As the temperature outside rises and our spring athletes are ready to take the stage, we first look back at our 2019 winter season. Filled with post-season games across all teams, broken school records, journeys to nationals and multiple championships, RWU’s winter athletes displayed incredible skill, talent and heart throughout the season

Dell\u27Agnese, Courtney

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DOCS@RWU

Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger3-12-2019Broken Records and Championship Games:RWU’s Winter Athletic SuccessCourtney Dell'AgneseRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Featured NewsStory by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationDell'Agnese, Courtney, "Broken Records and Championship Games: RWU’s Winter Athletic Success" (2019). Featured News Story.574.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/5743/14/2019 Broken Records and Championship Games: RWU’s Winter Athletic Success | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/broken-records-and-championship-games-rwus-winter-athletic-success 1/4 News ArchiveBroken Records and Championship Games: RWU’s WinterAthletic SuccessFrom the courts, the mats and the ice, RWU’s athletes showcased their talents through anincredible winter seasonMarch 12, 2019 By Courtney Dell'Agnese '19BRISTOL, R.I. — As the temperature outside rises and our spring athletes are ready to take the stage, we  rst lookback at our 2019 winter season. Filled with post-season games across all teams, broken school records, journeys tonationals and multiple championships, RWU’s winter athletes displayed incredible skill, talent and heart throughoutthe season.Men’s BasketballWith a successful regular season, RWU’s Men’s Basketball entered the Commonwealth Coast Conference as the #3seed. Defeating University of New England in the quarter nals, the team advanced to the semi nals to face #2 seedGordon College. A er a close match, the Hawks fell to Gordon College rounding out the season with an overall 15-12 record. But this season there was more to celebrate than just game wins. Senior guard Austin Coene earned a spoton the All-CCC  rst team while sophomore forward Drew Hart was named to the All-CCC Third Team. In addition,Coene broke the school record for career points and became the  rst player to score 2,000 points in RWU history,was a three-time CCC Player of the Week, named CCC Player of the Year and CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.As his  nal season came to a close, Coene was selected for the College Sports Information Directors Association(CoSIDA) Academic All-District 2 Team for the third straight year. But Coene’s time on the court isn’t quite over yet. Hewill be playing in the 2019 Reese’s Division III College All-Star game on March 16 a er gaining more than 28,000online votes from his supporters.3/14/2019 Broken Records and Championship Games: RWU’s Winter Athletic Success | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/broken-records-and-championship-games-rwus-winter-athletic-success 2/4"From scoring 2,000 points and winning CCC Player of the Year, to having another winning season with my team, it’sall been special to me,” Coene said. “All of it would never have been possible without my teammates pushing me dayin and day out, and having the full support of my coaches, family, and RWU."Women’s BasketballHaving almost half of their team graduate last year, this year’s young squad had big shoes to  ll. Starting out theseason with a record of 3-9, the women soon found their new roles to round out the season with an eight-gamewinning streak and taking home nine of their last 11 regular season games. The Hawks entered the CommonwealthCoast Conference Tournament as the #4 seed but a er a close match against #5 seed Curry College in thequarter nals, RWU’s season came to an end with a 13-13 record. On top of this prosperous season, two players werenamed to the All-CCC team. Captain and junior guard Samantha Leone was selected for the All-CCC First Team andfreshman center Karli Opalka was chosen for the All-CCC Third Team.“RWU Women’s Basketball had a great season, even if it didn’t end the way we would have liked it to. But we have alot of returning players next year so I’m excited to see what we can bring to the table,” Leone said. “And being namedAll-CCC First Team was truly an honor. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without all the support and hardwork from my teammates and coaches."Men’s and Women’s Swimming & DivingBoth the Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving teams had an impressive season. The Men’s team accomplished its rst undefeated season and took home the NEISDA Championship for the third straight year, while the Women’steam  nished the year with a 5-3 record and earned runner-up at the championship. During the NEISDAChampionship, the teams earned a total of 42 medals including 14 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze. In addition to teamvictories, there were many individuals who earned special recognitions as well. Coach Matt Emmert was namedCharles Silva Swim Coach of the Year, senior Hunter Olson won the Bob Muir Senior High Point Swimmer Award andsenior Josh Seabrook earned the Senior High Point Diver Award. To round out this already successful season, RWUhad 14 women and 18 men named to the 2019 NEISDA All-New England Team.