The Admissions Blog

SUNYCAP 2013 Storify recap

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:33:00 +0000

Had a fantastic time in Rochester for our 2013 conference. What better way to celebrate than with a Storify page?

http://storify.com/cdorso/sunycap-2013

Monsters University!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:16:00 +0000

So very, very excited.

Summer/Fall 2013 Conference Schedule!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:33:00 +0000

Excited to be making the rounds this year, sharing my wisdom and meeting all sorts of new people.

June 5-7, SUNYCUAD, Huntington, NY
Awesome speakers this year. Presenting at 2:15 on Wednesday, in the first block, which means Sree Sreenivasan is basically opening for me. No pressure.

June 12-14, SUNYCAP, Rochester, NY
More great speakers, including Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Scott Jaschik from Inside Higher Ed, and Maura Cullen. Presenting at 11:30 on Thursday, during Session 5:

July 22-25, Hobson's U in Orlando, FL
Not confirmed to attend this yet, but it's on my tentative calendar.

September-October, SUNYCAP Operation Inform, various sites across New York state
Operation Inform is SUNYCAP's annual series of presentations and workshops for the high school counseling community. I'll post the full schedule once it's confirmed.

October 6-9, HighEdWeb, Buffalo, NY
Excited for this excellent conference to come this far east! My first time attending, and Steve Wozniak will be there. This is not a coincidence.

Plus I'm hoping to make it out to San Francisco to meet with our friends at Inigral this October/November as well. See you on the road!

AWESOME night!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:29:00 +0000

I had one of those nights tonight that remind me why I love what I do.

At 7:00, I guest-hosted Admissions Live, a weekly web show geared toward the admissions/enrollment/counseling community. I've been a guest on the show a few times, but this was my first (of hopefully many) guest-hosting spots. But this was more that just the typical give-Chris-a-microphone-and-a-camera situations.

Our topic tonight was Operation Apps: Taking College By Storm, a NACAC program being run in conjunction with NJACAC and NYSACAC to support students, families, and schools affected by Hurricane Sandy. This weekend, students and families can go to one of five locations in New Jersey and New York and get college information, financial aid help, and anything else that they can use to make sure that any impact from Sandy doesn't roll into college plans and upset the application process or any future dreams or plans.

(I'll stick a link to the show here when it's posted, probably some time on Wednesday.)

Then I swung over to the sports complex on my way home from campus. Our women's basketball team hosted FDU tonight, and seeing as we're in the middle of finals week right now, our marching band director gave our pep band students the night off so they could focus on academics. But you can't just have no pep band at the game, right? So he recruited faculty, staff, and alumni to come out and play and support the team!

AWESOME. Totally makes me wish I knew how to play a band instrument. (But if they need a guitar next time, I'm in.)

So, fully energized, I hopped in the car to head home. Waiting at a light, I caught a tweet from a student affairs colleague:

Today an old RA that was away for 2 yrs in the Peace Corp showed up in my office. I spent a yr convincing him to do it & he came to thank me
— Wimer Alberto (@WimerAlberto) December 12, 2012

AWESOME again. It's so easy to forget sometimes that there can be incalculable value in what we do in higher education.

I haven't been this hopped up about things in a while. Gotta take that positive energy and focus it into great things now!

"Making An Impression At The College Fair"

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:20:00 +0000

As the calendar turns to October, we're firmly in the midst of "travel season" here in admissionsland. One quick really relevant reference today:

Great post by Sara Zessar a few weeks back about making an impression at the college fair. I posted a few weeks ago about the kinds of questions not to ask; well, Sara nailed EXACTLY the kinds of questions you should be asking.

What makes your college different from other colleges?
I’m interested in ____ major. What are some unique opportunities or programs offered for students with that major?
I’d like to get involved in ____ (activity) in college. Can you tell me about opportunities for this activity on your campus?
Are there a lot of students from my state/area? What would attract someone from my state/area to your college?
Can you tell me about special programs and opportunities for freshmen?
Are you the admissions representative for this region? (If not, ask who is and ask for that person’s business card or contact information. Then, send him or her an email and say you attended the fair and ask any additional questions you have.)

Fantastic job, Sara!

On Rankings

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:54:00 +0000

Standing ovation for Lynn O'Shaughnessy, whose blog I love. Here are her thoughts on the US News rankings, which came out today. (Full disclosure: Stony Brook comes in at #92 on the list of top national universities this year.)

