Volume 137 No. 8

The Springfield Student

(Photo Courtesy of Saigon Heat)

Opinion: This is the most important election in recent years, but nobody is talking about it

___ By Carley Crain @Carley Crain12

After Nov. 8, Amer ica’s foreseeable future will be decided. If either the United States Senate or the House of Repre sentatives gets flipped to a Republican major ity, the political climate of our country will drastically change – and this could be extremely harmful to people with uteruses, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individu als, and BIPOC.

Republicans need just five seats to be turned in the House to take back the majority, and in the Senate, only one. Pres ident Joe Biden has al ready announced that if the Democrats remain in the majority, Roe v. Wade will be codified into federal law.

As someone from a key battleground state, I am nervous. I fear for my rights as a bisex ual woman. In New Hampshire, three major positions are up for grabs – governor, and Congressional positions: Senator, and Represen tative. According to recent polls, Republican Chris Sununu is likely to keep his position as governor. The races for Senate and the House are extremely close in the Granite State, and the impact of young voters heading to the polls is crucial. New

Hampshire has the power to flip the senate if Republican nominee Don Bolduc wins over Obama-endorsed Demo crat Maggie Hassan.

Technically, I could register to vote in Massachusetts. But my vote in New Hampshire is more important than ever. And even though we have school on Elec tion Day, I am traveling back home to cast my ballot, which means I will be missing classes.

So why don’t we have Election Day off? Or online classes that day? Many K-12 schools do, even though students who attend those in stitutions are not old enough to vote. Because Springfield College does not have Election Day off, students will be forced to vote af ter classes, which for some is difficult with managing homework, athletics, internships or jobs. Mail-in or early voting is also an option, especially for students who live far away from campus.

According to Vice President for Student Affairs Slandie Dieu juste and Provost Mary Ann Coughlin, Spring field College does not have Election Day off because of the required amount of classroom

hours and days that are needed to fulfill Federal Government require ments for financial aid funding. The college only has a limited num ber of days that can be taken off in order to stay in compliance with federal funding guide lines. The college has a history of not having Election Day or Veter ans Day off.

When asked about the college making Election Day an online school day, Coughlin said, “One of the things we learned from the pandemic is that some classes really don’t work well online and it is a real struggle for faculty to teach hands-on kinds of things through that mechanism. It is really hard for it to be onesize-fits-all and I think it is really important for the faculty to create the learning environment that is going to work best for their subject matter.”

Voting advocacy efforts on campus this semester have been fairly slim – despite this election being arguably more important than the 2020 presidential race. In 2020, organiza tions like Men of Excel lence and the Graduate Student Organization hosted events (either in

person or virtual) that encouraged students to vote.

Social media chal lenges were also heavily promoted during this time as it helped push students to vote. So where is all of this right now? We are less than one week away from the Midterm Elections.

Part of the reason why voting advocacy campaigns haven’t been as prominent on campus this fall is because of competing priorities, according to Dieujuste. “It certainly is a priority. But as we try and move away from COVID and come back to a sense of normalcy, we have had many things to priori tize and we just can’t do everything,” Dieujuste said. “But I have heard

that some voting ad vocacy is happening in pockets, such as some instructors doing work in their own depart ments.”

As a woman, this election so far has been incredibly frustrating. I could soon have no rights over my own body, but most of the voting campus advocacy work from two years ago is gone. Silence.

Vote like your life de pends on it this Novem ber. Because it does. For more information on voter registration and poll information, visit https://www.vote.org/.

‘If either the United States Senate or the House of Representatives gets flipped to a Republican majority, the political climate of our country will drastically change.’

Springfield College, along with many other higher-ed instiutions, does not give students Election Day off from class or campus activities. (Photo Courtesy of marketplace.org)

The return of the Hoophall Classic

Springfield College will once again welcome the top high school recruits and teams from across the nation for the 21st edition of the showcase.

games highlighting nine teams. This is an increase from last year’s Hoophall sched ule, which only includ ed two girls games.

The showcase will begin as usual with the local matchups. Several teams from Hampden County are set to play: Springfield Central, Longmeadow, Pope Francis, Put nam Vocational and Springfield Interna tional Charter School.

Some of the top high school pros pects will be present at Blake Arena to compete. ESPN 2023 Top 100 Recruits

DJ Wagner (No. 1), Justin Edwards (No. 2), MacKenzie Mg bako (No. 4), Aaron Bradshaw (No. 5), Isaiah Collier (No. 6) and Sean Stewart (No. 7) will all compete at Hoophall in 2023.

Academy, Arizona Compass Prep, Sun rise Christian School, Montverde Academy and Gulliver Prep, which is coached by Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Ray Allen.

The Springfield Student staff will cover the event again in 2023. Last year, The Student produced more than 30 stories and published a 24page paper reporting on both the local and national teams and players, highlighting their unique stories. This year, The Student will produce plenty of multimedia coverage, including written sto ries, social media, pho tography and video.

