Sea Gulls Sorry to See “2000” Fading Away
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(December 15, 2000) |
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It’s safe to say that if there were a way to extend the 2000 calendar year for a few months longer, members of the Salisbury State athletics department would jump at the chance. The first year of the new century has yielded unprecedented success for Sea Gull athletics. As the University celebrates its 75th anniversary, it’s clear that there’s never been a more decorated year for the school’s 19-sport varsity program. Since the start of the new millennium, the Gulls have won 10 conference titles and had 12 of 19 teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament. In addition, 12 players have earned all-America honors and six coaches have been tabbed as Capital Athletic Conference coaches of the year. The run of success began in February as the women’s basketball team claimed its first conference championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During the spring, four more teams won CAC titles. The men’s lacrosse team advanced to the national championship game, the women’s lacrosse team earned its first final four berth, and the baseball and softball squads advanced to NCAA regional finals. In addition, the men’s tennis team earned its third NCAA Tournament berth in six years, and both the tennis and track teams had individuals earn at-large invitations to the national championships. Those successes during the first half of the year earned Salisbury State a ranking of 18th among 405 NCAA Division III schools in the final Sears Directors Cup rankings for the 1999-2000 academic year, released in June. SSU also retained the CAC’s All-Sports Trophy for the second straight year. At that point, who would have guessed that the fun was just beginning. The Sea Gulls won five of six possible Capital Athletic Conference championships during the recent fall season, and placed four more teams in NCAA Tournament competition. Conference champions were men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, volleyball and men’s cross country. The field hockey team advanced to the NCAA final four, the women’s soccer team to the NCAA elite eight, the men’s soccer team to the NCAA second round and the volleyball team to the NCAA first round. Additionally, the football team capped its season with a victory in the annual Regents Cup game at historic RFK Stadium. The Sea Gulls closed the year ranked fifth in the 2000-01 Sears Directors Cup ranking announced in December. Some of the other highlights during an unforgettable year in Sea Gull athletics were: *
12 student-athletes earned national all-America honors: Jen
Mezzadra, Annie Sappington, and Jen
Ice in women’s lacrosse; Joe High, Chris
Turner, Tim Parks, Dave
DiPaola, Hirbod Azmi, and Mark
Breier in men’s lacrosse; and Joanna Fenske,
Tara Webster, and Jill
Cressor in field hockey. Among
these, Turner was the national Division III men's lacrosse player of the
year, while High was the national attackman of the year. *
Six coaches were recognized as conference Coach of the Year winners: Robb
Disbennett (baseball); Margie Knight
(softball); Bridget Benshetler (women's
basketball); Dawn Chamberlin (field hockey); Gerry
DiBartolo (men's soccer); and Jim Jones
(men’s cross country). *
Eight Sea Gulls were named CAC Players of the Year: Lisa
Neylan (women’s basketball); Chris Turner
(men’s lacrosse); Annie Sappington
(women’s lacrosse); April Harned
(softball); Rusty Tritsch (men’s soccer); Tara
Webster (field hockey); Katie Korreck
(volleyball); and Suzy McCulloch (cross
country). *
Ward Lambert retired following 30 years and
433 wins as the men’s basketball coach. * 127 student-athletes earned all-conference academic honors with grade point averages of 3.2 or higher. |