From the Director of Athletics
From an athletic standpoint, it was an historic fall season, as our football program achieved a 10-0 regular season record, only the third such instance in which the program had an undefeated campaign en route to earning a home contest in the NCAA Division III Championship. Additionally, our men’s soccer program earned its first New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference regular season title in more than 18 years and picked up its first-ever win on the national stage as a Division III program at the NCAA Championship. And, for the second consecutive year, our women’s soccer student-athletes hoisted a championship trophy, winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship in penalty kicks at the Irv Schmid Sports Complex. Recently, the men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship Final Four for the first time in program history. You will read more about this historic accomplishment in the fall. Add to that the excitement of gymnast Tali Twomey, class of 2020, winning a national championship on the floor exercise in Blake Arena at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship on March 24, and we’ve had much to celebrate these past few months.
Academically, our more than 700 student-athletes collectively produced a cumulative GPA of 3.3, highlighted by 57 members of our athletic community who earned academic all-conference honors and four who were chosen as CoSIDA Academic All-America recipients.
This past fall presented our student-athletes with a number of opportunities to interact with world-class leaders, as both Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and the president of the NCAA, Mark Emmert, PhD, visited Alden Street. Additionally, our student-athletes experienced listening to and learning from award-winning author and sports writer Mitch Albom at the Fourth Annual Arts and Humanities Speaker Series.
Our commitment with Team IMPACT has only strengthened, as the partnership has expanded to our field hockey, softball, men’s basketball, women’s tennis, women’s soccer, and wrestling programs. While the intent of this program is for our student-athletes to make a difference in the lives of children facing life-threatening illnesses, there’s no doubt that the courage of these children and their resilience are inspirational to our student-athletes and campus community. Additionally, members of the Student Athlete Leadership Team led a food drive that garnered 1,300 pounds of food, resulting in thousands of meals to assist with food scarcity in western Massachusetts.
Excellence transcends through academics, athletics, and making a difference around our community, while the essence of our athletic department remains serving as a vehicle to shape young leaders. With your continued financial support, it allows me to build our infrastructure, whether facilities, personnel, or opportunities to make improvements in our daily pursuit of providing a first-class student-athlete experience.
Craig Poisson, G’90, DPE’99
Director of Athletics
