Highlighting Griffins

Wrestling – If you do not know his name by now, you soon will. As just a redshirt freshman, Joseph “Joey” Alessandro became the first wrestler in Griffins history to wrestle in the NCAA Division II National Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday, March 12. Even with his loss in the final match, Joey still earned All American Honors in the 141-pound weight class.

All-American Alessandro ready for battle as he gets into position on the mat, concentrated on defeating his opponent. Photo courtesy of J. Palmer
All-American Alessandro ready for battle as he gets into position on the mat, concentrated on defeating his opponent. Photo courtesy of J. Palmer

“Before this year, I really never had too much confidence as far as wrestling goes, and I would let my nerves get the best of me,” said Alessandro, an elementary and special education major. “Once I calmed my nerves down as best as I could and really believed in my training and in myself I started to see some of my potential.”

Women’s Lacrosse – Redshirt senior attacker for the Lady Griffins, Emily Fagan, had a performance to say the least against Mercyhurst University on March 15. Fagan finished the game with a whopping seven goals in the heartbreaking loss 12-11. She now has a total of 22 points with 18 goals and four assists and is on pace for another impressive statistic season. The lady Griffins are currently 1-4 with three of their losses, however, being by single or double-point digits.

“I felt like my team needed me to step up at that time and lead our attack,” said Fagan who finished her undergrad in marketing and is currently getting her masters in sports management. “It was more about taking the game moment by moment and accomplishing one task at a time, which is what we plan to do from here on out.”

#17 for the Lady Griffins, Emily Fagan, with possession of the ball sprinting past defenders as she looks for an open teammate to pass to. Photo courtesy of J. Palmer
#17 for the Lady Griffins, Emily Fagan, with possession of the ball sprinting past defenders as she looks for an open teammate to pass to. Photo courtesy of J. Palmer

Track and Field – New interim head coach Jenna Fatica should be proud of her players as they have showed such success this season. Freshman sprinter Dontay Jacobs from Uniontown, Pa finished the PSAC Indoor Championship with a first place win at Edinboro University on February 19. Jacobs won the PSAC Title in the 400-meter dash with the fastest time of 48.94. Just this past weekend two more Griffins added on to the success. Chelsia Poole and Ameriah Walters set new individual school record times for SHU. Poole finished first place in the steeplechase with a time of 10:54.87 and Walters setting a 24.78 time record in the 200 meter dash.

Tennis – The Lady Griffins are coming off a three-game winning streak with a current overall record of 7-5 including 3-0 in PSAC play. Senior leaders Sara Ruiz and Isidora Knezevic have both won their last three doubles and individual matches. These include; Wartburg College in their last match in Florida for spring break, Shippensburg University and Clarion University this past week. They seem to be on rhythm now coming close to the end of the season sweeping their opponents in their singles matches and winning by a wide margin in doubles.

“We know each other really well outside of the court, which contributes to good understanding at the court,” said Knezevic, a international business major and spanish minor.

“Both of us know that this is our last season playing for the team, and we always try to get the win, but what really works for us is trying to enjoy every single moment on the court and encouraging each other to play our best,” said Ruiz, a social work major.

Equestrian – The Lady Griffins finished 2nd in the region after their performance this past weekend at Stonegate Farms. On Saturday, the Lady Griffins finished with the second most amount of points that day receiving the title reserve champion and then earning the most points the following day giving them champion status. They currently have seven regional qualifiers in different divisions, where each rider will need to place first or second in order to move on to zones that will be held in the March 26 show at Fallowfield Stables.

“It was great bringing in a new line of freshman and some upperclassmen that really brought a lot of talent,” said Taylor Jansen, assistant coach and alumni rider for the Lady Griffins. “We really focused on keeping consistency, bringing our ‘A game’ each ride not matter what horse we rode or judge we were in front of.”

Published By: Laramie Cowan

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *