Reporter Online | Sports

Longest-Held Spring Sports Records at RIT

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The best of the best.

by Danielle Delp

Listed here are the athletes at RIT who, in each of their respective spring sports, have achieved standing records that have remained unbroken longer than any other. These records are so outstanding that decades have passed, but no one has surpassed them.

FRANK SILKMAN

Baseball
Attended RIT: 1952-1957
Highest Batting Average, Season: 0.500 (1953)v 2nd Highest Batting Average, Career: 0.408 (1953-1956)
2nd Most Triples, Season: 6 (1955)

It has been 60 years since Frank Silkman broke the record for highest season batting average for RIT Baseball with an untouchable 0.500 in 1953. Just two years later, he nearly broke his own record with a second-place record of 0.472. The latter was narrowly broken in 2009, but at no point in the past 50 years has anyone been able to unseat Silkman from his first-place seat. Also in 1955, Silkman managed to set a record for highest number of triples that, while broken in the current time, managed to remain for over forty years before being toppled in 2006. Silkman is now 83 years old, and his days in college are but a distant memory. Even so, in an email interview he spoke of his triples record humorously; “As I recall I believe I set a record for the most ‘triples’ during that period. The guys used to joke, it wasn’t that I hit the ball that far but that I could run fast.”

Men's Outdoor Track & Field

Distance Medley 10:19.8 (1971)

Lee Wirsham

Tony Spiecker

Tom Doehler

Dave Kosowski

AMBER MESCHER

(now Amber Strevey) Women’s Lacrosse
Attended RIT: 1999-2004
Most Ground Ball, Season: 105 (2000)
Most Ground Ball, Career: 274 (2000-2003)

If you’ve ever watched a lacrosse game, you’ve probably noticed that the ball will occasionally be dropped on the ground. These ground balls might not seem like anything important, but being able to retrieve them quickly can help change the direction of play by forcing the offensive team back on the defense. At RIT, the longest-held Women’s Lacrosse title belongs to Amber Mescher, who retrieved the most ground balls in a game, season and a career during her years on the team from 1999-2003. After her record-breaking career, she went on to become the assistant coach for the team while attending graduate school for her remaining year at RIT. In an email comment, Mescher expressed how little she actually remembers from the event. She said, “I believe you can only set records when you work together and everyone is playing their best.” She added, “I’m honored that the record still stands but hope that that soon one of the new team members will break it.”

CHERYL WETMORE

Softball
Slugging Percentage, Season: .909 (1986)
Triples, Season: 10 (1986)
Sacrifice Flies, Career: 9 (1984-1986)
Sacrifice Flies, Career: 10 (1983-1986)
Base on Balls (Walks), Career: 43 (1983-86)

LYNDA GORSKY

Women’s Tennis
Most Dual Wins, Season: 13 (1982)
Most Dual Wins, Career: 39 (1980-83)
Most Overall Wins, Career: 55 (1980-83)
Most Consecutive Dual Singles Wins: 24 (1980-83)

MICHELE JONES

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field
200-meter Dash: 25.1 seconds (1984)
100-meter Dash: 12.12 seconds (1985)

BOB COSTANZA

Men’s Tennis
Most Consecutive Wins: 30 (1965-1967)

STEVE VAN GORDEN

Men’s Lacrosse
Attended RIT: 1970-1975
4th Highest Save Percentage, Season: 0.653 (1975)
4th Highest Save Percentage, Career: 0.613 (1971-1975)
8th Most Saves, Season: 192 (1975)
8th Most Saves, Career: 406 (1971-1975)

In lacrosse, a “save” is quite simply the deflection of a ball from the defender’s goal. RIT’s Lacrosse team was still in its infancy when Steve Van Gorden left his mark on the record books by setting records for highest career save percentage, highest save percentage in a season, most career saves and most saves in a season. Though each of these records have been broken several times since Van Gorden’s years on the team, his name and achievements as a goalie remain in the top-ten goaltending records recorded by Men’s Lacrosse. As a result, he is undeniably one of the all-stars of RIT’s lacrosse history. Van Gorden himself was pleasantly surprised to learn that the records he set years ago are still on the list after more than thirty years. In an email interview, he said, “Three of my children are RIT grads so I guess my greatest pleasure has been when they discovered dad was still listed in the record book.”

RIT Drumline Takes Home Fourth-Straight State Championship Title

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:55:44 -0400

A space-themed percussion show.

by Crystal Mendoza Paulin


A bass drumer for the RIT Drumline puts his instrument on in the parking lot of Onondaga Community College before their performance at the New York State Percussion Circuit Championship on April 7 in Syracuse, N.Y.
Griffin Moores

Once a year a group of RIT students is herded into a tent where they anxiously await their turn to perform at the New York State Percussion Circuit. An RIT alumnus gives a penny to each of the Drumline members to symbolize how each one is a smaller part of a greater group. His moving words reach them and he pulls them together for a hands-in right before their performance.

Natalie DiPaola, a fourth year Animation major and president of RIT’s Drumline, was ablaze: “We played the best show we’ve done all season and everyone was happy about it. I was so proud of the group! We really appreciate our alumni like Matt Sansone who came out and supported us.”

RIT’s Drumline is an SG-recognized performing arts group made up of battery and pit percussion ensembles. Drumline performs throughout the year at campus sports events and festivals such as Springfest and Imagine RIT.

This year RIT Drumline was the only group competing in its class. Ryan Hare, fifth year Electrical Engineering major and Musical director/vice president, recalled, “Syracuse University, Cornell, and Onondaga Community College used to be in our class, but that was a long time ago. Sadly, there just aren’t too many college lines anymore.” DiPaola explained further, “A lot of it depends on funding. The independent class means it can be a community group, a college, or pretty much any type of line. The groups that we normally compete against either didn’t have enough money to continue or not enough interest.”

The New York State Percussion Circuit begins in February and ends in April every year. When the circuit ends, Drumline members decide on a theme for next season’s performance, select a songwriter, and begin practicing the new set of songs in September.

This year things happened a little differently. “When we got the finished product, we didn’t think it was challenging enough for us,” DiPaola stated, “we wanted to try something totally different.” Hare, first year Computer Science major Erik Ritter, and graduate Film Production student Jessica Cooper took on the challenge. The three joined forces to write and arrange all of the parts for the performance.

Although groups typically pay a professional to arrange music, DiPaola was highly supportive of her Drumline members: “Now we can truly say we are 100 percent student run.”

Under these circumstances the Drumline began officially practicing for the circuit in December and had to work extra hours to make up for the lost time. However, DiPaola didn’t mind the extra hours: “Practice is fun because we can hang out and mess around when there’s some down time. The people on Drumline were some of the first friends I made here when I was a freshman and they’re still my best friends today.”

At the end of the day, taking home their fourth state championship trophy was just icing on the cake for the RIT Drumline. Hare summed up the experience saying, “I think it was great just seeing everyone excited to perform and put on a really great show. The championships aren’t that important to us; it’s really all about representing RIT and having a good time doing it.”

Roc City Thunder Storms RIT

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:20:00 -0400

Football comes to the Brick City.

by Amanda Imperial


Alton Jones (4) of the Roc City Thunder tackles a Buffalo Celtics player.
Griffin Moores

Over the past few years, Rochester has been unlucky when it comes to the sport of football. But when a pair of determined men put their heads together in fall 2011, the Roc City Thunder Arena Football team was on its way to becoming a new staple of Rochester and RIT culture.


