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Stephanie Lyons drives on Endicott in a win for women’s basketball on Nov. 17. (Joe Arruda/The Student)

Stephanie Lyons

Stephanie Lyons edged her Springfield College women’s basketball teammate Sam Hourihan to win The Springfield Student’s Athlete of the Week twitter poll. Lyons earned 51% of the vote after her performance in the team’s dominant 93-59 win over Westfield State on Thursday. A senior guard, Lyons scored a team-high 19 points in the win while also tallying three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Following that win over Westfield State, the women’s basketball team improved to 8-0 and earned a spot in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) national rankings at No. 24. Hourihan, who has made a mark on the women’s basketball team since stepping on campus, finished second in the poll with 19% of the vote. The junior produced a dominant performance in that win over Westfield State scoring 17 points while she shot 7-10 from the field. Hourihan napped 14 rebounds and tallied seven assists, three steals and five blocks in the game. The women’s basketball team improved to 9-0 after a 19-point win over Worcester State on Tuesday. The swim and dive teams took to WPI this past weekend, producing a fifth-place finish in the three-day Gompei Invitational. Two swimmers rounded out the poll as Lefteri Roba and Grace Moore each put together impressive performances in the pool. Roba edged Moore by receiving 16% of the vote after the junior won the 200 breaststroke on Friday with a time of 2:22.32. Roba was also part of the sixthplace 800 free relay group on Friday, and competed in the 400 medley relay on Saturday. Moore earned 14% of the vote after she was the runner-up in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.89 on the first day of the event. She swam as part of the eighthplace 800 free relay team on Friday, and both the 200 free relay and the 400 medley team’s on day two

Collin Lindsay

In the men’s poll, Collin Lindsay ran away with a win after the men’s basketball team earned its first pair over the weekend. Competing in the Ed Hockenbury Classic at Norwich University, the “Birthplace Boys” defeated Maine - Fort Kent and Norwich to claim the title, effectively snapping their five-game losing skid to open the season. Lindsay was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player following his 29 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks over the course of the two games. James Chan finished second in the poll with 32% of the vote after breaking his third individual Springfield College record at the Gompei Invitational over the weekend. When he finished in 50.57 in the 100 fly, Chan narrowly beat the previous mark of 50.61 set by Kent Parsons in 2018. The men’s team also finished in fifthplace at the Gompei Invitational. Chan’s teammate Daniel Forsythe finished third in the polls after the senior was part of the eight-place 200 medley relay group, and also registered a 22.68 in the 50 free and a 2:11.90 in the 200 breast. Forsythe also contributed to the 1:42.90 200 mixed relay finish. Daryl Costa rounded out the poll with 12% of the vote following his unselfish performance at Norwich this weekend. Over the two-game stretch, Costa totaled 22 points, 12 rebounds, 14 assists and three steals. To vote in next week’s poll, be sure to follow The Student on Twitter @TheSpfldStudent!

Collin Lindsay drives in men’s basketball’s three-point loss to Eastern Conn. on Nov. 17. (Joe Arruda/The Student)

Back on track

The Springfield College men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed for the first time in 651 days last weekend.

____ By Carley Crain ____ @carley_crain12

For the first time in 651 days, the Springfield College men’s and women’s track teams hosted an indoor meet at home. The Pride competed against American International, Westfield State, Union, Sage, Brandeis, Lasell and Rhode Island College (RIC).

Indoor track is often a hard transition for athletes because of the cold weather and the lack of oxygen in indoor track facilities.

“Indoor track is difficult to adjust to sometimes due to the tight turns and stuffy air but proper preparation has smoothed those transitions, explained junior Aidan Harmer when asked about moving into a different season. “The adjustment so far has been better than expected due to the support of the coaches and all members involved.”

Both the men and also recognized by the college and was named Maroon Club Athlete of the Week.

The Pride have also added more depth in the pole vault, as first-years Ella Smith and Jillian Scott jumped heights of 2.95 and 2.96 meters, respectively. Junior Emily Raccana is eyeing the indoor school record this season, and had solid attempts at it last weekend. She will certainly be an athlete to watch this year.

women were dominant in the field and sprinting events, which has historically been what they are the strongest at. This season, the “Bomb Squad” -- as they call themselves, a nickname that the group has had for years-- has added some new talent with a mix of impressive first-year students.

