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Dahrendorff Makes Saint Leo Swimming History

Then-junior Henrik Dahrendorff etched his name firmly in the Saint Leo swimming record books this past spring, achieving a feat that no other Lions swimmer has accomplished in the program’s history—he became the first NCAA national champion. 

After overcoming a heartbreaking finish in the 100 breaststroke the day before, he was able to claim top honors in the 200 breaststroke. Dahrendorff seized the championship with a Saint Leo record-setting time of 1:56.09, which surpassed his previous program best set earlier in the season.

Dahrendorff is now one of three Saint Leo student-athletes who can call themselves an individual national champion, joining Marie Coors ’17 of women’s golf and Hugo Bernard ’16 of men’s golf.

Tennis Player Racks up Three Honors during Freshmen Year

Bruno Faletto of the Saint Leo men’s tennis team added three distinct honors to his long list of accomplishments following his first season of collegiate competition. Faletto, from Santiago, Chile, was named a men’s singles All-American and National Rookie of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), as well as Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year.

Faletto played in the No. 1 spot for the Lions during the Green and Gold’s 16-10 season, advancing to the first round of NCAA Division II South Regional II. He helped Saint Leo reach its highest team national ranking of fourth in the country. 

In individual rankings, he tallied a season-high singles ranking of ninth on April 24. Faletto notched victories over three other All-Americans throughout the season, including No. 3 Serdar Bojadjiev (West Florida), No. 12 Valetin Masse (Hawaii Pacific), and No. 13 Nicolo De Fraia (Rollins).

Faletto earned a 19-3 record in first singles and closed his freshman campaign ranked ninth in the ITA national poll with a 23.20 season average.

Saint Leo Golfers Compete Internationally

Saint Leo Senior represents Trinidad and Tobago in Pan American Games

During the summer, Saint Leo senior Izzy Lawrence was selected to represent Trinidad and Tobago, her native country, in the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. She was one of 98 athletes selected and was the lone golfer on the list. The Pan American Games, also referred to as the Pan Am Games, brings together athletes from the Americas every four years before the Summer Olympic Games to compete.

“I’ve played for my country for a while now, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be chosen to play at the Pan Am Games,” Lawrence said. “Playing for my country is something I’ve always wanted to do, and I am honored to be given this opportunity to compete at this level.”

Lawrence, a three-time Women’s Golf Coaches Association Scholar All-American, will look to guide the women’s golf team to a top-three finish at the Sunshine State Conference and travel back to the NCAA tournament this year.

“What an honor to play for your country,” Head Women’s Golf Coach Lyndsey Bevill said. “Not only is she representing Trinidad and Tobago, but she is representing Saint Leo University at a high level of competition. I am so proud of all she has accomplished thus far on and off the golf course.”

Alumna Wins German National Championship for Golf 

Saint Leo alumna Marie Coors ’17 won the 2019 Deutsche Meisterschaften (the German National Championship) with a 273, 14-under par at the Golf Club Valley in Munich, Germany.

Coors, the lone female NCAA national champion in Saint Leo history, opened up the tournament with a four-under 68. The former Lion then carded a five-under 67 before shooting a two-over 74 to sit at 209 (-7) for three rounds.

Heading into the final day of the championship, Coors fired off a seven-under 65 to capture the national championship crown with a four-round score of 14-under 274.

This year marked the 73rd championship games in Germany. A total of 50 women and 89 men competed in the golf championship. 

 

Saint Leo Athletics Hall of Famer John Swart Passes Away

Former Saint Leo University coach and athletics administrator John Swart passed away May 1, 2019, at the age of 82. Swart served as an assistant athletic director; assistant men’s basketball coach; junior varsity baseball coach; head men’s soccer coach; head women’s basketball coach; NCAA compliance officer; and director of the intramurals department during his 40-year career at Saint Leo.

Swart was elected to the Saint Leo University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000 and is a member of three halls of fame—Saint Leo, Lincoln College, and Illinois State University.