Roc City Thunder indoor football coach Ron Kurimsky confronts one of his players after a small scuffle broke out during their game against the Buffalo Celtics at the Gordon Field House.
Griffin Moores

Mike Condello, director of community relations and a current player for Roc City Thunder, tells of the birth of the new team. More than a year after Rochester’s previous indoor football team - the Rochester Raiders - folded, a group was looking to form another team, at that time called The Central New York Stampede. This idea fell through, as well as a majority of the group that put it together. But two remaining members, Eric Spaulding and Jeff Teed, put yet another idea together for the team, which came to be known as the Roc City Thunder. Ex-Rochester Raider Mike Condello jumped on board. With his skill as a graphic designer, he made a logo to represent the new entity.


A young fan wears the helmet of Roc City Thunder linebacker Eric Spaulding after a game against the Buffalo Celtics. The Thunder defeated the Celtics 57-6.
Tom Brenner

First things first: the team needed to find a place to play indoor football. With the sport requiring a field of specific size, the search was on to find the perfect place. The team originally held practices at the ESL Sports Centre - now known as Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex - until October of 2012. Around this time, Teed came down with a serious illness, and was unable to continue with the team. With him leaving and Spaulding - the main funder of the team - taking on most of the responsibility, Condello said in a phone interview that, “It started to become clear as months went on that Teed and Spaulding weren’t able to handle some the responsibilities of ownership.” But as a team was already being formed, this was no time to drop the ball.

Condello was able to set up an agreement with RIT during all of the chaos of the ownership transition. Condello said that RIT’s Gordon Field House was chosen for two reasons: because of the size of the arena, mostly due to the large fan base of about 3,000 that indoor football attracts, and RIT’s beautiful facilities. Hopefully, the arrangement will be as beneficial to RIT as it is to the new team. “RIT doesn’t have any football on campus, so we would love for this to become ‘RIT football’, so to speak,” Condello said.

Women's Lacrosse Narrowly Defeats Vassar

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Lady Tigers pull ahead in second half.

by Danielle Delp


Griffin Moores

Clear skies and cool breezes greeted the women’s lacrosse team on the afternoon of March 30 for their second Liberty League match of the season. With an overwhelming victory against Bard College the day before, the Tigers arrived at the RIT turf field fully prepared to give a repeat performance against the Vassar College Brewers.

By scoring the first goal three minutes into the game, the home team established themselves with a strong start. As time would quickly tell, however, that opening goal would only serve to provoke Vassar’s offense. Almost immediately, the Brewers scored a goal of their own and shut down any hopes of an early lead for the Tigers. Four minutes later, Vassar began to establish their own momentum by pulling ahead with another goal. Though RIT managed to tie the score again soon after, it was becoming clear just how evenly matched the two teams were. With such intense competition, neither side would achieve victory easily.

Foul after foul was called as both teams struggled to break the tie. With 19:08 left on the clock, the visitors pulled ahead with their third goal of the game. Inch by inch, RIT was pushed onto the defensive. As the game wore on, the Tigers clearly became unsettled by their opponents. As their playing declined and Vassar widened their lead with two more goals, RIT spectators began to become agitated about the direction the game was heading in.

RIT called a time-out to regroup with eleven minutes left in the first half. This appeared to help the team greatly, as they once again regained control of the field. Just a minute after returning to play, RIT scored their first goal in over ten minutes, followed by a second goal five minutes later. The women nearly managed to score a third goal in the final seconds of the half, but were unable to do so before time ran out, leaving Vassar in the lead 5-4.

The second half marked the beginning of far more fierce competition between the two teams. RIT finally managed to tie the score just minutes into the half, but a responding goal from Vassar pushed them into the lead once again. This trend would continue for nearly fifteen minutes, with Vassar pulling ahead every time RIT evened the score.

Finally, with 18:05 left in the game, RIT managed to regain a 7-6 lead. The neck-and-neck competition continued for the remainder of the game, but the Tigers never again surrendered their lead. Vassar refused to go down quietly, however, and scored two goals in rapid succession in the last minute of the game. Without enough time on the clock for the Brewers to re-establish themselves, the Tigers ultimately won the long game with a score of 13-11.

“We started off a little shaky,” said Devin Villagomez, second year Diagnostic Medical Sonography major, “but by the end of the game we definitely picked it up, and it was a tough and hard-fought game, but it was great. It was a great feeling to win our second Liberty League game.”

Her teammate Sage Sarkis, first year International Hospitality and Services major, reflected on how different the two Liberty League games were: “We played a game yesterday and we won 23-0, so it was quite a shutout. I don’t think we were as prepared for a team that was even with us today. We didn’t come out great in the first half, but we had a time out and we talked it over, and then we really came out to play the second half, and that’s why we won.”

Hockey Player Easily Offended,Vandalizes Old Blind Woman's Home

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:16:00 -0400

Some people need to take a chill pill.

by Alias Soodonihm


Joseph Brony

RIT hockey player and fourth year Zamboni Technology major Biff Hoser has narrowly escaped charges of vandalism and criminal mischief after defacing the home of an old woman who failed to recognize him. Last Saturday, Hoser, along with first year Communications major and benchwarmer Norman Tagas, graced an off-campus party attended by many a student and faculty alike. It would have been a normal evening of high spirits and debauchery for Hoser had it not been for his encounter with Mabel Porter.

Upon first entering the party, Hoser was immediately greeted with praise, gushing, and lap dances from the crowd that quickly flocked around him. “As soon as we saw who had come through the door, all the panties came off and the Sharpies came out, everyone clamoring to get a body part signed. “I got him to sign my collarbone!” recalled one anonymous party-goer.

The only one left on the dance floor was 78 year-old RIT alumnus Mabel Porter. She continued her, what was described as “sexy-as-hell” and “probably illegal in some states,” Jitterbugging despite the commotion over Hoser. According to witnesses, when Hoser noticed Porter and her lack of sycophancy he became annoyed. “When Biff realized he didn’t have the attention of everyone in the room, he became visibly angry - I think I heard him growl,” said second year puck-bunny Pinky Summers.

The first person to notice the source of Hoser’s annoyance was Tagas, who reportedly went to confront Porter, asking, “Didn’t you see who just came in?” Porter, appearing surprised and confused, replied, “I don’t see anyone” to which the entire party - previously holding a collective breath - ‘ooohed’ like the oooh of a classroom of middle-schoolers after someone’s been called to the principal’s office.

Hoser, listening to the exchange, nearly threw off his gloves. He attempted to storm over to Porter, but instead almost fell to the ground. Tagas explained, “He’s really only effective on his skates.” After only stumbling a few times and receiving help from his fans, Hoser reached the still dancing Porter and proceeded to give her a tongue lashing the contents of which this magazine is unable to print. Though the other revelers were taken aback by Hoser’s hostility, Porter appeared unfazed. Hoser, seeing this as further insult, ordered Tagas to help him leave and he rode out on the benchwarmer’s back.

The other partiers, shocked at what they had just witnessed, crowded Porter. Part-time fireman Keith Milksteak, a supposed short-time friend of Porter, was quick to ask her why she had bullied Hoser. “When I asked her about this thing with Hoser afterwards, she said she didn’t know that Hoser was talking to her! Apparently she’d turned her hearing aid down because of all the loud music and couldn’t see who he was because of a tragic boating accident many years earlier.”

Meanwhile, Tagas reports that Hoser continued having a hissy fit about Porter until he offered to take him for ice cream. Not satisfied with the ice cream however, Hoser decided that he needed revenge. When his initial idea of time traveling to prevent Porter’s birth was called off by Tagas as unfeasible, Hoser decided that vandalizing the old woman’s home would be sufficient. Says Tagas, “I didn’t want to do it; I mean, the lady didn’t really deserve it, y’know? But I like messing stuff up and I was pretty bored.” So the pair drove to Porter’s house and proceeded to rough things up.