The Spalding Hoophall Classic is re turning to the Birth place of Basketball this upcoming winter. On Jan. 12-16, 2023, Springfield College will host the 21st an nual Hoophall Classic,

___ By Cait Kemp @CaitlinKemp09

which will feature 53 teams from 17 states. The best of the best will come together to compete on the most notable stage – the place where basketball was created. Teams from across the nation

will get a once-in-alifetime opportunity to play in Springfield and appreciate the his tory of their sport.

In addition to the usual boys teams that attend Hoophall, there will be five girls

Sierra Canyon is making its return to Hoophall after not participating in 2022, and with that, so are the sons of LeBron James. Bronny James will return as a senior – his first time back at Hoophall since he competed in 2020 as a freshman. His young er brother, Bryce James, will play for his first time as a sopho more.

Other big-name schools that will be present are IMG

The event is jampacked with all-star teams, players and coaches and is set to be an exciting long weekend. Both local and national news outlets will be pres ent to cover Hoophall once again, proving the high-level compe tition and prestige of the showcase.

Ticket-purchasing information can be found on the Hall of Fame website.

Ten of the last 11 No. 1 NBA Draft picks have played in this event. (Joe Arruda/The Student)

Film club takes flight

Springfield College’s newest club has plenty of plans moving forward, and encourages all students who enjoy a relaxed, stress-free environment to attend a meeting.

__ By Tucker PaqueTTe __ @tpaquette17

The Springfield College Film club is almost one year old, and as time passes, the club keeps adding to its proverbial reper toire.

Founded last year by current President Tyler Olds and Vice President Victoria Monica, the club meets bi-weekly and is a laid-back way for students to explore their film-related in terests.

“[I like] how re laxed it all is,” said ju nior Collin Dagg, the club’s Treasurer. “In the meetings we’ve had so far, people can just come, chill and watch movies.”

On top of the easy-going atmo sphere the club pro vides, another advan tage of the group, at least in the eyes of its leadership, is how it is young enough that it can still be molded in a variety of ways.

“One of my favor ite parts about Film club now is taking advantage of how new the club is,” Olds said. “We still have the platform to make all these creative chang es. My favorite part is not knowing what the

club actually is yet.”

“We have so much free reign,” sopho more Alberto Marti nez, the club’s Secre tary, added. “We can do absolutely any thing we want.”

What’s more, the fact that something

like the Film club is unprecedented at Springfield College serves it well.

“With the Film club, it hasn’t been seen on campus, [be cause] no one [has been exposed to] this type of club,” Marti

nez said. “I’m glad we can bring out different artforms and intro duce new people to these kinds of things.”

While the club is on the rise, there was a real possibility it wouldn’t have ever existed. Olds men tioned how he thought about transferring his sophomore year, but instead decided to remain at Springfield College and create the club with Monica.

It is a decision that Olds doesn’t seem to regret one bit.

While starting with a new group can be a little bit nerve-wrack ing, the club’s leaders don’t want students to shy away from joining the Film club; in fact, people are encouraged to attend the club’s events.

“You shouldn’t be intimidated by [Film club],” Martinez said. “It’s a very open space where everyone can

Left to right: Tyler Olds, Victoria Monica, Alberto Martinez, Collin Dagg, the Film club’s e-board members. (Photo Courtesy of Alberto Martinez)

just speak out their minds, relax, have a good time with their friends, and just follow their passions.”

As for what ac tually occurs at the meetings, there are two separate facets: One that is already in full swing, and anoth er that is still in the works.

First, the aspect that is up-and-run ning, is a movie viewing and discussion meeting.

Prior to the meet ing, the club’s leaders get input on what

movies people are in terested in watching, do a vote, then get a list of four possible movies that the club will watch. Then, people vote on those, bringing the list down to two movies.

At the actual meet ing, the club watches the two trailers, and picks the movie they’ll watch that day. The club also discusses the movie after viewing it.

The other part of Film club, the one that’s still in devel opment, is a work shop-style event. The

main goal here is to create and edit short films. This aspect of the club will be up and running by the end of the semester, and will take place during the weeks where there isn’t a viewing and discussion event.

Olds also emphasiz es how students don’t need to be at both portions of the club’s events. If someone wants to go to the film viewing and dis cussion meetings only, that’s totally fine.

Students with any interest are encour

aged to join the club, including those who are uncertain about doing so.

“Even if you have the slightest interest

in watching movies or pursuing a creative avenue through film, this is the perfect stress-free place to do it,” Olds said.

The Film club votes on which movies they choose to watch during their meetings. (Photo Courtesy of Alberto Martinez)

Taking the road less traveled

Kenny Bui made the difficult choice of leaving his home country of Vietnam to pursue a degree in Movement and Sport Studies at Springfield College, setting him up for a career in coaching basketball.

