Colgate No. 1 for student-athlete graduation rate
Colgate recorded a 100 percent graduation success rate for its student-athletes, according to a report released by the NCAA in late October. That figure is the best of all Division I schools. Last year, Colgate shared the No. 1 ranking with Notre Dame, with each school touting a 99 percent graduation rate.
    “Being ranked No. 1 in all of Division I is a credit to the dedication of our excellent student-athletes, coaches, and staff,” said Director of Athletics Dave Roach. “We take great pride in the fact that our students strive for success on and off the field of play.”
    Colgate’s success rate outpaced the national average of 79 percent. The NCAA report covered Division I athletes entering school between the 2000–2001 and 2003–2004 academic years and who earned a degree within six years.
    The NCAA data differs from federal graduation statistics because students who transfer are taken into account. The NCAA’s figures, unlike the federal ones, do not penalize an institution for athletes who leave to attend other colleges, as long as they depart in good academic standing.
    Colgate was the only school with a 100 percent rate, while Notre Dame remained at 99 percent. Fellow Patriot League institutions Holy Cross and Lafayette were tied with the likes of Duke, Furman, and Northwestern for third, at 97 percent.


Colgate topped Connecticut, 5-3, at Starr Rink for their second-straight win over the Huskies and first-ever win against them at home. (photo by Michael Schon ’12)

Colgate 35th in NCSA Power Rankings
NCSA Athletic Recruiting announced that Colgate was ranked 35th among NCAA Division I universities, and 93rd overall in the 8th Annual NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings.
    NCSA Athletic Recruiting’s Collegiate Power Rankings assess the academic and athletics standards of all NCAA athletics programs across the country. The Power Rankings were developed to help prospective student-athletes and their families evaluate the particular strengths of the top colleges and universities at the Division I, II, and III levels. Fewer than 6 percent of colleges and universities earn a spot in NCSA Athletic Recruiting’s Top 100 for 2010, and Colgate is in this elite class.
    The rankings are calculated for each Division I, II, and III college and university by averaging student-athlete graduation rates, academic rankings provided by U.S. News & World Report, and the strength of the athletics departments as determined by the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup ranking.

Reviving rivalry, memories
Ask Frank Speno ’56 about the tradition that is Colgate football and he’ll share stories about how he, as a 140-pound defensive back, went up against the human sledgehammer that was running back Jim Brown of Syracuse University.
    Or ask Al Short ’47, who will talk about how he planted his foot in the rain-drenched muck of SU’s Archbold Stadium to kick an extra point that would be the winning margin in a 7-6 victory in 1945.
    These proud former players joined dozens of other alumni, young and old, at a special tailgate to mark the renewal of the historic rivalry between the Raiders and the Orange at the end of September.
    It was the 66th meeting of the two teams, and the first since 1987. The game would not end well for the Raiders, who would fall 42-7 at the Carrier Dome, but in the David-versus-Goliath tradition that is Colgate athletics, the team would compete hard against the bigger, faster Orange, dominate the time of possession, and gain more first downs.
    At the pregame tailgate, Short was welcomed by President Jeffrey Herbst and athletics director David Roach. The 84-year-old brought the ball that he had kicked through the uprights during that 1945 game, and his grandson Chris Dole pointed to what he said, with all sincerity, was the mark where his grandfather’s toe met leather. Short was presented with a new ball signed by current team members, and a jersey with his No. 17.
    Tom McGarrity ’79, P’10 reminisced about playing for Coach Fred Dunlap ’50, and said one of his favorite memories was a big win over Villanova, in a game that featured future NFL great Howie Long, back in 1978.
    Al Egler ’79 sported his No. 27 jersey from his playing days, and was glad to talk about his dad, Al ’51, who captained the 1950 team that beat Syracuse 19-14, marking the last time the Raiders beat the Orange. “Football is such a huge tradition and legacy here at Colgate, and this kind of event is a great chance for us to come back and see our old buddies, teammates, and friends,” said Egler.


Running back Nate Eachus ’12 (#32) rushed 44 times for a season-high 214 yards and four touchdowns as the Raiders toppled Georgetown 34-3 in the homecoming game at Andy Kerr Stadium. (photo by Michael Schon ’12)

Football wins 600th game
On October 16, Colgate became the 15th team in the Football Championship Subdivision to reach its 600th win in school history. The Raiders whipped its rivals to the west with a 44-3 win against Cornell at Schoelkopf Field. Nate Eachus ’12 rushed 25 times for a Colgate and Patriot League record of 291 yards. Greg Sullivan ’11 also gained more than 100 yards with 102 yards on eight carries and scored three touchdowns. The Raiders ended up with 502 yards of total offense with 440 yards on the ground.
    With the 102 yards rushing, Sullivan became the Patriot League’s all-time leading rushing quarterback with 2,112 yards in three-plus years. Eachus had a big day as well, with three touchdowns, and he went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.