Reports state that when the boys were through, Porter’s house read “U R OLD,” her lawn ornaments were unearthed, her knitting unwound with the yarn strewn in the trees and, classically, dick drawings were in abundance. For good measure, Tagas reports throwing glitter everywhere, “because glitter is impossible to clean up.” The boys enjoyed themselves in their revenge-filled endeavor, with photographic evidence on Myspace showing Hoser attempting to ride a plastic flamingo.

Once they felt the house had been appropriately defaced, the two purportedly hid in the bushes next to Porter’s house to see her reaction when she returned from the party. Hoser realized his mistake when Porter’s seeing-eye dog jumped out of the backseat and Porter thanked the driver for “giving a little old blind lady a lift.”

Once it had been explained to him that he had gotten offended for a blind woman not recognizing him, Hoser burst out of the bushes, allegedly sobbing with apology and professing his love for all blind people, “especially Jamie Foxx in that one movie”. Porter, shocked, had no idea what Hoser was talking about until a sheepish Tagas explained in detail what they had done to her home.

The pair was given a swift caning and told to clean up the house, “hockey players or not!” Porter is not pressing any charges but has instead worked out a deal with Hoser to watch her cats while she takes a vacation in Amsterdam. The three were seen at Mighty Taco sharing a meal not long after the incident, with Hoser receiving many swift hits from Porter’s cane for various impolitenesses. When asked to comment, Porter was kind and grandmotherly as ever. “They’re really not such bad boys, not very bright mind you, and this one,” she said, pinching Hoser’s cheek, “is quite the diva.” Hoser’s comment was unintelligible, presumably because of the large amount of taco in his mouth, to which Porter could only state, “I am concerned for the future.”

RIT Men's Lacrosse Dominates

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

At First Flower City Cup Match

by Danielle Delp


Taylor Wisman, 3rd year packaging science major, No. 11, wards off a Western New England opponent during the game Friday, March 15, 2013 at RIT.
Jonathan Foster

The Rochester weather was dreary when the RIT’s Men’s Lacrosse team took to the turf field to face off against Western New England University on Friday, March 15. Snow, rain and wind struck the field relentlessly, chilling players and spectators alike. Dozens of blanket-covered fans filled the bleachers to observe the first game of the 2013 Coaches vs. Cancer Flower City Cup. The cup doubled as a fundraising effort for cancer research and support, and was hosted at RIT, Nazareth College and St. John Fisher College. In support of the cup, the men of RIT took to the field wearing special purple uniforms, the color of lilacs (Rochester’s famous flower) and the color of cancer awareness.

The game opened strong for the Tigers, with Western New England immediately forced on the defensive. Less than two minutes into the game, RIT scored their first goal with ease. RIT’s defense would not let the visitors tie the score. Mere seconds before the quarter ended, RIT managed to slip in a second goal to close the quarter with a lead of 2-0.

The Tigers’ momentum continued into the second quarter, which played much the same as the first. Western New England managed to score twice late in the period, but the Tigers were running circles around their opponents as goal after goal slipped by the Golden Bears’ defense. In just fifteen minutes, RIT scored a total of five goals on Western New England. When the first half of the game drew to a close, the Tigers had more than doubled their lead with a score of 7-2. The score left the crowd in high spirits.

Ten minutes and a cup of hot chocolate later, spectators returned to the field as the two teams prepared to resume the game. In a repeat performance of the first quarter, RIT scored two more goals while blocking every attempt by Western New England to narrow the point gap. As time wore on, it became clear that the opponents would have little chance of victory unless they stepped up their game. Western New England achieved one goal before the quarter ended.

In the fourth quarter, the Golden Bears made a final, last-ditch effort to regain control of play and managed to score one more goal, but it was simply too little too late. To make matters worse for them, RIT racked up four more goals before the quarter closed. Halfway through the quarter, it became clear that RIT had cemented their victory. When the final whistle blew, RIT had decisively won the game with a score of 13-4.

With the match soundly won, the sun finally came out and the Tigers departed from the field satisfied. Third year Mechanical Engineering Technology major Jack Krzyston had three goals and one assist. “I think we played really well. The coaches got us ready for this game. We’re playing for a great cause.”

That cause had a personal importance to the team, as explained by second year Political Science major Patrick Johnston: “We are playing for a big cause today. Obviously we have a support for cancer, but our team has Bill Rago. He was a big part of our team, he passed away from cancer. Today, that’s what we we’re playing for.” William Rago was slated to join the team, but after a leukemia diagnosis, he became the team’s manager. He passed away on September 15, 2010. Johnston continued, “I think he was watching over us today, and I think that was one of the best games we’ve played, probably, this year.”

The Tigers didn’t have much time to rest before their next match in the Coaches vs. Cancer Flower City Cup on Sunday, March 17 against Endicott College. RIT won the snowy match 17-5. RIT is now 4-1 on the season.

Outing Club

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

by Alyssa Jackson, Kayla Emerson


Juan Madrid

“Basically I just love to get away from school for the weekend, just a day to be at peace and to forget about everything else. It’s really nice,” said Emily Moore, a first year Industrial Design major. As a member of the Outing Club, Moore has the opportunity to get away like this every weekend.

The Outing Club, a student run organization, is formatted to appeal to students who enjoy camping, hiking, backpacking or have a general passion for the outdoors. The club meets weekly to organize events that a wide range of students can participate in. According to club president Clay Grosshans, a second year Mechanical Engineering major, the meetings are informal: the members choose what they would like to do and the club leaders figure out

how to make it happen.

Grosshans stated that most of the outdoor activities the club engages in are day hikes or camping trips to the Adirondacks. He explained that many of the activities are beginner friendly, although most backpacking trips require more experience. Each week, there is a small day hike that nearly anyone can participate in. “If you have a pair of tennis shoes and a jacket you can go on an Outing Club trip,” explained Grosshans.

However, sometimes members suggest more unique activities. “My favorite was when we went to Lake Placid. We got to do the Olympic skeleton course, which was awesome ... You know the luge? It’s that, but headfirst. Skeleton is an actual Olympic sport, and we got to do that,” recalled Moore.

The Outing Club provides some of the gear needed to participate in the club’s more intense activities. Grosshans explained that equipment is available freely for club members and can also be rented by nonmembers for a small fee. The available equipment includes canoes, sleeping bags, backpacks, stoves, snowshoes and other basics.

“I see Outing Club as a way for people with similar interests to get together and find other people to do it with,” stated Grosshans. He explained that activities such as camping can be boring or lonely without others.

“These people here are like family,” said Rudra Raviteja, a graduate student in Electrical Engineering. He joined Outing Club very soon after arriving in America because of his interest in travel. “I like adventures; I don’t like to stay home.” Sometimes the adventures don’t go as planned, such as the incredibly cold camping trip he went on one weekend to Sugar Hill. But his favorite trip was to Fall Lake George: “The water was crystal clear and we saw the Milky Way galaxy, you could see the stars.”

More information about the RIT Outing Club and upcoming trips can be found on their Facebook page.

Men's Hockey Beats AIC in Two Games

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:03:47 -0400

by Kayla Emerson


The RIT men’s hockey team raise their sticks to the Corner Crew after a resounding 7-1 victory over AIC during the second game of the AHA Tournament on March 9.
Juan Madrid

A playoff series with two closely ranked teams made for an exciting weekend for RIT hockey fans. The number eight seed Men’s Hockey team faced the number nine seed American International College (AIC) Yellow Jackets in the first round of the American Hockey playoffs on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 at Ritter Arena.

At Friday’s game, the Tigers did not have decisive possession of the puck during the opening minutes. Play remained matched until the Yellow Jackets received two minor penalties, just over a minute apart, giving RIT a five-on-three power play. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tigers captain and fourth year Business major Chris Saracino scored the first goal of the game.

