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CCRI Athletics
"Oh What A Year"
The success of the CCRI Athletics program continues to reach
new heights. Below is a recap of the highly successful athletics season for
2003-04.
The defending national champion women’s soccer squad
(17-3-1) lost, 1-0, to Dixie State College, in the NJCAA National Championships
in Arizona. In the past two years, they were also consecutive region and
district champions and established records for the longest time of any CCRI team
atop national polls at #1, most wins in a row (32 over two seasons) and most
All-American designations. Despite traveling extensively, including to Utah,
Arizona, Maryland, etc., they maintained a team grade-point average above 3.0.
Dennis Grassini, women’s soccer head coach, was named
NJCAA Region XXI Coach of the Year and Female College Sports Coach of the Year
by Words Unlimited for an unprecedented second straight year.
The CCRI men’s soccer squad posted an impressive winning
record of 10-3-3. Head coach Victor Gaspar (23 years) is now
15th among all NJCAA men’s coaches and 7th among
current coaches with a lifetime mark is 284-126-30 (.693).
The CCRI men’s cross country team was 7th at the
NJCAA National Division Three Cross Country Meet and claimed its first-ever
Northeast District Championship.
The CCRI women’s cross country team was 7th at the
NJCAA National Division Three Cross Country Meet and claimed its first-ever
Northeast District Championship. Erin Bailey was selected as All American, the
first time in CCRI Cross Country History.
The CCRI women’s volleyball team completed a fine 16-14
season and finished as region runner-up. The Lady Knights, who return most of
their players, also upset Navy Prep and hosted a very successful 10-team CCRI
Invitational.
The men’s and women’s indoor track squads set several
individual school records while competing against four-year colleges and
universities.
The men’s basketball team (16-15) finished as NJCAA Region
XXI Division Two runner-up versus defending champion Dean College. Greg
Simoneau, Oscar Smith and MD Mazique- all with over 900 points each- became
the highest-scoring trio of teammates in men’s history. Simoneau scored
1036 points overall, 7th all-time.
The women’s basketball squad (an all-time best record
of 22-10) was the first team in the program’s 29-year history to win the NJCAA
Region XXI and Northeast District titles and appear in the national championship
tournament. They vanquished seven Division One teams in a grueling schedule that
included 13,000 travel miles.
The men’s baseball team qualified for the NJCAA Region XXI
playoffs. Pitcher Ryann Foss ranked #2 nationally in strikeouts per
inning (ending at 1.41 per inning) and Matt Newsome was fourth nationally
in steals, swiping 33 bases in 34 attempts.
April 28, 2004- A landmark day in CCRI Sports
History.A press conference was held in the Governors Room at the Warwick
campus to announce the signing of nine CCRI student-athletes to athletic
scholarships at NCAA 4 year institutions. Held with all three major Providence
TV stations and several media membersin attendance, the event was collaboration
between the Dept. of Athletics, Mr. Dennis Moore, Assistant to the President,
the Office of Public Relations and AV andInformation Technology Department
personnel. Recipients were Jessica Insana, Katie Leahy, Alana Bouley,
Jennifer McCormack, Orlagh Cullen & Erica Rico, women’s soccer; Carla
Hands and Rebecca Haynes, women’s basketball, and Brian Thurber,
baseball.
The Providence Journal ran a front-page Sports article by
Mike Szostak detailing the vision for the CCRI athletics program under the
direction of Louis A. Pullano.
Amanda Ward hit three grand slam home runs in a victory
over Mitchell College, the only women’s softball player in collegiate history to
do so.
The women’s softball team (14-12) defeated top seed
Dean College at the NJCAA Region XXI Division Two championships, its second
region title ever. In the Northeast District champi0onship, the Lady Knights
were eliminated by #13 nationally-ranked Delhi Technical Community College in
Delaware.
The CCRI tennis squad (6-0) came up a point short of
defending its NJCAA Region XXI Division Three title at Holyoke CC. The Knights
won nearly all of their regular-season singles and doubles matches.
