Best UAlbany Team Gets No Recognition!

[Play_Fair]

It is really disturbing to me that Big Purple Fans shows absolutely no love to UAlbany’s most successful team. By success I mean most wins, most competative program (Nationally) at the University At Albany. That is program happens to be Men and Womens Track and Field. The track team has yielded the most nationally competative D-1 athletes at the University ever, and has the most America East Conference Championship Titles at Albany (5 to be exact). For the sake of argument read below:

 

2001: (First year in America East) Runner up to Northeastern (Champions for 16 years 8 consecutive!) Indoor and Outdoor Track! Women placed 6th.

 

2002: Mens Sweep, A.East Indoor and Outdoor Championships, Conference MVP, Coaching Staff of the Year. Women place runner up to Northeastern...from a 6th place finish the previous year. Men break a conference record of points scored in a America East Championship meet 233pts.

 

2003: Mens Sweep again, A.East Indoor and Outdoor Championships, Conference MVP, Coaching Staff of the Year, Women place runner up! (Note: UMBC Enters Conference). First UAlbany Female athlete to ever compete at the NCAA D1 National Championship! TERESA COVERT, 100 Hurdles at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, California.

 

2004: Men A.East Indoor Champions, Outdoor runner up to Northeastern lost by 0.5 pts. Women Runner up to Northeastern. First UAlbany Male athlete to ever compete at the NCAA D1 National Championships! BRANDON HOWLETT (Discus) at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin. (He finished the season 6 feet shy of the USA Olympic Trials standard). COVERT goes for a second time. (She finished the season 0.01 seconds shy of the USA Olympic Trials standard).

 

2004 HIGHLIGHTS & HEADLINES

Rob Caracciolo UAlbany’s First Track Athlete To Ever Compete In An Olympic Games. Rob competed in the 3000 meters along side the worlds fastest distance runners in Athens Greece in August 2004.

 

UAlbany Sends Eleven Athletes To NCAA East Regional Track & Field Meet

Eleven athletes will represent the University at Albany at the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 28-29.

 

Albany Men's Track & Field Wins Title at Boston U. Invitational

 

Alyssa Lotmore Finishes Eighth In 1,500m Run USA Juniors Track & Field Nationals

College Station, Texas. Competition was held at Texas A&M University’s Frank G. Anderson Track & Field Complex.

 

Lotmore And Howlett Set School Marks At Williams Relays

Lotmore, a freshman who was part of the school record-setting distance medley relay team at last weekend’s Texas Relays, was clocked in with a time of 17:34.68 in the 5,000 to notch another school mark.

 

Covert Sets School Record at NCAA Meet. She placed 16th in the nation in the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries in a school-record time of 13.30 just missing USA Oylmpic Trials by 0.01 seconds at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships.

 

UAlbany’s Teresa Covert Advances To NCAA East Regional 100-Hurdels Final In Gainesville, Florida. (University of Florida “Gators”)

 

Teresa Covert Named ECAC Co-Field Athlete Of The Week

Teresa Covert Breaks Her Own School Record In Long Jump Aa UConn Meet

 

Covert Breaks Two Records On First Day At America East Women’s Track Meet

 

UAlbany’s Naron Stewart Ties For Eighth In High Jump At NCAA East Regional

Naron Stewart tied for eighth place in the men’s high jump final, as he cleared the bar at 6-feet, 9-inches.

 

Brandon Howlett Advances To NCAA Divison I Track & Field Championships

 

UAlbany’s Brandon Howlett Finishes 21st At NCAA Championships

Howlett is the first UAlbany male athlete to compete at the Division I Championships. The senior owns the school record in the discus as he threw 184-feet, 0.5-inches earlier this season at the America East Conference Championships, but has a personal best throw of 202-feet.

 

Howlett and Opuana Have Top-10 Finishes at IC4A Meet

In the men’s IC4A competition, UAlbany’s Brandon Howlett placed fourth in the discus with a toss of 174-feet, 3-inches and Eric Opuana had a hammer throw mark of 184-feet, 10-inches to place seventh overall.