“John was one of the pioneers for Saint Leo Athletics,” said Saint Leo University Vice President and Director of Athletics Francis Reidy. “When I arrived in 1988, he was really good to me and provided insight into coaching and NCAA compliance. He served Saint Leo well in many different positions through the years, was the ultimate professional, and remained a loyal fan during his retirement days.”

In August of 1968, San Antonio (FL) became his permanent residence as he became a professor of physical education and sports management at Saint Leo College. Swart was a professor at Saint Leo for 40 years and continued as an adjunct professor for three more years. He was the first coordinator of the physical education major, and the designed concepts of wellness programs at Saint Leo. He was also the president of the Florida Intercollegiate Soccer Coaches Association and chair of the Sunshine State Conference Women’s Basketball Coaches Committee.

He served as the men’s soccer head coach for 12 seasons (1971-1982) while acting as the head coach of the women’s basketball program for nine years (1983-1992). Swart retired from Saint Leo in 2008 and was an active member of the First United Methodist Church in Dade City, FL.

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Athletics

Saint Leo Inducts Seven Alumni into the Athletic Hall of Fame

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Seven alumni were inducted into the Saint Leo University Athletic Hall of Fame during homecoming weekend in November. Since 1986, the athletic hall of fame has honored former students, coaches, and administrators who excelled in Saint Leo athletics throughout the university’s history. Please join us in congratulating the following alumni.
 

Ernie Robinson ’68 was a dual-sport athlete, competing for the men’s basketball and baseball programs as a Monarch at Saint Leo. During his senior year, Robinson was voted as the J. Barthle Scholar-Athlete of the Year for carrying a 4.0 grade point average in the classroom. He was the 1968 captain with a .335 lifetime batting average on the baseball team where he caught for Saint Leo Athletic Hall of Fame pitchers Thomas Crosby, Fred Cambria, and Raymond Korn. Today, Robinson is retired from a 33-year teaching career in New York. In 1973, he was named teacher of the year in New York where he helped bring several cross country, basketball, and baseball championships. He was a founder of a baseball camp, which gave free instructions in baseball and life skills for 41 years in New York.

Brian Dayett ’78 was a member of the 1978 NCAA tournament baseball team and a two-year student-athlete, where he led the team in multiple categories. In two seasons, Dayett logged 197 total bases, 78 runs batted in, 26 doubles, 11 home runs, and 10 triples. During his sophomore season, in which he played every game, Dayett put together a .311 hitting percentage. He followed with a .381 average his junior season. In 1978, the New York Yankees selected Dayett in the 16th round of the draft. In 1982, he was named the AA Southern League Player of the Year, with 96 runs batted in and 34 home runs—a Nashville Sounds single season record that still stands today. In 1983, he was named New York Yankees Minor League Player of the Year. After playing five years in the major leagues with two clubs (the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs), Dayett played in the Japanese Pacific League before beginning to coach in 1997.

Pierre Augustin ’90 remains as one of the top all-time leading scorers in Saint Leo men’s basketball history, competing for the Monarchs for two seasons during which he amassed 1,037 points. His highlight night was against the University of Tampa. On January 25, 1989, he scored 40 points—the program’s first ever win over the Spartans. While competing on the hardwood for the Monarchs, he played in 53 games with a .483 shooting percentage and a .417 three-point percentage. Augustin hauled in 272 rebounds in two seasons and dished out 126 assists. He was the executive secretary and founding father of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity chapter at Saint Leo. Following his time at the university, Augustin started Universal Distributor Inc. in 2003.

Eusebio Herrera-Montoya ’09, who was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American as a senior, was a four-year member of the Saint Leo men’s soccer program. He ranks third in the Saint Leo record book for career goals with 46, and career points with 115. He was a three-time All-Sunshine State Conference (SCC) honoree, including a pair of first team nods, and the 2005 SSC Freshman of the Year, helping the team win its first championship and No. 2 national ranking. As a sophomore, he received the Personal Improvement Award at the Saint Leo athletic banquet. Herrera-Montoya works at Saint Leo as a Financial Aid manager.