The Yellow Jackets nearly caught up six minutes later in a tense penalty kill situation, where the Tigers had two penalties and only three men on the ice. The penalty kill lasted until the end of the first period, but the Tigers prevailed and held the score at 1-0. The roaring applause at the end of the period validated their efforts.

The second period started with a heart-stopping rebound around the Tigers’ net, but the own goal was narrowly avoided. RIT recovered both men from the penalty box and shots between the two teams were once again evenly matched.

Three minutes into the period, the Yellow Jackets scored on a breakaway. With about a minute left, it appeared that the Yellow Jackets would score another breakaway goal, but Tigers goalie and second year Psychology major Jordan Ruby made a big save. Then, with just 13 seconds left in the period, first year Biomedical Sciences major Josh Mitchell scored for the Tigers, bringing the score to 2-1.

The intensity of play picked up in the last half of the third period as the Yellow Jackets swarmed the Tigers’ net. Ruby came through and stopped the puck, along with the Yellow Jackets’ momentum. With about a minute left, the Yellow Jackets pulled their goalie out to gain a one-man advantage and the pressure mounted both on the ice and in the stands. RIT called a timeout with 32 seconds left to break the pace of the game. Once play resumed, the Tigers were able to keep the lead and win the game.

The second game of the series was marked by some close shots that were deflected by the Tigers’ goalpoasts as well as a remarkable seven goals for the Tigers. The second goal for RIT was scored with 41 seconds left in the first period and one Tiger in the penalty box and was made by first year Biomedical Sciences major Dan Schuler. According to RIT hockey fan and first year Computer Engineering major Eric Tevelson, this goal “sparked” all of the remaining goals in the game. It was a decisive 7-1 victory.

Tigers head coach Wayne Wilson explained the disparate scores: “When you’ve got nothing to lose, you can take a lot of chances, and that can either hurt you or help you. In our case, they took a lot of chances and we were able to get more goals from it, so it helped us.”

The game scorers were not the only big contributors to the win. Wilson said, “I thought Jordan Ruby in net made very timely saves.” This included another breakaway save in the second period of Saturday’s game. Wilson added, “Chris Saracino was, I thought, a warrior all weekend; he played really, really hard on defense.”

Wilson felt good about the win, saying, “We were very patient, so I thought that was good for us. Even though we scored a lot of goals, our focus was on playing good team defense, and that worked out well for us.”

The Tigers’ next matchup will be against the number one seed team in Atlantic Hockey, Niagara University. The games will be played at Niagara on Friday March 15 through Sunday March 17. Wilson said, “I’m looking forward to trying to knock Niagara off. You know, it’s a great challenge for our team...They don’t ‘wow’ us. We respect them, for sure, but it’s not something that we feel like we’re going in overwhelmed or anything. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Lady Tigers Defeat Penn State and Advance to Semifinals

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Lions, Tigers, and Pucks, oh my!

by Crystal Mendoza Paulin

The RIT women’s hockey team faced Penn State in a best two out of three CHA Division I quarterfinal series last weekend, March 1 and 2.

Friday was RIT’s fifth confrontation with Penn State. Ritter Arena boasted a 10-member pep band and an equally sized Corner Crew with Tiger fans sprinkled throughout the rink. The game began quietly as fans patiently waited for the Lady Tigers to do business. AT 9:22 into the game the pompoms, cow bells, and foam paws burst forth from sweaters and jackets as second year Psychology major Marissa Maugeri scored the first goal for RIT with an assist from third year Media Arts and Technology major Erin Zach. This score also clinched the 150th goal for head coach Scott McDonald who has been working with RIT since 2006. The first period ended with a shot count of 13-5 RIT. The Nittany Lions served two penalties in the second period and only managed one shot toward RIT’s goal. In the final period RIT served two penalties and Penn State tried to swoop in for a tie. Two minutes left in the game, Penn State called a timeout but to no avail as RIT locked them out of the goal, winning the game 1-0.

On Saturday, attendance in Ritter Arena nearly doubled and so did the confidence level. As the first period began the audience sat back and watched the Tigers outperform their competitors with six shots on goal in the first two minutes forcing Penn State to call a frantic timeout. The game resumed with RIT dominating the puck until 10 minutes into the game when Junior Taylor Gross scores for the Nittany Lions. The Lady Tigers responded quickly by pressuring Penn and scoring five minutes later. The goal was made by second year University Studies major Celeste Brown with an assist from captain and fourth year Diagnostic Medical Sonography major Ariane Yokoyama. “I scored using a face off play,” Brown said with a smile, “Yoko and I practice that play all the time.” Then, 1:30 minutes into the second period first year Nutrition Management major Jess Paton broke the tie with an assist from Zach. In spite of several penalties against them, RIT beat off Penn for the remainder of the period. However, 57 seconds into the final period, Freshman Hannah Hoenshell scored for the Lions bringing the score to 2-2. The Tigers had several opportunities to score again but were shut out by Penn’s goalie for the remainder of the period, much to the groans of the audience. Ritter didn’t have to hold its breath for long: 47 seconds into overtime captain and fourth year Biomedical Sciences major Kim Schlattman scored handing RIT a 3-2 victory with 57-19 shots on goal.

Coach McDonald was happy with the final results. “We’ve been on campus training and practicing all week for these playoffs. I didn’t see any difference in Penn’s performance but give credit where it’s due: their goalie (Junior Nicole Paniccia) is an extremely strong player. The number of shots we get against Penn is typical, but she kept us out.” Paton also explained that the number of shots on goal increased for Saturday’s game because there were more open plays and lanes. “Penn is a hardworking team, and it was close, but in the end I don’t think they knew how to handle the pressure,” Brown added. “We’ve gone to playoff games and always have so we know what to do and do it. So we had that advantage over them.” Looking forward to next week’s opponent, Syracuse University, Coach McDonald is eager to see how things play out. “We’ve played four games against Syracuse and the last two were really close: we lost by a goal in overtime. I’m excited for next week’s game because it will be two really strong teams who don’t want to go home facing off.” Team captain Schlattman is also looking forward to the confrontation: “We’ve played Syracuse very hard and always lost by one goal so now we have something to prove. It’s a bit of a rivalry now.” The semifinal game against Syracuse will be held on Friday, March 8.

Three Stars: John Telligren

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:23:00 -0500

by Alyssa Jackson


Josh Barber

John Tellgren is a second year Advertising and Public Relations major, a star diver, a fraternity member and a dancer on the side. Tellgren has been diving for seven years, has gone to nationals and has broken one RIT diving record. While most students might feel juggling school and a sport is difficult, he feels diving is a natural part of his day.

Telligren says that the Men’s and Women’s Diving and Swimming teams are close-knit. His favorite thing about his team is representing the school at home and away meets. He has fun at every meet encouraging his team members, he states.

Tellgren is not solely a diver. He loves to stay active through playing volleyball and contemporary jazz dancing that he teaches himself. He is also active on campus through his involvement with the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Telligren feels that the most difficult aspect of being a diver is focusing for each dive. He states that his coach, Cliff Devries, has taught the diving team to visualize going through each dive beforehand. Slowly watching themselves do the dive in their head allows them to prepare mentally.

“Diving is a very mental sport,” said Tellgren. “You dive for two seconds, it’s not continuous action, so when you’re preparing on the end of the board before you do your dive, you have to really pay attention to what you’re doing and what your body is doing.”

Tellgren broke the school’s one-meter record at the Dick Cozmano Memorial Invitational earlier this year. His record stands at 513.40 points, a 25-point difference from the last record held by alumnus Evan Wendt.

“I thought there was a chance that it might have been one of my best scores but I had no idea that it was going to be that high to break the record,” Tellgren reminisces. “My focus wasn’t to go after the record. That’s not my mentality.”