___ By Braedan Shea ___ @braedan_shea

It’s not often that someone can say they achieved their dream job directly after grad uating college. It’s also not often that the same person would turn down the opportunity to play the sport they love professionally to achieve that dream. But for one Springfield alumnus, that is exactly what they have been able to accomplish, all before their 23rd birthday.

Khang Bui Thinh, or Kenny Bui, as he goes by in America, grew up almost 9,000 miles away from Springfield College in Ho Chi Minh City – the largest city in Vietnam. It was there that he discovered a pas sion that would alter the path of his future.

That passion was basketball.

When coming across the sport in sixth grade, Bui was hooked. He developed a love for the game that turned into a lifestyle. He dedicated as much time as he could to working on his craft, trying to get better and be the best version of himself on the court.

Bui continued to play throughout highschool, but by time he got to

his final year, he found that it may have been the end of playing days; at least at a competitive level.

But instead of hang ing his head, Bui saw this as an opportunity to move in a slightly different direction, that being coaching. He wanted to help those who were just like him growing up.

“I’ve always wanted to help players’ con fidence, because as a kid, I didn’t have that much confidence when I played,” Bui said. “I had to train a lot to gain

that confidence. I want to help others get to that point where they can play with confi dence”

With some help from his advisor, Bui found a school that he liked, where he could pursue what he wanted to do.

“When I was looking at Springfield College, I really liked the Move ment and Sports Studies major, and I could get a minor in Coaching,” Bui said. “I didn’t even apply anywhere else.”

When Bui made the long journey to the U.S. in the fall of 2018, he

didn’t know that he was coming to the birthplace of the sport he loves so much. He also didn’t know how important the game would be to helping him adjust to his new life.

“Basketball just helped me trade off relationships and friend ships,” Bui said. “I actu ally didn’t know anyone until I played (pickup) basketball at Springfield – it was the first way that I found my friends there.”

It was those very friendships Bui built that helped him later on.

Because he was so far from home, he was un able to travel back and forth during holidays and campus breaks. But instead of staying iso lated in his dorm room, Bui had the opportunity to stay with his new friends.

“Luckily, I would have my friends ask me to go to their house for breaks,” Bui said. “I would visit either one of my friends out in Long Island or New Jersey, which is something really cool because I get to see different places. To be

Bui (front row, middle) and his friends posed for a picture after his final pickup basketball session at Springfield College. (Braedan Shea/The Student)

able to visit their family and enjoy a break, and celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, made me feel like I was home.”

Just when it seemed that he was getting fully adjusted to life in the U.S., life threw him a curveball, coming in pandemic form. Bui had to return home, and continue his college education online.

But once again, in stead of being impacted by this negative situa tion, he turned it into a positive. Once getting back to Vietnam, he decided to complete his required internship, and had the opportunity to do so with AP3 Basket ball, a training program in his home city.

“Because during COVID [traveling rules] in the US, I couldn’t come back for a year. So I decided to do my internship here and send all that paperwork back to my professors,”

Bui said. “I also got lucky as I did my in ternship, because I was really like a full time coach.”

Remarkably, Bui stumbled into getting an internship doing the very thing he was trying to find a career in. What came next, however, he would have never predicted: being signed to a professional basketball team.

Although he may have stopped playing competitively, Bui’s work ethic never disap peared. He was playing pickup all the time at Springfield College, and when he wasn’t playing games, he was doing drills to get better. All of that hard work paid off in the fall of 2020, when he got signed by his hometown team, the Saigon Heat.

The Saigon Heat are a part of the Viet namese Basketball Association (VBA), a

league that was founded in 2016. The league is made up of seven total teams; where they build their 13-16-man rosters with each team allowed one foreign player, two Overseas Vietnamese, and 10-13 local players. Bui fit the requirement of being amongst the local players.

But after just one season in the league, and COVID restrictions beginning to lift, Bui knew that what was best for him was to return to Springfield for his senior year to pursue a career in coaching.

When he returned to the U.S., it was clear that Bui was heading in the right direction – he was going into the best possible career for him. This was best exempli fied in the spring of his senior year, where he found the time to help out a first-year student try and reach his goal of making the campus’ men’s basketball team; even though Bui him self had little time on his hands due to being the men’s lacrosse team manager.

“[Bui] really want ed to see me make the team,” Andrew Soron, the then first-year stu dent Bui trained, said.

Bui would take Soron through a series of shooting and dribbling drills – trying to prog ress Soron’s catch-andshoot and ball-handling abilities – so that he could have the skills required to play at the collegiate level.

After graduating this past spring, Bui can be seen applying those same skills back home in Vietnam, where

he is coaching at the IN’N’OUT Basketball Academy.

“The age group is around from under 15 to college players, and we focus on improving skills,” Bui said. “Most of the training is oneon-one, two-on-one, training. It’s less gamelike, the way most teams practice. We work from all types of skill sets, just going from the most basic to advanced skills.”