The men’s outdoor track team finished 8th at the
NJCAA National Division Three Championships. Selected as Second-Team
All-American members were Justin Dalton (400-meter hurdles) and Billy
Kao (hammer).
The women’s outdoor track team had an all-time best 5th-place
finish at the nationals. Orlagh Cullen completed her CCRI athletics
career with an all-time CCRI total of 7 All-American designations- six in track-
after earning First Team All-American in the hammer and discus by winning the
national championship in those events.
Steve Ceseretti retired as women’s head coach after
guiding the women’s basketball program to unprecedented heights. He was replaced
by Casimire "Caz" Grygorcewicz, former head coach at Mitchell College.
Ten CCRI Distinguished Student-Athletes were honored at the
R.I. State House: Brian Thurber, Heather Salapa, Katie Leahy, Rebecca Haynes,
Jennifer McCormack, Orlagh Cullen, Orlagh Cullen, Greg Simoneau, Beth
Charpentier and Keith Jobin. Monty Monteiro, former men’s basketball player,
received the CCRI Distinguished Alumni Award.
The annual 2003-04 Annual Awards Banquet was attended by 275
at West Valley Inn, West Warwick. The Most Honorable Judge Frank Caprio,
chair of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education was the
keynote speaker. More then 250 awards were handed out to our student-athletes.
Ten CCRI student-athletes were named NJCAA All-Americans:
Katie Leahy, Erica Rico, Orlagh Cullen, Alex Rothemich and Jessica Insana;
women’s soccer; Orlagh Cullen and Jennifer Bento, women’s indoor track;
Billy Kao and Justin Dalton, men’s outdoor track and Erin Bailey
in women’s cross country.
Four CCRI student-athletes were named NJCAA Academic
All-Americans: Mike Handy of Outdoor Track was also a NJCAA Distinguished
Academic All-American (3.891 GPA). Others were Melissa Houston (3.609),
women’s softball; Heather Salapa (3.774), women’s soccer and Vladimir
Khazanovitch, men’s basketball (3.625).
We have just completed an exciting and award winning Fall Season with our
Women’s Division I Soccer team and our Division III Cross Country team again
participating in the National Junior College Athletic Association National
Tournaments. The CCRI men’s cross country team finished first by a comfortable
margin in winning their first Northeast NJCAA District Division Three
Championships at Williams Free Trade School in Media, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
CCRI, ranked #7 nationally, had 36 points, far ahead of second-place Suffolk CC
(NY) with 56 and the rest of the six-team field.
Freshman Erica Hird (Providence, La Salle Academy) and freshman
Erin Bailey of Warwick (Pilgrim HS), were second and third,
respectively in the women’s three-mile race. Hird’s time of 23:22 was just 11
seconds off the winning time. Bailey crossed the line in a time of 24:19. Other
CCRI finishers were Jen Simas (Cranston), 8th, 27:14 and Meg
McDonnell (Warwick), 12th, 29:08.
Keith Jobin of Jamestown (N. Kingstown HS), the frontrunner
all season for the Knights, set the pace again with a 4th-place
finish overall in 31:27 on a very difficult course. Jobin was named CCRI Male
Athlete of the Week for the second time this fall.
Jobin has the 13th best time in the country at 29:27. Three
teammates came within two minutes of Jobin: Glenn Sharpe (N. Attleboro),
7th, 32:07; Tristan Fraser (Blackstone, MA), 8th,
32:08 and Erik Estrada (Providence), 11th,
33:15. Other finishers included sophomore Jason Andrade (Warwick),
18, 34:09; Robert Teple (Warwick), 34:19, Stephen Garlick
(Pawtucket), 32, 36:47 and Michael Podgorski (Warwick),
49, 45:10.
