www.clarkson.edu/athletics CLARKSONCLARKSON Golden Knights A THLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS Spring 2003 -- Volume 6, Number 1 ROLL NAMED CLARKSON HOCKEY COACH MEN’S NORDIC larkson announced SKIERSLEAD ConMarch CLARKSON TO NA- 24 that it has selected TIONAL TITLE George Roll as the new larkson’s Men’s Nordic Ski head coach for the team enjoyed an outstanding men's Division I C performance at the United States hockey team. A former Collegiate Ski Association assistant coach at (UCAA) Nationals by winning its Clarkson when the first National Championship, Golden Knights en- along with the Men’s President joyed some of their greatest success in the early 1990s, Roll comes Award, which is presented to the back to the University after a very successful tenure as the head Ryan Kelly school with the top combined coach at Oswego State. Roll completed his seven-year stint at showing between the alpine and cross-country teams. Clarkson’s Oswego on March 22 when he guided the Great Lakers into the Women’s team finished second at the nationals. title game of the Division III National Championships, capping off The Golden Knights took top honors in the five-day champion- a 25-7-1 season. Roll will begin his transition to Clarkson immediately. ship, which took place on March 4-8 in Northstar, California, com- "I am very pleased to welcome George Roll to the Clarkson piling 21 points. The University of Wyoming placed second with family," said President Denny Brown. "George is very familiar with 48 points with the U.S. Air Force Academy in third place with 80 the Clarkson hockey program's long history of excellence, and has points. The Clarkson women finished in second with 75 points, shown his capability to develop a dynamic program. I know that behind the University of Wyoming, which posted 42 points. The he will strive to build a well-rounded and competitive team of U.S. Military Academy was third for the women with 115 points. scholar athletes." Junior Ryan Kelly (New Boston, NH) paced the Golden Knights, During his eight-year stretch as the Knights' number one assis- winning every race he participated in. tant under former Clarkson head coach Mark Morris, Roll was instrumental in helping to guide the Green and Gold to some of see page five for more their most outstanding seasons ever in the early 1990s. He played BOATHOUSE SPORTS HELPS CLARKSON an important role in bringing to the Northern New York campus CREATE STRONG ATHLETIC BRAND some of the most talented players to ever lace up skates for the IDENTITY Knights. "George is going to bring an unbelievable sense of leadership, oathouse Sports has fi- presence and winning attitude to Clarkson's hockey program," B nalized an exclusive all- stated Clarkson Athletic Director Sean T. Frazier. "He is a great school deal with Clarkson organizational coach as well as understanding the needs of University to manufacture the Clarkson hockey. He is going to continue the strong tradition that outerwear for all of the we have of success. George is an excellent role model and is a school’s athletic teams for the next three years, which includes character person. He will lead by example." creating a new image for the Golden Knights. From 1988-1996, with Roll as an assistant coach, Clarkson com- “Outerwear is a reflection of a school’s excellence and its commit- plied a 176-82-26 overall record, won 19 ECAC playoff games, ment to its athletic programs,” said Clarkson University Athletic earned two conference regular season titles (1991, 1995), claimed Director Sean T. Frazier. “In a crowded marketplace where schools two ECAC Tournament titles (1991, 1993) and participated in six are competing to recruit athletes, a polished image can give one NCAA postseason affairs, advancing all the way to the Frozen school the advantage over another school with a comparable ath- Four in 1991. The Knights' last NCAA tournament victory came in letic program.” 1996 (6-1 over Western Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Clarkson is part of a growing trend among schools such as Colum- East Regional in Albany), Roll's final season at Clarkson before he bia University and Cornell University to bolster its image by work- left Potsdam for a very impressive career as head coach at Os- ing with Boathouse Sports, a Philadelphia-based custom athletic wego beginning at the start of the 1996-97 campaign. team outerwear manufacturer. Follow the Knights in cyberspace - www.clarksonathletics.com 1 CLARKSON ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS BONDELLIO VANESSA JEFFERY WINS PRESTIGIOUS NAMED NCAA POST-GRAD SCHOLARSHIP VERIZON anessa Jeffery (Canton, NY), a se- ACADEMIC V nior women’s lacrosse player at ALL-AMERICA Clarkson University, was recently awarded the NCAA Women’s Postgradu- ate Scholarship