Along with coaching at the academy, Bui is also coaching at an in ternational school, with students 13-years-old and younger.

On top of all of that, Bui is still technically a student at Springfield College, where he is getting his Masters in Sports Exercise Psy chology as an online student.

“My first initial thought when I got back to Vietnam was that I didn’t see a lot of sports and psychology jobs or anything about it, like no one talks about it,” Bui said. “I feel like having some thing that is unique is really important. If you have something at tached to your coaching resume like a Masters in Sport and Exercise psychology, I feel like

people would be inter ested and want to look for me.”

Once obtaining that masters degree, Bui wants to progress from being just a coach, to coaching his own brand.

“Down the line, I’m trying to save up some money to make a court and build my own brand. I want to make my own academy, and then try to teach people the same thing as I’m teaching right now,” he said

Also potentially down the line, Bui may look into returning to the VBA. But only if it is for the right price.

“I talked to my friends about [return ing]. And they all want ed me to come back and play, but it depends on the salary,” Bui said.

“I can’t just accept a minimum salary,” Bui joked.

Bui played professional basketball for one season in Vietnam. (Photo Courtesy of Kenny Bui)

(Photos Courtesy of Kenny Bui)

Jamie Albrecht

Jamie Albrecht took this week’s Springfield Student Women’s Athlete of the Week with 46.2% of the vote. The sophomore right side hitter had a team-high 11 kills in the Pride’s fiveset win over Smith on Oct. 25. The win helped Springfield get the No. 3 seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, which got the Pride a home game, which they won.

Right behind her in the poll was Mikaili Charlemagne, who came in at 33.7%. The senior swimmer recorded a 24.33 time to win the 50-yard free style in the Pride’s tri-meet against Coast Guard and Rhode Island.

Noah Wagnblas

Noah Wagnblas took this week’s Springfield Student Men’s Athlete of the Week with 50.9% of the vote. The junior wide receiver for the football team grabbed six catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns in the Pride’s 27-13 win over Merchant Marine. His number of receptions, yards, and touch downs were all career-highs. In second place was another member of the Brotherhood, but on the de fensive side. Linebacker Will McKay received 28.5% of the vote after the sophomore gathered a career-high six total tackles and forced a fumble in the Pride’s 27-13 win over Merchant Marine.

The third vote-getter was James Chan, who got 17% of the vote. The senior swimmer won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.78, took first in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 48.27, and was second in the 500 free in 4:55.37 in the Pride’s trimeet against Coast Guard and Rhode Island on Saturday.

Luca Brashear rounded out the vote as he continued his dominance off the diving board. The senior diver won the one-meter diving competition with a 321.45 and posted a winning mark of 311.05 on the three-meter in the Pride’s tri-meet against Coast Guard and Rhode Island on Saturday.

Audrey Dolan followed Char lemagne with 14.4% of the vote. The junior midfielder for the field hockey team scored the game-ty ing goal in Springfield’s 2-1 win over Wellesley on Saturday. The win helped Springfield get the No. 4 seed in the NEWMAC Tourna ment, which got the Pride a home game.

Rounding out the vote was Emma McLaughlin, as she also had a clutch moment for the field hockey team. The junior forward scored the go-ahead goal in the Pride’s 2-1 win over Wellesley on Saturday.

Noah Wagnblas. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Jamie Albrecht. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Mimi Murray’s march to Washington D.C. consolidated Springfield College’s legacy of Title IX

_ By Daniel Curren _ @daniel_curren

When it comes to Springfield College and Title IX, very few have had the same experiences with the law as Dr. Mimi Murray. Murray graduat ed from Springfield in the class of 1961 and was a graduate student with the class of 1967. She attend ed Springfield before Title IX’s passing into law and dealt with discriminato ry issues on campus. She wanted to assure no one else had to deal with the same issues as her.

Murray traveled to Washington D.C. to testify before Congress on behalf of Title IX. At Spring field, she stands as the longest tenured member of the college’s history, with 52 years of etching and coaching under her belt. As the coach of the women’s gymnastics team, her teams went undefeat ed to duel meets and won three national champion ships. Not only is Murray a historic coach in the college’s history, but she is also one of the most im portant voices in getting Title IX passed through Congress.

What does Title IX mean to you?

Murray: For quite a number of years it was my life. I spent much of my time in Washington DC lobbying. I went to members of the House, members of the Senate, and told them how im portant it was to have Ti tle IX in the Civil Rights Restoration Act. It’s an opportunity that I thought all girls should have.

Did you have any challenges with Title IX at Springfield?

Murray: Oh yes. That’s why I filed the Ti tle IX lawsuit. I thought that was women’s athletic department was so grossly discriminated against.

What were some challenges you faced in D.C.?

Murray: Just trying to talk some men into how important women’s athletics was. They all say ‘oh yeah, we really believe in it’ and then they never really do anything about it. I had a friend who said ‘talks cheap.’