The conclusion of the season for the CCRI men’s soccer team came against the
Globe Institute of Technology (NY) Knights in a 1-0 loss on Saturday in the
NJCAA Region XXI Championship. The Knights of CCRI had difficulty penetrating
the defense of the Manhattan-based Knights squad which then went on to qualify7
for the Northeast District playoffs in Sunday by defeating Dean College, 2-1.
WOMEN’S SOCCER NATIONAL TOURNAMENT/ OTHER RECAP
The CCRI women’s soccer season (17-3-1) ended with a jolt when Dixie State
College scored with 22 seconds left in regulation to win the NJCAA National
Women’s Soccer Division One championship game, 1-0, in Phoenix on Sunday.
CCRI, seeded #5 in the tourney, staged a comeback to defeat #4 Mesa Community
College, 3-2, in overtime and then gutted out a severe test from #7 seed CCBC
Catonsville, before prevailing, 2-0, to advance to the finals for the second
straight year.
Numerous schools from New England and coast to coast have been making
overtures to the Lady Knights athletes. Providence College, Syracuse University,
Long Beach State, Sacred Heart University, Boston University, Northeastern
University, Campbell University, Franklin Pierce College, Arizona State, Grand
Canyon University, University of Massachusetts at Lowell and more four-year
institutions have expressed interest in several CCRI players.
Head Coach Dennis Grassini of Warwick, who now has a career record of 72-10-1
over four years, will have difficulty replacing 15 sophomores, what he calls
``easily the best recruiting class ever in the history of women’s soccer and
perhaps in the history of sports at CCRI." They helped the squad attain a 2002
NJCAA National Women’s Soccer Division One Championship and a perfect 22-0-0
record, a #1 national ranking in the NJCAA and NSCAA polls for more than a year,
achieve the school’s all-time consecutive win streak of 32 games over two
seasons in which they were 39-3-1, become the 2003 NJCAA runner-up and earn
consecutive NJCAA Region XXI and district titles. His assistant again was former
CCRI All-American goalie Kathy Bannan of North Kingstown.
Sophomore striker Katie Leahy of Warwick ended her season with
40 goals and 7 assists for 87 points, and, for her career, accounted for 94
goals and 15 assists for a staggering total of 203 points. Besides all her
accolades last year, she was named the NJCAA National Championships Most
Valuable Forward for the second year in a row, a rare achievement. She scored
three goals in the tournament, including two game-clinchers. She holds all
season and career records for goals and points, including last year’s
record-making totals and national-leading totals of 54 goals and 8 assists for
116 points. The only time that she played a full game in which she didn’t score
was against Dixie State College in this year’s championship. (She was hurt
against Long Beach State College this year and didn’t score against them to end
a 32-game streak of scoring at least one goal per game.). She averaged an
amazing 2.35 goals and 5.07 point per game.
Sophomore forward Erica Rico of Cranston ended her
career as the second all-time leading scorer. She’s the school’s second all-time
leading assist maker with 29. Her 43 points this season (14 goals and 15
assists) added to last year’s total of 21 goals and 14 assists adds up to 99
points. She was named to the National Championship All-Tournament Team. She
finished second career all-time in assists (29), third in goals (35) and third
in points.
Sophomore midfielder Orlagh Cullen of Offaly, Ireland,
undoubtedly the best ever direct kicker in the program’s history, ended her
career with 18 goals and 35 assists, an all-time career record for assists at
CCRI. Her 71 points is 7th all-time and her 18 goals is 9th
best.
Abby Hummel of Warwick (Toll Gate HS) scored 10 goals and had 7 assists for
27 points for the CCRI women’s soccer team this season. Hummel, a 6’0" freshman
midfielder, assisted on the game-winning goal by Warwick’s Katie Leahy in the
2-0 semifinals victory over CCBC-Catonsville
Also in her last season was sophomore defender Jessica Insana (Warwick
Veterans Memorial HS) whose standout defense enabled the Knights to remain in
contention throughout the national championship series. She anchored a defense
that allowed just 25 goals in 43 games the past two years. Last year she was the
Most Valuable Defender in the national championships.