Tellgren is happy with his performance and feels he has improved this year.

He is working toward going to nationals at the end of this diving season and says that much of his success in diving is due to Devries.

Three Stars: Bradley Mayville

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:21:53 -0500

by William Hirsh


Max Hautaniemi

Throughout the week, Monday through Friday, the RIT Wrestling team practices below the Clark Gym. Among them, you will find Brad Mayville, a second year Criminal Justice student who has just transferred to RIT this year.

Resting on a 28-8 record and with his first Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championship under his belt, Mayville has been a strong addition to the team.

According to Mayville, his interest in wrestling traces back to his family. “My dad wrestled in high school. I have three brothers who also wrestled in high school, so I just continued down the line with wrestling,” he recalled.

Mayville distinguishes wrestling from other team-oriented sports like soccer: While the entire team is collecting points to win, individual members secure the points on their own mats independently. “It’s just you out on the mat, so it’s all up to you.”

Having wrestled since kindergarten, Mayville has played for three different teams over his high school career, going from Marion High School to Bishop Kearney in Rochester to Wayne High School in Ontario, N.Y. While switching schools was a regular occurrence, Mayville was glad to have had the opportunity to play under different schools and coaches, citing the change as beneficial to reaching his current skill level.

Because each of Mayville’s coaches had different styles of wrestling, he was exposed to diverse wrestling moves and techniques. “Throughout my career, I was wrestling with a different aspect of how to win a match,” said Mayville.

RIT’s head wrestling coach Scott Stever, who has played a role in RIT Wrestling for 25 years, had high regard for Mayville when he joined the team.

“I knew he was a blue chip wrestler,” said Stever. “He’ll make it at the college level since he is very determined, talented, hard-working, coachable and a good student.” While Stever said that Mayville was acclimated to the RIT wrestling community, there are challenges ahead for him.

According to Stever, Mayville will face “a strong field of wrestlers” at the team’s first NCAA Regional Tournament hosted at Ohio Northern University next month, competing against 18 teams. If Mayville places in the top three of his weight class (149 pounds), he will qualify for the NCAA National Tournament at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse on March 15.

Three Stars: Tenecia Hiller

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 01:41:00 -0500

by Steven Markowitz, Kayla Emerson


Josh Barber

After a Division III championship last year and the start of the switch to Division I this year, it has been an exciting year to be on the Women’s Hockey team. And for fourth year Biology major Tenecia Hiller, the game is her life.

A proud member and co-captain of the team, Hiller has played forward, a primarily offensive position, in all 30 games this season. This has allowed her to rack up points: Hiller is the top scorer on her team with 12 goals. She also tops the list with 22 points (a tally of goals and assists). This season, she scored a hat trick (three goals) against Sacred Heart on January 18. Impressively, that was her third hat trick at RIT.

Hiller has been playing hockey since the age of five or six and has served on the RIT team since she was a first-year. Before coming here, she was the captain of the Brampton Junior Thunder, an amateur women’s team in Ontario.

In the 2011-2012 season, Hiller won the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference West honorable mention accolades and RIT Female Athlete of the Week for the week on October 31.

For Hiller, the most difficult part is finding balance between games, practice, working out and schoolwork. Those who do not do well in school do not get to play, she said. This provides motivation for her and her team to do well academically. According to Hiller, they always pull through.

Understandably, her favorite memory of hockey at RIT was winning the national championship for Division III in the 2011-2012 season. Hiller is also happy with the increasing turnouts to the women’s hockey games and hopes

the trend continues.

Hiller feels that it will be bittersweet to graduate. “Hockey and the team is basically everything. It’s my life here. You couldn’t really ask for better girls and a better team, and a better sport,” she said with a smile. Because of her love for the game, Hiller hopes to continue to be involved in hockey well after college.

Having fun Dancing Tahitian

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:08:33 -0500

A new way to exercise.

by Nicole Howley


&65532;Ashley Zanca leads students in learning the Tahitian dance as a part of the Dance Your Way to a Healthy May program Tuesday, January 22.
Jonathan Foster

I walk into the spacious room 1250 in Nathaniel Rochester Hall (NRH) to find the instructor and our photographer. The instructor is dressed in a blue, casual shirt and a purple, Hawaiian-looking skirt with a collection of shell beads around her neck. She rushes up to greet me, introducing herself as Ashley Zanca, a graduate student in the Applied and Computational Mathematics program. We begin to chat about majors and life as a few more people trickle in to the room. Including our photographer and myself, we soon make a class of four students ready to learn Tahitian dance.

This workshop on Tuesday, January 22 was part of the Dance Your Way to a Healthy May program started by the Student Affairs Wellness Fitness Committee this school year. Carla Pennello, residence coordinator for Nathaniel Rochester Hall, is one of the organizers of the program. “I have been working with various clubs and organizations to bring different styles of dance into the residence halls all year long,” explained Pennello over email.

Last quarter, there were dance workshops ranging from Bhangra to Country Line Dancing. The Tahitian Dance class was the second out of five dance workshops running this quarter. Although we were a small class in number, Zanca remained enthusiastic about the dance, and that enthusiasm quickly spread to the rest of the class.

As we stretched, Zanca explained the culture of Tahitian dance. Hula and Tahitian dancing are quite similar in storytelling aspect and form, but Tahitian is generally faster paced. This means that it involves a lot of isolation in muscle movement. For instance, when we attempted to sway and shake our hips to the music, we tried to keep our torsos straight, tall and unmoving at the same time. This involved a lot of core work. Zanca suggested that we also bend our knees to make the hip movements easier. Although this made it a bit easier to make wider movements with our hips when our legs weren’t locked, this involved engaging more leg muscles as well.

Within the first 10 minutes of class, Zanca had explained many different types of Tahitian dance moves ranging from swinging your hips from side to side to attempting to move them in a figure eight. Zanca explained to the class that Tahitian dance was banned in the 1800s when the British colonists came to Tahiti. They saw the dancing as too provocative, which is understandable: One dance move resembled a smaller, more controlled version of the pelvic thrust.

Even with the dancing’s faintly provocative movements, it was difficult to remain too self-conscious during the workshop. With few observers and with Zanca’s constant encouragement and instruction, there was an air of lightheartedness and fun shared among the participants.

As the class continued and as Zanca began teaching the dance routine, a few more students came in the room to join in. Soon enough, we had a total of ten students dancing around the room to an upbeat, drum-based Tahitian song.

Although Zanca outperformed the rest of the class with her skillful and more practiced dance moves, the participants at the workshop were smiling constantly while feeling their muscles work. By the end of class, everyone seemed glad to have attempted such a unique form of dance.

Getting members of the RIT community to explore unique and engaging forms of physical activity is the overall goal of the workshop series. “We are very excited that people have grown to love this dance series,” said Pennello. “It is a way to get people active and moving in the residence halls and all across campus!” For this quarter, the Center for Student Wellness has planned two more dance workshops from 7 - 8 p.m. in NRH 1250: Bachata, a type of Latin dance, on February 5 and Ballroom Dance on February 12. And spring quarter, there will be even more unique dance styles to discover!

A Tough Loss Against Vassar

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:01:54 -0500

Lady Tigers tire quicky.

by Alyssa Jackson


Leslie Havens dribbles the ball down the court and past the 3 point line with extra assistance from Courtney Tennant in the back at a game against Vassar University on Friday, January 25 at Clark Gym.
Mackenzie Harris

AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared throughout Clark Gym, interrupted only by the pounding of basketballs and the squeaking of shoes. RIT’s women’s basketball team was about to play Vassar College Friday, January 25 at their first home game of the new year.