What has meant the most to you in your 50 years at Springfield College?

Murray: The students. I come back and campus and it’s like getting a shot of vitamin D. I love our students. Most of them have such a great attitude. I taught here for 52 years and that’s why.

As someone who never got to play varsity sports here, what did it mean for you to coach and give something that you were never able to have yourself?

Murray: I was so happy they had an oppor tunity. It’s just the most wonderful experience that girls and women can finally have a chance to play. Just play. Didn’t have a national championship. We were fortunate enough

to win a number of them. But the fact that girls could play.

Do you have a favorite memory from coaching?

Murray: I was just thinking, we were fortu nate to go to a number of national championships. On one of them, some body called a bomb threat, one of the other teams we were better than on our flight. They made us turn around and we landed in Moline, Illinois. We all had to get off the plane and go into the terminal. If you had to go to the bathroom, and FBI agent had to take you to the women’s room since there was a bomb threat. It was so remarkable, one of my athletes kept going to the backroom because she had gotten a crush on this FBI

agent. So, she kept going up to him and saying ‘I really need to go to the bathroom’ so he would es cort her. So then, this FBI agent came up to me and said ‘coach I think one of the women on your team has a urinary infection’ and I said “no, she just has a crush on you.

What do you think still has to be done?

Murray: I think we can continue to add to women’s athletics. Our di rector of athletics, Craig, has done a fabulous job. I give him a lot of credit, and his whole staff, but it needs to continue. It’s never enough.

What does your ideal world look like as far as Title IX?

Murray: Equity in every program.

Murray traveled to Washington D.C. to testify before Congress on behalf of Title IX. (Photo Courtesy of Springfield College)

Return to the mats

The Springfield wrestling team looks to send more of its athletes to nationals in the 2022-23 season.

___ By Nick PaNtages @nick_pantages22

The Springfield Col lege wrestling team is set to hit the mats on Friday in the Ithaca Invitational after a suc cessful season last year. The Pride had eight regional qualifiers, and one national qualifier. Head coach Jason Hold er returns the majority of his solid core from that team, and they will be headlined by a talent ed senior class.

Two of these seniors are twin brothers Gi anni and Joey Mangi nelli, the latter of which is coming off of an ap pearance in the Division III National Champion ship in the 125-pound class.

“They are great kids… they just do everything right,” Holder said. Gianni, who wrestles

at 133, was ranked as the 14th best wrestler in the country at 133 in the preseason coaches poll, with Joey taking third place at 125 in that same poll.

Seniors Chase Parrott and Joey Parsons also return for the Pride, with Parrott coming off a fifth place finish in regionals. Parsons is making the move down from 149 to 141 to fill the void left at 141 by the departing Chris Trelli.

Jacob Deguire is a sophomore at 157 that is coming off a spectac ular first-year campaign with the Pride.

“[Deguire] is super talented, fun to watch, gets after it. He goes out there and goes for it,” Holder said.

His aggressive ap proach led to a fifth place finish in regionals as a first-year, some thing Deguire will look to improve on in his sophomore season.

Michael Filieri, a re gional qualifier at 285, is also coming back for the Pride. Filieri was ranked as an honorable mention nationally at the heavyweight class, and he will headline that class for the Pride.

Fellow regional quali fier Sam Ware, a senior, returns at 197.

“These are all guys who have done a lot and worked really hard over the summer and it’s showing so far in the wrestling room,” Holder said.

Despite having a suc cessful group of experi enced leaders of all age groups, the X-Factor of Holder’s squad may be

the newcomers.

With a class of 15 incoming first-years, Holder’s young and hungry class will con tribute from day one.

“They should do some big things this year,” he said.

Having this mix of experienced, talented wrestlers on the team and a myriad of young talent looking to make a name for themselves will be a great asset to Holder.

“It will be interesting to see how they blend in and how they find a role, they’ll definitely get a taste of action,” he said.

Holder’s team has been working hard so far in the offseason, and the culmination of all that hard work will show itself on Friday.

“They mix it up every day and they go really

hard.”

With the first tourna ment this week, Hold er’s squad is itching to get on the mat with an other team, and get that adrenaline rush that comes with competition in a real match, and not practice.

“It’s good for our guys to get a taste of compe tition after beating each other up for a month,” Holder said. “Let’s go scrap with another team and test ourselves.”

With the start of the season right on the horizon, Holder’s inten tions are clear in what is his 12th season as head man of the Pride.

“No matter how we do this weekend, win, loss, or draw, there’s going to be a ton of stuff to take feedback, and move for ward and keep improv ing,” Holder said.

Joey Parsons in action. (Springfield College Athletics)

Conditioned to succeed

Springfield’s undergraduate and graduate Strength and Conditioning programs earned recogniton from the Council of Accredidation of Strength and Conditioning Education.

one of Springfield’s stellar alumni, Kelly Dorman dy, also vouched for the program through her own experience.

