Sports

Olympic Gold Medalist Becomes First Female Athletics Director in College's History

Betsy Mitchell has been appointed as director of athletics and recreation at the College. The Olympic Gold Medalist and former world record holder becomes the first female director of athletics in Allegheny College history.

Mitchell was a dominant competitive swimmer for over a decade, earning an Olympic Silver Medal as a high school athlete by placing second in the 100-meter backstroke, while also winning a Gold Medal that season as a member of the 400-meter medley relay in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Prior to this appointment, Mitchell was head swimming and diving coach at Dartmouth College. Mitchell has also worked as an instructor in the sports management program at Notre Dame College of Ohio, as director of athletics at Laurel School for Girls in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and, most recently, as director of athletics at Thomas Worthington High School in Columbus, Ohio.

Mitchell has also served as a consultant to a number of institutions in higher education. She has advised institutions on such efforts as comprehensive athletic program reviews, overhauls of department policies and procedures, staff development and evaluation, recruitment systems analysis, and the creation of coach and student handbooks.

Sport Wrap-ups

Men's Basketball

The men's basketball team finished 11-14 overall and 7-9 in NCAC play. Their record was strong enough to place the team sixth in the conference, but the Gators fell in the first round of the playoffs.

The season was a back and forth struggle, as the Gators won 8 of their 11 games in pairs. The Blue and Gold faced a tight playoff race and clinched the sixth spot by winning three of their final four games. As the No. 6 seed, the Gators had to travel to Ohio Wesleyan for the first round. Unfortunately for Allegheny, the Battling Bishops won the contest with a hot hand, shooting 60.3 percent from the field for the game.

Junior Casey McCloskey received NCAC Honorable Mention honors after leading Allegheny with 14.2 points per game and pacing the league in assists with an average of 4.16 per contest. McCloskey's efforts helped the team improve its win total to 11, up from 8 in the 2004-2005 season.

Women's Basketball

The women's basketball team finished the year with an 18-9 overall record. The Gators placed second in the conference, but their season ended in the second round of the playoffs.

A 13-3 NCAC record put the Blue and Gold as the second seed in the postseason, setting up a home game against Earlham. The Quakers were overmatched, and the Gators advanced to the semifinals with an 89-72 victory. The Gators next traveled to Denison, a team they had twice defeated earlier in the year. But a combination of Denison's defense and a poor shooting night for the Gators sent them packing early.

Season highlights included senior guard Valery Medwid tying the school record for three-pointers made (120), in a narrow 63-62 Gator victory over Wooster. The Gators also had a trio of players named to the All-NCAC team. Seniors Caitlin Murtagh and Courtney Steding and junior Meghan Vasilisin earned first team, second team, and honorable mention honors, respectively.

Men's Swimming and Diving

The men's swimming and diving team had a successful 2005-2006 season. With a roster of 20, the Gators set a slew of personal bests.

Leading the team in the pool were Nick Johnson, Colin Galvin, and Robert Clark. A junior, Johnson swam the backstroke events and the individual medley. Johnson's strongest event was the 100-yard backstroke, in which he swam to a season best time of 54.15. Galvin, also a junior, swam to times of 1:01.57 and 2:14.75 in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, respectively. Clark, a senior, set a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.55.

Sophomore Ryan Lawrence was another key contributor, swimming an all-time best in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.30. Sophomore Jayson Loeffert led the team at the NCAC Championships, placing first in three-meter diving and second in the one-meter event.

Women's Swimming and Diving

The women's swimming and diving team was rebuilt for the 2005-2006 season, adding 12 freshmen to the roster. With eight sophomores, two juniors, and three seniors, the team's rookies needed to make an impact right away.

Highlighting the young talent this past season were freshmen Elysha Cloyd and Erin Ham, both of whom qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships. Cloyd earned All-America honors on the one-meter board with a 12th place finish before taking 19th in the three-meter field. Ham broke the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke at the NCAC Championships with a time of 1:06.59. The effort surpassed Kelly Diehl's time of 1:06.72 in 1991. At nationals, Ham swam both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, placing 25th and 26th, respectively.

The women's team had never missed the NCAA Championships until 2004-2005. With the loss of just three athletes to graduation, the team is looking to start a new streak of consecutive appearances.

Men's Track and Field

The men's track and field team had another outstanding season, winning both the NCAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships and finishing first in the region and in the top 20 in the national power rankings.

