John Rooke’s Everything College Sports - Touching all the bases
Friday, June 10, 2011
Does that mean there’s nothing happening over the summer? Hardly. Rhode Island’s nine intercollegiate athletic programs are ALL gearing up for the 2011-12 school year, and beyond. Here’s an update of what’s happened, and what’s still happening, on and around our college campuses:
Providence College:
University of Rhode Island:
Construction is underway on the Kingston campus for eight new tennis courts, and a new home for the URI tennis team. The renovation project will allow URI to host home matches for the first time in three years, and was made possible by two generous donor gifts along with additional University and athletic department funding. The courts will be open to the entire University community…the annual Fast Break Club Legends Golf Tournament will be held June 20 at Quidnessett Country Club in North Kingstown, and this year’s honoree is Tyson Wheeler. The former Ram guard is a new full-time assistant coach at Fairfield, where he had been on Ed Cooley’s staff before Cooley moved to Providence…
Brown:
After the women’s crew team won the 2011 national championship, the men’s team also made waves with a fifth place national finish at the Intercollegiate Racing Association National Championships in Camden, NJ. Brown’s varsity four boat managed a silver medal in the grand final event…on the second day of the Major League Baseball amateur draft in Secaucus, NJ, Brown baseball captain Matt Colantonio was selected in the 22nd round by the San Diego Padres. Colantonio was a four-year starter at catcher for the Bears, and made second team all-Ivy this past season while leading the Bears in hitting with a .301 average. He also led the team in hits, runs, doubles, slugging percentage and on-base percentage…
Bryant:
Head basketball coach Tim O’Shea has announced the signing of Israeli Junior National Team forward Ben Altit to a national letter of intent. Altit is a 6-9, 220 pound forward from Tel-Aviv, and averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game for his club team, Maccabi Tel-Aviv. He led his team to the 2011 Israeli Cup title…
CCRI:
Former Lady Knights’ basketball co-captains Cassie Novicky and Alysa O’Neill, along with head coach Kate Lynch, grabbed some face time this week courtesy of the “Tuesday’s Child” feature on WJAR-Channel 10. Coach Lynch and the players hosted and took part in a shoot-around with “Maddy,” a 15-year old local girl looking for a family. The Lady Knights team won the 2010-11 Region XXI championship this past season…
Rhode Island College:
Fourteen spring athletes at Rhode Island College were named to the Little East Conference spring all-Academic team. Student athletes earned recognition based on a minimum grade point average of 3.3, and must be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing…Ron Sutherland has been named the head women’s swimming coach at RIC, as the program will kick-off its inaugural season this next year. Sutherland began the aquatics program at CCRI in the late 1970’s, and is a former coach and graduate of Cranston East High School…RIC freshman pitcher C.J. Tsoumakas of Hope, RI signed a contract to play with the North Adams Steeplecats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League this summer. Tsoumakas was 7-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 13 appearances for the Anchormen this past season…junior outfielder Brent Hopkins (Cranston, RI) also signed on to play with the Chatham A’s of the Cape Cod League this summer…
Roger Williams University:
The National Sailing League team racing showcase will be hosted at Fan Pier in Boston, in coordination with the Extreme Sailing Series Boston and the 30th annual Boston Harborfest July 1st through 3rd. Former RWU sailor Matthew Duggan will be the skipper for the Miami Tigers in the showcase regatta. Four teams – the Boston Privateers, California Grizzlies, Miami Tigers and Newport Shamrocks – will be comprised of the very best team racers in the US, world champions, national champions, Olympic skippers and all-Americans…
Salve Regina University:
A total of 36 Salve Regina University student-athletes were honored on the 2010-11 Commonwealth Coast Conference Academic All-Conference Team. The Seahawks field hockey team led the way with five student-athletes, followed by women's basketball with four, and women's cross country, men's lacrosse, women's soccer, women's track and field, and volleyball with three aside. Last year, a total of 33 SRU student-athletes gained conference all-academic honors…
Johnson & Wales:
More than 40 student-athletes at Johnson & Wales University were named to all-Great Northeast Athletic Conference post-season teams this past year, including men’s cross country and baseball with six selections each. Men’s ice hockey had five all-ECAC picks, and women’s volleyball had four all-GNAC selections as well as the Words Unlimited (RI Sportswriters and Sports Information members) Coach of the Year in Jamie Marcoux. Baseball and men’s volleyball also feature coaches of the year, while four sports (cross country, golf, men’s basketball and men’s hockey) had the player of the year in their respective leagues…
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