By Brian Bennett
We’d like to think that every one of Geneseo’s
student-athletes has a unique story. So before each team’s
season begins, we ask all of the participants on our
intercollegiate teams to answer a number of questions. Most are
very basic (height, hometown, high school, major, etc.) but some
queries are meant to draw out individual details. Among this
year’s Geneseo Knights are, indeed, some with interesting
aspects and stories. And in some cases, their answers went beyond
what we were expecting to hear.
Family connections are the subject of some of the questions and
answers. Parents and relatives are frequently listed among the
biggest influences on careers, which is understandable due to the
notable number of parents who have also served as coaches for their
children.
A good number of family members competed in sports at the
collegiate and/or professional level. The father, mother and sister
of senior Cassie Goodman (women’s cross
country) all played or currently play the same sport in college.
Something to do with running, you’d think, but it’s
volleyball. The mother of senior Zach Cavallini
(ice hockey) competed in track at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and
“is kind of famous in Canada for being Ben Johnson’s
buddy on the Canadian Olympic Team.” Zach’s father Paul
(included in the photo above—Zach chose the jersey #14 that
his dad wore) played professional hockey and two teammates also
have family members who played in the NHL: junior Dennis
Playfair (Larry Playfair for the Buffalo Sabres) and
senior Zach Martin (Bob Armstrong for the Boston
Bruins). Martin’s father played professional football for the
Montreal Concordes of the CFL.
We also ask if there are any family members who have served or
are currently in the military, and among those who responded in the
affirmative, first-year Scott Guyton (men’s
swimming & diving) listed four: his father (army diver);
step-father (naval intelligence); uncle (intelligence); and
grandfather (army). Sophomore Abby Dennett
(softball) also reported her father (navy), grandfather (army) and
grandmother (army nurse) as having served.
As previously seen, family connections are often behind the
reason certain jersey numbers are chosen. First-year Kyle
Powers (men’s soccer) wears #25, the number his
mother wore when she competed. Junior Kelsey
Annese (women’s basketball) chose the same number
(32) her dad Ron ’85 (included in the photo above) wore when
he played at Geneseo. First-year Leah Green
(women’s soccer) gives a similar reason: “my jersey
number is 11 and it's my dad's favorite number and when I wear that
number, it's like a little piece of him is always with me when I am
playing.” First-year Diana Ruggiero (field
hockey) went with the random approach for her number but found an
interesting connection afterwards: “I asked for any number
that was left in the bin and Coach Seren suggested I take #8. Later
I found out that it was her college number, so I decided to stick
with it!”
How our student-athletes got started in their respective sports
elicited some interesting responses. A fair number of women’s
soccer players reported taking up the sport between ages 4-6.
First-year Marissa Johnston (women’s
swimming and diving) started a bit later at age 8, when she
“was thrown into a pool and told to swim.”
Cross-country and track runners have some interesting origin
stories: first-year Dowon Hwang chose her sport in
eighth grade because she “was too afraid of sports involving
balls;” while Jacob Hill “wanted
sports team apparel to wear around the school.” Junior
Shannon Murphy was hooked at age nine: “I
ran my first 5k road race, threw up, and decided that running was
cool.”
Hobbies are another area in which trends are team-centric, as
there are several “avid golfers” on the men’s
lacrosse and ice hockey teams. Overall, “Net-flixing”
and “napping” are two of the most common activities
across all sports. Some of the others? How about
“taking long walks on the beach, needle pointing,
boondoggling, waterskiing, fishing, reading, hiking, bird watching,
kayaking, boating, power washing, washing, drying, and folding
clothes, golfing, snorkeling, ping pong and chess”:
—all claimed by one male student-athlete, leaving, it would
seem, little time for his actual sport.
On a more serious note, senior Chaz Abad
(men’s cross country/track and field) reports
“investing in the stock market,” while senior teammate
Matt Byrnes works as an EMT. Volunteer
activities are similar in their variety: Matt
Hutchinson (ice hockey) is a member of the Geneseo Fire
Department, while Anthony Burgois (men’s
swimming and diving) has served as a surgical, neonatal intensive
care unit and trauma room volunteer at Nassau University Medical
Center.
“Best advice received” is a question that provided
thoughtful replies. “Hardwork beats talent when talent
doesn’t work hard” and “play every game like
it’s your last” were frequently quoted. The most
atypical was contributed by first-year Sam Randall
(men’s swimming and diving): “‘Shut the hell up,
and just wing it,’ my coach told me when I faced one of my
hardest dives in my freshman year of high school. This saying made
me find the courage to try the dive, and I have kept it in the back
of my mind ever since then.”