“We spent a lot of time enhancing our team culture outside of the pool, which we felt played a signi cant role in ourteam’s success in the water,” said Emmert. “It was great to conclude the season on a high note, but for us, it was justanother part of the process. We take pride in utilizing the sport of swimming & diving as a vehicle for our student-3/14/2019 Broken Records and Championship Games: RWU’s Winter Athletic Success | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/broken-records-and-championship-games-rwus-winter-athletic-success 3/4athletes to develop the skillsets necessary to live meaningful and engaging lives. I’m so grateful to be able to workwith such a dedicated and committed team, sta , and department.”WrestlingWith an overall 12-9 record, RWU’s Wrestling team  nished runner-up in three tournaments, recorded two wins overnationally-ranked teams and placed in the top 16 at the National Wrestling Coaches National Dual MeetChampionship. As the season came to an end, RWU placed third out of 17 teams at the Division III NortheastRegional Championship and came out with eight placers, the most in RWU history. By the end of the season ninestudent-athletes were regionally ranked from New England Wrestling Association. A er winning their brackets at theregional championship, juniors Taylor Shay and Tyler Gazaway quali ed for the NCAA Tournament. Shay, whoadvanced to the second day of the NCAA Championships was named All-American and  nished number seven inthe country.“This season had its ups and downs but we  nished strong at the end of the year. We traveled to Kentucky for nationalduals where we went 2-2, which was a lot of fun and we were able to gain some experience competing on a highlevel,” Gazaway said. “We will be returning 9 out of 10 starters so this is still a pretty young team with a lot of talent.We have so much potential and I think big things are in store for us next year.”HockeyRWU’s Men’s Ice Hockey team ended the season with an incredible record of 24-5-2. They won the QuahogTournament for the  rst time, won the regular season league and took home the Northeast Collegiate HockeyAssociation (NECHA) Championship for the third year in a row. Coming o  this win the team secured the #10 seedand traveled to Albany, NY for the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Northeast Region NationalPlayo  tournament. RWU advanced to the second round a er beating U-Mass Lowell, but lost a close game to #3seed Northeastern. But this year, the team made a bigger impact o  the ice. Holding an awareness game in supportof a past team member who died from testicular cancer a er graduating in 2017, the team honored James Stowe andhis family and raised $2,800 for the James Patrick Stowe Foundation.“All involved with the program are beaming with pride a er the 2018-2019 season. Their excellent record was just asmall re ection of the accomplishments,” coach Michael O’Brien said. “But it was the intangibles that made this teamspecial. Their sportsmanship, commitment to community, work ethics, pride in the university, and genuine love of3/14/2019 Broken Records and Championship Games: RWU’s Winter Athletic Success | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/broken-records-and-championship-games-rwus-winter-athletic-success 4/4one another was what made the season outstanding. I believe they learned a great deal about the sport, themselves,goal setting, and life in general, and at the same time had a lot of fun doing it.”GymnasticsEntering their  rst year as a designated club sport, RWU’s Gymnastics team has a season to be proud of. Starting theseason with a solid team score of 95.05, the women placed 5th overall at the Boston University meet. On the men’sside, freshman Patrick Johnson took 3rd place on  oor and sophomore Ethan Thibeault earned 2nd on  oor and3rd on pommel horse. The second meet saw the women’s team score soar to 97.75 with freshman Hannah Cameronearning her season best on vault and junior Emma Banks placing 7th on both balance beam and vault. Thibeault hadcontinued success, earning 2nd place on  oor, pommel horse and vault. The  nal meet this season saw all-aroundteam improvement on balance beam and  oor with Banks earning 3rd on  oor and  nishing 11th all around whilejunior John Liberty placed 1st with his  oor routine and 2nd on vault. The team has made great strides of improvementthroughout the season and are geared up and ready to compete in the 2019 NAIGC Nationals this April.“I think it’s notable that we’re a very young program and still have meets where some guys and girls place individuallyon events, even if we aren’t quite there as a whole team yet,” said junior John Liberty. “But since September, theimprovements and new skills that have been added or swapped out in routines are really impressive in what we’vebeen able to accomplish.”ATHLETICS LIFE @ RWU

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