“Without Springfield College, I think it is safe to say that I would not be where I am today and for the past 12 years,” she said. “I gained an incred ible education. But more importantly, I gained practical experience, and I think that was the game changer.”

Her years at Spring field College propelled her into landing a job with the University of Georgia as the Assistant Strength & Conditioning coach for soccer.

Every student in the program takes what they learn from the textbook in class and then applies it simultaneously.

tage being a Springfield College alum. The field is saturated with them, you can go out and make so many connections,” Vega told Springfield College.

In a separate interview with Triangle Stories, Elizabeth O’Neill, the Di rector of Applied Exercise Science, added her sixthsense: “Obtaining this credential speaks volumes to the rigor and prepara tion our program provides undergraduate students,” she said.

Springfield College: the Birthplace of Basketball and a school renowned for athletic excellence. Specifically, Springfield’s Strength and Condition ing program excelled rapidly and has been per sistently blossoming since its foundation in 1885.

One may ask: where is the proof?

Well, Springfield had its undergraduate and graduate Strength and Conditioning programs earn accreditation from the Council on Accred itation of Strength and Conditioning Education (CASCE).

CASCE accredita

tion signals dedication to the highest standards of excellence, credibili ty, and professionalism. Moreover, they recognize the safety for educational institutions, strength and conditioning students, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist professionals along with their athletes.

To further attest to the profound degree, the graduate program is the first in the nation to achieve this accreditation status. The undergraduate program joins one of four programs nationwide.

“Our strength and conditioning program

at both levels have been ahead of the curb,” said Sue Guyer, Dean of the School of Physical Edu cation. “They have always been frontrunners in both the academic arena and the real world.”

Through the program, students have the chance to participate in clinicals and have hands-on expe rience early on. They also get to work with all differ ent athletes, ranging from the professional level as well as Division I, II and III collegiate athletes.

“This is what separates our program,” Guyer said.

In a recent interview with Springfield College,

Another graduate, Daniel Vega, used the pro gram to its full potential.

Vega said in an inter view with the College that the Springfield Strength and Conditioning pro gram has really prepared himself for life outside of school.

He wrapped up his seventh season working in professional baseball. For his first six seasons he worked in the minor leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. However, this past season, he worked for the Milwaukee Brewers –this also marked his first year working in the MLB.

“There is an advan

Springfield faculty should not be overlooked. The staff is always cut ting-edge and remains attentive to how trends impact the profession. As a result, the program does a great job of adapting to what is happening in the field. Additionally, they stay on top of new inno vative technology.

“We have excellent fac ulty. They make sure our students are trained really well,” Guyer said.

“This award is confir mation to the community we have built.”

Guyer concluded: “Now, to be able to have nationwide recognition, it really helps spread the word across the nation itself.”

Springfield College Strength and Condition is no longer just being recognized in-house, they are beginning to shine all across the United States and beyond.

The Strength and Conditioning program works in the varsity weight room on campus. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College)

___ By Sean Savage @SeanSav13

Headfirst into the season

___ By Patrick Fergus @Fergus5Fergus

The Springfield College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams begin their seasons, and both swimmers and divers are eager to get back into the pool.

For the men’s side, they look to improve on their disappointing finish to last year’s cam paign, as they placed fourth on the last three days at the NEWMAC championships. The

team tallied just 640 points during the final day of competition, falling far short of both WPI and MIT.

Swimming seniors James Chan, Dominic Marco and Owen Old enburg look to lead the team to success this season, with many un derclassmen joining the team.

For Chan, who topped the team’s best times last year in the

100, 200, and 500 yard freestyle races, as well as the 100 and 200 yard butterfly events, it is im portant for him to take on that leadership role.

“My job as a senior is to inspire my teammates and underclassmen to get better in the water,” said Chan. “I would be excited to see any of them surpassing me.”

Offseason work outs and individual practices are essential

in the swimming and diving program, with much of their prog ress being made during the offseason. Chan echoes this sentiment, and expressed a lot of excitement about the improvements that him self and his teammates made over the summer.

“The whole team also became better in one summer time, which makes the atmosphere become more competi tive, everyone is fight ing for their spots for the NEWMAC champi onship” said Chan. “The team getting better as a whole is rejuvenating.”

For the divers, Luca Brashear, Sean An drews, and Dai-Quan Thomas look to perfect their approaches and en tries as they come into their final years with the school.

Brashear will look to replicate his noteworthy performances from the last couple of seasons. After being named NEWMAC Men’s Diver of the Year last season, he also represented the Pride on the national stage, receiving multi ple All-America honors during the NCAA Divi sion III Championships in Indianapolis.

With the women’s squad, senior swimmers Mikali Charlemagne, Lefteri Roba, and Eliz abeth Fraser are just some of the talented swimmers that make up the team this year.

