A Message From Dr. Blonski

Thanks to the RIT newsletter staff for inviting me to answer the question: “How did RIT shape you to become the person you are today?” In one word, community.  For those who don’t know me, I am one of the team physicians for RIT Athletics and was born and raised in the suburbs of Buffalo, N.Y.  My first experience living in the city of Rochester was while attending the University of Rochester for my undergraduate education.  I then attended medical school in Vallejo, CA and during that time realized living on the west coast kept me too far from home and family for too long. So I returned to the northeastern United States to further my education in primary care and ultimately sports medicine specific specialty training.  I began my first clinical practice in Binghamton, N.Y. where I was one of a group of physicians for Binghamton University and the AHL’s Binghamton Senators as well as teaching faculty for my former residency training program.  Over five years, my sports medicine practice in Binghamton grew rapidly and I began to recognize just how much my work took me away from the family that I cherished and needed to find a better way to balance.

In 2012, I decided to make a move to return to the city of Rochester to start anew, hoping to build a similar practice but in a place where I could balance my time better between working full time as an integral part of the local community while spending the desired time to regularly engage with my family.   When in 2013, the opportunity to join the sports medicine team at RIT, with its robust history in educational diversity and athletic excellence arose, it was a dream come true.

The first years I started on the RIT campus were a period of transition for all parties involved.  Since that time, the sports medicine team and I have been through a lot together (from broken bones to head injuries to herpes outbreaks to COVID shutdown to NCAA championships and everything in between). These experiences have shaped all of us into who we are today.  One of the areas where RIT has had the most influence in shaping who I am today is in the realm of parenting.  When I had my son in April 2017, I worried how that might influence the job I could do when returning to RIT.  The saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.”  The athletic community at RIT has been my village (fans, athletes, athletic trainers, administration and other university staff)-watching over TJ on the sidelines of all the games I attend and both he and I are better for it.

Other opportunities RIT has presented during my tenure as team physician include support for the development of and collaboration with the Rochester Regional Concussion Program, participation in advisory committees on student-athlete wellness, collaboration with the student health center, and participation in the education of student trainers and PA students.  These opportunities incorporate this concept of community well and have laid the groundwork for my approach to care, not just for RIT athletes, but also for members of the Rochester community at large.

While many of the final medical decisions regarding player wellness, safety and return-to-play lie squarely on my shoulders, I could not do this job well without the help and support of the entire team of Tigers including athletic trainers, coaches, and other administrative staff from the department of athletics.

My job here not only consists of treating the athletes when medical issues arise, but equally as critical, is collaboration with the staff to identify early in participation risk factors for injury  and developing strategies for injury prevention.  One important way to implement these strategies is through education.

Education of not just the injured athletes about what they have to do to recover quickly, but education across the sports community (parents, administrators, athletic trainers and coaches) to ensure the treatment of each athlete is individualized, evidence based and appropriate. This is something I am especially passionate about for all the people I care for and RIT has nurtured and supported this concept.

It has been a wild ride with the tigers thus far and I am looking forward to many more years collaborating as part of this amazing community with my family by my side!

GO TIGERS!!!!

Christine Blonski

Greetings From RIT Women's Hockey

The women’s hockey team is in the thick of its season, and we are excited to see where we are headed!

We cannot believe that a quarter of the of the season has come and gone. The schedule so far has been one of travel, playing ranked opponents and adding “bricks” to our foundation.

Our first home weekend at the Gene Polisseni Center we swept Saint Michael’s. The team’s offensive production was collective. What a fun way to start if off. We know that in order to have success, we will accomplish it collectively. Following the weekend at home, we played at No. 6 Colgate Oct. 14-15. We hit the road again to play at RPI Oct. 21-22 and at Syracuse Oct. 27 before returning home to face Syracuse on October 29.

At the end of October we will honor the 2011-12 team as they celebrate the 10th anniversary of winning  the NCAA Division III national title.

Again, time flies!

In the spring of 2012, the Tigers did something no other women’s team had done in school history. Win their first national title. And they did it on home ice! It was St. Patrick’s Day, 70 degrees outside and there was a buzz around campus. Ritter Arena was packed full of fans, RIT staff members, the Corner Crew, the best pep band and family. This is what made and continues to make RIT Hockey unique and special. We cannot wait to have this team reunited at the Gene Polisseni Center to celebrate the championship.

Our goal for the program is to return to the success of the past. We are establishing a foundation towards success on a daily basis and we trust the process to take in the positive, grow in moments of adversity and choose to work to make our community proud. We know you are supporting us through this build. Our blood runs orange as we energetically take on the tasks before us.

Again, we are excited to see where we are headed!

GO TIGERS!

Celeste Brown - RIT Women's Hockey

A Message From RIT Men's Hockey

Welcome back to what will be another exciting season of RIT Hockey as we pursue another Atlantic Hockey Championship and a trip to the Frozen Four. With fingers crossed it looks like we will be back playing the 2022-23 season in front of our passionate fans after two pandemic interrupted seasons.

We have an exciting team led by captains Andrew Petrucci and Kobe Walker and assistant captains Spencer Berry, Caleb Moretz and Elijah Gonsalves. AHA Rookie of the Year Carter Wilkie returns after attending the Calgary Flames development camp this past summer, along with AHA All Rookie team selection Tommy Scarfone. All will be pushed by a very strong incoming class of first-year players.

After a loss at Union to begin the season, we rebounded with a pair of wins over Atlantic Hockey Association foe, Army. We redeemed our loss at Union with a thrilling 8-5 win over the Dutchmen during Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend in front of 9,000 fans at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester.

The highlight of our non-conference schedule is always our game at the Blue Cross Arena, but this year’s schedule includes home games against Princeton over Thanksgiving, a home-and-home series versus Penn State over New Years and a pair of road games at Arizona State in mid-January.

I would also like to wish former RIT standout and assistant captain of the Calgary Flames, Chris Tanev good luck this year in his pursuit of the Stanley Cup and congratulate Mike Tarantino and Jared DeMichiel on their induction into the RIT Athletic hall of Fame.

I look forward to seeing our fans pack the Gene Polisseni Center and join our Corner Crew and Pep Band to give this year’s Tigers the best home-ice advantage.

Wayne Wilson – RIT Men’s Hockey

Tigers In The Crowd