 

Howlett Sets Meet Record At Williams Relays

 

Brandon Howlett Earns Second Straight ECAC Weekly Honor

 

Howlett Places First In The Discus At The Duke Invite

 

Brandon Howlett Places Second In Discus At Raleigh Relays

 

Eric Opuana Qualifies For NCAA Regionals At Texas Relays

Gered Burns Wins IC4A 800-Meter Championship

 

UAlbany's Burns and Matthews Set School Marks at NYU

 

Burns Chosen ECAC Division I Track Co-Athlete of the Week

 

Burns Wins 800-Meter Run at New Balance Armory Invite

 

And that’s not all of the headlines…are these accomplishments not worthy of Big Purple Fans notoriety? Are they not admirable? Do they not warrant credit?

[Dane96]

 

 

Ummmm...we do give it respect and recognition. How about you rallying som of your athletes and their fans to this site so we can discuss it more. MOST fans, except in Europe, take a feigning interest in Track and Field because it is not in the spotlight.

 

However, we support all of our teams...and it is arguable what you speak of. Instead of bitching and moaning....enlighten us and bring some people out here so we can have open discussion and maybe learn more about a sport that most of us know nothing about.

 

We would be interested....trust me. Your comments are a bit out of line and stink comng after the BPG...which HIGHLIGHTS THE ENTIRE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY.

 

Re-think your thoughts. BTW...i attended the Championships in Boston....to see UA and my very close friend who is a top asst at NU.

[Play_Fair]

I'm am not bitching and moaning by any means, your comical for implying such! I'm just saying what a disgrace it is for this website specifically to not embrace the success of our greatest program. Your right its arguable...but I guarantee you cannot produce creditable proof of "...support all of our teams..." prior to my post. Secondly I never mentioned the word "respect," nor did I mention "THE ENTIRE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY." I speak of this website and of the local capital district, which is a much broader audience. Lastly it is very impolite to welcome a new member of the board in such a rash and defensive way, maybe next time you will allow what you have read to sink in. Understand it before you make such a defensive reply. I wish not to quarrel with you, and I apologize if you have been offended. Hope to see you in Boston on February 19th "Oh loyal fan."

[GreatDanes06]

i believe everyone realize what you the team does. In our yearly awards...Covert ibelieved finished tied or was #1 for female athlete, and even almost finished respectable in the overall athlete area.

[AlbanyObserver]

I too was offended, Play Fair, with the way you introduced yourself to the forum.

 

People on this board post topics they want to discuss. If someone else is interested in talking about track, I am sure they will respond to your information.

 

It is not mandatory that we discuss anything. It is up to the posters to create the dialogue.

 

I am sure everyone that posts on the board is well aware of the accomplishments of the track and field programs.

 

I don't find it "disturbing" that track and field hasn't been shown any love. Maybe you could take it upon yourself to create more love.

[Play_Fair]

True indeed AlbanyObserver, and for that offense I apologize! I do wish to participate in constructive commentary! Which reverts me to my original the questions: ...are these accomplishments not worthy...? Are they not admirable? Do they not warrant credit? I would like to discuss.

[alum73]

The acco,plishments are great and we appreciate them but how any track meets are at U A? Maybe the problem is the team is always at away meets. It's tough to comment on things you don't really get to see.

[danefan]

The following post is my opinon:

 

I think the track and field program would get more recognition and publicity if they could successfuly recruit the abundance of local talent in this area. i think more homegrown talent will increase the communities interest in the program. This is especially true because of the abundance of high school track and field talent the capital district has to offer. This area may have the most high school cross-country talent per area in the nation. Yet how many of the stars end up at UAlbany? I don't claim to know the answer, but I'd guess its not that many. Coach Vivos continuously recruits out of state and even more often out of country (Puerto Rico is included in my out of country analysis.) The local community and fans have no ties with these athletes.

 

Another issue that has already been touched upon is the lack of home meets. That is not all the teams coaches fault. It is without a doubt the lack of a facility to host meets at. Many high school tracks in this area are better than the UA track. Hopefully that all will change with the athletic improvements.

 

This post is not intended to attack anyone, it is just my opinion as a loyal UA fan.

[Patch]

[qoute]Spring Sports-Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, Track + Golf

 

Play_Fair - welcome aboard.

 

Above are one of our sections on this board. So as you can see we are interested about info on track but seemingly very few post comments and being most of us don't see track meets because they are away we have little info. The more that could be provided the better it would be.

 

I for one always read and follow the posts which usually appear around the time of the conferences and NCAA's.

 

The true UA Athletic are very proud of the Track teams accomplishments. Keep us abreast of what's happening in track.

