From the Desk of the Senior Woman Administrator

Greetings from the desk of the Senior Woman Administrator! What exactly is the role of a Senior Woman Administrator in an athletics department? The purpose of this position is to promote meaningful representation of women in the leadership and management of college sports. The NCAA voted to create the SWA designation in 1981 – the same year it added women’s championships – to ensure women had a voice and a seat at the table in a historically male dominated industry of college athletics. Diverse perspectives are important when it comes to decision making as is the visible presence of female role models for student-athletes and staff.

Some key initiatives we will be focusing on in our department this year include continued efforts in the realm of antiracism education, LGBTQ+ inclusion, deaf inclusion, and gender equity. Thirty five of our staff members participated in NCAA OneTeam Training this past month, a comprehensive workshop to help educate and promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in athletics. This fall, we will be conducting an external Gender Equity/Title IX review. Last year, the NCAA Division men’s and women’s basketball championships exposed several egregious gender inequities that have unfortunately been present for decades. Under the leadership of former SAAC president Brooke Stanley, a student-athlete gender equity focus group revealed some of our own strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in our department. The Gender Equity/Title IX review coupled with our athletics strategic plan development will undoubtedly position us to be leaders not only on and off the court/playing field but to be the gold standard for gender equity and inclusivity in Division III and Division I.

Finally, our Women’s Coaching Roundtable successfully kicked off this past month! The roundtable discussions provide a peer mentoring space for women’s coaches in our department to discuss topics such as recruiting, team culture and player management, leadership and ways we can further support and empower each other as women leaders.

I wish everyone continued success and luck in the coming weeks as fall sports enter conference play and winter sports approach their seasons! Go Tigers!

Men’s Soccer Coach Taking New Season One Day at A Time

This fall has been fantastic for our team as our student-athletes have returned to competition after a 21-month layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a renewed energy, appreciation, and gratitude for this opportunity, our team has responded with some great performances, compiling a 8-3-3 record (including two losses to top-10 nationally ranked opponents) as we enter the final third of our season. With 18 players on our roster playing their first collegiate season, we have focused on work ethic, collective play on both sides of the ball, and taking the season one day at a time.

The leadership from our veterans, including captains Adam Wuest, Alec Jackson, and Josh Price, models the mental and physical effort required for our team to take each day as an opportunity to improve individually and collectively.

The past year and a half has taught our student athletes the importance of resilience and a positive mentality to effectively deal with adversity. Despite injuries and the challenges of playing one of the most competitive schedules in the country and in one of the most competitive soccer conferences in NCAA Division III, the discipline and focus on our performance has been a key to our season so far.

We are really looking forward to the remainder of the season and all the opportunities it will present.

Bill Garno, Men’s Soccer

Men's Cross Country "It feels like a whole new team this year"

“It feels like a whole new team this year,” was the initial comment I had from one of my senior captains at our first team practice in August.  After a year off for Covid and the graduation of a number of key veterans, he is exactly correct.  The 2021 RIT Men’s Cross-Country team has only four seniors and 11 of the 22 team members had never run an 8K cross-country race until this year.  Despite the young nature of the team, we have very high expectations for the season.

The team is led by Senior Aleksei Bingham.  Bingham has been a consistent presence in the top group of distance runners at RIT since he transferred in 2019.  Last track season, despite some nagging injuries, he was the fastest 5K runner on the team running in the low 15 minutes.  He brings that track experience along with a top 20 finish at the Liberty League Championship in 2019 to this season in hopes of getting into the top 5-10 at Liberty Leagues.

Kyle Higby brings veteran experience to the young group as a likely top 5 runner for the team this year.  Kyle is a former Liberty League scorer in the 30om steeplechase as well as a sun 15:50 runner for 5K.  He has been one of the most consistent team athletes in terms of running mileage and is posed for a breakthrough season in cross-country.

After Kyle and Aleksei the Tigers wil be relying on a group of two Juniors, Zaven Kazandjian and Zackary Eckhardt, two Sophomores, Jacob Fricano and Dan DeZutter and two Freshmen Matt Chaikowsky and Zachary Hall who between them had less than ten 8K cross-country races under their belts entering the season.  They have all shown great improvement and effort this season and will be a strong group by the end of the season.  As with the rest of the team, they are convinced that they can be a top 10 team at the Niagara Region Championship in November.

Dave Warth, Men's Cross Country

Tigers In The Crowd