The SUNY Oneonta athletics department has recognized 43 student athletes today by inducting them into the National College Athlete Honor Society of Chi Alpha Sigma.  The induction is part of NCAA Div. III Week to celebrate National Student Athlete Day, which was this past Tuesday, Apr. 6^th.  This year's class marks the 24^th group that has been inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma.

Welcome Message from Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Bueche

 
The 43 student athlete inductees have achieved at least junior standing in the classroom along with gaining a cumulative 3.4 grade point average while completing three full seasons of competition as a varsity athlete or two if they are a transfer.  They also must be of good moral character and have the endorsement of both the head coach of his or her sport and the chapter president.
 
Chi Alpha Sigma also recognized Mr. Scott Barton as its 19^th Honorary Inductee for his continued support of student athletes at the College.  Barton is the Facilities Program Coordinator for the campus while also serving as the Chair of the Intercollegiate Athletics Board.  Barton has been an advocate for athletics on the campus and has been instrumental in the planning and securing of funding for the athletics facility upgrades during his tenure at the College.

Scott Barton Acceptance Remarks

 
Congratulations to this year's Class of Inductees

Congratulatory Remarks from 2021 Inductee Tristan Battistoni

 
Tristan Battistoni
Soccer
Business Economics
 
Favorite class:  Corporation Finance
Favorite professor: Babatunde Aiyemo
Career aspiration: Be the Vice President of a Fortune 500 company
Favorite sports memory: Winning the SUNYAC title at home in 2019
 
Brittany Claud
Basketball
Human Development & Family Studies
 
Favorite class: Children in families
Favorite professor: Patricia Levis
Career aspiration: Right now, my goal is to find something that makes me happy. I hope one day I will work with underprivileged children and make an impact on their life. I don't know just yet what career path I'm following, but I'm striving to make a change with our youth.
Favorite sports memory: Was my freshman year beating Geneseo on their home court. It was a special game because the year prior we lost to Geneseo in the playoffs, and all the returners played with a lot of grit that game and it was very special to be apart-of.
 
Katherine Corona
Cross Country/Track & Field
Biology
 
Favorite class: Psychology of Family Violence
Favorite professor: Professor LaPilusa
Career aspiration: To work as a physician assistant in a pediatric ER
Favorite sports memory: Being able to go to cross country regionals my freshman year. Although I only went as an alternate, I still saw being top 7 on our team as an accomplishment since it was my first ever season of cross country. It was cool to experience the atmosphere of a higher-level competition, as well as being able to really bond with my teammates and coaches.
 
Cali Cortese
Field Hockey
Communication Studies
 
Favorite class: Intercultural communication
Favorite professor: Professor Hummel.
Career aspiration: To work in the field of marketing and advertising. I either want to work in New York City or another major city somewhere with warmer weather.
Favorite sport memory: Beating Cortland my sophomore year. To this day, it was probably the best game our team has played in my opinion. We were all in unison and it was such a great feeling to beat such a tough opponent.
 
Jenna Dangler
Field Hockey/Lacrosse
Childhood Education (1-6)
 
Favorite class: Math 108 and 109
Favorite professor: Jean Ostrowski
Career aspiration: To become a childhood education teacher for first-grade students
Favorite sports memory: Scoring against SUNY Geneseo. It was my first goal as a freshman. We ended up winning the game 2-1.
 
Olivia Fraser
Tennis
Psychology
 
Favorite class: Environmental Humanities
Favorite professor: Kathryn Finin
Career aspiration: I want to become a therapist
Favorite sports memory: Playing at the USTA center in Florida with my team during our spring trip
 
Colleen Geyer
Field Hockey
Psychology
 
Favorite class: Careers in Psychology with Dr. Poplock
Favorite professor: Dr. Kirk
Career aspiration: After graduating from Oneonta, I will be starting graduate school for my Master's in School Psychology in the fall.
Favorite sports memory: Beating Cortland in a regular season game my sophomore year.
 