Ashley Urbanik ’09 enjoyed a strong four-year career with the softball program, both at the plate and inside the circle. A two-time All-Sunshine State Conference selection, Urbanik ranks among the top 10 in 10 career categories inside the Saint Leo record book, including seventh as a pitcher and third as a hitter. She sits in second for career homeruns; third in wins, shutouts, strikeouts, and appearances; fourth in runs batted in (RBIs) and complete games; fifth in innings pitched; and sixth in earned run average and at bats. She helped lead the team to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances in 2006 and 2008 and ranked among the top in NCAA Division II in 2008 in her earned run average, wins, hits allowed per seven innings, home runs per game, and strikeouts per seven innings.

Kyle Marceau ’10 is the first Saint Leo men’s lacrosse student-athlete to enter the university’s athletic hall of fame. Despite only playing for three seasons, Marceau put his name all over the Saint Leo record book. He scored 77 career goals in just three seasons, while dishing out 53 assists. He still ranks among the top 10 at Saint Leo in points, goals, assists, shots, shots on goal, and man-up goals. He was named the Saint Leo Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior and was also a United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Academic All-American that season. A 2010 US Lacrosse All-American, he was a two-time, Deep South Conference first team selection and was named to a pair of Deep South All-Tournament teams. He was Saint Leo’s first representative for the USILA North/South All-Star game following his senior campaign. Marceau works for Lincoln Financial Group in Concord, NH, and is an assistant lacrosse coach for Concord High School.

Kaitlin McKenna ’11 was a four-year standout on the Saint Leo volleyball team and holds the career records for attack percentage and block assists, while ranking in the top 10 in four other categories. She is second in total kills, total blocks, and games played, and seventh in solo blocks. She posted the best single season attack percentage in program history as a freshman at .452. As a junior, she was a College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District First Team selection for her prowess in the classroom and on the court. In 2007, McKenna was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association South Region Freshman of the Year and the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year. She is also an honorable mention and two-time All-Sunshine State Conference selection and three-time NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team honoree. McKenna works for Ernst & Young in Detroit.

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Fall 2018

Finding a Forever Family and Giving back to the Community

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Bill and Jeanne Fuller chose him. They came to an orphanage in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 1996, and gazed at a blond toddler in a crib. “I picked him up and he started laughing,” said Jeanne Fuller.

And at that moment, Joseph Fuller won their hearts and found his forever family.

Joseph “Joe” Fuller, now 23, graduated from Saint Leo in April 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in management. He secured a position in youth development service at Youth and Family Alternatives Inc.’s RAP House in New Port Richey, FL, where he works with children ages 10 to 17, who may be homeless, have school-related or family problems, or face other issues.

For Fuller, his life has come full circle. The child who was helped is now helping others. “I can, without a doubt, say my life has been truly blessed,” he wrote in a blog.

Joseph Fuller’s adoption/passport paperwork shows his new name in Russian.

Jeanne and Bill Fuller tried for 10 years to conceive a child. “We didn’t want to be childless,” Jeanne Fuller said. “So we started to look at domestic adoptions. But we didn’t want the parents to come back and claim the child.”

Jeanne Fuller attended a seminar on international adoptions and thought it was a good fit for the couple. They worked with a now-defunct agency in New Mexico that would send videos of children and provide as much history about the children as it could. At that point, Americans could still go to Russia to adopt, Jeanne said. “All of the sudden,” she said, “Joe came along. He was so cute! He was just a year old in the video, but he took control of the whole play area [of the Russian orphanage].”

At one point, the Fullers were afraid they were not going to able to adopt Joseph. “Luckily, things loosened up,” Jeanne Fuller said.

When they arrived at the orphanage, the inside was decorated with bright, primary colors. “They took us to a room with all the boys, and there he was,” she said of Joseph. “He was playing with dolls, which he denies! We got to play with him for a little while.”

After a rather informal adoption proceeding, Joe was theirs. “We brought him back to the hotel and stared at him,” Jeanne Fuller recalled. “Now what do we do? We gave him a bath! He spoke Russian to us. It was interesting to see him see a whole new world.”