[Oldtimer]

HAVE TO AGREE WITH ALUM73. WE ARE ALL APPRECIATIVE OF THE SUCCESS OF THE TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES BUT IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS THOSE FEELINGS WHEN THEY ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE TO GO TO PRESTIGUOUS MEETS AWAY FROM HOME. BE ASSURED MANY OF US FOLLOW YOUR SUCCESS, BUT EVEN NEWS ARTICLES ARE VERY BRIEF. SUGGESTION: GIVE MEET RESULTS OF ALL OF THE ATHLETES IN ALL EVENTS TO THE ATHLETIC WEB SITE. THAT WAY EVEN PARENTS CAN FOLLOW THE TEAM AS WELL AS ALUMS AND THOSE INTERESTED IN THE TEAM. PS: I HAVE SEEN T&F ATHLETES AT OTHER EVENTS AND THEY ARE SUPPORTIVE OF OTHER UA TEAMS.

[Dane96]

HAVE TO AGREE WITH ALUM73. WE ARE ALL APPRECIATIVE OF THE SUCCESS OF THE TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES BUT IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS THOSE FEELINGS WHEN THEY ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE TO GO TO PRESTIGUOUS MEETS AWAY FROM HOME. BE ASSURED MANY OF US FOLLOW YOUR SUCCESS, BUT EVEN NEWS ARTICLES ARE VERY BRIEF. SUGGESTION: GIVE MEET RESULTS OF ALL OF THE ATHLETES IN ALL EVENTS TO THE ATHLETIC WEB SITE. THAT WAY EVEN PARENTS CAN FOLLOW THE TEAM AS WELL AS ALUMS AND THOSE INTERESTED IN THE TEAM. PS: I HAVE SEEN T&F ATHLETES AT OTHER EVENTS AND THEY ARE SUPPORTIVE OF OTHER UA TEAMS.

The last part is true indeed...the track team supports the other teams VERY WELL.

 

Play Fair...it wasnt what you said, but how you said it. We, on this board, support all our teams. The more people you can personally bring to this site...the better for all of us...it would create discussion.

 

The fact is...we have talked up UA track and field on this board AND the AMERICA EAST BOARD.

[alumni '92']

How about you rallying some of your athletes and their fans to this site so we can discuss it more. - Dane96

ditto ... track athletes who post here would be a catalyst for discussion, UA fan interest, turnout, etc ... it may be quiet in that category here, but i'm confident that most all on this board recognize the tremendous success of the program ... Coach Vives is one of the classiest members of the department ... hoping to see more T&F posts in the future ... best wishes for continued success

[DaneFan2k3]

Another big problem with discussing track is the relative lack of knowledge I'm sure that most people have about the sport.

 

For example, if you told me someone's 800-meter time, I would have a very vague idea if it was good or bad, but not to the degree to discuss that I would need.

 

I'm sure that other people on the board would agree they aren't exactly schooled in the world's top collegiate times.

 

Of course, you can get this from reading stories on the UA site, however at that point what more is there to discuss ...

 

This forum tends to talk about people's personal feelings on how to grow the program as a whole, how to get better crowds, what people saw at basketball games personnally, etc.

[Dane Pound]

Welcome to the Board Play Fair!

 

I agree with DaneFan2K3 that there probably are not alot of posters knowledgable about track. That can certainly change if we do get some posters who follow track and keep us in the know. Much in the same way alot of us didn't know much about lacrosse but there were several posters who knew something about it and got the rest of us interested.

 

In our own defense if you look through the archives we have followed Rob Caracciolo at the olympics and Teresa Covert and Brandon Howlett at the NCAAs. I know I tend to follow UA track alum when they compete in local events.

[Jhow257415]

Hello guys, whats going on? I am new to the forum, and this is my first post! I am a member of the track team, infact I am a Co-captain. I have had a considerable amount of success in my sport. I think that play fair made a valid point about coverage, and I also agree with some of the other posts, "lack of facilities," and "team advocacy." But what can we as athletes do to make you guys interested in our sport? We would be willing to do it if there was a practical method. Most of the other sports has SID (Sports Information Department) or merchandise representatives doing the majority of the public relations. I know alumni that make a huge effort at getting to away games, but those same alumni knowingly and some unknowingly don't show up when we need them. Our own peers/classmates don't even come to our meets, even the huge meets like A.EAST!