UNH ATHletics
wildcat HOCKEY UNH athletics, steeped in tradition, continues to excel in the 21st century. In the 2010-11 calendar year of competition, the Wildcats ranked 76th out of more than 370 Division I schools in the Learfield Sports NACDA Directors’ Cup final standings. UNH’s 252.50 points, which ranked second in school history behind only the 2009-10 point total, was best in the America East conference, second highest among all CAA schools and third highest in New England. New Hampshire student-athletes excel in competition and in the classroom. UNH ranked second nationally among all public institutions with a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) or 95 percent for its student-athletes, which led both the America East conference and the Colonial Athletic Association. The field hockey, women’s gymnastics, men’s soccer, women’s ice hockey, women’s skiing, women’s track & field and women’s volleyball teams all posted perfect 100 percent GSRs, while the football team notched a 95 percent mark that tied for fifth best in the nation. Furthermore, four Wildcat teams – football, men’s indoor track & field, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s gymnastics – were honored by the NCAA for multiyear Academic Progress Rates (APR) in the top 10 percent of all teams in their respective sports. The UNH football team represented the only Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program from a public school to receive an APR Public Recognition Award; a total of only 12 FCS teams were feted, and UNH was one of four nonIvy League schools to achieve the accolade. UNH had the highest number of honorees on the 2010 America East Fall Academic Honor Roll with 95 representatives en route to a second-place finish in the 2010-11 America East Academic Cup for the third time in four years. Both the women’s indoor track & field team and the women’s outdoor track & field team registered the highest grade-point average in their respective sports. Senior men’s soccer player Colin O’Donnell and women’s track & field graduate student Rita Ciambra were recipients of the America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year in their respective sport. The UNH women’s ice hockey team boasted an alltime best 13 student-athletes on the Women’s Hockey East Association All-Academic Team. Senior captain Courtney Birchard was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star for the second consecutive year. Birchard skated in two international tournaments as a member of Hockey Canada and earned a gold medal at both the Four Nations Cup and MLP Cup. UNH’s women’s ice hockey team recorded its 200th Whittemore Center-victory as well as the 700th overall victory in program history, and that win total is more than any U.S. women’s collegiate ice hockey team. Men’s hockey made a 10th straight NCAA tourney appearance and advanced to the regional final for the third consecutive year in 2011; it marked the team’s 14th NCAA appearance in 15 years and 21st overall. New Hampshire is the only team with an NCAA postseason victory each of the past three years (2009-10-11). The Wildcats finished at No. 9 in both national polls; they were ranked as high as No. 2 (four weeks). Paul Thompson became the eighth player in school history to be named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. UNH has had a top 10 finalist three of the past four years. (2008-10-11). Thompson was named to the All-America First Team and was the Hockey East Player of the Year. The team recorded 20 wins for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons and head coach Dick Umile has 18 20-win seasons in 21 years at the University. New Hampshire finished the decade (2000-09) as the winningest program in Hockey East play and its .651
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winning percentage ranked fifth in the nation. UNH’s football team qualified for the NCAA FCS postseason for the seventh consecutive year, which is the longest active streak in the nation. The Wildcats extended their mark of consecutive weeks ranked in the top 25 to 97, which is best in the CAA. In the inaugural Colonial Clash at Gillette Stadium (home of the NFL’s New England Patriots), UNH defeated UMass, 39-13. The game featured the largest crowd in CAA history (32,848) and was the highest-rated telecast in league history (0.88 rating on Comcast SportsNet New England). That victory against UMass was one of five against nationally-ranked teams in the 2010 season. The ski team (men’s and women’s combined) placed eighth at the 2011 NCAA Ski Championships to mark UNH’s top finish in 11 seasons. Junior men’s alpine skier Zach Clayton earned All-America First Team honors with a third-place finish in the slalom and Second Team with a 10th-place finish in the giant slalom at the NCAA Championships. UNH won the ECAC Swimming & Diving Championships title for the first time since 2005, as the Wildcats totaled 11 ECAC winners led by senior Amy Perrault, who contributed to six first-place finishes and helped the ‘Cats break five records to earn the Women’s Swimmer of the Meet award. Head coach Josh Willman led a women’s swimming & diving staff that was honored as Coaching Staff of the Year at both the America East Championships and ECAC Championships. The women’s outdoor track & field team won the New England Championship title for the first time in program history. Graduate student Rita