Lynn also posted a link a few weeks ago to a new tool for college searching from the Chronicle that I found fascinating: College Completion.

It takes the data set information that all colleges release and allows you to play with it a bit to match your needs, because YOUR criteria for school probably don't match any known "ranking" system out there. The chart above compares Stony Brook's data across the spectrum of four-year public schools across the country.

If you're going to use stats and rankings, make sure you're using them the right way!

Adjustment

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:15:00 +0000

College is hard.

But you know what? It's supposed to be hard. Part of going to college -- especially if you're going away to college -- is being ripped out of your comfort zone of friends and family and familiar surroundings and learning how to adapt, how to react, how to think outside the proverbial box. Because that's life. Kindergarten was hard too, even though you probably didn't realize it much at the time and don't remember much now.

But you know what else? It gets better. The more you work at it, the more you reach out to friends and advisors and teachers and mentors, the better it gets. One of the things colleges and universities do really well is personal growth. There are enormous resources available to you: academic advising centers, career centers, residence life staff, student activities offices, recreation centers, disability support service centers, counseling services, health services, faculty members, teaching assistants... all of us have been there, in your shoes, with a lot of the same questions and concerns.

So reach out. Knock on a door or two. Make an appointment to sit down with someone and tell us what's up. Ask someone to go to lunch; a roommate, a suitemate, someone in one of your classes. Make up an excuse if you have to ("Can we go grab dinner at the dining hall so I can pick your brain about our homework that's due next week?") and see where it leads. Go to the workout center, hop on the treadmill next to someone, and strike up a conversation. Go to a meeting of a club that interests you and see what they do, ask how you can help, ask how you can do more.

Don't know where to start? We're here to help; our doors are open. We got into this business to help students. Come see us!

Common App is Live Today!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 18:45:00 +0000

And just like that, a new application season is upon us. Good advice here from Getting To The Quad, but I'l add one more... follow up on your applications.

We get a LOT of students every year who go through the common app, pay their application fee... but never actually submit the application. Make sure you follow up and follow through. The advice I linked about suggests you keep your Common App username and password someplace prominent; make sure you log back in a few days after you submit to make sure everything's done and through and you have a bunch of green icons telling you it's done.

Happy Application Season!

Stony Brook to the College World Series!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:12:00 +0000

Awesome.

WIN!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:25:00 +0000

This was an enormously exciting weekend of baseball. Despite winning 22 of our last 23 games and having the best record in the country, we entered the NCAA Playoffs as a bottom seed, down in Coral Gables to play Miami, Missouri State, and UCF, all of whom were Top 40 teams who had faced "harder" competition all season.

Well, they didn't count on Stony Brook averaging ten runs a game and going 4-1 to clinch our first ever spot in the "Sweet 16" of college baseball!

Then, as a cherry, center fielder Travis Jankowski was drafted by the Padres with the 44th overall pick in the MLB Draft late last night. Congrats to Travis, who's a great talent and has a bright baseball future ahead of him. I noticed that Padres exec Omar Minaya was on campus for the America East tourney -- I guess he liked what he saw! Thanks, Omar!

Helluva job, fellas. We'll be with you in Baton Rouge on Friday!

What To Ask (and What NOT To Ask) At College Fairs

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:36:00 +0000

Maybe this isn't the best time of year to write a post like this -- college fair season, as they say, is mostly over for the spring -- but it's been on my mind, and I know I post so infrequently! So let's get it out.

So you're headed to the big college fair; at your high school, at the convention center, at your local community college, or wherever. I've been standing on the other side of that table for eleven years now, and believe me when I say there's nothing I haven't heard... but amazingly, some of the questions we get haven't changed in years, even though the answers don't really enlighten you, the student/parent, at all! So with that, here are some things NOT to ask next time you're speaking with an admissions counselor ("meh"), and ways to make those questions better:

"Meh": How's your (major) program?
Believe me, we know why you ask the question. But realistically, how do you expect us to answer that? There's a little piece of this job that is, as much as we (I) hate it, a sales job. And so yes, we're going to tell you that our program is awesome.