Nicknames? Perhaps not as many notable ones as you’d
think, but there are some worthy of mentioning. Senior
Tyler Chauncey (men’s soccer) is the
“Chauncinator.” Junior Brian Yale
(men’s swimming), who’s 6 feet, 7 inches tall, is
“The Yalbatross,” while his junior teammate Ben
Greenspan answers to either “Spaniel,”
“Cockerspaniel,” “Spaneram,”
“Spooderan” or “G-Strap.”
There’s some notable international connections among some
of our student-athletes. First-year Jordi
Menkhorst (men’s basketball) is an international
student from Sassenheim, the Netherlands. He’s lived all over
the world and his high school team had 10 nationalities
represented. First-year Connor Treglia
(men’s soccer) trained in England at Carrington, Manchester
United’s training center, and played against English
professional clubs Blackpool FC and Fleetwood Academy. Senior
Tyler Brickler (ice hockey) played for Team USA in
the IIHF Ivan Hlinka Five National World Turnament in Prague, Czech
Republic. Off the playing fields, junior Emma
Witherwax (equestrian) traveled to coastal Ecuador to
volunteer with Global Student Embassy’s reforestation service
project, and her sophomore teammate Monica
Schneider volunteered at a soup kitchen in Siena,
Italy
Some of our athletes that are hesitant to talk about themselves
are more than willing to respond to our question of “describe
some interesting fact(s) about current teammate(s) or coaches that
they might be too modest to share.
Some interesting skills are reported. Junior
Ian Ksanznak (men’s soccer) is revealed to
be “by far the best cook on campus.” Sophomore
Emma Lannon (volleyball) “can juggle like
it’s no one’s business.” Junior Devon
Rice (ice hockey) is “the best dancer on the
team,” in the opinion of one teammate. A cross country
competitor notes that Dan Moore (assistant cross
country/track and field coach) is a “world class
triathlete,” while another runner states that Moore
“has some pretty awful jokes, but I still like them.”
New track head coach/assistant cross country coach Chris
Popovici quickly gained attention for “naturally
having a beard like Wolverine.”
Some mentions are best left unidentified, such as the
women’s team member who a teammate notes, “thought that
there were wild cows in Upstate New York before she came to
Geneseo.”
For “top athletic moment,” first-year Rachel
Ollis (tennis) notes winning four consecutive high school
sectional doubles championships with her sister. Geneseo does have
a current athlete who can claim an NCAA championship and that was
the top moment for junior Brad Campion
(men’s soccer). He was a member of the 2013 Division-II
National Championship team at Southern New Hampshire University
before transferring to Geneseo. Likewise, sophomore transfer
Courtney Budynas (softball) chose a moment from
her previous college team at St. John’s University:
“playing third base against the University of Alabama Crimson
Tide on their field in Alabama.” All three of these athletes
made their choices before competing as Knight, so hopefully a
future memorable moment will be made in a Geneseo uniform.
A large number of players on the women’s lacrosse team
listed making the NCAA tournament in 2013 and/or 2014 as their top
athletic moment, but other athletes answered that question with
memories from other sports. Sophomore Cassie
Ingalls (equestrian) lists winning soccer sectionals in
high school as a career highlight, while Seth
Burton (men’s track and field) remembers hitting a
game-winning buzzer-beater in the first game he started in varsity
basketball.
They are just a few of the athletes who have competed in other
sports: senior Lea Sobieraski (women’s
basketball) was a high school all-star in basketball, volleyball
and lacrosse. Senior Allie Dananberg (softball)
was an all-star tennis player in high school, while junior teammate
Jami Cohen played ice hockey on travel and school
teams and is currently on the Geneseo club hockey team. First-year
Rachel Davis (women’s cross country/track
& field) was a competitive gymnast until high school. Junior
Alex Beals (men’s cross country/track &
field) played four years of ice hockey in high school and was
captain his senior year.
As perhaps has been made evident, some of our student athletes
may not take the questionnaire as seriously as we’d like.
Still, their answers exhibit considerable creativity and in
presenting them, we’ll take the position of changing or
withholding the names to protect the innocent. A member of a
men’s team claims he took up his current sport only after a
life-changing moment in another activity: “After the tragic
accident of my favorite hula hoop, the hip hugger 3000, in which it
shattered, I swore I would never "hoop" again. I wandered aimlessly
with no direction and no place to go, It wasn't until I found [my
sport], at the age of 16, that I finally became at peace
again.”
Another male athlete tells undoubtedly the most fictional tale,
not about himself, but a teammate: “When he was 16, he
traveled to Delphi to speak to the oracle about his fate. The
oracle told him he had to go to Hades and steal Hades' favorite
vase and bring it to Zeus, and in return Zeus was going to give him
the body of Hercules. As we all can see now, he succeeded on his
divine quest.”
Written at least with an appreciation for mythology, befitting a
Geneseo student.
Brian Bennett is director of design and publications and has
worked at the college since 1985. He joined the staff of the
athletic department this past August.