RIT quickly took the lead in the first quarter with two foul shots made by Courtney Tennant, a third year New Media Marketing major and the leading scorer with 14 points for the Tigers in the game. RIT played intense defense in front of their basket, blocking multiple shots and grabbing rebounds. Three minutes into the game, Vassar scored their first basket.

Cheers could be heard from both teams as they encouraged their teammates in a close first half. As Vassar gained the lead RIT was becoming visibly more frustrated. Each team remained within a few points of each other until the end of the first half where, after a frantic scramble for more points and more physical play, Vassar led 36-26.

Vassar secured the first basket in the second half. This half, everyone seemed more serious as the coaches from both teams were standing, watching the game intently. RIT appeared tired, scoring few baskets and taking a longer time to get back on defense. There were many frantic fights over the ball resulting in fouls.

Approximately four minutes into the second half a time out was called, from which it appeared the Tigers came back with more fight in them. At this point the crowd became more involved, screaming out missed calls to the referees and shouting praise for the women. In one instance Jess Kramer, a third year Business Management major, took a break away down the court toward Vassar’s basket. Kramer was knocked down by a Vassar player in an attempt to block the ball. The crowd screamed for a foul call, and the coaches seemed distressed as well; it was called as an out of bounds ball on RIT.

As the game continued, play became more aggressive and desperate as Vassar attempted to keep their lead and RIT tried to catch up. The Tigers became more frustrated with each other and the game. They yelled at each other and spoke in frantic voices as time began to run out. Despite the tension, both teams managed a laugh when they had to search for someone tall enough to get the ball down from the basket when it got stuck at the six-minute mark.

During the last few minutes of the game, RIT’s fatigue became obvious. They continued to fight hard to win the ball and get any points that they could to decrease the growing gap between the teams. The game ended with a Vassar player dribbling the ball, making no attempts at a basket to let the time run out. The final score was a loss for RIT, 71-50.

Despite the disheartening loss the Lady Tigers held their heads high as they congratulated Vassar. Megan Keenan, a first year Diagnostic Medical Sonography major in the crowd, did not seem disappointed by the loss. She stated that she had fun cheering for her friends. “I think they’ll do good as long as they work hard and work together,” Keenan said of RIT’s future games.

Despite the sadness of the loss, lady Tigers thought they did well against Vassar. Kelly Van Epps, a first year Business major, stated that they could have played better but were still able to make some good choices on the court. “We came back better in the second half,” Van Epps stated. “And we shut down their best player most of the time.”

The women’s basketball team managed a 75-50 win against Bard the next day.

Women's Hockey Dominates Sacred Heart

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:07:08 -0500

by Ali Coladonato


The Sacred Heart University defense scrambles to keep RIT from scoring after a shot from Ariana Yokoyama, second from right, caused a scuffle for the loose puck in the Sacred Heart goal crease during a 6-0 RIT win in the second of a two game series Saturday, January 19.
Josh Barber

Six players, six goals, stray pucks to a girl scout and a referee’s crotch, and all-heart play are just some of the ingredients for one solid, entertaining win. In a quarter-full arena, the Lady Tigers came out for the second time in two days against the Sacred Heart University Pioneers. The night before had been a bloodbath for the Pioneers, with the Tigers shutting them out with a season-high of 11 goals. The Tigers also recorded a school record 87 shots on goal that night with a record 37 shots in the second period.

While this second match-up was not as ferocious as the first, the Tigers still made short work of the Pioneers, again shutting them out with six goals scored. With the win, the Lady Tigers moved to 11 wins overall, putting them a game over .500 with 10 games left in the regular season.

The first period started with RIT immediately dominating play, peppering the Sacred Heart goalie with shot after shot. RIT goalie and second year Finance major Ali Binnington didn’t even touch the puck until four minutes in, and didn’t need to make a save until much later in the first period. She would go on to make 15 saves in the game and record her fourth shutout of the season.

With less than four minutes left in the first period, fourth year Criminal Justice major Ellesha Fortuna scored the first goal, assisted by fourth year Biomedical Science major Kim Schlatmann and second year Psychology major Lindsay Grigg. Though the Tigers clearly controlled the game, Pioneer goalie and third year English major Mandy Montgomery fought hard to keep her team from falling too far behind, despite 23 shots from the Tigers in the first. Throughout the game the Pioneers seemed dazed, continually forming a clumped question mark against a commandingly organized Tiger team. The Tigers’ fast-paced but collected style of play could be seen through how well the girls communicated and how quickly they got on and off the ice.


Teammates congradulate Marissa Maugeri after she scored RIT’s fifth goal in a 6-0 win over Sacred Heart University .
Josh Barber

The second period saw another goal, this time by Grigg, unassisted. The Tigers again out-shot the Pioneers, taking 24 shots on goal to the Pioneers’ four. The goals throughout the game did not come effortlessly, but came from consistent, determined pressure by the Tigers.

As the third period began, the Tigers relinquished more ice to the Pioneers without letting them close enough for a goal. The Tigers again had 23 shots on goal; each one resulted in an exclamation from the crowd and the Sacred Heart goalie sprawled out across the goal. After nearly eight minutes, RIT secured a third goal goal, this time by second year University Studies major Celeste Brown and assisted by fourth year Biology major Tenecia Hiller. From there the Tigers kept up the attack with first year Nutrition Management major Jess Paton scoring three minutes after Brown’s goal. The Tiger’s fifth goal came from second year Psychology major Marissa Maugeri with an assist by third year Media Arts and Technology major Erin Zach directly from the face-off.

Ending the game with one final blow, fourth year Hospitality and Service Management major Kristina Moss scored her first goal of the season with a minute left in the game.

The Lady Tigers have a taxing schedule ahead of them, playing ten conference games in the next five weeks. The sparks of ferocity the Tigers show throughout a game surely make them contenders in their first season of Division I hockey.

This coming weekend will be filled with hockey as the men’s team takes on Niagara Friday, January 25 at 7:05 p.m. and the women play Robert Morris University Saturday, January 26 at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, January 27 at 2:05 p.m. at Ritter Arena.

RIT Hosts Three-Way Swimming Meet

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 01:05:57 -0500

by Danielle Delp


Member’s of the RIT women’s swim team cheer for teammate Rachael Mallory as she competes in the 400 yard individual medley during the second day of a tri-meet against SUNY Geneseo and SUNY New Paltz Saturday, January 12, 2013 at Judson Pool.
Josh Barber

Between January 11 and 12, the Judson Pool was filled to the brim. Three teams were gathered for a massive competition featuring the men and women of RIT, SUNY Geneseo and SUNY New Paltz. Spanning two days and 40 events, the meet would be a struggle for everyone involved. By the end of the first day, things were not looking good for RIT. In the swimming competition, the men were trailing behind Geneseo and the women had not won a single event. Both teams had fared better in diving, with the men taking first place in three yard diving and the women dominating every place below first.

The Saturday competition opened with an acknowledgment of the graduating students on RIT’s team. With the end of the season drawing near, the tri-meet would be their last chance to swim in home waters.

Despite the difficulties of the first day, RIT’s swimmers and divers arrived at the pool ready to keep fighting. RIT’s men took to the water strong, but were unable to win any of their first few swimming competitions. Though spirits remained high amongst spectators, it was clear that things were not looking good for the men. Though they consistently placed high in each of their events, first place eluded the team. Particularly notable among the swimmers was fourth year Manufacturing Engineering Technology major Cory Deacon, who scored second in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Additionally, the men’s one-yard diving competition saw John Tellgren, second year Advertising and Public Relations major, obliterate all of his opponents. Though the men ultimately lost to Geneseo 231-124, excellent performances from Deacon, Tellgren and their teammates helped the tigers to obtain victory over New Paltz 276-74.

