Reflecting on a great year

Dear Bobcat Nation –

There comes a time when you reflect on the past year and think about the great successes and achievements made/achieved by our student-athletes, coaches, staff and department. For me it is when the school year has ended, graduation is but a memory and the dust has settled on another academic year.

The women’s soccer team punched the program’s first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament this past fall.

And while doing reports for different groups on campus, I am still quite proud of the fact we had our five fall sports teams make the NCAA Tournament, our basketball teams both made the Conference Carolinas Tournament and the rebuilding efforts of our spring sports.

But, something even better stands out to me and I must share it with you and shout it from the mountaintop.

We had 162 student-athletes make the Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll! To make this list one must have a grade point average of at least 3.20. To place this into a proper perspective, over 60% of our student-athletes had over a 3.2 GPA.

I will give you more numbers to give you an idea of the great and rewarding success this is. We had 10 teams with over a 3.0 GPA in the spring semester, our busiest. We also had 10 teams who have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0.

For the fall we had a 2.95 GPA; then a 3.01 in the spring to give us a cumulative grade point average of 2.98!!!

Taking into account that these teams are practicing, competing and traveling 20 hours a week, this is a tribute to hard work and dedication. I would be foolish not to mention the great work of our Challenging Athletes to Success (CATS) program and how it has helped with time management, writing, math and general study skills.

So as you think about this special place in the mountains of western North Carolina, realize this: we put more emphasis on the classroom success than we do the great athletic accomplishments as we prepare young people for a prosperous life after their days in Banner Elk.

Have a great summer.

Best wishes

Craig

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Senior Pride

2012 Men's Lacrosse seniors (from left to right): Danny Ives, Bryan Bosley, Shaun Strodel, Derin Vacca, and Brett Yusiewicz

What is Senior Day for a student-athlete? What emotions surface – happiness, joy, sadness, relief? Is it a signification of the end of one journey and the beginning of another? A proud ceremony for friends, and family who have supported, encouraged and endured through a lifetime of athletic events, is that what it is?

For me it is a very special moment, as I shake the hands of the student-athletes, congratulate their parents and take part in a very unique time in their lives. It is the end of a collegiate athletic career, and for some, this is bittersweet as it signifies the end of being a student-athlete and the future of adulthood, real world and great responsibilities.

Over the past two weeks, I have seen a lot of Senior Days and all have been so gratifying. Watching proud parents make one more trip up the mountain to cheer on their son or daughter, see classmates come out and support their friends, and watch coaching staffs honor the efforts of those young people.

And Banner Elk has not disappointed as we have had cloudless skies, moderately warm temperatures and great crowds both of the student body, faculty and staff, and also the community.

2012 Softball seniors (from left to right): Amanda Leonard, Lindsey Huntsinger, Kim Coley, and Laurel Gregg.

For me, watching these young people grow up and mature in front of my own eyes is what gets me. I remember shaking their hands on their recruiting visits, telling their parents this was a great place for them to spend their college careers, and letting them know the coaches would be watching over their special treasures for the next four years.

While it will indeed be sad to see our seniors graduate and depart, the impact they have made will not be forgotten. They have experienced some of the greatest success of any Bobcat athletic teams ever, and for this, I am hoping they will reflect on this experience with a great deal of pride.

I know I will.

Thank you for letting me share what the last two weeks have been for me as we prepare for another group of seniors to rise in the position soon.

Until next time,

Best wishes,

Craig

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Bobcats serve with pride on Mountain Day

Women's soccer cleans up around their practice field

Folks, yesterday was Lees-McRae College’s Mountain Day of Service and what a major success it was.

Often times numbers don’t lie. As a former cross country/track coach, I lived by numbers and few did I dispute.

So, when I look at the report from our Dean of Students, Allison Norris, member of our Bobcat Athletics Hall of Fame, it was astounding to see the volume of workers, projects completed and hours served.

402 participants

30 projects

2814 hours of service

From my side of campus, our athletic teams did a phenomenal job on getting several key projects completed.

The men's volleyball team loads up for a trip to the dump

Men’s volleyball took apart old wooden lockers that we had stored between the indoor tennis courts and the indoor pool. I think they took about 7 pick-up loads to the dump.

Men’s and women’s basketball stained all of the wooden fences in front of and around Williams Physical Education Center.

Women’s soccer painted picnic tables and worked on painting the press box.

Track and Field did a major clean up for the upcoming Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Women’s volleyball worked on a Disc Golf Course.

Cycling did a massive clean-up on the trail system.

Men’s lacrosse stained their new lockers in the locker room.

Track and field works hard to get the facilities ready for next weekend's conference championships

Men’s soccer planted grass seed, re-worked the netting on the soccer goals, and did various other projects to make sure their practice and game fields are ready for the fall.

And many more student-athletes participated in making Lees-McRae a better place yesterday.

It was indeed a great day to see so many people coming together, working for a common goal and then seeing the fruits of their labor afterwards.

My sincere thanks to all who made an impact on the future of this college.

Best wishes

Craig

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Goodridge Brings Bobcats Home

Lees-McRae men’s volleyball is being led to its first home game of the season tonight, Saturday, Jan 21st at 7 p.m. by head coach James Goodridge. Lees-McRae will face off against Lindenwood University, which is expected to be a thrilling match-up.

Goodridge began his career in Florida, playing for Orlando Gold Volleyball Club. He was starting libero his senior year of high school for the club; winning the East Coast Championship Tournament, finishing in the top 10 nationally. He was then followed by many of his teammates to the University of Central Florida.

At UCF, Goodridge had the pleasure of playing with current beach volleyball player and Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser, where UCF placed in the top 10 nationally. Seeking new opportunities, Goodridge transferred to Florida State University, where he earned his bachelor’s in sport management.

His coaching career however, began directly after high school, coaching while attending college. After graduating from FSU Goodridge became an assistant for the men’s and women’s volleyball teams at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass. Goodridge was an essential piece to the women’s success, as they finished 27-8, reaching the conference tournament finals.

Several years later, Goodridge was hired at Mount Olive in Mount Olive, N.C., quickly becoming an interim head coach for women’s volleyball, after the head coach resigned in pursuit of other opportunities. He led the Lady Trojans to 19-17, reaching another conference tournament finals.

Goodridge took a year off from coaching to finish graduate school, after which he was offered the men’s head volleyball coaching position for the Lees-McRae Bobcats. In his first year, Goodridge led the Bobcats to 16-10, second in Conference Carolinas. Lees-McRae had a trio of Division I victories as they beat NJIT twice and had a huge victory over No. 16 Ball State University.

Lees-McRae is seeking more success, as they continue to be strongly led by coach Goodridge.

Nicholas Panariello

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