Mackenzie Gingras and Katelynn Taylor finished second and third respectively in the shot put, and will be key factors moving forward in the field events for the Pride.

Upperclassmen Lily Gould and Christa Carr have been dominant field event student-athletes for Springfield the past few years. Carr began her season with a 11.72 meter throw in the shot put to take first place in the event, as well as Gould placing third with a 13.67 meter attempt. Carr was

Abigail Clinch. (Lucy Hamilton/The Student)

Brady Cote. (Lucy Hamilton/The Student)

Matlyn Gross and Madelyn Vianney have dominated both the long and triple jump for the Pride over the past few seasons and started off this winter strong, as Gross won both the long and triple jump. Vianney finished third overall in the long jump with her 5.13-meter attempt.

Reigning outdoor NEWMAC high jump champion Chloe Dewhurst is competing in her last indoor season for the Pride, and started the year off strong with her high jump mark of 1.61 meters. She is hoping to qualify again for Division III Nationals.

On the sprints side, the women showed off their depth, starting with the 60 meter dash, where transfer student Hope Maher and senior Sydney Fackrell took the top two spots, finishing with times of 8.01 and 8.16 seconds, respectively.

Maher and Fackrell also led for the Pride in the 200 meter dash, proving not only their versatility but their excellent endurance as well.

For the longer events, graduate student Rachel Wentnick and first-year Shae Gallagher were the top finishers for the Pride in the 3,000 meter race and the one mile. As the season continues to progress and with more speedy workouts under their belt, expect the longer distance athletes to put up some fast times.

On the men’s side, the Pride dominated in the sprinting events due to the team’s depth. David Cataloni, who has been one of Springfield’s top hurdlers pre-Covid and during last spring’s outdoor track season, had a great start to his season as he placed second overall with a time of 8.92 seconds.

In the short sprints, first-years came away with impressive finishes, as Evan Weber and Micheal Scott had solid races in both the 60 and 200 meter dashes.

For the longer events, the duo of juniors Rece Gobel and Thomas Czerwinski ran impressive times in the 600 meter dash, with Gobel winning in 1:24 and Czerwinki following right behind him in 1:26. Gobel has proven to be one of Springfield’s top mid-distance runners and has a great amount of strength and endurance.

Senior Russell Allen had an impressive race in the 3,000 meters, as he ran a huge personal best of 8:58 and placed first overall in a field full of talent.

In a recent Strava post he wrote about how this is just the beginning for him. “Once I get the legs back up to speed we are going to be dangerous,” Allen said.

After a collegiate career plagued with injuries, junior Aidan Harmer ran his first-ever indoor race and won the mile in 4:39. Harmer is another solid mid-distance runner for the Pride that has great versatility.

“The first meet was an incredible opportunity for the whole team to get back into racing. The past year has been difficult due to the limited amount of races. Each event had a personal record, qualification mark or collegiate best,” explained Harmer.

“It has been great to watch the camaraderie of the track team thus far. With such a great turnout at the meet, the track culture is strong at Springfield.”

The field event athletes had a great showing for their first meet of the season. Sophomore Kevin Lee had a huge day in the triple jump, as he came away with a new 54 cm personal best of 13.77 meters and was one of 10 qualifiers for DIII New England’s. Junior Colby Wilson also had himself a day, as he won the triple jump with a 6.84 jump, and is eyeing qualifying for DIII Nationals this season.

Mason Yusko, another first-year standout, won the high jump and qualified for DIII New England’s with his jump of 1.85 meters. For both the men and women’high jump is another event where they have a deep roster from all grade levels.

The Pride will continue their indoor season at Tufts on Saturday and are looking to build off of last weekend’s success.

A legend of the game

The life and legacy of long-time Springfield College wrestling coach Doug Parker, who passed away in April, was honored during his namesake invitational.

