Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008

7th ANNUAL HAUNTED HAPPENING ON TAP FOR FRIDAY, OCT. 31

Eastern's Student Athlete Advisory Committee sponsoring special night for kids

By Courtney Bedocs

Sports Information Staff

Eastern Connecticut State University will host  its Seventh Annual Haunted Happening on Friday, October 31. Come join Eastern’s student-athletes from 6-8 p.m. in the Geissler Gymnasium of the Sports Center in playing fun games, making spooky arts and crafts, collecting candy, and even competing in the Costume Parade Contest! 

Children 12 years of age and younger can be involved in all of this excitement  to encourage a safe and fun Halloween Holiday.

Eastern’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), comprised of student representatives from each of the department’s athletic programs, created Haunted Happening in 2002 in order to provide a safe environment for children to celebrate Halloween. Eastern’s student-athletes want to give back to the community and share in Windham County.

If you would like to donate candy to Haunted Happening, or need further information, please contact Janice Patry in the athletic department at 860-465-5315.

Tell your family, friends, and neighbors! Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY

2007/08 ATHLETIC MAJOR AWARD-WINNERS

VIEW BIOS OF THIS YEAR'S SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD-WINNERS

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VIEW LISTING OF SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD-WINNERS (1982-2008)

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Bonnie J. Edmondson Sr. Female

SportsPerson-of-the-Year

Stephanie Smith (Penacook, NH)

Francis E. Geissler Sr. Male

SportsPerson-of-the-Year

Mykal Kuslis (Watertown)

Female Athlete-of-the-Year

Ashley McFetridge (Canton)

Male Athlete-of-the-Year

Jay Barney (Mansfield)

Female Rookie-of-the-Year

Karina Johnson (East Hartford)

Male Rookie-of-the-Year

Courtney Simmons (Middletown)

BONNIE J. EDMONDSON

SENIOR FEMALE SPORTSPERSON-OF-THE-YEAR

STEPHANIE SMITH                                                      Penacook, NH

(Named in honor of the former Eastern track and field All-America and Eastern Hall of Famer and presented to a student-athlete who best demonstrates Dr. Edmondson’s qualities of teamwork, dedication, leadership, integrity and spirit.)

Business major and member of the Honors Program… first member of the basketball program to receive the award… four-year member of the basketball program and was named second-team all-conference and the program’s Most Improved Player as a senior tri-captain this year… two-year captain and two-year scholar-athlete award recipient… employed as a supervisor with the department’s Event Management staff…  described by head women’s basketball coach Denise Bierly as “having the internal drive and spirit that make her a special person and special student-athlete, and is described by her teammates as enthusiastic and devoted to the program. She is very committed to her academics and shows great integrity about achieving at a high level.” … helped the Warriors win their first conference tournament title since 1996 and qualify for their 11th NCAA tournament… after totaling only 25 points as a junior, established personal career-highs in numerous categories, including minutes (29.1), scoring (10.4), rebounding (5.6) and three-point field goals (27)…

FRANCIS E. GEISSLER

SENIOR MALE SPORTSPERSON-OF-THE-YEAR

MYKAL KUSLIS                                                  Watertown

(Named in honor of the former Eastern director of athletics and coach and presented to a student-athlete who best demonstrates Mr. Geissler’s qualities of teamwork, dedication, leadership, integrity and spirit.)

Physical Education major and four-year member of the indoor and outdoor track and field programs… second representative of the program to win the award in four years…  two-year member of the student-trainer staff… two-year recipient of an Eastern/E-Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award… nominated as a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America… praised by head track and field coach Frank Poulin for his contributions both on the track (having competed in 13 different individual events and six relays in his career) and off the track… said Poulin: “Mykal is one of the most well-rounded individuals that I have ever met, and has been extremely dedicated to the program since his first day at Eastern. He is always looking for way to help the team. He has organized fundraising drives, hosted recruits,  and offered his time to teammates as a tutor.” … five-time all-conference and all-alliance performer in the relays, hurdles and long jump… member of the 4x220 yard relay which garnered All-ECAC honors indoors with an eighth-place finish…

FEMALE ATHLETE-OF-THE-YEAR

ASHLEY McFETRIDGE                                   Jr.                    Canton