Ciambra won her third America East conference title in the pole vault with a cleared height of 4.15 meters, which broke both the school and conference championship records. Ciambra went on to claim the New England outdoor title with a meet-record performance. Erica Jesseman, Camille Quarles and Keely Maguire won individual titles at the New England meet; Jesseman and Quarles did so with school-record efforts. Whitney Frates of the field hockey team was selected to the 2010 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-America Second Team. UNH head coach Robin Balducci and her staff was recognized as the America East Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Wildcats to the conference’s regular-season title with an unbeaten record of 5-0. The ‘Cats were just short of advancing to the NCAA tournament with an overtime loss in the America East title game. New Hampshire entered the NFHCA Poll for the first time since 2000 and climbed as high as No. 19. The ‘Cats compiled a 14-7 overall record to mark the most victories in a single season since the 2000 squad went 14-8. Men’s soccer shut out three teams in the America East conference tournament to become the first team to achieve that feat, but the ‘Cats were defeated in the league title game by virtue of penalty kicks. It was UNH’s sixth league tourney appearance in the past eight years. Colin O’Donnell was named the America East Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive year and was one of 16 players named to the NSCAA Men’s College Scholar All-America First Team. O’Donnell tied UNH’s single-season shutout record (10) and broke the goals-against-average (GAA) mark at 0.43. He led the nation in save percentage (.902) and ranked second in GAA. New Hampshire finished as runner-up at the 2011 East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championship, which marked the team’s best finish since 2003. Head coach Gail Goodspeed registered her 500th career
coaching victory – all at UNH – at the EAGL Championship. The Wildcats qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships and earned the No. 4 seed at the Norman (Oklahoma) Region. The women’s cross country team, led by a sixth-place individual effort from senior Sydney Fitzpatrick, ran to a second-place finish at the America East Championships. UNH then placed ninth in the 39-team field at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Fitzpatrick placed 15th overall to earn a spot on the NCAA All-Northeast Regional Team. The Wildcats, who climbed as high as No. 9 in the USTFCCA Northeast Region Poll, were named to the 2010 Division I Cross Country All-Academic Team. Men’s basketball head coach Bill Herrion recorded his 300th career coaching victory with a 65-60 victory against Colgate University (Dec. 4, 2010). UNH opened the season with a 5-2 record, which marked the team’s first 5-2 start since 1994-95. The Wildcats ended the season ranked 18th in the nation in scoring defense. Senior guard Tyrone Conley became the 28th member of UNH’s 1,000-point club. He finished his stellar career sixth all time with 1,304 points. Women’s lacrosse extended its league record for consecutive appearances in the America East Championship tournament to 14 years by advancing to the 2011 semifinals. UNH peaked at #2 in the nation in caused turnovers and was ranked in the top five for five consecutive weeks. The Wildcats had two representatives on each of the four America East All-Conference Teams (First, Second, Rookie and All-Academic). Women’s soccer qualified for the America East Championships for the 10th consecutive year, which is the longest streak in league history. The Wildcats finished the regular season ranked second in America East in points, goals and assists. Three of the 11 spots on the America East All-Academic Team were claimed by UNH players. Men’s outdoor track & field senior Mike Simon ended his impressive throwing career in the javelin with a fourth consecutive America East conference title and a first-place finish in the College Division at the prestigious Penn Relays. Matthew Guarente led the men’s indoor track & field team with an America East conference title in the high jump. The Wildcats also had a pair of second-place finishes (weight throw and 5,000 meter run) en route to fifth place overall. UNH went on to place eighth at the New England Championships. Ciambra won her third consecutive America East conference indoor track & field title in the pole vault and Megan Donahue raced to first place in the 500-meter run as the ‘Cats took fourth place overall. UNH finished seventh at the New England Championships, where Camille Quarles won the triple jump and Kaitlyn Dugan captured the pentathlon. Senior Sara Heldman of the volleyball team was honored as the 2010 America East Setter of the Year; she is the first Wildcat to earn that accolade. Heldman is the first conference player to earn both Setter of the Year and Defensive Specialist of the Year (2009) honors, and the second player in UNH history to record 1,000 digs and 1,000 assists. Under the guidance of first-year head coach Maureen Magarity – the youngest head coach in collegiate basketball (men’s or women’s) – the women’s basketball team advanced to the America East quarterfinals by doubling the previous year’s conference win total to finish sixth in the league standings.
tradition. pride. excellence.
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