Better: What kinds of opportunities are available for students in your (major) program?
Ah, now we're talking. Everyone has, for example, a psychology major. But not all programs are created equal. Are your interests clinical? It might be relevant, then, to know if the school has PhD programs and research that might match your interests. Are you interested in child psychology? Then see if there's a preschool or a day care center on campus where you might be able to intern or work while you're there.

It's the old "what's my degree going to do for me?" question; I always turn it around and ask students what they're going to do for their degree. Everybody takes Psych 101, but having access beyond the classroom is key.

"Meh": What's your graduation rate?
"B-b-but we want our son/daughter to graduate! What do you mean we can't ask that question?"

I'm not saying you can't ask the question -- I'm saying that the old Mark Twain quote "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics" is gloriously true in enrollment land. There are LOTS OF REASONS *(INSERT LINK HERE) why grad rates aren't necessarily indicative of your experience as an incoming freshman. I'm not saying it's a bad question, I'm just saying there are better ones.

Better: What's your freshman retention rate?
(Even Better: What's your sophomore retention rate?)
You want to know what's happening on campus to the students that are most like you -- the students who are completing their first year. Are they staying or leaving? This is an indicator of the success of student life, of class availability, of any number of things that are relevant to your immediate experience.

(I put parenthesis around the "even better" question because I'd bet that most counselors don't know this stat. Prove me wrong, colleagues!)

I'll keep posting these in the next couple of weeks... what other questions have you asked, but not gotten satisfactory answers to? And counselors, what other "meh" questions have you heard?

Ups, Downs, and College Athletics

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:14:00 +0000

So I was at the basketball game on campus on Saturday, a crushing loss that sent Vermont to the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament instead of us. I was despondent about it -- I've posted before about how passionately I want to get over the athletic hump -- but I realized that it's just one game, just one opportunity, in a sea of red that we've worked so hard to build over the years here on campus. So as much as I really, really, really, really wanted our students to rush the court and dance like maniacs, we had a pretty successful weekend overall that went (largely) unnoticed:

Lucy Van Dalen, her mantle already covered in awards, won Stony Brook's first athletic national title on Saturday, winning the mile race at the NCAA Championships in Idaho. Here's a link to a short video interview with Lucy after the race.
Stony Brook Rugby, a club sport, won the Long Island Cup Saturday as well!

And since our men's basketball team did win the America East regular-season title for the second time in three years, their season -- despite the tough day Saturday -- still got a postseason invitation, and will face Seton Hall in the first round of the NIT Tuesday night.

It's easy to get caught up in the big stuff, the sports that sell out arenas and stadiums and show up on the ESPN2 schedule a few times a year... but the fact is, I'm thrilled with what we've accomplished athletically, even if I don't get to submit a bracket contest entry putting men's basketball in the national championship game. (Which you KNOW I would have done.)

Congratulations to all our student athletes... you make us proud!

New Gig!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:40:00 +0000

As much as you all have been (loosely) following my travels throughout Connecticut the past seven or so years, it's time for me to move on and create new opportunities for myself. This spring will likely be my last in Connecticut, as I've taken on some shifted responsibilities in the office. I'll be working much more with our communications and social media outreach, and you'll see a lot more of me on campus at information sessions and the like.

You can visit our bloggers here, and I've included the link on the left as well.

Let's go Seawolves!

2012 Seawolves Baseball!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Sure, it's winter, but I am so very ready for baseball this spring. Caught a post from MLB Draft Insider ranking the top twelve college position players this year, and #7 is a Seawolf, outfielder Travis Jankowski:

Jankowski is a future center-fielder and lead-off hitter at his peak, and a fourth outfielder with above-average speed at his basement. There’s not much power in the swing, but he uses all fields and gets to everything in the outfield.

Something tells me that I'm going to have to make space next to my Tom Koehler baseball card collection...

College Jeopardy Test February 7!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:58:00 +0000

We need some more Stony Brook Red on this show. Go for it! Someone redeem my defeat!

Top 15 Albums of 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:38:00 +0000

Honored to be a contributor to the Higher Ed Music Critics group; our Top 50 (50-26 and 25-1) got posted just before the holidays, and I wanted to make sure that guitars got some recognition, since they kinda fell out of the overall mix...

http://higheredmusiccritics.blogspot.com/2012/01/chriss-top-15-albums-of-2011.html

Lots of good stuff coming this year; looking forward to an exciting musical 2012!