Basketball

Led the Warriors to their first conference tournament championship in more than ten years and 11th NCAA tournament, earning conference Player-of-the-Year and conference tournament MVP laurels... became the program’s fifth conference Player-of-the-Year selection and repeated first-team all-conference honors and All-Defensive Team honors and was named to the WBCA All-Northeast Region team, which certified her as an honorable mention All-America… led the conference in blocked shots (46), field goal percentage (.530), and scoring (15.4), and was third in rebounding (8.5)… recorded nine double-double and reached double digits in scoring 24 times, totalling at least 20 points six times… in three conference tournament games, totaled 54 points, 25 rebounds and six blocked shots, was  19-for-38 from the floor (50.0 per cent) and 12-for-17 from the foul line (70.6)… was recognized with a weekly honor by the conference seven times… becomes the program’s sixth Female Athlete-of-the-Year (third different individual)… scored 19 points (9-for-14) in the NCAA tournament game to leave her with her highest scoring average during the season…

MALE ATHLETE-OF-THE-YEAR

JAY BARNEY                                           Sr.                   Mansfield

Soccer

Led the Warriors to their first-ever Little East Conference playoff championship, thus qualifying them automatically for their first NCAA Division III tournament… team finished 11-6-3 overall, 5-1-1 in the conference… the regular-season LEC title was the program’s first since 1992… Barney wrapped up a four-year career as the team’s starting keeper… became the program’s first all-region selection in 14 years when he was a fourth-team pick to the NSCAA/adidas All-New England Region Team and repeated as Defensive Player-of-the-Year in the conference… named the LEC playoff MVP after posting shutouts in the semifinals against Rhode Island College (the program’s first-ever LEC playoff victory) and in the final against defending playoff champion Keene… in the final, made nine saves through overtime and stopped two shots in the penalty-kick session… the shutout in the final was his fifth straight and 23rd of his career… led the conference in shutouts (7), saves (103), goals-against average (0.68) and save percentage (88.0), ranking seventh nationally in the latter category… behind Barney, Eastern allowed a conference-low total of 19 goals…

FEMALE ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR

KARINA JOHNSON                                Fr.                   East Hartford

Cross Country * Track & Field

Becomes either program’s first such honoree for this award… lettered in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track… nominated as Little East Conference outdoor track Rookie-of-the-Year (recipient not yet selected)…in track both indoors and outdoors, set program records at 800 meters and with the 4x400 meter relay and also broke the program record in the mile indoors… at 800 meters indoors, also qualified provisionally for national

competition, won the conference and alliance championships and earned All-New England recognition with a seventh-place finish in a field of 21 at the Division III Championships… at 800 meters indoors,  also qualified for the New England Open and ECAC Division III meets, placing tenth in a field of 29 and 11th in a field of 14, respectively, in those competitions. At the Open, she broke the 800 meter record with a time of 2:16.00 in the preliminaries, and at that meet also helped the 4x400 meter relay to a program record time of 4:04.87… outdoors, repeated as the conference and alliance 800 meter champion and earned all-conference and all-alliance honors at 1500 meters… competed in the New England Division III and Open 800 meter events and in the ECAC Division III 400 meters… in cross country, finished first in her first collegiate race last September, finished second in the conference and fourth in the New England Alliance meets and was 13th in the very competitive New England championship…

MALE ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR

COURTNEY SIMMONS                       Fr.                   Middletown

Basketball

Becomes program’s first such honoree… despite being a first-year player,  was the team’s starting point guard throughout the entire season, starting all 26 games, and eventually earning a spot on the conference’s All-Rookie Team… became the first ‘true’ freshman to start all of the team’s game in 21 years (since Alan Janes in 1986/87)… team finished 13-13, 6-8 in the Little East Conference this year… named conference Rookie-of-the-Week four times… second on the team by averaging over 30 minutes per game (30.2) and was one of the team’s three double-figure scorers (10.7)… led all players on the team in assists (105/4.0), a total which ranked him third in the conference… led or shared the team lead in assists 15 times… three times scored at least 20 points, including a season-high 24 in an LEC game vs. Southern Maine Jan. 12… handed out a season-high 12 assists against Green Mountain Jan. 17 and recorded a season-high six steals vs. Mitchell Dec. 10…

Pepin Joins Pro Fastpitch League as Hitting Coach (Aug. 12, 2008)

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