Tag: softball

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Campus News

Houghton Highlanders Welcome Three New Coaches to Athletic Department

This school year, Houghton will welcome three new coaches to campus. Two of the three coaches are Houghton college alumni. Corky McMullen ’07, took over as the new head coach for the men’s basketball and Andrew Lundeen ’09 was appointed as the new head men’s lacrosse coach. The women’s softball coach, Katie Sinclair, is an alumni of St. Bonaventure. “All three coaches are enthusiastic, passionate, committed to Christ, understand the ‘student-athlete’ concept, and understand what we are doing in terms of sports ministry” said Head Athletic Director Skip Lord.  

McMullen, who graduated with a degree degree in physical education, played basketball under Coach Brad Zargess, who is now the athletic director at Quincy College in Massachusetts. McMullen said, “Houghton is a special place to me because of the impact it had on my life.” He was recruited out of high school to play basketball for Houghton,  but didn’t give it a chance. After a successful athletic and academic year at Lockhaven University in Pennsylvania, he felt something was missing in his life and visited Houghton, which he said changed his life. McMullen said, “The people were so warm and welcoming, unlike any other college visit I had ever been on.”

Upon graduating, he spent a number of years as a member of the coaching staff at various institutions, such as Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Hofstra University, and Rutgers University. He worked in various roles such as player development and scouting. McMullen, whose father coached high school for 35 years and currently coaches at the college level, said his father impacted his passion for coaching. “I always knew I wanted to coach. I saw the impact that he had on the players’ lives and saw a lot of his players come back 10, 15, 20 years down the road and thank him, which was really meaningful for me” said McMullen. His coaching philosophy, which is centered on people and relationships, is part of the reason Johnathon Stowe ‘17 thinks McMullen will do well in Houghton.  “I believe he is a great fit for Houghton, his strong spiritual leadership is needed here, and I like the way he cares for his players,” Stowe said.

Women’s softball coach, Sinclair, graduated from St. Bonaventure University with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a minor in sports management. While there, she played softball and started working with players through clinics and camps to refine their skills. “I fell in love with helping people get better and reach their goals athletically,” said Sinclair. Her first year, with the help of two of her teammates, she started Bonnies Athletes for Christ. Similar to Fellowship for Christian Athletes (FCA), it started with five student athletes having weekly bible studies. It eventually grew into about 25-30 athletes, and in her senior year became a chapter of FCA. Last summer, she coached on a travel team out of Binghamton, New York, where she the focus was on-field coaching and running through game situations. Taylor Sile ‘19, believes these skills will be an asset to the team. “I believe that Coach Katie will push each and every member of the team to new levels of play and I am very excited to see our growth” said Sile.

Lastly, the men’s head lacrosse coach, Lundeen has been living in southern Maryland teaching  middle school social studies teacher for seven years, while service as the assistant men’s lacrosse coach and offensive coordinator at the College of Southern Maryland (CSMD). Although he never played lacrosse at the collegiate level, he has coached at all levels. Lundeen also has experience with lacrosse as a new program, as he worked closely with  head coach for the CSMD started the lacrosse program for the school. While Lundeen is currently at CSMD, he will become a full time coach on campus for the first week of October. Lundeen is excited to join Houghton and stated, “As the coach, I am excited about leading the members of the men’s lacrosse team as they grow physically, mentally and spiritually during their four years at Houghton.” Paul Chapman ‘17, is also excited for Lundeen to start coaching,  “I truly believe he will be successful as the new head coach. We are all beyond excited to get this new era of Houghton lacrosse underway.”

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News

Update on Athletic Complex Construction

Due to the Kerr-Pegula donation and transition to NCAA division III, Houghton has seen Burke Field completed, the baseball and softball fields nearly done, and the ground-breaking of the field house thus far.

Courtesy of flickr.com
Courtesy of flickr.com

The baseball and softball fields have already been put to use as various teams have begun holding practice on the turf. Additionally, local baseball leagues have already played on the baseball field. While certain finishing touches still have to be made, such as the tower that will overlook the softball pitch and connect to the field house, the fields are now available for use.

Last year, the baseball and softball teams traveled everyday in order to practice on fields in  Angelica and Cuba-Rushford, so the completion of the fields at Houghton is eagerly anticipated amongst the players. “We are excited to play on our new beautiful field that is in our own backyard,” said junior softball player Sarah Beirne.

Skip Lord, Executive Director of Athletics, on the subject of the new tower and connected field house, said that “When [the workers] have the main work done on the tower, probably by the middle of October, they will pour the foundations for the [field house] and the concrete slab…for support.”