First D1 hockey game on Cape
The Raiders were the first men’s hockey team, along with Army, to play a regular-season game on Cape Cod, Mass. They played in front of a standing-room–only crowd of 1,689 at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Memorial Skating Rink. The event featured a puck drop by 1960 gold medal–winning and former Army head coach Jack Riley.
    Captain Brian Day ’11, along with Mike McCann ’14 and Austin Smith ’12, tallied goals in a 3-1 win.
    The visit to the Cape also featured an alumni golf tournament at the Olde Barnstable Fairground Golf Course the morning of the game.

Women’s cross country earns first Patriot League title   
Led by Elise DeRoo ’12, who won the individual title, the women’s cross country team came through with its first Patriot League title in team history, winning with 42 points. Colgate placed four runners in the top 15. DeRoo and Chelsea Burns ’12 led the way, finishing first and second overall. DeRoo posted a school-record time of 19:17 to claim her second-straight Patriot League championship as Burns posted a personal-record time of 20:07.
    DeRoo was also named the Patriot League Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was voted onto the Academic All-Patriot League Team, along with captain Julie Tarallo ’11.
    DeRoo continued her success at the NCAA Northeast Regional as she qualified for the NCAA Championships with a time of 20:16.3, helping the Raiders to a 15th-place finish. She finished sixth and earned all-region honors.

Hockey alumni make way in NHL
At press time, four men’s hockey alumni had made an appearance in the early NHL season. Andy McDonald ’00 is in his 11th NHL season, now playing with the St. Louis Blues, and is inching closer to his 600th career game.
    Jesse Winchester ’08 entered his fourth season with Ottawa after re-signing with the Senators for two more years. He has played in more than 150 games for Canada’s capital team.
    Kyle Wilson ’06 made the Columbus Blue Jackets out of training camp and made an immediate impact with four goals and three points in 10 games.
    Mark Dekanich ’08 was called up by the Nashville Predators for the first team.


The men’s water polo team beat RPI 16-13 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association New York Division Championships at Hamilton College on October 23. (photo by Michael Schon ’12)

Men’s soccer claims Patriot League regular-season title
The men’s soccer team won the Patriot League regular-season title on home turf with an unbeaten mark of 5-0-2 against league opponents. Chris Miller ’11 was named Goalkeeper of the Year by the league, while Head Coach Erik Ronning won the Coach of the Year award.
    Steven Miller ’11 led the team with 12 points on a team-high five goals and two assists. Matt Schuber ’12 finished second on the team with 10 points on four goals and two assists. The Raiders finished with eight overtime games, seven of them going into double overtime. Five games ended in ties, while Colgate won two of the games and lost only one.
    The season came to an end in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament with a tough 1-0 loss to Bucknell. They completed their season with an 8-6-5 overall record. Although admitting disappointment over the loss, Ronning said, “I am proud of what this group achieved this season.”

Women’s soccer wrap-up
The women’s soccer team’s season came to a close in early November when it fell to Army 1-0 in overtime, in the first semifinal game of the Patriot League Tournament in West Point, N.Y.
    “We played an outstanding second half tonight,” said Head Coach Kathy Brawn. “We defended and attacked as a team and stayed focused in spite of some very physical challenges by the Black Knights.”
    The team completed the season with an overall record of 6-12-1. Forward Jillian Kinter ’13 and midfield/forward Alyssa Manoogian ’12 finished the season as the point leaders, with Kinter leading the team in goals (6) and Manoogian leading the team in assists (5).

Koroshetz named scholar-athlete of the year
Co-captain Kiki Koroshetz ’11 was named the 2010 Patriot League Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was also selected to the 2010 Academic All-Patriot League team. Koroshetz, who has a cumulative GPA of 3.90, is an English major with a minor in psychology. She started in all 17 games for the Raiders this season and has been a solid part of the team’s defense that posted four shutout wins.
    The senior has received numerous academic and athletic awards over the years, most recently the Thomas M. Wilson ’67 Memorial Endowed Leadership Award for Athletics and the Lasher Prize for English at the university’s Convocation Awards Program. Koroshetz has also received the Spencer Colwell ’41 Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund, was named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, and has been a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the Raider Academic Honor Roll every semester since her first year.
    In addition, Koroshetz is an active member of the community. She is the vice president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and volunteers at the Colgate Hunger Outreach Program, the Hamilton Elementary School, and with Uplifting Athletes at Colgate.


In the second match of day two of the Colgate Invitational, the Raiders had a big comeback against Big Red, taking the final three sets to come away with a 3-2 win. (photo by Michael Schon ’12)

Field hockey closes season at Patriot League Tournament
The field hockey team saw its season come to an end in early November with an 8-1 loss to American in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament.
    The Raiders got their lone goal from Halle Biggar ’14, with the assist going to Laura Denenga ’11. Captain Kirsten Lalli ’11 tried to keep the Raiders in the game with 17 saves. She finished the year with 8 games at or above 10 saves per game and reached 17 saves for the fifth time. Captain Allison Waugh ’11 came up big with two key defensive saves.

