Alvernia University 400 Saint Bernardine St. Reading PA 19607
November 2009 Volume 48 - Issue 3
State of Alvernia Athletics By James Hein Staff Writer Like most collegiate athletic programs, Alvernia has won championships and been through years of struggle. In past years, Alvernia has seen successful championship seasons from teams such as men’s and women’s basketball and baseball. The Alvernia Hall of Fame consists mostly of basketball, baseball, field hockey players and coaches as well as both a baseball and basketball team from the 1990s. Those in the Alvernia Hall of Fame are spectacular athletes who at some point in their careers made an impact at Alvernia and, for the most part, have been recognized nationally, some in several instances. Among the stand outs in the Hall of Fame are Jack McCloskey, Daimen Hunter and the men’s basketball team of 1997. Jack McCloskey was head basketball coach of the men’s team from 1991-2004 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. He holds the school record with 227 wins, led 6 teams to 20-win seasons including the spectacular year of 1997, going 26-6 and making an appearance in the NCAA Division III Final Four. Daimen Hunter, a member of the 1997 men’s Final Four team, is second all-time in points per game, and received individual honors including 1995 ECAC South Rookie of the Year, the 1997 Dick Vitale Preseason Division III Player of the Year, two straight PAC Player of the Year awards, and was named to the 1997 All-American First Team and the Columbus Multimedia Mid-Atlantic and National Player of the Year. The Alvernia baseball team of 1991 is another team that has been recently inducted into the Hall of Fame. Head Coach Yogi Lutz led the Crusaders, with a 30-9 overall record, to their first NAIA District 19 title and a berth
into the NAIA Regional Tournament. Alvernia has produced extraordinary athletes and has developed a passion for success on and off the field of play. As a Division III athletic program, Alvernia stresses the importance of the student-athlete and the desire to compete on the field and succeed in the classroom. In recent years, Alvernia athletics have seen successes in many of its 18 regularly running sports. The men’s basketball team won back-to-back PAC Championships in 2006 and 2007, while earning a berth in the 2007 NCAA Regional Tournament. The field hockey team earned a bid to play in the 2009 ECAC Championships; the team lost in the championship game, but received a bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament as the 17th seed. Alvernia baseball won the ECAC Championship in 2008, the Freedom Conference of the MAC in 2009 and made an appearance in the 2009 NCAA Regional Tournament. The Alvernia ice hockey team has been to back-to-back conference championships the past two years. Due to the recent success of these programs Alvernia has made several changes to the athletic facilities on and off campus. Alvernia has added a brand new turf field and track, as well as new baseball and softball fields. Along with the new facilities some changes have come. New coaches, new sports and a new athletic director show Alvernia’s growth. Alvernia may seem like it is building for the future, but the athletic department is giving current student-athletes the opportunity to take advantage of the new facilities. Alvernia’s new athletic director, Bill Stiles, comes to the university with extensive credentials. He was an assistant athletic director and baseball coach at Ursinus before going to
Chestnut Hill College where he became the Director of Athletics and Recreation and completed the process of changing the college from Division III to Division II athletics. He is familiar with adding new athletic programs to the athletic department, which he accomplished at Chestnut Hill. Alvernia has made a strategic move by hiring him to work on Alvernia’s future vision for the athletic department. Of the coaches at Alvernia, there are two staples that stand out. Head baseball coach Yogi Lutz and women’s basketball coach Kevin Calabria have been running their respective programs over the past 20 years. Their longevity at Alvernia has resulted in great success and winning seasons. Because of their ability to implement their coaching skills, they have been able to keep their programs at the forefront of Alvernia athletics. In other sports, Alvernia is in a transition stage of sorts. New coaches are in place and the determination to win is present, it is just a matter of time and commitment. With the tenured coaches at Alvernia, confidence is established because of the past successes they have had and the studentathletes know they can do big things. Alvernia has put new, young, talented, and qualified coaches in place throughout the past few seasons. At Alvernia, the community aspect of campus is noticeable and it is the same in the athletic department. The school has created a very close knit group of coaches and athletes. Athletics are possibly one of the most attractive aspects of a university. The development of a wellorganized field house or athletic facility to allow athletes to improve their skills with top quality equipment will make the university more attractive to prospective student-athletes. The construction of the new baseball and softball fields and the track and field shows the direction in which the university is heading. One downfall of the expense of the fields is the lack of training equipment. Ideal conditions would have a bigger weight training and conditioning area and locker rooms that are sport specific. Despite the small problems with the current facilities, Alvernia
www.alvernia.edu has established a long-term plan to add sports as well as facilities to appease the faculty, coaches, athletes and students. It may be frustrating for some to see that the school has not up-
graded some of the facilities that need it most, but it is a good sign that the university is addressing the bigger issues, such as the new turf field on campus and the fields at Angelica Park, before attacking the smaller issues. The pieces are in place; Alvernia has put together an athletic facility that is the envy of other Division III institutions. There are experienced coaches who have been in place for several years with past and recent success. The new coaches are dedicated and strive for excellence from their athletes in the classroom and on the field. The current state of Alvernia athletics to some may seem as though the University has been having a poor season. However, those teams that have had poor seasons in the past years have had their own success in the past as well. It is just a matter of whether or not those teams can elevate their play and return to the playoffs in future seasons. Alvernia has a solid plan in place for the future and success should be on the horizon for most teams. Those already having success do not show signs of stopping. Quality recruits from the surrounding areas are integral to Alvernia’s future success. These recruits become the future student athletes who represent the University. Alvernia athletics has its box of staples, consisting of teams like the basketball, baseball, field hockey and ice hockey teams. They all consist of great programs with quality coaches and championships to boot. It looks as though Alvernia has primed its athletics program to succeed in the future as well as the present. What the coaches and student-athletes do with the opportunities placed in front of them is to be determined.