Samantha Giler
Swimming & Diving
Biology
 
Favorite class: Biochemistry class with Dr. Ron Bishop
Career aspiration: To be a Physician
Favorite sports memory: Training Trip with Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving
 
Taylor Gough
Soccer
Exercise Science
 
Favorite class: Body Conditioning
Favorite professor: Andrea Fallon-Korb
Career aspiration: Become a Doctor of Physical Therapy to assist people in sustaining active and functional lifestyles.
Favorite sports memory: When our team went to St. Petersburg, FL in March 2020 for spring break. We got to play soccer on the beach, have fun experiencing different parts of Florida, and bond further as a team.
 
Scott Jacobsen
Cross Country/Track & Field
Political Science
 
Favorite Class: China, Japan & South Korea
Favorite Professor: Dr. Heindl
Career Aspirations: Work as an administrator in either the public or private field
Favorite Sports Memory: Team Thanksgiving in the skybox
 
Eric Jacobsen
Cross Country/Track & Field
Adolescent Education/Social Studies
 
Favorite class: Personal Finance
Favorite professor: Professor Yuriy Malikov
Career aspiration: I am going to be a high school social studies teacher and I also hope to start working in real estate and/or finance.
Favorite sports memory: The SUNYAC cross country championship meet my sophomore year at New Paltz.
 
Thaddeus Karaman
Track & Field
Business Economics
 
Favorite class: Management 343, Organizational Behavior with Dr. Barbara Durkin
Career aspiration: A customer facing position in the Banking or Financial Planning industry
Favorite sports memory: That's tough, SUNYAC's is always fun, but it would probably be returning to campus this semester and having our first real practice. I didn't realize how much I missed it until we came back, and it really made me appreciate the sports program and the friends I've made along the way
 
Melissa Kelly
Swimming & Diving
Exercise Science
 
Favorite class: Exercise Psychology with professor Andrea Fallon-Korb
Career aspiration: I am planning on going to graduate school to receive a master's in occupational therapy looking to become an occupational therapist helping injured or disabled children and adults with improving everyday life skills.
Favorite sports memory: Being a junior on the Oneonta Swimming and Diving team, I have made many memories with my team that I will cherish forever. My favorite memory while being on the team would be my freshman year training trip in Florida. I have always wanted to visit the Swimming Hall of Fame and I had the pleasure to swim in their Olympic size pool each day. Although practices were challenging, we still were able to make the most out of the trip by relaxing and tanning on the beach, playing beach volleyball, and karaoke nights.
 
Dean Langman
Baseball
Biology
 
Favorite class: Genetics
Favorite professor: Dr. Bastiaans
Career aspirations: To become a general practitioner
Favorite sports memory: Our playoff run my freshman year
 
Ivana Lopez
Track & Field
Biology
 
Favorite class: Jazz dance with Wendy Wade
Favorite professor: Diana Nichols (Self-defense)
Career aspiration: I hope to get into PA school and become a Physician Assistant.
Favorite sports memory: Placing 4th for the 60 hurdles at SUNYACs and scoring points for my team.
 
Michael Losak
Baseball
Criminal Justice
 
Favorite class: Stress Management
Favorite professor: Stephen Rice
Career aspiration: After I graduate in May, I plan to pursue playing baseball on a professional level. In the case that it does not work out, I will be planning on going to law school to become a lawyer.
Favorite sports memory: Beating Cortland 3-2 in the first round of playoffs in 2019.
 
Ariel Loucks
Tennis
Adolescent Education/Social Studies
 
Favorite class: The American Revolution
Favorite professor: Dr. Nicole Waid
Career aspiration: To be an adolescent education (7-12th grade) social studies teacher.
Favorite sports memory: So far is from freshman year when our tennis team advanced to the SUNYAC championships for the first time in program history.
 