Jeanne Fuller delights in her new son Joseph.

At almost 2, Alexander “Sasha” Alexandrovich Foliniykh, became Joseph Paul Alexander Fuller, who grew up in a loving, Catholic family in Sidney, Ohio. March 19 is his “Gotcha Day,” a day the Fullers have traditionally celebrated throughout the years with a chocolate chip cookie cake. “I was one of 4,491 kids adopted that day,” Fuller said. “And of those, more than 60 percent were claimed by American families.”

The Fuller family became complete when they adopted daughter Sara from Russia, too. “I was holding her when I got out of the car,” Jeanne Fuller said of Sara. “Joe wouldn’t talk to me. I had to bribe him!”

Faith played a big role in the family with the Fuller children attending Catholic elementary and high school. “When he got to high school, his faith grew,” Jeanne said of Joseph. Now he attends St. Anne Byzantine Catholic Church in New Port Richey, an Eastern Catholic church. He is a third-degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus organization.

When it came time to choose a college, Joseph Fuller said he was looking at 40 schools. “I cut them down by class size, rural vs. city, Catholic or public,” he said. And he chose Saint Leo.

Fuller earned athletic scholarships and continued pursuing his passion of running, which he started in eighth-grade cross country. As a Lion, he qualified for the NCAA Cross Country National Championships three times and was a member of two Sunshine State Conference championship teams. With his teammates, he volunteered at the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, which enjoys a good reputation statewide. Now, he serves on the organizational committee for the Gasparilla races as well as organizing the smaller Rattlesnake Run for Pasco County’s Rattlesnake Festival and the RAP River Run in New Port Richey.

When he turned 21, Fuller formed the I Play Track Foundation. The name comes from a Tweet in which someone asks, “What sport do you play?” The answer: I play track.

Fuller had been donating his cross country and track spikes to children in need. “There were a lot of kids who had shoes in disrepair,” Fuller said. “I thought it would be nice to give back to the running community that got me through college.

“On my 21st birthday, I grabbed my shoes and the shoes my sister had, and I kicked off the charity,” he said. Now, the I Play Track Foundation is awaiting 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity status.

“I usually just take gently used running shoes and track spikes,” Fuller said. “Some people give new ones. I collect at running events, road races, and other events.”

Coaches send Fuller an email or contact him through the I Play Track Facebook page and tell him what size shoes they need for their athletes. “I go through inventory, send the coach a list, and then they pick the shoe for that athlete. That’s important. I want them in the right shoe. That’s the benefit of me being an athlete. I know that there are different shoes for different athletes.”

Giving back to the community and those who have supported him is important to Fuller.

“I feel that every child, no matter who he or she is or where he or she comes from, deserves to be loved and valued.”

National Adoption Day

Saturday, November 17, 2018
Nearly 5,000 children were adopted during the National Adoption Day observance in 2017.

World Adoption Day

Friday, November 9, 2018
The overall number of adoptions to the United States in fiscal year 2017 was 4,714, a decline
of 658 from the previous year.

Source: U.S. Department of State

I Play Track Foundation
For more information, visit facebook.com/IPlayTrackFoundation or email iplaytrackfuller@icloud.com.

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Fall 2016

Lions in the Pride

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adamson_katieKatie Adamson
Volleyball • Senior
Nelson, New Zealand
The middle blocker was a force at the net in the 2015 season, leading the team in both total blocks, at 103, and blocks per set, averaging 0.87. She tallied a career-high eight blocks in three different matches last season. Offensively, Adamson put away a total of 159 kills in 2015, tallying a career-best 11 against Eckerd College (FL). As one of three seniors, Adamson will help the young Lions squad build off a 21-11 season and an NCAA Second Round appearance.

 

hannah-beardHannah Beard
Women’s Soccer • Class of 2010
Grassendale, Liverpool, England
Hannah Beard is a former Lions women’s soccer player. Originally from England, she is playing professionally with the Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian W-League. She was one of the best players in program history to date, winning several individual honors and helping the team reach the NCAA tournament in each of her four years at Saint Leo, and the program’s first Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship.