Dr. Bill Edgar, 1933-2011

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:09:00 +0000

We all likely know that our idols will likely pass on before us. Whether it's a parent, teacher, coach, or whoever, odds are pretty good that the person you see as a mentor and a guide in your life is probably older than you. But I'll say this... knowing that fact, academically, doesn't make it any easier to take when it happens.

I got an e-mail this morning telling me that Dr. William Edgar, philosophy professor and long-time director of the Honors Program at SUNY Geneseo that now bears his name, died last week at 78. Bill and his wife Stacey, also a philosophy professor at Geneseo, changed so many lives in so many ways; my little eulogy here can't possibly do him justice, but I feel obligated to try.

The first course I took as a member of the honors program in Fall 1993 was HONR 101, "The Nature of Inquiry," a philosophy primer created and taught by Dr. Edgar. He took twenty of us -- ten new freshmen and ten new sophomores entered the program each fall -- under his wing, inviting us to parties at his house and making us a family. We'd sit in our classroom, a somewhat hidden room on the second floor of the theater building, twice a week in a big circle and discuss life's great philosophical questions. We learned about Plato and Aristotle, about Zeno and how you couldn't really go anywhere, about Descartes, and Hume... about how to think critically and read deeply.

I met the most incredible people through Bill Edgar. My first roommate, Eric, who went on to law school and now lives in Connecticut with his family... George, the most brilliant mathematical mind I know and a guy who gave me the honor of being the best man at his wedding... Jen, who overcame several unfortunate Honors party-inspired nicknames and became a librarian... Sarah, who helped me through fraternity pledging more than she probably knew... Michelle, Andy, Emil... so many people that impacted my life in so many ways.

He introduced us to Ron Herzman, a brilliantly eccentric English professor who taught the "Critical Reading" honors course the following spring. To Eileen Daly, a former philosophy major who came back to teach a Symbolic Logic class that I took even though it was a night class, just because she was connected with Bill. (Full disclosure: it didn't hurt that she was young and attractive.) To Stephen Padalino, who took our honors science course on a whirlwind tour of nuclear physics. To James Willey, a musicologist who taught us what to do if anyone approached us on the street with a loaded flounder. To Bill Cook, who's everything you want your history professor to be and more. Bill Edgar made sure we knew that it was okay to think, okay to analyze, okay to question.

A few weeks into college, I bought train tickets to come home and visit my family; I couldn't find anyone who was willing to drive me to the train station, and Bill graciously volunteered to take the time out of a fall Friday afternoon to help a lonely freshman get home.

One of our graduation requirements was a two-semester Humanities sequence. Most folks tried to take the easy way out, looking for a professor who would give the easiest tests or the least work. Not us; I took both Hum I & II with Stacey Edgar, because I knew she would challenge us and that we'd walk out of there actually learning something.

It was because of Bill's influence that after September 11, 2001, when I was going through some spiritual and emotional confusion, I turned to the Koran and to the Bhagavad Gita and to Buddhist texts; because I knew that I could read and absorb and learn what made me, and the world, tick.

It's because of Bill that I have a special place in my admissions counselor's heart for philosophy majors. I love when students aren't afraid to write and read and learn; I wish I'd done more with philosophy as an undergrad, and have toyed with the idea of graduate work.

My mission to you, students, is to find your personal Bill Edgar. Find someone who will challenge you, who will make you work and think, and at the same time, will respect your words and thoughts and decisions. It's tempting to take courses just to get an "easy A," or just to fill in a graduation requirement. But really, honestly think about the courses you're taking and the decisions you're making in college; you're here to learn and grow. Make sure you're doing that.

We should all be so lucky to have someone in our lives like Bill Edgar; his spirit lives on in me every day of my life. I can only hope that I have half as much impact on my students here at Stony Brook that he had on me and on all of us. I've reread the e-mail from the president of the college a few times today, and I've teared up every time: "He was our philosopher-in-chier, our Socrates."

Thanks, Bill.

#7: SBU Motorsports

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:40:00 +0000

If you've been driving around the greater Stony Brook University area lately, you might have seen their bus wraps, even though you might not have figured who they are and what they do... but our Stony Brook Motorsports program has been top-notch!

A few weeks ago, they placed 10th overall (out of 115 teams) at the 2011 Baja Competition; they've done pretty well in previous years as well. So congratulations to our students for a job well done!