At the NCAC indoor championships, Ryan Place was named the Distance Athlete of the Meet, Sean Laird the Field Event Athlete of the Meet, and head coach Bill Ross the NCAC Coach of the Year. Place picked up three conference championships: the 5,000-meter run, the 3,000-meter run, and the mile. His time in the mile (4:23.70) was a conference meet and school record. Laird placed second in the high jump, third in the long jump, and sixth in the triple jump. Pat Confer won the shot put, and Conrad Rapp won the pole vault. Overall, the team had 21 top-three efforts.

For the outdoor season, the team set a record point total-237.50-at the NCAC Championships. Ross was named Coach of the Year, and 18 Gator athletes earned All-NCAC honors.

Place and Werner each made the cut for the NCAA Championships, with Place taking 14th in the 5,000 and Werner taking 7th in the javelin. Werner's effort made him Allegheny's third All-America javelin thrower and 10th male All-America track and field athlete.

Women's Track and Field

The women's track and field team won the program's 8th indoor and 12th outdoor NCAC Championship. The team had nine NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying performances and, at outdoor nationals, Emily Pfeufer captured the squad's 23rd All-America award. The team also finished both the indoor and outdoor seasons ranked first in the region and in the top 25 in the national power rankings. Coach Bill Ross was named the indoor and outdoor NCAC and Mideast Region Coach of the Year.

At indoor conferences, 13 athletes captured All-NCAC distinctions. Pfeufer won the triple jump with a school record-tying and conference record-setting effort and was named Field Event Athlete of the Meet. Sarah Sammel qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with a school-record vault.

At outdoor NCACs, the Gators earned their seventh win in eight years. Pfeufer garnered Field Event Athlete of the Meet honors after placing first in three events. Elizabeth Earley was a two-time champion, while Scarlett Graham and Sammel each won one event.

Pfeufer provisionally qualified for Nationals in the heptathlon and triple jump, Earley in the hammer, Graham in the 1,500, and Sammel in pole vault. Sammel placed 18th in the pole vault before Earley took 10th in the hammer. Pfeufer notched a 7th place All-America effort in the triple jump.

Men's Golf

The men's golf team earned its 30th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championships this season. That's the longest streak in Division III and the second longest in collegiate golf, trailing just Division I Oklahoma State's 60 consecutive appearances.

At this year's NCAC tournament, the squad found itself trailing by five strokes heading into the final round. Allegheny outscored defending champion Ohio Wesleyan by 10 strokes to bring home the Gators' first NCAC title since 2001. All five Allegheny golfers earned All-NCAC honors. Chris Moore made the first team, with Drew Denton, Kyle Jastromb, Chad Kosanovic, and Mike Wolfe collecting second-team honors.

At the National Meet, the Gators sat in 21st place of 23 teams after the first day but rebounded by carding the fifth best score of the tournament, 297, on day 2. The team catapulted into the top eight and eventually finished in 10th place.

Postseason honors flooded in, as Moore was given the Phil Mickelson Award, signifying the top freshman golfer in Division III. Moore and Denton were named third-team All-America, Kosanovic and Moore were each named first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region, and Moore was named the Region Freshman of the Year.

Women's Golf

Most inaugural seasons are about learning, growing, and testing the waters with local competition. But, in just their first year as a varsity program, the women's golf team advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships.

The season started strong, with four of the team's six tournament wins coming in the fall. The team also played in two high profile events during the regular season: the NCAA Preview at Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, site of the NCAA Division III Championships and the Jekyll Island (Georgia) Collegiate Invitational.

At the Division III preview, the Gators placed sixth, finishing higher than some nationally ranked teams. At Jekyll Island, Allegheny blistered the course, shooting rounds of 346, 351, and 338.

The Gators cruised through the remainder of the spring season, including winning back-to-back matches to cap the regular season. Allegheny was relegated to sit and wait for the national bid to come, as only two teams in each of the five regions would advance to the championships. On May 1, the call came to head coach Jeff Groff. His team was going to the national meet, where the Gators would finish ninth.

Baseball

The Allegheny College baseball team had its share of ups and downs throughout the 2006 season, finishing 14-18.

The Gators played in eight games against 2006 NCAA Tournament teams, including two against Division III champion Marietta. Allegheny remained in a position to make the NCAC tournament for much of the season but missed the postseason after finishing just one game behind Kenyon.