Jason Mucher, Director of Compliance and Communications, added to this and said that “This building is already pre-[fabricated], all the pieces and components of it are being put together now and designed in the factory. [The construction workers] will bring it here on trucks and connect it sort of like tinker toys.” Speaking to the construction process itself, Lord said that “they are going to put it together in sections, so it will unfold kind of like an accordion.”

Sections of the outdoor structure of the field house should be completed by the time cold weather comes, so that the construction workers can shift their focus to the inside of the field house throughout the winter and spring. Communication between on-site workers and the contractor is frequent and clear, allowing construction plans are adapted as needed to fit the layout of the worksite. Once a solid foundation has been finished, the workers will be able to move out of the ground, and the remainder of the work needed should be more predictable.

In addition to a 200 meter, 8 lane track, jumping pits, tennis courts, and bleachers seating 800-1000 people, the complex will have offices, locker rooms, VIP conference room, fitness center, weight room, training room, kitchen, and concessions stand. While fitting all of these components into one complex does pose challenges, the plans have been drawn up so that all the components fit together accordingly.

The new complex will be multi-functional and while it will directly cater to the athletic teams, students may make use of the fitness center, weight room, courts, etc. The field house itself will be accessible to the entire student body, allowing the intramural program to expand as well as creating more classrooms for the recreation and physical education departments. Lord and Mucher have both explored possible functions and events for the field house once it is completed.

“It is a big community convention center where you can have concerts, speakers, commencement, flea markets. Or those types of thing that require a lot of open space. It has accessibility and food preparation capability,” said Mucher, “So we can hold anything that requires a large area within this region that does not necessarily have anything to do with athletics. It is a service to the region.”

Following the completion of the field house, there are plans to do more renovations to the Nielsen Center. The movement of a number of offices to the new complex will give Nielsen significantly more space. The volleyball team and both basketball teams would have the opportunity to have their own respective team locker rooms. However, this is more of a long-term goal, and would not be put into action until the college has the appropriate funds.

Regarding the completion date of the field house, Lord said, “These things always get pushed around a little bit, but right now it is supposed to be done May 23rd.”

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Sports

Softball and Baseball Teams Travel to Florida

While many students are headed home to celebrate the week off of classes, the baseball and softball players are headed to sunny Florida. Both teams leave this weekend and will return to New York early on Easter weekend.

Courtesy of athletics.houghton.edu
Courtesy of athletics.houghton.edu

Due to the weather conditions, the softball team has yet to play their first game in the new conference. Both teams have been practicing in the gym because the fields are covered in snow.

“[Going to Florida] is a chance for us to improve, to get out of the snow, to play consistently, and to play better. I think we are already playing better now than we did last year. But we need to continue to improve,” said baseball coach Brian Reitnour. “I think one of the things that Florida does for us is it gives us an opportunity to get outside because it is very difficult now to see fly balls and live pitching every day.”

“Our games have been cancelled, so it will be nice to get them out on the dirt, on real grass. It will be good for them to see the game because for half of them it is their first time playing in a collegiate game,” said softball coach Jeremy Shepherd. “We are just looking forward to them getting those first couple games under their belts.”

The schedule looks considerably different for both teams this year. Due to the new conference, the baseball and softball teams will be playing other teams recognized by NCAA division III.

“We are playing some really difficult teams. Our last day of spring break we finish with Luther who is ranked third in the country…so that will be a test,” said Shepherd. “And right when we get back we get Ithaca on that Saturday and right now they are ranked 15th in the country.”

“I think we will be better this year than last year now that we have experienced playing with each other,” said senior Jacob Kocher. “So we have pretty high expectations for Florida this year now that we have been there and done the same thing.”

Both teams plan to have a service on Good Friday as they will be in Florida over the weekend. The softball team will return to Houghton early on Easter Sunday so some players will go home with their teammates.

“We get in on Monday, we practice. We play on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday we will have a service with family members…our players, and coaches,” said Reitnour. “It’s a little bit of an atypical year because on when Easter falls, we typically would have ten days in Florida. So it just looks a little different.”

The women have Wednesday off and will have the opportunity to take advantage of the different amusement parks in the area, such as Disney, MGM and Universal Studios. The men will have some time to head to the beach or the different amusement parks after they finish playing, and they also intend to do a service project while in Florida.

“A lot of the trip is that it is a great bonding experience. It is an opportunity for us to live out the mission of Houghton athletics,” said Reitnour. “It’s about more than just baseball and more than just our team. It is an act of worship and it is a ministry.”

“We are expecting some tough games, but as far as Coach told us, we have a good chance to win some,” said sophomore Ashley Popp. “It should be a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to it because I just want to see the sun!”