Emily Lutz
Field Hockey
Digital & Studio Art
 
Favorite class: Exercise Science and Self Defense for Women
Favorite Professor: Katherine Griffes and Diana Nichols
Career aspirations: To hopefully work within a school. I have always loved working with children. I have a passion for art and fitness and I think combining these areas could be really interesting and fun with kids. My hopes after graduation are to gain experience working in a school and apply to get my master's in Education soon after. Then I could combine my art experience from Oneonta and my knowledge in education to become a teacher. I will also utilize my athletic coaching minor by coaching young adults field hockey within the school setting.
Favorite sports memory: I have so many memories as an athlete here, and many I can refer to as a favorite. I would like to just appreciate collectively being part of an amazing team that has made my college experience feel like a second home and family. I couldn't be more grateful for the friends I've made here and the growth I've experienced as an individual.
 
Chloe Lynch
Field Hockey
Human Ecology
 
Favorite class: Foods 130
Favorite professor: Professor Avanzato
Career aspiration: I want to pursue teaching at the middle school level
Favorite sports memory: Beating Cortland in 2018. Everyone on the team had high energy that day and was ready to go, and it showed on the field. The feeling after the win was incredible.
 
Rebecca Macdonald
Tennis
Psychology
 
Favorite class: Women's self-defense class!
Favorite professor: Andrea Fallon-Korb.
Career aspiration: After undergrad, I either aspire to be a physical therapist or an occupational therapist. I have always wanted to help people do things that are easy for most people to do on their own in everyday life.
Favorite sports memory: Was during my sophomore year at the SUNYAC championship when me and my doubles partner won our match after we were down a couple of games. It felt so surreal after we were losing!
 
Isabella Marx
Lacrosse
Biology
 
Favorite class: Reproductive physiology
Favorite professor: Dr. Schillo
Career aspiration: I plan on going to veterinary school.
Favorite sports memory: Our spring break trip to South Carolina last year
 
Alexandra Matthews
Soccer
Dietetics
 
Favorite class: FOODS 130
Favorite professor: All the professors in the dietetics department (can't just choose one!)
Career aspiration: I plan to become a Registered Dietitian. I am not sure exactly where I want to work, but I hope to find a job where I can help others and make a difference.
Favorite sports memory: Winning Mayor's Cup at our home turf my Junior year
 
Kelly McCloe
Lacrosse
Communication Studies
 
Favorite classes: My 2D and 3D design classes
Favorite professors: are Yolanda Sharpe for watercolor painting, and Amanda Ruschak for communications.
Career aspiration: To be an interior designer or a graphic designer.
Favorite sports memory: The extreme feeling of friendship and hard work. Being able to be surrounded by friends who all have a similar passion is incredible.
 
Ryan Meehan
Swimming & Diving
Early Child/Childhood Education (B-6)
 
Favorite class: EDUC 235 Reading and Literacy
Favorite professor: Professor Picinich
Career Aspiration: My plan is to be an elementary school teacher and to eventually get my masters. Favorite sports memory: Practicing with my lane mates every day. Although practices are pretty grueling there were so many laughs. I made some great friends and we pushed each other to go that extra 10% everyday which helped me break my times and also swim on some really fast relays at SUNYACS. We even got to break some school records which was pretty cool.
 
Rachel Morris
Lacrosse
Communication Studies
 
Favorite class: Freedom of Speech with Professor Theron Verdon
Career aspiration: Either get a master's degree in Marketing or go to law school for corporate law.
Favorite sport memory: Playing our first game and win this season on March 20th against Potsdam. It was such a great feeling to be back on the field again with the team and everyone played so well!
 
Erin Mullery
Swimming & Diving
Childhood Education (1-6)
 
Favorite class: Education 201, Diversity in Teaching
Favorite professor: Zana Mckay.
Career aspiration: I am currently a junior and I am a double major studying childhood education and
psychology. After I receive my degree, I am planning to go on to graduate school for education and psychology to receive my master's degree in both fields. My overall career goal is to become a school psychologist at a school for the deaf.
Favorite sports memory: Our training trip my sophomore year. Although we had some ups and downs experiencing an earthquake our first night there, we made the most out of the trip together. We had the opportunity to hike through the rain forests in puerto rico and swim at multiple establishments around
the island. I am so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to travel with my team before the pandemic hit.
 
