January brings a new year, a new semester, mid-season (for some) and a look ahead to spring sports season. Best of luck to those teams that are mid-season and those who have yet to begin.  A special shout out to Amelia Gilbert for her appearance at NCAA Cross Country Championships last November.  A successful student-athlete, Amelia also works as a peer mentor in the Academic Success Center where she coaches students, facilitates workshops, and helps to keep our peer mentor program moving forward.

In my position of Assistant Director in the Academic Success Center (ASC), I lead a team of coordinators who offer services in three specific areas: Academic Success Courses, Academic Coaching, and Peer Mentoring.  These services provide students with an opportunity to develop, practice, and refine skills in study strategies, time management, and academic organization. This happens in groups such as classes and workshops, and also individually through one-on-one coaching.  The ASC also provides services including the Bate and Sol Study Centers, tutoring and tutor Training, math and science assessments, and supplemental instruction.  We are here to empower any and all students to achieve academic success.

More recently in my nearly 26 years of professional work at RIT, I have been collaborating more closely with the Athletic Department to support the academic success of student-athletes. Athletics has been a big part of my RIT experience.  Prior to my professional career, I was a student-athlete at RIT.  I received my undergraduate (BFA) degree in graphic design, and my graduate (MS) degree in Career and Human Resource Development.  I was a member of the track & field team under Coach Peter Todd, who was recently recognized by having the scoreboard at the new track & field complex named in his honor.

Some of my greatest memories are from my days competing in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump and I made many lifelong friends and memories during that time.  I still remember my meet.  It was held at the University of Rochester and I had never competed at an indoor meet before.  I remember outdoor meets in the cold and snow, and one particular meet that field events were moved inside because of snow and wind.  I remember spring training trips to Florida, and I remember one home meet that was canceled for some reason, but our team decided to have an inter-squad meet where we competed against our own teammates in events other an our own. I ran the steeple chase and threw javelin.

I am honored to be able to contribute to the Tiger Athletics Report and I am glad and proud to be in a position where I can support student-athletes in their journey. The ASC staff is here to help and cheer you on along the way!

Go Tigers!

Rowing Into the New Year

Happy New Year!

As we step into the new semester, I'm thrilled to reflect on an extraordinary fall season with RIT Rowing, where I've been warmly welcomed into the vibrant RIT community. It's been a fulfilling few months for both our men’s and women’s teams, marked by a strong commitment to elevating their rowing prowess by boldly stepping out of their comfort zones.

The season started with the women’s team visiting Ithaca, focusing on enhancing their skills in small-boat and sculling techniques. Impressively, eight of our rowers learned to scull this fall and competed in the coxed quad event just two weeks after returning to the water. We also had entries in the open double, lightweight double, and open pair events, with notable successes including gold medals in the lightweight double and one of the women’s pairs.

Our entire team participated in the Head of the Genesee on our home course, showcasing our breadth and depth across a spectrum of events, including two alumni boats.  The day was successful, with the team walking away with three gold, four silver, and two bronze medals. We then traveled the whole team to Waterloo, New York, for the Challenge on the Canal. This event was an excellent opportunity for our rowers to test their skills in every boat class, including some racing in single sculls and our women’s coxswains switching the script to race in a pair for the first time. The men’s team had the chance to compete against Division I teams like Hobart and Mercyhurst, and the women faced off against William Smith and Division II Mercyhurst.

We concluded the fall season with the men’s team hosting the University of Rochester for several friendly races at the Gosnell Boathouse as an early preparation for the spring season.  Both teams then gathered for a joint brunch at the boathouse, celebrating the season's achievements.

We’re now looking forward to returning to campus and beginning our indoor training, all leading up to our spring-training trip to Clemson in March. With the championship season approaching, we're ready to take on the challenges ahead. Go Tigers!

From the Pool Deck

Following a fantastic season last year, the RIT Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving teams are off to a great start in 2023-24. Both teams are balanced by a strong group of returning student athletes as well as a large incoming class. 

We are preparing to head in to our championship season after performing extremely well last semester in the water and in the classroom.  I am extremely proud of our women’s team for earning a cumulative 3.60 GPA and our men’s team for earning a 3.49 GPA in the fall semester.  They accomplished this while training to a level where the men have been ranked in the top-20 nationally all season and the women have recently been recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America as one of the most improved teams in the country.

Over winter break, we traveled to Fort Pierce, Florida for our annual training trip and competition.  This trip always serves as a great transition in to the championship season and creates wonderful memories for our team before returning back to RIT to continue training and starting classes for the spring semester.

As I look forward to the Liberty League Championships and the NCAA Championships, I am encouraged by the efforts of our student-athletes up to this point.  The 2023 Don Richards Invitational was a great test for our teams and they responded in kind.  The teams combined to break 14 Judson Pool records over the two-day event and numerous athletes had lifetime best performances, which does not always happen so early in the season. 

Several of our divers have already qualified for the NCAA Diving Regional meet to hopefully earn spots to the championship meet.  Led by our captains Aidan Daudier, Neko Ferrara, Liz Kisker, Sam Russell, Drew Scheib, Connor Shriver and Emma Thomas, the team is fine tuning their events for peak performance. 

The men are striving to win their third team title in as many years while the women have a great chance to capture their elusive first team title. After the conference championships, we are hopeful to have more athletes join returning NCAA qualifiers Mike Atanasoff, Anna Peshenko and returning All-American Drew Scheib at this year’s NCAA Championships in March.  It is going to take amazing performances from our teams, but they have proven time after time that they are capable of achieving beyond their own expectations.  Go Tigers!

Tigers In The News