Intramural and club sports
During the fall semester, more than 600 students participated in approximately 40 club sports including baseball, cricket, curling, and cycling. The intramural programs, which operate at full capacity, are enjoyed by 630 students. Here are some highlights from the season:

Ultimate homecoming
Former Ultimate Frisbee club members returned to Hamilton en masse for Homecoming Weekend when 24 alumni from six class years participated in a scrimmage against current students. They flew in from as far as Portland, Ore., Des Moines, Iowa, and Chapel Hill, N.C.
    Five members of the women’s team — now in their fifth full season — joined 19 members of the men’s team, which has been one of Colgate’s most active club sports teams since its inception more than 20 years ago.
    Students and alumni will join forces for two summer tournaments in 2011.
— Cody Tipton ’07


The women’s rugby team at their homecoming weekend game (photo by Janet Little)

Smooth sailing
The sailing team had yet another successful season. Part of the Middle-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (MAISA), the team once again qualified for the America Trophy regatta at Cornell University, which was the end-of-the-season “regionals” last spring.
    The team entered into the fall season with a large group of energetic first-years who were very eager to sail for the squad. Homecoming weekend marked the second Alumni Regatta, during which approximately 10 alumni returned to compete against old friends. The following weekend, over fall break, we hosted our annual Colgate Open Regatta. With seven other MAISA teams competing for the win, Colgate finished first after a very close competition. The rest of the fall continued smoothly, with the sailing club ranking 23rd out of 46 MAISA teams.
— Nate Swift ’11

Other highlights
The English equestrian team is the top-placing club team in the region, ranking in 3rd place behind Skidmore and Morrisville, which are both varsity teams. Colgate has four out of the eight top open riders in the region.
    In its fourth season, the field hockey club finished with a winning record.
    The figure skating club ran a well-attended Learn to Skate session for community children. They have also started a synchronized skating team with Hamilton College, and on December 5, the synchronized team and individual players performed at Starr Rink.
    The karate club ran a Kickathon during Homecoming Weekend to fundraise for the Wounded Warrior Project and will host their 15th annual Karate Tournament this spring.
    The ping pong club took their first trip to Hamilton College for the Intercollegiate Ping Pong Tournament and won the final championship. At the end of November, the club co-sponsored a competition to fundraise for Oxfam, a nonprofit organization that fights poverty.
    Despite a tough first loss on the road for men’s rugby, the club had a comeback and won four consecutive games. They led the league for four weeks, outscored opponents 191-61, averaged 31 points per game, and were undefeated at home in the regular season. They tied for second place in the league, but placed third on tie-breakers.
    The men’s soccer club went to the Regional Tournament in Pennsylvania, where they played the University of Delaware, SUNY New Paltz, Loyola, and University of Connecticut.
    The women’s soccer club attended the Penn State Tournament, where they played West Virginia University, Washington University in St. Louis, Penn State, and Yale.
    The men’s squash club hosted and won their fall home tournament. In January, they traveled to the Naval Academy to play a club Patriot League tournament and then represented Colgate at the National Team Championships at Harvard.




Raider Nation
Fan spotlights with Vicky Chun ’91, senior associate athletic director

Corey Landstrom, assistant dean of students and university discipline officer

Game: Women’s Ice Hockey, 10/8/10. The Raiders defeated University of New Hampshire (#8 national rank) in OT 1-0!

How long have you worked at Colgate? I’m in my 8th year.

Why did you come to this game? I love ice hockey! My family and I support both the men’s and women’s ice hockey programs.

Did you enjoy the game? What a great win! The team played well together, and nothing is better than an overtime win.

Do you come to a lot of athletics events? We try to get to as many as we can. It is important to go. I would like to see greater student turnout because the student-athletes work hard and need that support.

Do you have a favorite Colgate sports moment? My family and I have fun supporting the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams during playoffs. We’ve traveled to Hanover, N.H., Ithaca, N.Y., and Albany, N.Y., to name a few.

Joellen Kelleher Wall ’89


Game: Men’s Ice Hockey, 10/16/10. The Raiders defeated Brock University 3-2 in front of a full house in Starr Rink

Resides in: Sugar Land, Texas (“The Land of Plenty”)

Who did you bring to the game? My four children, Mary, Joseph, John, and Michael

Mary’s take on the game: “This was fun … really, really fun!”

Why did you decide to visit Colgate now? I want my kids to see this part of the country during the fall because it’s spectacular.

Do you have a favorite Colgate sports memory? In 1986, I was on the volleyball team and we beat Syracuse University. I remember the Syracuse players were angry because we were there to be beaten.

Vicky Brondum, Colgate Bookstore director
Game: Men’s Soccer, 11/2/10. The Raiders hosted Princeton University (#16 national rank)

How long have you worked at Colgate? 9 1/2 years

Why did come to this game? I’m the men’s soccer team’s biggest fan!

What do you think the temperature is out here? A warm and balmy 30 degrees.

How long have you been coming to the men’s soccer games? I’ve been a faithful fan for 9 years.

What was Family Weekend like at the bookstore? It was crazy wonderful.

What do you think of Colgate athletics? It is unique — the student-athletes are incredibly talented both on the field/court and in the classroom.