Athletics Update

Fall 2004 was another successful season for Curry Athletics. Football finished with a 9-2 record overall and a 5-1 record in New England Football Conference (NEFC) Boyd Division games. Curry won the Boyd title for the second year in a row. The Colonels defended their conference title by defeating Bogan Division Champion Fitchburg State, 17-7, in the NEFC Championship Game. Curry made its second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, falling in the regional quarterfinals to Hobart College, 35-16. Head Coach Steve Nelson earned his third NEFC "Coach of the Year" Award in his seven - year tenure. Senior linebacker Brian Robitaille earned his second-consecutive NEFC "Defensive Player of the Year" Award .

Women's Soccer finished with a 13-4-2 record. This was the most wins for the women's soccer program since the 1994 season (13-8). The Colonels also finished with an 8-3-1 record in the conference and we re the #4 seed in the 2004 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament. This gave Curry a first-round home playoff game for the first time since 1997. The Colonels lost their quarterfinal tournament game to #5 Nichols College, 1-0.

The Winter 2004-2005 season looks equally promising. As of early February, Hockey was riding a 38-game unbeaten streak in regular-season ECAC Northeast games. Curry was poised to make another run at both a conference championship and a second-consecutive berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Meanwhile, Men's Basketball had reeled off seven wins in a row as of February 5th and established themselves yet again as serious contenders for the CCC Tournament title.

Curry Athletics has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts during the now seven - year tenure of Steve Nelson as athletic director.

The on-field performance of the school's nearly 300 varsity student-athletes provides the most prominent evidence of this. But there are other, less immediately apparent factors that have contributed to this success.

Nelson and Associate Athletic Director Vinnie Eruzione have devised and implemented a blueprint for success that includes academics, facilities improvements and staff stability and continuity. An emphasis on classroom performance has paid off handsomely with the achievement of a number of objectives. There has been a significant rise in team GPAs across all 13 varsity sports. While most athletes excel in the classroom , others receive the academic help they need through mandatory study hall and assistance through the Essential Skills Center.

The execution of a comprehensive athletic facilities upgrade plan has also played a key role in the recent success of Colonels Athletics. Dedicated last fall, the new outdoor facility known as the Walter M. Katz '89 Athletic Field provides Curry football, soccer and lacrosse with a state-of-the-art lighted turf-field for their home contests, and baseball and softball with a more weather-resistant surface on which to practice. Other new or improved outdoor facilities include the "Big Nine" tennis courts, which were resurfaced and repainted during the summer of 2004, and basketball courts alongside Curry's outdoor swimming pool made possible by a gift from Wal-Mart . Just a few years ago, both the baseball and softball diamonds at the D. Forbes Will Athletic Complex were provided with new home and visitor dugouts through a philanthropic gift from John F. Fish, President of Suffolk Construction Company, Inc.

The Colonels two primary indoor facilities have also undergone extensive renovations in recent years. Recent construction at the Max Ulin Rink provided the hockey team with new locker and training rooms, and an office for the coaching staff. In addition to re surfacing and refinishing the basketball court at the Miller Gymnasium, new coaches' offices we re added, the weight room was expanded and the locker rooms were remodeled.

A less obvious, but perhaps even more important factor in the achievements of the past seven years is the stability and continuity in the department's administrative and coaching staffs. Both Nelson and Eruzione are serving in their seventh year with the Colonels, as is Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Ken Golner. Dan Morgan began his fifth year as head athletic trainer last fall, while Curry Athletics longest-serving full-time staffer - Administrative Assistant Teresa Hood - recently celebrated her 10th year with the Purple and White.