#6: Game Programming Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:32:00 +0000

2011 marked the eighth year of the Stony Brook Game Programming Competition, sponsored by the Computer Science program.

Congratulations to the two winning teams!

Twine Associates:

Virtual Void:

#5: The 2011 Baseball Team (and this week's MLB Draft)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:11:00 +0000

Since Keith Law isn't returning my phone calls, let's take a look at a couple of the guys whose names I hope to see called at some point in the next three days during the MLB Draft:

RHP Nick Tropeano
Tropeano is coming off another amazing year which saw him set school records in wins (12) and strikeouts (119). Draft guru John Sickels listed him among his players he's watching and among his sleepers for 2011. Some analysis according to one blog:

Has a fastball that sits in the upper 80s and plenty of secondary pitches. His changeup is plus and he has a hard slider. Projectable at 6’4” 205, he’s posted good college numbers and if he can find some more velocity, he’s a nice find.

IF/C Steve Marino
Marino shined in the America East playoffs, joining Tropeano as the only Seawolves named to the All-Tournament team despite their disheartening loss. He started all 54 games and hit at a .333/.373/.514 clip with solid defense (only one error all season). As a senior, it'd be nice to see his name called, even if it's late on Wednesday.

RHP Tyler Johnson
Kinda sounds like a major league pitcher, no? 9-3, 2.30 in 13 starts. Took a tough loss in the AE Playoffs, but had a strong enough season that we'll hopefully see his name on Wednesday too. (And if not, he's going to be a heckuva ace for us next spring.)

You ready, MLB? (And you, Mets?) Let's go!

#4: Tom Koehler, New Orleans Zephyr

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:47:00 +0000

With the release of Topps' 2011 Bowman baseball card set came the debut of another Seawolves product working his way up the ranks: Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler. I've talked about (and with) Tom in this space before, but after winning the 2010 Southern League Pitcher of the Year Award by going 16-2, 2.61 with the Jacksonville Suns, he moved up to AAA New Orleans this spring, and promptly started his season 5-0, giving us all hope that someone in the Marlins' rotation would get injured (I'm not picky, but as a Met fan, I'd prefer Josh Johnson) and that Tom would get the call.

Hasn't happened yet, and Tom lost his last two decisions and is now 5-2 with a 4.69 ERA in twelve starts. Something tells me we'll see Tom join our other former Seawolf Joe Nathan in the majors some time in 2011, though. Go, Tom, go!

#3: CEWIT

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:50:00 +0000

In March 2009, Stony Brook opened a new facility to house our Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT). Founded in 2002, CEWIT's research is diverse, covering:

distributed robotics, expressive and hybrid networks, mobile computing, wireless networks, cyber security, computer vision and image processing, RF systems, microwave sensors, wireless sensor networks, computational genetics and protein docking, computational neurobiology, virtual reality, effective bandwidth utilization, wireless protocols, wireless ad hoc networks and wireless gateways. Our research topics range from materials to components to systems and address devices and communications, networking, software systems, and solutions/applications for vertical markets.

I'll be the first to admit that for me -- a student activities guy turned radio guy turned counselor -- most of the scientific stuff we do goes way over my head... but that certainly doesn't mean I can't be impressed by it! I missed the Open House they had last summer; hopefully they'll have another one soon (hint hint).

#2: Starbucks

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Our campus dining has done some major overhauls in the past few years; perhaps the most significant, from a cultural perspective, was the introduction of Starbucks on campus. "But Chris, everyone has a Starbucks," you say. I know, but it seemed like a significant step, as there suddenly became a real "go-to" destination on campus. The lines can be unreal there, despite the crazy location tucked up in a corner of the second floor of the Stony Brook Union, but we'll wait for our Starbucks. It's fascinating, really.

#1: Stony Brook Concerts

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:38:00 +0000

I come from an incredibly strong student concerts background. During my undergraduate days, I had the honor of chairing a concerts committee that put on a mainstage show at least once a semester; we hosted Barenaked Ladies and Blues Traveler in the same semester in Spring 1995.