The women saw a significant improvement in their performance on Saturday. Stepping up their game, the ladies of RIT were able to emerge victorious in several events. No longer was first place out of their reach; third year Industrial Engineering major Katie Baldwin managed to take first in the 50-yard freestyle and second in the 100-yard freestyle. The results of the three-yard diving competition, however, were largely similar to those of the previous day; Geneseo stole first, with RIT’s women trailing behind in all of the remaining places. Though doing better overall, the women were not able to recover from their difficulties the night before. When the scores were tallied, the results were disappointing; RIT’s women had suffered decisive losses against both Geneseo 273-83 and New Paltz 251-102.

After the meet Tellgren, who was recently honored diver of the week at the Liberty League competition, expressed his happiness with the men’s success: “I came into this meet knowing that there was a guy here who was really competitive, and would be some good competition for me. I just focused on each dive one at a time, first on the three-yard and then on the one-yard. I just tried to keep my composure and it worked out in my favor.” Baldwin, who has broken RIT’s records for Women’s swimming three times over the past few months, addressed the team’s difficulties during the tri-meet: “I think this was a tough meet for us. The two teams were really good, and it was a really good competition. I think we’re all pretty tired after our training trip last week, so we’re all just trying to get back into it.”

The men and women will have a few weeks off to recover before their next meet later this month. This week’s tri-meet was their last match hosted on home waters, however, for the remainder of the season.

Fitness for the New Year

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

by Alyssa Jackson

We all know how it starts off; you make your New Year’s resolutions that involve being a happier and healthier you, and usually going to the gym. You go for a week or two, or maybe even a month, and then you get busy. You skip a day, maybe a week, all the time promising yourself you’ll get back into it as soon as you have the time or motivation. Before you know it, it’s 2014 and the cycle starts again.

Staying fit is important, especially at a time in our lives when so much of what we do now influences our bodies and mentality later in life. No matter if your ultimate goal is to build muscle, increase your endurance or stay indoors, Bill Brewer, the director of exercise here at RIT, discussed the benefit of doing just a few simple exercises every day.

“If you commit yourself to saying, ‘on a regular consistent basis I am going to do these squats and these pushups,’ you will find that your capacity will be sustained for decades,” Brewer stated, he stressed the long-term benefits of working out, including being able to easily stand up when you’re in your older years.

The short-term benefits are important as well. Through exercising regularly you can relieve stress, boost your self-esteem, reduce your chances of getting sick and put yourself in a better mood because of the endorphins that are released while you are working out, according to an article on Livestrong.com. These chemicals that are released while you exercise will make you feel good and give you an endorphin rush.

Exercising can be good, but you can also sustain injuries if you’re not careful. Harvard HEALTHbeat recommends taking time to warm up and cool down in stretches, drinking plenty of water and wearing the correct clothing. Health site Greatist recommends that, if you plan on working out for an hour or more, you replace your electrolytes through sports drinks that don’t contain too much sugar, because electrolytes regulate your bodily fluids. While you’re exercising the level of electrolytes in your system can shift, increasing your fatigue and muscle cramps.

Perhaps the most important tip to remember as you begin your workout routine is to be realistic about how much time you have to actually exercise. Exercising will not aid you in your goals if it is not done consistently. “All of us are time-challenged,” said Brewer of finding time to exercise. “To believe that you suddenly have an hour, two hours, three hours that just popped into your day is not really being truthful about the situation. For most students they need to look at it like scheduling a class or scheduling work.”

Brewer suggest that a great way to get accountable for working out is to find a friend who works out as well and make each other responsible for finding time. Brewer advised each individual putting a dollar in a jar for every day that he worked out, and doubling the money in the jar every day that he didn’t. This makes each individual accountable because the more often he skips a day, the more money he loses.

For those of us who just don’t have the time to devote an hour a day to working out, Brewer advised adding activity in your day in as many ways as possible. Be creative! “If I can’t go in and exercise, I’m definitely going to take the stairs, I’m definitely going to walk, or take the long way to get somewhere.” Brewer stated.

There are a lot of great resources on campus that can help students get motivated to stay fit as well. Brewer works with the fitness lab, a place where students can go to get evaluated on their fitness levels and get a personalized plan for their goals, whether it is to build muscle, increase your cardio endurance, or burn fat. RIT also offers wellness classes, which are required for students and can help motivate and teach the correct way to work out. Finally, we have a gym on campus open to all students from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

STAY INDOORS

If you are in no mood to leave the comfort of your room to go outside or walk to the gym, you can still get some exercise in. We all dreaded the squat thrust from gym class, but this exercise is great for getting your heart going if you don’t have much room. Another great way to stay indoors is to look up some yoga videos on your computer. While this isn’t the easiest method - it can be a little hard to see the screen at times - yoga is an effective way to tone yourself in the comfort of your room. Buying your own medicine balls, elastic bands, and home exercise videos are other common tools you can use to build muscle and avoid going to the gym, according to Brewer.

BUILD MUSCLE

According to Brewer, the most important thing to remember when attempting to build muscle is to challenge the muscle you are working. Use something to build resistance, whether you use a weight or your own body. Try doing some squats with a weight. This is a great way to build up your legs and work in your arms as well. Just make sure you are doing the squats correctly to prevent injury: Your feet should be a little wider than shoulder width apart, your chest should be out, and your back should be arched. You should move as if you are about to sit in a chair. A great way to build muscle in your chest is through the bench press. Some simple rules to a bench press work out are to make sure that your butt does not leave the bench and try to lift for a while - avoid pushing yourself to press a lot of weight and tiring yourself quickly.

STRENGTHEN CARDIO

Whether you are a walker or a jogger, you can strengthen your cardio endurance. If you prefer to walk, be sure to keep a fast pace so you can get the best results. If you are on a treadmill, try for somewhere between 3.5 or 4.5 miles per hour. Jogging can burn more calories while building your cardio endurance, but may also be more painful on your joints. Just be sure to increase the distance or speed that you are running by no more than 10 percent each week.

Exercise machines, like the treadmills and ellipticals offered at RIT’s own gym, are great tools for a cardio workout. These machines will help keep track of your workout. For the best results, switch which machines you use at your workouts to keep your body guessing. Brewer suggests that, if you are interested in increasing your aerobic capacity for a sport or marathon, be sure to raise your heartbeat to over 150 beats per minute for at least 30 minutes.

The Voice of Rochester

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:07:32 -0500

Rocky shares his story.

by Kayla Emerson


Max Hautaniemi

The lights go down. The audience is eager; they know what happens next - they know every word. “Ladies and gentlemen...” the doors open and the players push onto the ice, “...here are your...” the anticipation grows with the pitch of his voice, “...RIT Tigers!” The crowd explodes in the first real moment of excitement in the game, driven by the voice of the on-ice announcer.

Ralph “Rocky” Perrotta grew up attending baseball games in Rochester with his dad. “When I was a little kid, I always wanted to be the announcer guy, I always wanted to be the play-by-play guy,” said Rocky over the phone. Now 47 years old, that is exactly what Rocky gets to do, and he loves every minute of it. Over time, he became a hockey fan, so his job as public address announcer for hockey at RIT is, well, perfect.

Rocky is by no means a novice announcer. He started part-time at local Rochester radio stations in the late ‘80s. In 1992, the marketing director for the Rochester Americans, the local American Hockey League team, asked Rocky to do public address during intermissions. He moved up into game production and commercials, and then into announcing for other local teams as well. Rocky has worked at JP Morgan for 26 years, but this has not hindered his announcing career from picking up in the past year at RIT and in the wider Rochester sports community.

The first collegiate hockey game that Rocky was asked to fill in for gave him the devotion to RIT hockey that fans can hear in his voice. From the beginning, said Rocky, “I stinkin’ loved it; it was awesome! The intensity of the play and the fans were fantastic.” Is he always as excited as he sounds, announcing goals for RIT? Rocky said, “Working a hockey game is a two-and-a-half hour adrenaline rush.”