 

tyreece-briceTyreece Brice
Men’s Basketball • Junior
Rock Hill, SC
Tyreece Brice made an instant impact on the court for the Lions in the 2015-16 season as the sixth man. Brice averaged the second most points on the team, 15.5 per game, and finished the season as a 2015-16 Sunshine State Conference All-Newcomer team selection. He played in 31 games with 14 starts and tallied 481 points in 977 minutes for the Lions. Along with his 15.5 points per game, Brice averaged 4.2 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per game. Brice scored a career-high 31 points against Alabama-Huntsville in the first round of the NCAA South Regional tournament. Brice helped lead the Lions to a 19-12 record and a fourth-place finish in the SSC with a 10-6 mark.

 

sommer-pollardSommer Pollard
Softball • Junior
Clearwater, FL
Sommer Pollard was the everyday starter behind the dish for the No. 1 pitching staff in all of Division II, owning a 0.93 earned run average. Pollard played in all 47 games, with a .991 fielding percentage with only three errors on the season. She recorded 300 putouts behind the plate, with 19 assists. A Second Team All-Sunshine State Conference selection, Pollard finished the season with a .366 batting average (41 hits in 112 at-bats) while scoring 24 runs and driving in 17. She recorded one triple during her sophomore campaign against Colorado Christian, where she went 2-for-2 from the plate. Pollard recorded 15 stolen bases over the course of the season.

 

rivera_brandonBrandon Rivera
Men’s Soccer • Senior
Orlando, FL
The local product out of Lake Nona High School in south Orlando has come a long way since his freshman season when he saw action in just two matches. In fact, in his junior campaign, Rivera saw action in all 18 games for the SSC regular season champion, including making 13 starts. He scored a career-best four goals on the season, adding a career-high four assists, including his first career assist that came against Lees-McRae (NC) in a 4-1 victory where the midfielder saw three passes find the foot of the goal scorer. Rivera’s breakout game came in the SSC Tournament Semifinals, where he tallied two goals in the Lions 2-1 win over the 2014 reigning NCAA National Champion Lynn (FL), earning himself a spot on the SSC Tournament team.

 

maftuna-tuhtasinovaMaftuna Tuhtasinova
Women’s Swimming • Sophomore
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
A native of Uzbekistan, Maftuna Tuhtasinova competed in the final four regular season events and the Sunshine State Conference Championship for women’s swimming and made an immediate impact on the team. The freshman was a finalist in three events at the SSC meet, including a third-place finish in the 200 Backstroke with an NCAA “B” cut mark and Saint Leo record time of 2:02.01. Her 100 backstroke time also qualified as an NCAA “B” cut time, and Maftuna was a part of 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay teams that set new Saint Leo records.

 

zach-whitakerZach Whitaker
Baseball • Senior
Land O’Lakes, FL
Zach Whitaker was Saint Leo’s top pitcher in 2016, recording a 4.38 earned run average over 72.0 innings pitched, with a 6-1 record and one save. He finished among the top 10 in the Sunshine State Conference in ERA, and held opponents to a .277 batting average. Whitaker fanned 62 batters over the course of the 2016 season, tied for most on the team.

 

jim_cerbieJim Cerbie ’79 got his 400th win as head baseball coach for The Providence Day School in Charlotte, NC, on April 5, 2016. During his 29-year baseball coaching career at Providence Day, he has seen 28 of his players sign to play college baseball at some of the most prestigious programs and schools in the country.

jim-jacobsenJames Jacobsen ’70 is the golf coach at Bergen Catholic High School (NJ), where he won his 1,000th match on April 22, 2016. This gave him an overall 34-year coaching record of 1023-33-1. He was named Coach of the Year by the Star Ledger, The Record, and The Bergen County Coaches Association.

 

 

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2015

A Season of Passion and Purpose

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Ask Coach Erin (Brunt) Kinberger ’07 about how the 2015 Saint Leo softball season ended, and you get no visible reaction. No expression in her face, nothing glistening in her eyes, no slumping of shoulders.

