2015 was a very good year for the Drexel Dragons! By offering athletic and recreational opportunities for students–athletes, students, faculty and staff, Drexel athletics embraces and openly celebrates a performance culture of doing. This creates a sense of community that has become a nexus of campus life and a stimulating place for students to compete, play, and recreate in. This sense of personal and collective pride has helped cultivate and shape our athletic department’s identity – I am a Dragon. Now more than ever athletics departments can be of value to their host educational institutions by serving as models for competition, creativity, a healthy life-style, community building, and integrity. The 2015 top 25 celebrates our year in review as well the relevance an athletic department brings to a major comprehensive university such as Drexel. The most recent success of our athletic teams and the popularity of the department’s recreation, intramural, and club sports programs are a testament to the development of collegiate athletics at Drexel University as a dynamic, growing area within institutions of higher education. At Drexel, the student in student-athlete comes first. Our student-athlete Graduation Success Rate was 93% (national average 82%), our graduation rate 82% (66% national average), and our total Cumulative GPA for all student-athletes was 3.28. Bravo! Sports have become part of our national culture, including our educational culture. Sports play an important role in higher education since athletics at all levels requires self-discipline, leadership, managing risks, teamwork and capturing what is possible. Having the opportunity for a Drexel student to take that shot with the game on the line, whether it is intramurals, club, or varsity competition, is the quintessential American Dream for both young women and men. So pour yourself a cup of coffee, settle-in on your couch in front of the fireplace, and judge for yourself what your favorite moments of 2015 were! Have a great 2016! Go Dragons! Dr. Eric Zillmer Director of Athletics TOP 25 MOMENTS DREXEL ATHLETICS 2015 MARCH Philadelphia, PA – Women’s Basketball in Postseason WNIT The Dragons finished second in the 2015 CAA regular-season standings behind James Madison with a record of 20-10 and received an AQ for the 2015 postseason WNIT. The Dragons fell to Hampton, 45-42, in a tightly contested game in the opening round. It was the fifth time the women’s team qualified for the WNIT under Head Coach Denise Dillon. The Dragons won the 2013 WNIT title when they defeated Utah, 46-43. It was the first WNIT title for a Colonial Athletic Association team. St. Louis, MO – Drexel Sends Four Wrestlers to NCAA Drexel Wrestling qualified four wrestlers for the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Kevin Devoy had a standout tournament. After securing two wins in the first day of his second-career NCAA tournament appearance, Devoy moved on to the quarterfinals of the championship round. Faced with the No. 1 seed Chris Dardanes of Minnesota, Devoy was unable to pull off the upset, as he was defeated, 7-2. Moving into the consolation rounds, Devoy was matched up against Michigan's Bruno who was seeded 14th at the start of the tournament. Despite a strong effort from Devoy, Bruno was able to secure the first takedown of the overtime period and walk away with a 7-5 victory. With his two wins at the national tournament, Devoy finishes the 2014-15 season with a career-best 38-7 record. The 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at Madison Square Garden. Look for more Dragons at the Garden next year! Rotterdam, Holland – Field Hockey Travels to Europe Drexel Field Hockey traveled to Europe to prepare early for their season by playing against top Dutch clubs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Field hockey is one of the most popular sports in Holland and the local club and pro teams challenged the Dragons abilities as a team and exposed them to different styles of play. International training trips also provide for great team chemistry, rich recruiting opportunities, and are a source of alumni support since foreign tours are always financed by donations. APRIL Philadelphia, PA – Semanik Makes $1 Million Gift to Drexel Athletics A $1 million commitment from Mary Semanik, who served as director of women's athletics at Drexel University from 1965 to 1991, will endow the first named coaching position of a women's team, namely women’s lacrosse, as well as provide unrestricted support to Drexel Athletics. This endowed head coaching position confers not only prestige to the head lacrosse coach herself but also valuable and lasting resources that allow her to further strengthen the program for generations