Doug Parker. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Archives and Special Collections)

Saturday, Dec. 20, 2021 marked the 31st annual Doug Parker Invitational Tournament. The history of the highly-competitive tournament can be traced back to Somers, Conn., where the first Doug Parker Invitational was held in 1990, the same year as Coach Parker’s retirement, as a top-level high school competition. Later the event moved to Enfield High School in Enfield, Conn., where Parker’s son Kirk coached for 25 years. The Springfield College Wrestling team took the name in 2013, a year after the Doug Parker Wrestling Room was dedicated at the PE Complex, and carries on the annual tradition to this day. This year’s tournament was the first one held since the passing of the legendary coach the tournament is named after. Parker is regarded as the greatest college wrestling coach in Springfield College history, NCAA Division III history and arguably one of the greatest across all three divisions in the NCAA.

__ By Jac St. Jean __ @jacsaintj

After serving in WWII in the Army Airborne Division and graduating in 1944 from Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Mass., Parker would head to Springfield College to earn a degree in Physical Education, as well as participate on the wrestling team in the 137-pound weight class. After graduating in 1951, Parker stuck around Alden Street and eventually took over the wrestling program, and became a professor of physical education. In his 35-year coaching career for the Pride, Parker never had a losing season, and accumulated a dual meet record of 485 wins, 159 losses, and 11 ties. Those wins – combined with that of the coaches before and

after Parker – his career totals to an astounding 1,047, which notches Springfield College as the third-winningest wrestling program amongst all wrestling teams across all three divisions in the NCAA, sitting below two Division I powerhouses in Iowa State University (1,085) and Oklahoma State University (1,133). Parker’s coaching legacy also includes two NCAA Division II Eastern Regional titles, 21 New England Championships, New England “Coach of the Year” in 1970, 1972, and 1978, and 24 All-Americans, including 2x NCAA Division II National Champion Jeff Blatnick ‘79, who went on to win a gold medal in the super heavyweight Greco-Roman division in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The list of Parker’s accomplishments and accolades go on and on. But what Parker is most commended for is his time and effort spent on Alden Street, educating and impacting the people he crossed paths with; not only his wrestlers and students, but also his fellow coaches who were amazed by his character. Women’s basketball coach Naomi Graves (G ‘85) regarded Parker as “one of the good ones” at Springfield College, and a prime example of what a coach should be. “[Coach Parker] was the epitome of a good teacher, and a good coach,” Graves said, “and he loved Springfield College, he just did.” While Graves did not have too many personal experiences with Coach Parker, she was astounded by his passion for and ability to teach any student or student-athlete any of his skills. Whether it was wrestling, physical education, or his most famous class, square dancing. “[Coach Parker] was the most animated teacher,” Graves explained, “and the students absolutely loved him. His energy, his approachability, and his collegiality: the best.” Graves would see Coach Parker teaching his square dancing class as she would be teaching an adaptive sports class right after. Aside from seeing him in the classroom, Graves would also see Parker every now and again on campus, and would always see him with a smile on his face, and a positive greeting toward everyone. “[Coach Parker] always greeted everyone in a positive way,” Graves said, “so no matter how hard or how bad my game brought me down, I try really hard to be that person. I think he set that tone by his actions.” During Parker’s time as a coach, there was not a lot of sport specialization, and Graves believes his generation helped create that concept. “He could teach anybody his skills,” Graves said. “He would create wrestlers, that’s the difference. Those old coaches created the sport-specific kid because most of the kids here were athletes and they weren’t specialized… he was so involved in wanting the athletes to be good.” Parker’s caring for his student-athletes was something also noted by men’s lacrosse coach Keith Bugbee, who considered Parker as a mentor when he started head coaching at Springfield College. “To me, he was one of the legends of the game,” Bugbee said. “For wrestling he was at that level. I was very fortunate to watch him for a few years and get to know him.” After former men’s lacrosse head coach Larry Giusti retired in 1983, Parker, along with assistant football coach Jack Holick and former track and field and lacrosse coach Vernon Cox, were all selected onto a search committee to find a new head coach for the program. Bugbee, who was a graduate assistant coach for the team at the time, applied for the position, and had an “interview” with the three legendary coaches. “It was so informal,” Bugbee laughed. “We sat in a room and we talked about the Red Sox for 10 minutes, then the Pats for 10 minutes… they were so laid back, after a while Coach Parker said to me ‘Keith, do you want the job?’ I said ‘Yeah, I would’ and he said ‘Well, I think you’d be great at it.’” It was a unanimous decision for Bugbee to be selected as the new head coach. Working amongst a legend in Parker, Bugbee was extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to work next to him, and tries to emulate his ability to establish relationships with his athletes. “If there’s any coach here that I can think back on that I’d love to model, it would be him,” Bugbee stated. Coach Doug Parker passed away on April 25, 2021 at the age of 95. He was immortalized in the Springfield College Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983, the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997, and was a recipient of the Lifetime Service To Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000. Everyone who crossed paths with Coach Parker will always remember the two words that he expressed and led by example with every day: Keep Smiling.

