05/19/2011
Seniors on two winning SUNY Cortland athletic teams won’t be able to attend Saturday’s Undergraduate Commencement because their teams will be competing out-of town, so the College recognized graduating members of its softball team and its women’s lacrosse team at a pair of special ceremonies on Wednesday, May 18.
The softball team recognized three student-athletes and three graduating student assistants at the Park Center Alumni Arena and the women’s lacrosse team held a half-hour ceremony for a pair of seniors in President Erik Bitterbaum’s Office.
“Cortland is a special place,” said senior Melissa Kane, a defender on the women’s lacrosse team. “How many college presidents would recognize students individually like this?”
Kane, a communication major from Syracuse, N.Y., and Antonia Cianfrocco, a sport management major from Chittenango, N.Y., received their degrees from President Bitterbaum at the women’s lacrosse ceremony. Head Coach Kathy Taylor, assistant coaches and other team members enjoyed dessert with the president.
The nationally fourth-ranked women’s lacrosse team will meet seventh-ranked Gettysburg in the national semifinals on Saturday in an 8 p.m. tilt at Adelphi University.
The softball ceremony took place for the fifth time in program history, according to Susan Wilson, a professor in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department and the team’s academic advisor.
Head Coach Julie Lenhart presented the team’s seniors with their degrees and Jesse Campanaro, a senior business economics major from Monticello, N.Y., delivered a speech. Campanaro, the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Student Government Association (SGA) president, will deliver remarks at the Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies.
Three student-athletes, two student assistant coaches and the team’s video coordinator were recognized.
They included: Donnalyn Cross, a speech and hearing science major from Binghamton, N.Y.; Katie Fusco, a new media design major from Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; Brooke Weidman, a communication studies major from Wayland, N.Y.; Samantha Dieffenbach, a physical education major from Erin, N.Y.; Kevin Jackson, a physical education major from Wappinger Falls, N.Y.; and Lawrence Miller, a sport management major from Oceanside, N.Y.
Cortland’s softball team, ranked eighth in the nation, will travel to the NCAA Division III World Series in Salem, Va. for the third time in four years. With a 40-3-1 record and the third-most wins in program history, the Red Dragons will meet nationally top-ranked Linfield College of Oregon in the tournament’s opening game on Friday, May 20, at 11 a.m.
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| Members of the SUNY Cortland women's lacrosse team with seniors Antonia Cianfrocco (left) and Melissa Kane. |