of student-athletes. It was under the leadership of Mrs. Semanik and her husband, John Semanik '56, who served as director of athletics from 1962 to 1991, that Division I sports first came to Drexel. The Semaniks also played a key role in the development of the University's Physical Education Athletic Center — now known as the Daskalakis Athletic Center. In addition, Mrs. Semanik guided the women's athletic program through the changes brought about by Title IX legislation, which was enacted in 1972, and the transition from the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women to the NCAA Division I for women. "My entire professional life was at Drexel and coaching at the University was a joy," Mrs. Semanik says. "I am making this gift to leave a legacy, with my husband, that supports Drexel athletics and the student athletes." The University officially recognized Mrs. Semanik's philanthropy, and her and her husband's legacy at Drexel, with the naming of the Mary and John Semanik Lobby in the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Mrs. Semanik earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Temple University, where she was a star student-athlete. A five-sport participant at Temple, she was captain of the 1950 hockey team and was inducted into the Temple Sports Hall of Fame in 1978. Mrs. Semanik was selected to the All-American lacrosse team for nine consecutive years and played on the United States Women's Lacrosse Association touring team in 1955 and 1957. She has served as president of both the Philadelphia Women's Lacrosse Association and the United States Women's Lacrosse Association, and Lacrosse Magazine named her to the All-Century Women's Lacrosse Team for the United States. Pictured below Mary Semanik with President Fry at the naming ceremony. Richmond, VA – Sanchez Named CAA Diver of the Year Drexel swimming and diving junior standout David Sanchez was named the Colonial Athletic Association Diver of the Year in a vote by the conference's coaches, the CAA announced on April 7th, 2015. Sanchez was chosen as the Most Outstanding Diver of the Meet at the CAA Championships for the second time in his career and Men's Diver of the Year. He also won the honor as a freshman in 2013, when he was tabbed Men's Diver and Rookie Diver of the Year. At the CAA Championships in February, Sanchez won the gold medal in the 3-meter competition with a score of 373.35. The 2015 Drexel University Athletic Department “Family.” MAY Philadelphia, PA – Dad Vail 3-Peat If you think you have got the “chops” you sign up for the Dad Vail Regatta and line up. Named after legendary rower and coach Harry Emerson Vail (1892-93), the “Vail” is the largest collegiate regatta in the world with over 100 schools and 3,000 rowers competing. For many student-athletes it is the season finale. For some the Vail represents the final event of their collegiate career. No other race is quite like it. The Vail is a civic treasure of the city and Drexel’s involvement in it is symbolic of the Institution’s roots as a quintessential Philadelphian University. A 2,000 meter adrenaline rush down the picturesque Schuylkill River along Kelly Drive, home of Philadelphia’s historic Boathouse Row and Drexel’s rising men’s and women’s crew programs. Eights can finish the Olympic length course in less than six minutes, but at a cost! A grueling, painful effort that takes one to the limits of what one is capable of. Psychologists know that humans will do more for each other than they do for themselves and so it is with crew. Rowers will not let their teammates down. Spectators are offered unbelievable views from the banks of the river. The racing shells are so close that one can actually see into the boats and hear the often-desperate commands of the coxswain urging the crews to go faster yet. Thousands of spectators have assembled in dozen of alumni tents and enclosures to enjoy the pageantry and an afternoon at the races. Drexel Crew won its third consecutive overall title and regained the men's points title at the 77thannual Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta on Saturday, May 9 on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa. The Dragons medaled in six events. They won gold in the men's second varsity eight and the men's freshmen eight. Drexel took home a silver medal in the men's varsity four. The Dragons also won bronze in the women's varsity eight, men's varsity eight and the men's freshmen four. Drexel reclaimed the men's points’ title from Michigan after winning it in 2013. Drexel's men's second varsity eight defended the boats gold medal in perhaps the best and closest race of the day. The Blue and Gold has now won 48 Dad Vail medals in its history, including 18 gold.