Doug Parker. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Archives and Special Collections)

Getting there

With a young, inexperienced roster, the Springfield College men’s basketball team is searching for its new identity in 2021.

Zeke Blauner during the men’s basketball game against Eastern Conn. on Nov. 17, 2021. (Joe Arruda/The Student)

The Springfield College men’s basketball team has taken upon a new identity for the 2021-22 season. They have seen new faces emerge, taking the place of the ones that were etched in Alden Street immortality.

Some of the new faces emerged immediately in the Pride’s opening matchup against Western New England on Nov. 5. Sophomores Zeke Blauner and Cameron Garber were the team’s leading scorers as they gathered 12 points each.

Blauner continued making great first impressions, as he scored 17 points in their next game against Roger Williams. The Blake Arena crowd got a fantastic first look at the sophomore guard in his home debut. He scored 27 points against Eastern Connecticut State, including 23 in the game’s final 25 minutes. He was also extremely efficient, as he went 8-for-12 from the field and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Springfield head coach Charlie Brock was particularly impressed with Blauner’s performance that night.

“(Blauner) was great,” said Brock after the game. “And I also think he did a great job of being active defensively. And I think the thing that he has learned, and is learning, is that he can be strong with the ball when he tries to score and not fade away — he got fouled a couple times on strong moves to the basket, and if he doesn’t get fouled, he’s got a pretty good chance of making it, and maybe getting an and-one.”

Blauner is the team’s leading scorer through the team’s first eight games of the season with his 14.4 points per game average. It is best not to put him on the foul line from an opponent’s perspective, as he has an 85.7% free throw percentage so far this year. His defense has also been top tier with 1.8 steals per game.

Along with impact performances from someone in their first year of collegiate basketball, there have been some good seasons being put together from upperclassmen. This is most notable with senior guard Collin Lindsay, who is averaging 12.6 points per game along with 5.4 rebounds per game. He has also been an incredibly accurate shooter with a 64.9% field goal percentage.

Everything came together for the Pride this past weekend at the Ed Hockenbury Classic. They defeated University of Maine at Fort Kent by the score of 68-54. This was a coming-out party for first-year forward Jacob Morales, who led the team with 14 points. The game was more about Springfield’s defense, as they held their opponent to a 33.3% field goal percentage.

Their second and final game of the tournament saw the Pride defeat Norwich, 78-55. This featured 19 points from Lindsay, 17 points from Blauner, and 13 points from Panayiotis Kapanides, who was 4-for-5 from behind the three point line on Sunday. Once again, Springfield’s defense held their opponent to a 33.3% field goal percentage.

“It was definitely a boost for our morale, we needed one,” Brock said on the team’s first win of the season over Maine – Fort Kent on Friday. “I think as much as anything, they learned and they enjoyed working hard and having it work out. It was getting harder and harder to work hard because it wasn’t working. It was definitely a boost for us to go back to the drawing board every day and work harder.”

Their most recent game was a loss to No. 21 ranked Amherst by a score of 75-61, and they look to bounce back in their final game during the fall semester against Williams on Saturday at 4 p.m.

___ By Chris Gionta ___ @ChrisGionta2