The team strug gled toward the end of last season losing four straight meets in Janu

ary heading into cham pionships.

An inconsistent season for the team left a lot of question marks heading into the NEW MAC championships in February.

The team was able to secure a podium finish last year at the NEW MAC’s however, finish ing behind Wheaton and MIT, but besting teams such as Coast Guard and WPI.They improved over each day from sixth place on the first day, to a total of 646 points and a top three finish at the competitions conclusion, which assuredly is a good sign as they start a new campaign.

Juniors Elizabeth Athanas and Megan Crawford also look to improve from last season, as they placed in last year’s champion ships, with Athanas fin ishing tenth in the 200 breaststroke and a ninth place finish for Craw ford in the three-meter board.

Along with Crawford, Lauren Bednarczyk and Sarah Friedman round out the diving upper classmen who hope to leave their mark during their penultimate colle giate season.

Both the men’s and women’s teams benefit from some fresh faces. Newly-hired assistant coach Howard Hinds, a former Springfield and Olympic swimmer, and graduate assistant coach Grace Carlson look to help the coaching staff this upcoming season.

See Swimming/Diving

The Pride’s swimming and diving teams carry a lot of experience with a strong group of upperclassmen.

The Springfield swimming and diving teams had its first competititon in a tri-meet against Coast Guard and URI. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

New team, new journey

___ By Chris Gionta @Chris_Gionta

The 2021-22 Spring field College women’s basketball team made its first Sweet 16 appearance in 17 years. After a season featuring the moments and success that it had, it would not be difficult to use last year as a standard bearer. Yet, the team is using the new season to create its own goals.

“We’re trying not to compare seasons,” said Springfield head coach Naomi Graves. “So as a coach, we’re really focused in on just taking it dayby-day — enjoying the journey together.”

However, knowing how good the tournament run felt will not be lost on Springfield’s coaches and upperclassmen, and can potentially be used as a motivator.

“Knowing how that feeling was is definitely something we want to get to again,” said senior forward Sam Hourihan.

The Pride only have two seniors this season, but they are two of the Posse’s most impactful contributors. Hourihan is coming off a year full of accolades and great moments. She nearly averaged a double-double with 16.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, and proved to be a force on defense with 2.2 blocks per game. This earned her a Women’s Basket ball College Association All-American honorable mention.

She also had the mo ment of the year in the Round of 32 when she hit a game-winning buzz

er-beater on a fadeaway jump shot. This came alongside 28 points and 14 rebounds in the victory.

Fellow senior Rachel Vinton will remain vital to the team at the point guard position. In 202122, she averaged 10.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. What especially stood out was her 55.3 percent field goal percent age.

The Pride suffered some losses due to grad uation and players run ning out of eligibility, most notably with Sidney Wentland, Grace Dzindo let, and Stephanie Lyons. Wentland came in as a graduate transfer with Division I and Division II experience, and went on to gather 12.3 points and 6.9

rebounds per game last season.

Dzindolet was an effec tive guard who averaged over double-digits in the points column in 2021-22, and Lyons was a great pe rimeter defender who also posed a scoring threat.

Despite the departures, Springfield is confident that those roles will be filled successfully. Angela Czeremcha saw more and more minutes as last sea son went on. She took the role of the Pride’s sixth woman and had five dou ble-doubles as a forward. With her entering her sophomore year, the Pride are excited for what she will continue to bring.

“Angie [Czeremcha] is going to be a big-time contributor,” Graves said. “She is such a big force

inside.”

A pair of junior guards are also expected to take a step up for the Pride in 2022-23.

“Jaélan [Dubon] will take a new role, and so will Kayla Madden,” Graves said. “They’re playing great.”

The Pride enter 202223 with a No. 3 ranking in the NEWMAC preseason poll, with only Babson and Smith above them. They also rank No. 20 in the WBCA preseason national poll, as well as No. 16 in the country according to D3Hoops.com. Springfield will begin action on Nov. 8 in Blake Arena against Western New England.

After reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005, the Springfield women’s basketball team is approaching the season with new goals.

(Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics)

Primed and ready

The Springfield men’s basketball team is under new leadership with head coach Michael McClendon, and intends to avenge a 2021-22 season that resulted in a 6-17 record.

__ By Garrett Cote @garrett_cote

This season marks a new era of Springfield College men’s basket ball. A newborn sense of hunger, determina tion and desperation to reposition themselves amongst the NEW MAC’s best has pene trated the Pride locker room. They’re pushing each other like never before, engaging in two, three workouts a day –not letting any team in Division III outwork them.

The longing for excel lence can all be traced back to one man: First-year head coach Mike McClendon.

“He’s pushing us to limits where I didn’t even think we could go,” said graduate student and captain Daryl Cos ta. “It’s challenging at first, because we’re all brand new to the sys tem. He’s gotten us to come together strong, and we’re just trying to fall in love with the journey.”

