Before I start this post, let me say that I’m incredibly proud of how all of our teams did this year, because we had some incredible performances, both team and individual. But boy, how things could have been…
- Football went into their finale at Liberty undefeated in the Big South, needing to hold Liberty down offensively in order to make the FCS playoffs. Unfortunately, they got beaten by a very strong Liberty team, 54-28.
- Men’s basketball struggled with injuries all season, but went on an incredible run to the conference championship game, holding a lead for all but two and a half seconds of the championship game at Boston University. Unfortunately, they were the only two and a half seconds that mattered, as John Holland hit two free throws at the end of the game to break the tie and send BU to the NCAA Tournament.
- Men’s lacrosse had a great run, playing an incredibly difficult schedule. They faced Hartford in the America East final, losing a heartbreaker as Hartford scored the tie-breaking, game-winning goal with one second left on the clock.
- And yesterday and today, our baseball team, ranked #1 in the America East after a 41-10 regular season, lost heartbreakers in the conference tournament as we couldn’t get anything going against Maine yesterday, and then lost in the elimination game to Albany this afternoon. (I’m holding out hope for an at-large bid to the College World Series. 40 wins has to count for something, right?)
So close, yet so far… but we’ll be back in 2011-2012!
Meanwhile, let’s celebrate the awesome accomplishments our athletes had this season:
- The Seawolves men’s cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field teams all received the Public Recognition Awards that are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their Academic Progress Rates (APRs). The four honored teams are the most Stony Brook has had in one academic year. In addition, the women’s outdoor track & field team has now been honored with the Public Recognition Award for six consecutive years.
- Five Stony Brook student-athletes have been announced as winners of the 2010-11 SUNY Chancellor Scholar-Athlete Award, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher announced on Monday. Among the Seawolves honorees are Michael Coulter (Yorba Linda, Calif.) of the football team, Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia) of the men’s lacrosse team, Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) of the baseball team, Holly Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) of the women’s cross country team and Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) of the women’s track & field team.
- Seniors Lucy and Holly van Dalen took sixth and seventh, respectively, as the women’s team finished an impressive seventh at the 2010 NCAA women’s cross country national championships. By finishing among the top-40 individually, the twins are first-time All-Americans in cross country.
- In baseball, sophomore William Carmona was named America East Player of the Year, junior Nick Tropeano earned Pitcher of the Year honors, freshman Brandon McNitt was tabbed Rookie of the Year and Matt Senk took home his first Coach of the Year award. The Seawolves had 11 players named all-conference, including eight on the first team. Carmona became the first player in program history to be named Player of the Year and Tropeano became the first player in America East history to win two Pitcher of the Year awards. (Plus, I’m pretty sure we’ll see a couple of those guys’ names get called June 6-8 at the MLB Draft.)
- Speaking of drafts, senior Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia) was the first overall pick of the 2011 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft this winter, going to the Hamilton Nationals. Seniors Jordan McBride (New Westminster, British Columbia), Tom Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Adam Rand (Niantic, Conn.) also were drafted, going to Rochester, Boston and Hamilton, respectively.
So chins up, Seawolves! You had a hell of a year, and we’re proud of you! We’ll be back next year!