Pitcher Drew Scibetta ended the season with 79 strikeouts in 60.1 innings, an average of 11.8 per nine innings, the sixth best total in Division III. He had a 5-5 record and a 4.18 ERA, walking just 11 during the season. Craig Misiewicz went 3-3 with a 4.47 ERA, striking out 42 in just over 48 innings.

Swinging the bats for the Gators were five players who hit over .300, led by Jimmy Fernandez and Eric Rich. Fernandez hit a team-best .351 with 17 runs scored, while Rich batted .350 with 23 RBIs.

Leading the way with postseason honors was Scibetta, who was named to the All-NCAC Second Team. Senior catcher Zack Oblak was named to the All-NCAC Honorable Mention squad.

Softball

The 2006 softball team was the sixth youngest in the country, with just one senior and no juniors. AC nevertheless finished with a 19-21 record, and, in nine extra-inning games, the Gators lost six times by a combined nine runs.

Senior Giannina Coccaro was named NCAC Pitcher of the Year, finishing with an 8-9 record and a 1.81 earned run average. Earning league Freshman of the Year honors was shortstop Rachel Ryan, who led the team with a .423 batting average and a slugging percentage of .650. Brittany Rechtin also earned first-team All-NCAC honors for her utility role, going 4-5 from the pitcher's circle while batting .252 with 14 RBIs as a first baseman.

Catcher Crystal Ptacek was second on the squad, with a .344 batting average. Second baseman Abby Bodenlos, the new NCAC single season steal leader with 22, hit at a .315 clip with a team-high four home runs and 29 RBIs. Ptacek was named to the All-NCAC Second Team, while Bodenlos and Sarah Piranian, an outfielder, were named to the Honorable Mention squad. Bodenlos and Ryan also earned spots on the All-Central Region Third Team.

Women's Tennis

The women's tennis team recorded its highest win total in five years. The Gators finished the season with a 7-13 overall record and placed sixth in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Highlighting the 2005-2006 regular season were wins over Wooster and Case Western. Not having defeated Wooster in four years and Case in five, the Gators won both matches by a final of 7-2. The Gators also brought home the Penn State Behrend Invitational Tournament crown, the team's first tournament win since 2000.

Allegheny would play Wooster again, this time in the second of three contests at the NCAC Tournament. The Gators won 5-0, giving them a spot in the fifth-place match. The Blue and Gold would lose a tight one to Oberlin by a final of 5-3. After the tournament, freshman Carrie Miller was awarded Second Team All-NCAC honors and freshman Kelly Salb made the honorable mention squad.

Men's Tennis

The men's tennis team had a strong 2005-2006 campaign. A young squad, the Gators finished 10-8, their first winning record since 2001.

The conference schedule brought Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin, and Wooster to the Robertson Tennis Courts, with the Gators winning all three matches. The 5-2 win over Wooster was the team's first victory over the Scots in six years, while the 4-3 win over Oberlin was AC's first defeat of the Yeomen in four years.

The Blue and Gold entered the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. The team shut out No. 6 Wittenberg 4-0 but then fell to No. 2 Denison 4-0. The Gators battled Wooster for third place and came up just short in a 4-3 loss.

For their efforts, Matt Chiricosta, Andy Zipf, and Reid Levin were named all-conference, Chiricosta and Zipf to second-team singles and first-team doubles, and Levin to honorable mention singles.

Lacrosse

The women's lacrosse team had a breakout year in 2006, going 9-7 overall and 4-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Both win totals set new school records, and the Gators advanced to the NCAC Championship game.

The team, which had not finished higher than sixth in the first 10 years of NCAC play, has now placed second in two of the past three seasons. Helping lead the team since 2003 was a class of five seniors. The class with the most wins in the history of the program, they made 270 of a possible 285 starts, scored 233 goals, collected 55 assists, and picked up 425 ground balls.

Six Gators earned All-NCAC honors, led by Emily Deering, who was named the NCAC Defender of the Year. Deering, Ashley Rogerson, and Ashley Hughes were each named to the All-NCAC First Team, while Michelle Dudevoir, Kelly Towns, and Laura Hoch received Honorable Mention accolades. Deering went on to earn All-Region First Team honors, while Rogerson and Hughes were each named to the Second Team.