But, sitting in the same chair in Saint Leo’s Student Community Center where she learned in early May that the Lions’ 39-12 record would not send them to a seventh NCAA tournament appearance, it all comes out in her voice.

“I knew, based on the research that my assistants and I had done, that the odds were against us,” said Kinberger, delivering a sigh. “It was kind of gut-wrenching to see them eager to find out, and yet there were seven seniors I knew were probably going to be crushed. I mean, how do you feel when you’re 39-12 … and there’s only a slim chance you’re going to the post-season?”

That ending only slightly diminished what was otherwise a spectacular freshman campaign at the helm of Lions softball for the Saint Leo alumna. Erin Kinberger—or Erin Brunt, as she was known when she was behind the plate for the Lions from 2004 to 2007—guided the Lions to a 10-win improvement over their 2014 tally, perfecting a winning chemistry with players recruited by predecessor John Conway.

In the Sunshine State Conference, the Kinberger-led Lions posted a 15-9 record, just the second winning record in conference play over the past seven seasons.

Other milestones piled up along the way.

A 23-3 record at University Softball Stadium, best home record since 2008. An 11-game winning streak to end the season, with 50 consecutive scoreless innings and seven straight shutouts. Three-game sweeps over SSC rivals Eckerd, Lynn, and Florida Southern. Individually, junior Alana Tabel was Division II’s top pitcher with a 0.94 earned run average, after posting a 3.40 ERA the previous year.

But first on the agenda for Kinberger upon her return was changing the culture of the program.
Saint Leo softball is no stranger to post-season success, with an SSC title and six NCAA tournament appearances to its credit. But those six NCAA tourney trips have been buckshot across a span of 16 seasons, with sustained success having eluded the Lions.

Kinberger, her reputation built in part as a fiery competitor on two of those NCAA-bound teams, has brought purpose and passion to the diamond as Saint Leo’s head coach with the goal of making the Lions a consistent post-season player.

The purpose has taken the form of structure and paying attention to details—a John Wooden-esque requirement for players to wear the exact same T-shirts to practice, for example—while the passion came out in everything Kinberger and her staff did, from encouraging their outfielders to dive for balls to simply asking the young women how they were doing each day.

“At first, the kids were probably a little intimidated by that, but it really felt like overnight they just bought into it,” said Kinberger about her staff’s approach. “Bring in three young women who are passionate about the game and can’t imagine their lives without it, and that becomes contagious to the athletes.”

With newfound values having taken root in the program, Kinberger hopes that lessons and accomplishments of this past season have set the table for Saint Leo softball to rise to the top of the conference. No SSC team has reached the Division II national championship game since 2005; Kinberger’s Lions would love to break that streak.

“It comes down to building a tradition and a mentality,” said Kinberger. “Teaching them to believe what we’re capable of and post-season is where we belong, and turning it into an expectation.”

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Fall 2015

Wearin’ of the Green (and Gold)

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Frank O’Keefe ’74 used to return home to New York during his first years at Saint Leo (College), homesick and wanting to continue his tradition of participating in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He then decided to make the parade a new tradition on campus and into nearby San Antonio.

This year the graduate from the Class of 1974 brought everything full circle by proudly marching with his alma mater in the 2015 New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Frank and his wife, Mary ’76, a member of the Saint Leo University Board of Trustees, proudly wore the group’s marshal sashes. Several more trustees, alumni, students, parents, families, and friends represented the university in its first appearance, bringing Saint Leo’s 125+ years of history to the historic parade.

NYC Saint Patrick's Day ParadeA pre-parade reception at the Waldorf Astoria allowed the group to gather together and connect (in some cases re-connect) with one another. From the Class of 1971 to current students and their families, all wore the green and gold of Saint Leo to add a little more of the Irish colors to the parade.

Each had the same reaction following the walk up Fifth Avenue – “Wow.” It was truly a great experience had by all, and one that many hope to repeat with even more Saint Leo Green and Gold for years to come! We will see you again on March 17, 2016!

For more information about the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade
and all of our events, please visit www.saintleo.edu/alumni.

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