Kara Hurston, a freshman midfielder from West Warwick, ended the season as
the fourth-leading scorer for the Lady Knights with 12 goals and 12 assists,
which is already 14th on CCRI’s all-time scoring list. Hurston had an
assist on the game-winning goal by Leahy in the second game.
West Warwick’s Katie Antonellis, a sophomore in a role as a stopper, was very
effective for the Lady Knights, in this year’s national championship playoffs.
Additionally, student-athletes and their parents, coaches and the entire CCRI
community anxiously await notification for commitments to four-year colleges and
universities. A press conference tentatively slated for January will be
scheduled to announce the signing of national letters of intent by CCRI women’s
soccer players to attend various NCAA institutions, including Division One
schools.
The CCRI basketball teams currently both have winning records. The men’s
squad is currently 5-4. Leading scorers thus far are 6-2 sophomore Oscar Smith
20.0 ppg; who also leads the squad in rebounds 11.3 rpg and in shooting
percentage; 6-3 forward Greg Simoneau, sophomore, Warwick, 15.3 ppg; Pat
O’Brien, sophomore, Narragansett, 11.0 ppg and MD Mazique, 6-6 sophomore guard,
Brooklyn, NY, 10.7 ppg. The Knights leader in assists is Ray Ross, Jr., Port
Washington, NY, 6-2 freshman guard with 3.6 apg.
The CCRI women, also in NJCAA Division Two, currently are 4-2 and on a
three-game win streak. Idle since a 74-48 win over Division One Globe Institute
of Technology on Nov. 22, they are preparing for a trip to Florida to play three
games in the Miami-Dade Invitational against all Division One teams. The leading
scorers in an exceptionally well-balanced attack are: 5-9 freshman guard Amanda
Ward, Hartford, CT, and Roxanne Reid, 5-9 sophomore forward from Cambridge,
Ontario. Strong play from point guard Jamie Angell, 5-5 Sophomore guard,
Cranston, 8.5 points per game and Rebecca Haynes, 6-2 sophomore forward,
Australia, 7.7 points per game round out the very successful program. Leading
the team in rebounding are Rebecca Haynes at 7.4 rebounds per game and Roxanne
Reid, 7.3 rebounds per game.
CCRI Athletics is on the move!! Come join us…..
On Friday August 1st, the 2003 Fall Sports Season
got underway with Women’s and Men’s Soccer, Cross Country and Women’s
Volleyball eligible to begin practice.
We are very excited about the 2003 Fall Sports Season since the Women’s
Soccer Team will defend the first ever National NJCAA National Championship Title
here at CCRI.
A Goal of the Department of Athletics is to build National
Schedules for all of our scholarship programs.
Under the direction of Head Coach Dennis Grassini ‘74 and Assistant
Coach Kathy Bannan ‘97, Women’s Soccer was one of the first programs to
accomplish this task. Recruiting outstanding student-athletes who are dedicated to
academics and athletics, a National Championship was brought home to CCRI.
This accomplishment is a first for our school
and this season promises to be very exciting as the Knights defend the NJCAA
Division I National Championship Title. The Knights open up at home, on the
Lincoln Campus, on Saturday September 6th, 2003 versus NJCAA Region 21
rival MassasoitCommunity College from Brocton
Massachusetts.Kick off is scheduled for 1:00pm.
Men’s soccer is looking to improve from its 2002 record of
8-12. Under the direction of Head Coach
Victor Gaspar who is beginning his 26th season as the Knight
leader and Assistant Coach Jose the Knight men are looking to
restate their dominance in NJCAA Region 21. The Knight open up their schedule on
Saturday September 6th, 2003.
Women’s Volleyball, under the direction of Head Coach
Raymond DeAngelis continues to develop into one of the top Women’s Volleyball
programs in the North East.Last years team competed in the regional final.
Cross Country has continued to grow and is one of 3 programs
in NJCAA Region 21. |
