GREYHOUND SPORTS
Swinging in the Golf Suite
Thanks to a generous donation from an alum, Moravian installed a golf suite in the Athletics and Recreation Center last year. Greyhound golfers can practice putting on the green and chipping in the rough. The big hit is the Trakman simulator. It projects a golf course onto a screen, and athletes hit balls at the screen. The software records and displays buckets of data including speed, direction, and distance the ball travels. An illustration shows where on the club face the ball was struck.“And there is so much more data the software collects,” says Meredith Mutcher, director of the golf program.“It evaluates everything.”
Athletes can use any club and can practice driving and putting as well as hitting through any of the hundreds of courses from around the world that are available. At the end of their session, golfers can download their practice data to an app on their phones so they can keep track of their progress.“The suite is great for working on your swing as well as putting and chipping,” says Jason Koch ’25, captain of the men’s team,“and the Trakman has helped me with my carry yardage—how far the ball goes before it lands—and what club to use.” According to Mutcher, students use the suite at all hours: between classes, after dinner, even at six in the morning.“They come individually, and they’ll also gather as a group,” she adds. The suite has cushioned chairs so athletes can hang out.“The team loves the suite to work on skills,” says Koch,“but it also provides a great bonding opportunity.”
ATHLETICS RECAP The women’s golf team competed for the first time in program history at the Elizabethtown College Fall Blue Jay Invitational in September.
Jeff Long earned his first victory as head football coach with a lastminute, 29–28 win over the Apprentice School on September 16, Gary Martell Day.
Both cross country teams won the Stockton Osprey Open to move up to third in the NCAA Division III Metro Region.
NCAA Division III celebrates its 50th year 2023–24. Moravian will highlight former student-athletes and
Greatness on the Gridiron
Gary Martell ’76, P’07 is in his 50th year with the Moravian football program, hitting the gridiron in 1969 as a player and serving as a team captain, quarterback, and all-around player before leaving for the National Football League with the Baltimore Colts. Martell returned to Moravian in 1974 to finish his degree and began his long career as an assistant coach. Since his start as a player, he has been part of 486 games for the Greyhounds with 229 victories and seven ties, a pair of Middle Atlantic Conference titles—one in 1970 as a player and one in 1988 as a coach—and two NCAA Division
III Playoff appearances as a coach in 1988 and 1993. Martell was instrumental in starting the Blue and Grey Club and the Moravian Athletics Hall of Fame. He was honored at the game on September 16, 2023, for his outstanding career here at Moravian.
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FALL 2023
coaches throughout the academic year.