for Careers in Athlet- inda Bondellio ics, becoming one of only 16, and one of L (Watertown, NY) of the only three at the NCAA Division III level, Clarkson University women college graduates to win this Women’s Basketball team scholarship. has been named to the 2003 Jeffery, a defensive wing who has Verizon Academic All- scored two career goals, is entering her American Women’s Basket- fourth year on the women’s lacrosse team ball District I Third-Team for and has played in all 34 games for the her performance on the court Golden Knights over the past three and in the classroom. years. Thanks to a 3.69 grade-point-average in psychology and physi- Bondellio, a 6-0 senior for- cal therapy, she has been named to the Upstate Collegiate Athletic ward, was selected to the team with a 3.32 GPA in Business and Association (UCAA) All-Academic team twice. She plans on attend- Physical Therapy. She was the only student-athlete on any of the ing the University of Pittsburgh to pursue a master’s degree in physi- three teams to have accumulated her GPA as a double major. cal therapy. Bondellio finished the regular season among the leaders in the Since its inception in 1989, 155 scholarships have been awarded Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) in scoring, re- through the NCAA Women’s Postgraduate Scholarship for Career in bounding and free throw percentage. Athletics. PARKS NAMED KNIGHTS’ FULL-TIME WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH fter guiding the Clarkson University Women’s Basketball team this past sea- A son as the interim coach, Ann Parks has assumed the regular head coaching duties for the team. Parks led the Golden Knights to a 12-13 overall mark and 5-9 record in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference (UCAA). It was the team’s most successful season since 1994-95. Before taking over as the head coach last September, Parks had served as the Knights’ top assistant the previous two years. “She is going to do a tremendous job and did a great job over her interim appoint- ment,” said Clarkson University Athletic Director Sean T. Frazier. “She has proven herself as an assistant and now as a head coach. She is perfect for the job and I am looking for some great things from her in the future.” Parks was a four-year (1995-99) standout at Nazareth College in Rochester. While at Nazareth, Parks played in three NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournaments, was a two-time Empire Athletic Association (EAA) All-Star and served as the Golden Flyers team captain in her senior campaign. A native of Plattsburgh, NY, Parks came to Clarkson in 2000 after serving one year as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Potsdam State. She also serves as Clarkson’s women’s tennis coach. MANDELL NAMED FULL-TIME COACH FOR CLARKSON VOLLEYBALL fter guiding the team to one of its best seasons ever, Laura Mandell has assumed the regular head A coaching duties for the Clarkson University Volleyball team. The Golden Knights enjoyed a 19-12 season and a third-place finish in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) Championships under Mandell in her first season. Mandell was given the title of interim head coach in late August when Laura Habacker left for a coaching position at Elms College. The Golden Knights thrived under Mandell, winning 19 times in 31 matches for a .613 winning percentage, the second-highest winning percentage in school history. A former Golden Knight all-star, Mandell had served as an assistant coach at Clarkson in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. A four-year standout from 1996-1999, Mandell holds numerous volleyball records for the Green and Gold. She set the mark for most kills in a season with 377 in 1997 and also set the record for digs with 459 in 1996. Mandell, a native of Binghamton, NY, is also Clarkson’s career leader in kills with 1,129 in 467 games. 2 www.clarkson.edu/athletics CLARKSON ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS BASBKETBALL TEAMS GAIN RESPECT in 2002-03 here were many question nfavorable circumstances sur T marks surounding the U rounded the Clarkson Uni- Clarkson University Men’s Bas- versity Women’s Basketball team ketball team when the season from time to time during the 2002- opened in November and expec- 03 season. With just a little bit of tations were not as high as in fortune, the Golden Knights could 2001-02. However, the Golden have turned their 12-13 overall Knights, guided by fourth-year record into a 17-8 mark, having lost coach Tobin Anderson and as- five games by three points or less, sistant Jason Leone, proved that including three on last-second losing the top five scorers from shots. Despite the heroics of other the year before was no reason to teams, the Golden Knights, guided panic.