and baseball—earned Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) championship titles, and four coaches were named CACC Coach of the Year. Additionally, twenty individuals from Felician’s athletic teams were singled out as top athletes in the Conference with the honor of being named to CACC All-Conference Teams during the 2001/02 academic year.

2001/02 CACC Coach of the Year honors went to: women’s soccer coach Ben Dinallo for leading the Lady Golden Falcons to their first ever CACC conference championship title in 2001; cross country coach Bob Symons for coaching the men’s cross country team to a CACC conference championship title in its 2000 inaugural year and again this past Fall; baseball coach Steve Svenson for finishing up his first year at Felician with a team that completed the regular season as Conference champions; and softball coach Kathy Hill for the turn-around she orchestrated that resulted in the team’s first winning season, during her first year as head coach.

“We have come a long way,” says Heather MacCulloch, Acting Athletic Director at Felician. In 1996 Felician College inaugurated its athletic program with men’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, and softball. “We didn’t even have a gymnasium then,” says MacCulloch. It wasn’t until 1997 when Felician purchased its second campus in Rutherford, NJ, that the Golden Falcons had a home court to call their own. Women’s soccer came on the scene in 1998, and baseball and cross-country & track were added to the growing program in 2000. Today, the NCAA Division II Golden Falcons are a force with which to be reckoned.

Coming on strong has been a trend for these newcomers. In its 2000 inaugural season, Felician’s cross-country team won the CACC championship title and competed in the nationals, then went on to achieve that same level of success in its second season. Similarly, the men’s soccer team won two consecutive CACC and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Region X championships in it fourth and fifth seasons in 2000 and 2001. “Just in the past two years, Felician teams have captured six CACC conference titles,” notes MacCulloch.

Part of what makes Felician’s athletic program so successful is its emphasis on the blending of academics and athletics, says MacCulloch. “At Felician, performance in the classroom is just as important as play on the field,” she says. As “scholar athletes” Felician athletes are expected to keep their grades up and perform a certain number of community-outreach activities throughout the year. Each coach schedules mandatory study hours during the week and works with team members to insure they are getting the support they need to succeed as student athletes. In recognition of the character-building attributes Felician athletes exhibited during this past year, The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) named Felician College as a “Champion of Character Institution.” Felician College’s athletic program earned the recognition for exemplifying the five core character values that define the NAIA program: respect, integrity, responsibility, servant leadership and sportsmanship. Among the leadership activities Felician athletes carried out over the past year were volunteer work with the “Help Your Hungry Neighbors” Food Drive, the Community Food Bank of Hillside, NJ, and the Felician College “Imagine A Celebration of Life” Holiday Benefit Variety Show to benefit local children affected by the World Trade Center attacks. “I am very proud of our student athletes,” says Felician College president Sister Theresa Mary Martin. “They are leaders who continue to shine both on the field and off. The athletic program is an important thread woven into the colorful fabric of Felician. We need to build strong bodies as well as strong minds and spirits, and by nurturing a sense of physical, mental and spiritual development, our student athletes can only succeed,” says Sister Theresa.

With this kind of support, it is no surprise that the Falcons are at the top of their game—on the field, in the classroom, and in the greater game of life.

PHOTOS (clicking on the photo name will open the photo):

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Coach Photos: Ben Dinallo, Bob Symons, Steve Svenson, Kathy Hill

Soccer Chmpn Photo.jpg: Top Row from Left: Erik Kotynski, Kwame Telemaque, Sonja Redway, Gianfranco Maurcione, Aidan O'Brien, Hector Kotei, Trevor Russell, Sacha Pavic, Juan Pachon, Raymond Conuerga, Ruben Luzuriaga, Asst. Coach Vincent Basile, Trainer Dale Ellicott, and Coach Tony Scorciolla. Bottom Row, from Left: Asst. Coach Mike Mueller, Esteban Urena, Gary Hanly, John McGarry, Maura DiCioccio, Nick D'Anello, Miguel Luzuriaga, and Jose Moreno.

Travis Graham--Cross Country MVP.jpg: Leading the men's cross-country team to its second CACC championship title this past Fall was senior runner Travis Graham of Monmouth Junction, NJ, who was named the team's Most Valuable Player at Felician's annual Awards Banquet on April 28.

Anna Bartsch.jpg: Anna Bartsch, a junior Forward from Hewitt, NJ, helped lead the Lady Golden Falcon's to a victorious season by being the team's leading goal scorer. She was elected Player of the Year for the CACC Conference and the NAIA Region X, and was named Felician's Most Valuable Player at Felician's annual award's banquet on April 28.

David O'Brien.jpg: David O'Brien, a junior first-baseman from Brockville, Ontario, Canada, gave it his all to help the Falcon's baseball team win its first CACC regular-season conference title this Spring. He was named Most Improved Player at Felician's annual award's banquet, on April 28, for his efforts.