The Pride were well below typical Spring field men’s basketball standards a year ago, winning just six games and finishing 4-10 in the conference. But the 2021-22 season is all but

a memory, as the leaders of this year’s team have kept the squad’s focus on what’s ahead.

McClendon, who is less than a month into his first season and yet to experience his

first game leading the birthplace boys, has been pleased with the veterans and how they have stepped up to make both his and the play ers’ transition in a new atmosphere smooth.

“We’ve got great lead ership, and I’m a little bit surprised at that,” McClendon said. “New coach, new philosophies, it takes awhile for the leaders to kind of stand out, but our leaders, from day one, have been full-go and have bought in. They’re re ally preaching the same mindset that I have.”

With players like Costa, senior Panayiotis Kapanides and a handful of others who have lots of game experience, McClendon has empha sized the importance of team and unity – put ting “we” before “me”. He understands that, to return to NEWMAC glory, it’s going to take a heavy dose of sacrifice and unselfishness.

“It’s all focused on us, on the team,” Costa said of McClendon’s ap proach. “If one of our guys fails, it’s not just on him, it’s on all of us. We all have to help each other prepare the right way, that way when we get into games, none of us are worried. I’m just

Zeke Blauner (left) dribbling the ball with Panayiotis Kapanides (right) moving up the court. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

focused on how we can get better as a team. If we do that, the rest will handle itself.”

Long-time head coach Charlie Brock had noth ing short of a spectac ular career filled with accolades and achieve ments. He implemented a game plan with each team that proved suc cessful for 24 years. The slow it down, under control, by-the-play book offense that Brock embraced and executed lifted him to a Final Four in 2018. But this year, the Pride will have a different look.

Sure, McClendon has a number of half-court sets stuffed in his back pocket, but that’s not his forte. Springfield will play with pace. Lots, and lots, of pace.

“The goal is always to have a track meet. We call it controlled chaos in practice. Play hard and play smart,” McClendon said. “The tempo and the passion that they’re playing with right now, if that can continue, I do see us being successful. We’ve been showing that so far in practices. Guys are real passionate and

competitive, they don’t like losing.”

The Pride lost one of their leading scorers from last season during the off-season, as firstyear Jacob Morales opted to take his talents elsewhere. Despite los ing a chunk of the scor ing, McClendon is more than confident in the players at his disposal to provide the Pride with a spark when needed.

“I think it’s a fore gone conclusion for the league, and for most people, that Daryl Costa and Panayiotis are going to be leaders of

this basketball team,” McClendon said. “Zeke Blauner has been in strumental in practice bringing attitude and intensity. And I think Andrew Rocci has been a great addition, he’s been playing his butt off in practice. Those four guys are standing on that upper echelon right now.”

Springfield welcomes Western New England in the annual cross-city season opening matchup with the Golden Bears on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m. The Pride haven’t beat WNE since

2019, but are more than prepared to change that next week.

“We’re pissed off from how we finished last year. We don’t want to repeat that, so there’s a little motivation behind it. I’m super excited, and I have high hopes for this team. We’re coming together and we’re geared up for that first game. Western New England is always a banger,” Costa said.

“Coach always says, ‘When you prepare with purpose, you are prom ised progression.’”

Both Hinds and Carlson are bringing a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the pool.

“We have six dif ferent coaches, who all work together — whatever their area of expertise may be,” said Peter Avdoulos, the head diving coach.

“We have a wide range of ability on the team,” said Avdoulos, who enters his 38th season as the head div ing coach for the men’s and women’s teams. “We want to teach them what it means to be good, and how to succeed.”

The men’s season be gan with a loss to Coast Guard this past Satur day, but despite the de

feat, the Pride had some strong performances. James Chan continued his success with a win in the 200-yard butterfly and a first place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.

James was joined by his sophomore brother Jonathan, who posted the top three times in the 100 fly and won the 200 individual med ley. Both brothers also impressed in the 400 medley relay race. Fel low sophomores Ryan Goolsbey and Jordan McMillan also did well in their events.

Springfield looks to get a bounceback win against NEWMAC rival MIT at home on Saturday, with the meet starting at 1 p.m.

For the women’s team, it was a similar

story. The Pride suf fered defeat in a trimeet, losing to Coast Guard, who in turn would be bested by the University of Rhode Island.

Kay Shen, a sopho more from Hong Kong, delivered an impressive performance for the Pride. She finished top two in the 100 yard freestyle and delivered an impressive time of just two minutes in the 200. Shen also helped the team win the 200 freestyle relay team race, along with Mikali Charlemagne and Erin Kelaher.

The women’s team will look to capture their first win of the young season, as they also face MIT at 1 p.m.

Luca Brashear on the diving board. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Swimming/Diving continued from Page 12

Sports

Winter Is Coming

(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Springfield’s basketball, wrestiling, and swimming and diving teams are preparing for successful 2022-23 seasons.