When RIT men’s hockey moved to Division I, Rocky assumed his current position: announcing hockey full-time. Rocky fills in for basketball, lacrosse and volleyball games at RIT, in addition to announcing every Men and Women’s Hockey home game. “The experiences that I’ve had at RIT have been absolutely tremendous. Being out there on campus, with the people that I work with, the two hockey teams, the fans and the students; as I joke, it keeps me young, being out there with you guys.”

A few emotional moments at RIT stand out to Rocky. He remembers calling the Atlantic Hockey Association championship game for the men’s hockey team in 2010 at Blue Cross Arena. “After the game had ended, I was standing in the penalty box. The guys were celebrating, and then goaltender Jared DeMichiel skated over with the trophy and handed it to me.” Another bright moment for Rocky was calling the NCAA Division III game for the Women’s Hockey team - announcing his own team as the champions. He was honored to receive one of the championship rings from the women’s championship, as one of the team’s supporting staff members.

Rocky loves collegiate sports most of all because of the atmosphere and the intensity of play, but he gets around town, too: “2012 was a rare season where I have worked for, in one capacity or another, every professional team in town.” He even announced for the gold-medal U.S. Olympic team when they played in Rochester against Costa Rica, which aired live on NBC. The game was “thrilling, to say the least,” according to Rocky. He is definitively the voice of RIT, and the voice of Rochester. When asked if he would continue with that workload, Rocky shared some words of wisdom from his father: “Do it while you can.”

“I really love where I sit, but one time, I would love to hang with the Corner Crew.” Maybe for an away game, where he doesn’t need to be in his booth doing public address. “The fans, they treat me like gold,” admitted Rocky. “I’ve never been embraced by a group of people like that ever, and I love it...I can’t ask for more. I am in hockey heaven at RIT.”

A Downhill Battle

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Alpine Ski Club

by Amanda Imperial


Adrienne Sherman

I recognized my interview subject right away by the gray “Alpine Ski” sweater she was wearing. I was in my rugby get-up, she and her companion casually dressed. From the beginning to the end of the interview, second year Biomedical Sciences major Stephanie Beneduci and I had made several connections as avid members of club sports: Beneduci is the secretary of the Alpine Ski Club. Finding an empty and unreserved classroom in the Gordon Field House, the conversation commenced.

Racing through the snow in a mad dash towards victory, RIT’s Alpine Ski Club is a coed group made up of 27 mixed-age members who gather together to slice through the slopes of various mountaintops. This number is comprised of 10 Recreational Ski/Snowboard Club members and 17 RIT Alpine Ski Team members. Recreational members only participate in practices together - and even then travel elsewhere on the slopes away from the ski club - whereas team members actually travel to compete against other schools.

“We’re never on campus,” Stephanie Beneduci. With her was Vice President and Applied Network and System Administration fourth year Tim Swierad. “We’re always at ski mountains,” Beneduci continues. For weekday practices, Swierad adds that the team generally leaves for Swain Mountain around 4 p.m., and does not return until 10 p.m. Of course, this only applies to winter quarter, when there is a good chance that there will be snow in any of the five regions the club competes in.

Five energy-consuming weekends during winter quarter comprise the ski club’s regular season. The RIT Alpine Ski Team is a member of the Mideast Conference of the United States Collegiate Ski Association (USCSA). The five mountains they compete at are: Swain, Greek Peak, Toggenburg, Bristol, and Labrador. Each weekend, there are two events: Slalom, and Giant Slalom. Slalom involves shorter turns and is raced at a slower pace, whereas Giant Slalom is at a quicker pace and involves wider turns.

The way the competition works is, first and foremost, that races are not co-ed, right along with most sports and club sports. The top three competitors from each gender-based race have their times combined, and the team with the slowest total time wins for their division (gender). All competitions in that manner are strictly time-based, and do not account for individual victories. The Alpine Ski Club at RIT ranked in the top 12 in the regional competitions last year. And, if they compete and place high enough, they also have the opportunity to face Division III teams.

When not practicing until all hours of the night, such as in fall and spring, the club holds casual meetings, which include working out in RIT gym facilities and a general aura of close team bonding. Beneduci says that not much gets done during casual practices, due to the teammates spending most of that time talking to each other.

The team has considered doing fundraising events in the spring quarters, and to this end set up a successful bake sale last year. But what these passionate skiers look forward to every year is their annual Fun Race, which is the last race of the year. The club members get dressed up in silly costumes and race against each other in a hectic ski match.

Women's Hockey Annihilates Lindenwood

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

by Danielle Delp


RIT forward Jess Patton celebrates her second period goal that increased the Tiger’s lead to 2-0 over visiting Lidenwood University Saturday, December 16 at Ritter Arena. It was the first career goal for the first year Nutrition Science major. RIT’s 5-1 win broke a five game losing streak for the team who returned to home after seven straight games on the road.
Josh Barber

Ritter Arena was full of energy the evening of Saturday December 15, when the Lady Tigers of RIT took on the Lindenwood Lady Lions on their home ice at Ritter Arena. The game was the Tiger’s first at home after a month-long touring period, as well as their first game in history against the team from Lindenwood University.

The game started out strong for RIT, with five shots on the Lindenwood goal within the first five minutes of play. The pressure had the Lady Lions on the defensive for the entirety of the first period, and RIT nailed their first goal with 7:40 left on the clock. Near the end of the period, however, things took a turn for the worse when third year Journalism major Melissa Bromley had to be helped from the ice after suffering a serious leg injury. A penalty near the end of the period only served to worsen the Tiger’s situation, but the team managed to close the first period ahead with a score of 1-0.

During the second period, the Tigers continued to face difficulties. Less than 3 minutes in, another player collapsed and had to leave the ice after receiving an injury. The furious Tigers immediately began assaulting the Lindenwood goal with numerous shots, with two goals nearly scored within the next few minutes. Finally, at the 10:44 mark, first year Nutrition Management major Jess Paton managed to score RIT’s second goal of the game, her first goal in college hockey. The remainder of the period would prove challenging for RIT, however, when the home team received three consecutive penalties within two minutes. To add insult to injury, Lindenwood also managed to score their first goal with less than three minutes left in the period. The Tigers salvaged the game in the final minutes of the period, however, when they slipped in their third goal of the game with just 1:31 left in the period.

With their two-goal lead over Lindenwood firmly established, RIT dominated the ice in the final period. The Tigers clawed their way to two more goals and continued to seriously out-shoot their competition. Unable to break their opponent’s defense, the Lions would not score again for the remainder of the game. When the buzzer announced the end of the game, the women had won a decisive victory, having outshot their opponents 40-20 with a final score of 5-1.

The victory broke the Lady Tiger’s month-long losing streak. After the game, the players and fans were clearly energized by the long-awaited win. Fourth year Criminal Justice major Ellesha Fortuna noted how difficult the women’s first Division I season has been: “It was a little bit of a tough transition at first, but I think we definitely have a really skilled team. It’s really nice to play at home, since we just finished a really long road series.” Her teammate, first year Diagnostic Medical Sonography major Casidhe Kunichika agreed that the home-ice advantage had been a huge help: “Just being home is a big difference because, being on the road is kind of rough with driving and stuff. Energy was high today, and we kind of played with an edge. I felt like after Mel got hurt we just wanted to take it to them.”

The Lady Lions faced the Tigers again Sunday, December 15, tying 1-1 in overtime.

With the exception of a few games in Pennsylvania, the women’s hockey team will be playing at home for the next few months. If Saturday’s game is any prediction for the future, we can expect to see more victories from the Tigers before the season is over.