As snowflakes continue to fall outside and the likelihood of baseball games being played this weekend continues to diminish, this seems like a good time to catch up on some news and notes and thoughts about Rock athletics.
I must open with a
salute to Rock women’s lacrosse, Catawba women’s lacrosse and Clarion softball team student-athletes for their pregame tribute to the Seton Hill lacrosse coach Kristina Quigley and her unborn son, who passed away last Saturday morning in a bus accident en route to a game at Millersville.
Class act, ladies! The Rock Nation salutes you for reminding us there are matters more important than wins and losses.
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Congrats to Kevin Reynolds and The Rock men’s basketball team on a very successful season. No one can ever take away the great memories of winning a share of the school record for single-season wins, earning a berth in the NCAA Division II tournament for the second time in the last three seasons, claiming a second conference runner-up finish in the last three seasons and just generally backing championship-caliber excitement back to Rock basketball games. Hats off to the coaches and student-athletes on a job well done!
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Kudos as well to Jeff Messer and The Rock baseball team on their 13-4 start to the season, the fastest start by a Green and White hardball crew since 2005. I’m looking forward to seeing this year’s Rock squad play in person. Hope to see The Rock Nation come out and support the team as well.
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Did you know foes in three of the four Rock men’s and women’s preseason basketball games earned postseason tournament berths?
Pretty much everyone, I’m sure, is aware of the success former WVU coach John Beilein and his Michigan Wolverines men’s team has had this winter. A No. 1 ranking in the national polls at one point during the season, a 27-7 record as of this writing and a first-round win last Thursday in the NCAA tournament, among other achievements.
But how many of you were aware the Michigan women, SRU’s foe in the first of two preseason games, also earned an NCAA tournament berth? First-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico led UM to a 21-10 record, a No. 8 seed in the Big Dance and a first-round date Sunday with ninth-seeded Villanova.
Bowling Green, SRU’s second preseason foe back in early November, compiled a 23-10 record, earned a berth in the WNIT, beat SMU last Thursday (March 21) and will face Duquesne in a second-round home game Saturday.
Duquesne, by the way, advanced by virtue of a win last Thursday over Akron, which is coached by former Rock women’s basketball standout Jodi Kest, who has compiled a 97-120 record in seven seasons with the Zips. Kest, who owns a 323-273 career record in 20-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach, led Akron to a 23-10 record and the Mid-American Conference runner-up finish this winter.
• While we’re talking basketball,
shout-out to former Rock men’s assistant coach Jareem Dowling and Southern Mississippi on their NIT opening-round win last Wednesday. The Golden Eagles (26-9) host Louisiana Tech in a second-round game Monday. Former Rock men’s basketball student-athlete R.J. Rush is USM’s video coordinator, while ex-Rock student and graduate assistant Mike Gibbons is a GA on head coach Donnie Tyndall’s staff.
Shifting gears, congratulations to former colleagues on attaining new positions:
• Former Rock Assistant to the A.D/compliance coordinator and 2005 Rock master’s degree recipient Steve Roach has been hired as Associate AD at Indiana U. of Pa. after serving five-plus years in a similar capacity at Millersville University;
• Carol Kashow, former softball and badminton coach at Drexel University where I worked from 1982-85 and former summer-league fastpitch softball teammate of SRU alum/former coach/current faculty member Joanne Leight, has been hired as AD at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City after serving four-plus years as AD at Hostos Community College a City University of New York (CUNY)
That’s all we’ve got for now. Until next time …
GO ROCK!!
Bob McComas
Sports Information Director
