From The Office of Dan Christner

Hello, in my role as the Associate Director of Advancement for Athletics, I work with alumni, parents, and friends of RIT Athletics to fundraise for our athletic programs and projects such as the RIT Tiger Stadium Renovation, ROAR Day challenges and our annual “Get in the Game” challenge.

RIT has nearly 700 student-athletes competing in 24 varsity sports. Every program needs help from their alumni, family and friends to put a successful team on the field, ice or court. Each program has fundraising priorities for the year and as the associate director of advancement it is my top priority to help our teams reach their goals through donations and gifts. 

Whether a team needs a donation for a heart-rate monitor or extra turf shoes and spikes, my job is to convey this message to our constituents and help them realize how important their donation is and the affect it will have on their program. Throughout the year I work with RIT’s Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Jackie Nicholson, and our coaching staffs to cultivate and steward gifts to RIT Athletics and our programs.

Currently, we are working to raise five-million dollars for the RIT Tiger Stadium Project which includes turf fields for softball, baseball, lacrosse and soccer along with a brand new track and field facility.  The final piece to this project is the stadium structure for Tiger Stadium.

Lastly, we just finished up our third annual “Get in the Game” challenge. I want to thank everyone who made a gift to a team or the athletics general fund.  We had a great week with fun competitions between all of our programs. 

GO TIGERS!

Greetings From RIT Cheerleading

Wow! This season has flown by so fast! We near the end of our time together competing at the NCA College Cheer and Dance nationals, and are excited and proud to make our fifth appearance at this prestigious event.

The team has increased the difficulty of its routine from last year to this year, and has every intention of scoring well at nationals! The growth of the team over the course of the season has been huge. We have added majority tucks in standing tumbling (with a few layouts and fulls sprinkled in) as well as adding a majority of layouts to our running and tumbling. Our pyramid and tosses are some of the most difficult elements we have attempted in a competition, and it takes grit and grace to perform these skills at a high level.  This is an exciting way to propel ourselves into nationals season.  Our team relies heavily on the support of our leadership team and I thank them for their continued dedication to the vision of RIT Cheer being a national championship contender.  

“Everyone has stepped up their game and improved tremendously,” said junior co-captain Gabriella Fatigati. “We have become a force to be reckoned with and I am so proud to see what we can do this year at NCA.”  

“Being a part of this team has truly made my RIT experience,” stated junior co-captain Ariyonna Turner. “I cannot put into words how far this team and program have come. I am so proud and honored to be a part of the progress and cannot wait to see what’s next for us.”  

Gabriella and Ariyonna put into words what our team is all about and what our focus is. 

Thank you to all of the supporters of our program and looking forward to updating next month with the results of our competition!

Katie Post - RIT Cheerleading


GO TIGERS! 

From The Desk of Coach Warth

I would like to focus on the “Field” part of the Track and Field teams for my spring update. The field groups have taken advantage of the fantastic new outdoor track and field that was completed in the fall which allows all of the field groups to practice in one place for the first time ever.

Sonja Walters, who coaches our throwers, is confident that the new facility will allow each thrower to see progress and attain their goals. We have a larger group of throwers than we have had in the past, but they are a hard-working group led by senior All-American Matthew Funicelli and sophomore Emily DiMarco.

We live in an area that doesn’t always provide the best weather early in the spring. That doesn’t stop them from braving the elements at practice. The outdoor season provides additional throwing opportunities with the addition of discus and javelin, and provides more options for success. I am positive that they will see the rewards of their labor, and Sonja looks forward to seeing their progress and is PROUD to be their coach!

Ken Rasmussen, who coaches the long, triple and high jumps is excited to see what the veteran  group of jumpers can achieve. Ethan Maguire, who coaches the pole vaulters, is building his young group of vaulters led by sophomore Noah Koeng and senior Catherine Fox. Senior Tyler Hulse earned All-American honors in the high jump for the second straight season at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships is the leader of the high-jumpers, while junior Violet Ameele, sophomores Allison Regnante and Ben Sheehan and graduate student Connor Burrows lead the way in the long and triple-jump. 

The entire jumps group is excited for the season, especially the Liberty League Championships where they will contribute a significant number of points for the team.

 GO TIGERS!

Dave Warth – RIT Men and Women's Track and Field

Tigers In The News