I was excited to come to Stony Brook, knowing our vibrant concert history. The university was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006:

Between 1967 and 1971, the Student Activities Board presented such rock legends as Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Janis Joplin, The Moody Blues (with guest Timothy Leary), Pink Floyd, and The Who. The Allman Brothers took up residence at Stony Brook in April of 1970, where they rehearsed and performed on campus in preparation for their now legendary stint at the Fillmore East. Other shows that year included Santana, B.B. King, Small Faces and the Grateful Dead, who performed four shows over the Halloween weekend. But the high point of the 1970 season was the May 1st outdoor concert on the Athletic Field featuring the Jefferson Airplane, which drew a crowd of close to 50,000 fans who came to celebrate the first Earth Day.

At one time, Stony Brook was known as "The Fillmore East East". Fillmore owner Bill Graham was one of several New York area promotors with contractual clauses that prevented headliners from performing within a 50-mile radius of their venues. Long Islanders had the geographic good fortune to have Stony Brook sit 52 miles away from the Fillmore, which assured the campus its place in music history.

Things in concertland at Stony Brook, however, had been relatively slow up until the last year or so. Last spring, Best Coast headlined our spring concert, and "Parks & Recreation"'s Aziz Ansari visited campus early this spring. The big news, though, was the biggest show we've seen in years, as Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae packed the arena a few weeks ago.

So I think we're making the turn; I'm excited to see what Stony Brook Concerts brings us in 2011-2012!

Tough Year for Seawolves Sports

noreply@blogger.com (Chris D'Orso) — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Before I start this post, let me say that I'm incredibly proud of how all of our teams did this year, because we had some incredible performances, both team and individual. But boy, how things could have been...

Football went into their finale at Liberty undefeated in the Big South, needing to hold Liberty down offensively in order to make the FCS playoffs. Unfortunately, they got beaten by a very strong Liberty team, 54-28.
Men's basketball struggled with injuries all season, but went on an incredible run to the conference championship game, holding a lead for all but two and a half seconds of the championship game at Boston University. Unfortunately, they were the only two and a half seconds that mattered, as John Holland hit two free throws at the end of the game to break the tie and send BU to the NCAA Tournament.
Men's lacrosse had a great run, playing an incredibly difficult schedule. They faced Hartford in the America East final, losing a heartbreaker as Hartford scored the tie-breaking, game-winning goal with one second left on the clock.
And yesterday and today, our baseball team, ranked #1 in the America East after a 41-10 regular season, lost heartbreakers in the conference tournament as we couldn't get anything going against Maine yesterday, and then lost in the elimination game to Albany this afternoon. (I'm holding out hope for an at-large bid to the College World Series. 40 wins has to count for something, right?)

So close, yet so far... but we'll be back in 2011-2012!

Meanwhile, let's celebrate the awesome accomplishments our athletes had this season:

The Seawolves men's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field teams all received the Public Recognition Awards that are given each year to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in each sport with their Academic Progress Rates (APRs). The four honored teams are the most Stony Brook has had in one academic year. In addition, the women's outdoor track & field team has now been honored with the Public Recognition Award for six consecutive years.
Five Stony Brook student-athletes have been announced as winners of the 2010-11 SUNY Chancellor Scholar-Athlete Award, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher announced on Monday. Among the Seawolves honorees are Michael Coulter (Yorba Linda, Calif.) of the football team, Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia) of the men's lacrosse team, Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) of the baseball team, Holly Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) of the women's cross country team and Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) of the women's track & field team.
Seniors Lucy and Holly van Dalen took sixth and seventh, respectively, as the women's team finished an impressive seventh at the 2010 NCAA women's cross country national championships. By finishing among the top-40 individually, the twins are first-time All-Americans in cross country.
In baseball, sophomore William Carmona was named America East Player of the Year, junior Nick Tropeano earned Pitcher of the Year honors, freshman Brandon McNitt was tabbed Rookie of the Year and Matt Senk took home his first Coach of the Year award. The Seawolves had 11 players named all-conference, including eight on the first team. Carmona became the first player in program history to be named Player of the Year and Tropeano became the first player in America East history to win two Pitcher of the Year awards. (Plus, I'm pretty sure we'll see a couple of those guys' names get called June 6-8 at the MLB Draft.)
Speaking of drafts, senior Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia) was the first overall pick of the 2011 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft this winter, going to the Hamilton Nationals. Seniors Jordan McBride (New Westminster, British Columbia), Tom Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Adam Rand (Niantic, Conn.) also were drafted, going to Rochester, Boston and Hamilton, respectively.

So chins up, Seawolves! You had a hell of a year, and we're proud of you! We'll be back next year!