To: All
students, faculty and staff
From:
Interim President Geraldine Jones
Former NFL
quarterback Roger Staubach once said, “Nothing good comes in life or athletics
unless a lot of hard work has preceded the effort.” As the accolades continue
to come in for our 2012-2013 student-athletes, I want to applaud their success
and all the hard work that led to it.
For the spring
semester, our student-athletes earned a cumulative grade-point average of
3.186. This is the 14th consecutive semester that our teams achieved a
collective grade of “B” or higher. It’s a wonderful accomplishment for our
student-athletes, and also for the professors, coaches and mentors who teach
and support them.
On this first official
day of summer, I’m pleased to share more news from our athletics program:
- The Major League Baseball draft kept us fans of Vulcan baseball on the edge of our seats until the Seattle Mariners selected catcher Kyle Petty in the 23rd round. The May graduate had been named one of 10 finalists for the Tino Martinez Award, which is presented to the top player in NCAA Division II. He also was the first Cal U player since 2007 to be selected the PSAC West Athlete of the Year.
Petty is the third
Vulcan athlete tapped by a professional sports team this year. The Kansas City
Chiefs selected center Eric Kush in the sixth
round of the National Football
League draft, and safety Rontez Miles signed as a free agent with the New York
Jets.
I’ll be watching those teams with a little added interest next season.
- I’m also keeping tabs on this year’s list of All-Americans. Ten Cal U student-athletes achieved that national recognition this year, and one — runner Aaron Dinzeo — was selected twice.
The names on the
scoreboard: Dinzeo for both outdoor and indoor track; Clarissa Enslin, for
swimming; Kush, Miles and B.J. Stevens,
for football; Shelby Lia and Lindsay
Reicoff, for softball; Petty, for baseball; and Lucie Rey and Lucie Sipkova,
for tennis.
- It takes special effort to excel not just in athletics, but in the classroom, too. Student-athletes who are standouts in both arenas are recognized as Academic All-Americans.
As of today, five
Vulcans are on that elite list: swimmers Enslin and Kelsey Nuhfer; volleyball
player Meghan Franz; softball pitcher Hope Spancake; and football linebacker
Chet Welc.
When Academic
All-Americans are named for track and field, I won’t be surprised to see
Dinzeo’s name listed for the fourth time in his collegiate career, or Erin
Kling’s name on the list for a second consecutive season.
While I’m cheering for
the Vulcans, let me add a mention of the University’s 11th-place finish in the
race for the Learfield Sport Directors Cup, an honor based on the national
finishes of seven men’s and seven women’s sports teams.
I’ll close with a word
of appreciation for those generous alumni and University friends who support
athletic scholarships. To succeed academically while playing varsity sports
takes a full-time commitment. Athletic scholarships make it possible for many
of these hard-working students to earn a degree while also excelling in sports.
As we look ahead to the
start of another exciting season of Vulcan athletics, I commend all of
our student-athletes who are committed to success, and I thank those athletic
boosters who support their quest for excellence.
With best wishes,