Megan Palmatier
Basketball/Softball
Adolescent Education/Social Studies
 
Favorite class: Coaching basketball
Favorite professor: Dr. Wendy Lascell
Career aspiration: Coach at the collegiate level and/or teach high school history
Favorite sports memory: (basketball) Beating Cortland at home for battle of the red dragons; (softball) Beating Geneseo in 2019 and the 2020 spring training trip
 
Gianna Papini
Tennis
Sports Management
 
Favorite class: Legal issues in sports
Favorite professor: Dr. Fierke of the sports management department
Career aspiration: Graduating with a degree in sports management and communication I plan to continue my passion for sports working with professional sports teams or athletes on the business side
Favorite sports memory: Being a part of ending SUNY Geneseo's 40 match conference winning streak
 
Juliann Posch
Volleyball
Early Child/Childhood Education (B-6)
 
Favorite class: I consider all of the education classes that I have taken at SUNY Oneonta to be my favorite because they all have taught me various skills to become a great teacher
Favorite Professor: Dr. Levine
Career aspiration: I recently got accepted into the Infant/Toddler Early Childhood Special Education Master's Program for Fall 2021 at St. Joseph's College on Long Island. My career aspiration is to become an Elementary Special Education teacher.
Favorite sport memory: Having the opportunity to meet the most amazing teammates and grow incredible unique bonds which each of them. I will always consider my teammates to be my family.
 
Miquela Quiles
Soccer
Communication Studies
 
Favorite class: Organizational Communication with Dr. Bruscella
Career aspiration: I aspire to work within a Social Media Marketing Company or Public Relations Firm. I like that within these fields I can work with others in a team based environment and interact with people on a daily basis.
Favorite sports memory: Winning the Mayor's Cup my sophomore year in 2019
 
Arkadij (AJ) Raiz
Soccer
Business Economics
 
Favorite class: Introduction to geography with Dr. Dixon. Very interesting class with amazing Professor!
Career aspiration: To work for a fortune 100 company in NYC and one day be in charge of my own small company
Favorite sport memory: Would definitely be our 2019 season. Wining the SUNYAC's and making the NCAA tournament was very memorable. It was an amazing season for us and the soccer program in general.
 
Emily Raymond
Field Hockey
Exercise Science
 
Favorite class: Sport Psychology with Andrea Fallon-Korb.
Career aspiration: Although I am not entirely sure what my exact career aspirations are, I do know I want to build a career within sport and exercise performance.
Favorite sports memory: Beating SUNY Cortland during the fall 2018 regular season.
 
Sidney Restivo
Soccer
Dietetics
 
Favorite class: Nutrition Education and Counseling Class
Favorite professor: Dr. Kirsten Hilpert
Career aspiration: To become a registered dietitian
Favorite sports memory: Winning the Mayor's Cup my sophomore year after some tough games against Susquehanna and Clarkson.
 
Anthony Romero
Wrestling
Criminal Justice
 
Favorite class: Jim Crow to Black Power with Dr. Ashford
Career aspirations: Becoming a coach in my community whilst helping the new generation. Ideally becoming Oneonta's first National Champion in Wrestling along with becoming UFC Bantamweight World Champion.
Favorite sports memory: Helping out my teammates during the Empire conference
 
Alexa Ryan
Field Hockey
Early Child/Childhood Education (B-6)
 
Favorite class: Education 305 class that I am currently taking with Professor Picinich
Career aspiration: I aspire to become a successful educator teaching either Kindergarten or First Grade. I want to inspire young learners in their first years of schooling and provide them with the most positive learning experience.
Favorite sports memory: Our 4-3 win against Cortland my freshmen year.
 
Danielle Shaw
Swimming & Diving
Business Economics
 
Favorite class: College Fed Challenge Prep, which is taught by my favorite professor, Dr. Storrie. 
Career aspiration: While I am not completely sure what I want to do, I hope to start out with something that compliments my previous internships. I hope to at some point work in management in the corporate world.
Favorite sport memory: The Ithaca Diving Invitational freshman year.  This was my first meet competing a full 11 dive list and I finished the meet with a SUNYAC qualifying score.  This was something unexpected and I was extremely excited to compete in both swimming events and diving at SUNYACS.
 
Tyler Skala
Wrestling
Childhood Education (1-6)
 
Favorite class: PSYC 100 with Hillis.
Career aspiration: Elementary School Teacher
Favorite sports memory: Traveling and wrestling in Florida and eating gyros.
 
Sarah Snyder
Basketball
Adolescent Education/Social Studies
 
Favorite Class: Ancient Greece
Favorite Professor: April Harper, Student Teaching in Cooperstown High School
Career Aspiration: To be a high school history teacher and a coach or a museum curator
Favorite sports moment: Our basketball trip to Puerto Rico
 
Jessie Triller
Swimming & Diving
Communications & Media Studies
 
Favorite class: Perspectives on Communication with Professor Hummel.
Career aspiration: After graduation I hope to get a job in the entertainment industry, primarily making original media content. I am trying to keep an open mind towards where I will end up so I don't have any definite plan, but currently I would just like to be happy, healthy, and in the city.
Favorite sports memory: Was surprisingly this year. It was one of the nicest days we had so far this spring and for practice that day we decided to do a dry land set outside to make the most of the weather. Although the workout was a challenging, we were still cracking jokes the entire time and making the best of it. At the end, we all sat outside in the sun together and enjoyed each other's company. It was the first time in a long time that life felt relatively normal, and it made me appreciate how lucky I am to have the teammates that I do and to be able to do the sport I love.
 
Amelia Wilson
Tennis
Biology
 
Favorite class: Women in sports or microbiology
Favorite professor: Jill Fielhaber
Career aspiration: To become a PA or Nurse practitioner
Favorite sports memory: My sports team is probably freshman year, when we made it to the conference finals as well as all our spring break trips to Florida.
 
Matthew Zabatta
Swimming & Diving
Early Child/Childhood Education (B-6)
 
Favorite class: Education 106: Issues/Philosophy/Foundations with Professor Avanzato.
Career aspiration: After I graduate from SUNY Oneonta, I am planning to go on to graduate school and get my master's degree in special education. My overall career goal is to become an elementary school teacher or a principal in an elementary school.
Favorite sports memory: I am a junior on the Swimming and Diving team, and I have had countless memories that I could write about, but my all-time favorite would have to be our training trip to Puerto Rico. Although we experienced earthquakes on the first night of our trip, we still made the most of it by doing many different fun activities. On one of the days in between practices we had the chance to go to the El Yunque National Forest and hike through the Rio Grande as we got to see different waterfalls, streams, and even experienced the rainforest in full effect as it down poured on us throughout the hike. Another part of the trip that was highly enjoyable was trying out all the different restaurants Puerto Rico had to offer in places like Old San Juan. This trip is by far my favorite memory as a member of the Swimming and Diving team, and I will remember it forever.
 
Eva Zepeda
Track & Field
Anthropology
 
Favorite class: Human Skeletal Anatomy with Dr. Betsinger
Career aspiration: Following graduation I'm hoping to go to graduate school to obtain a Masters. I hope to be able to work in Medicolegal Death Investigation/Forensics once it's all said and done.
Favorite sports memory: Has to be my freshman year (2018-2019). The energy coming from all of the teams was so amazing and I'm so happy to have been a part of it.
 
James Zupo
Baseball
Biology
 
Favorite class: Intro to Psychology
Favorite professor: Mr. Robert Hoople
Career aspiration: Aspire to enter the medical field, possibly nursing
Favorite sports memory: Beating Cortland in the first round of the 2019 playoffs