By Michael D. Brooks, Associate Director of Athletics
(Cazenovia, NY – April 2013) During the week of April 8, the Cazenovia College athletics program is participating in the second annual celebration of NCAA Division III Week. A significant percentage of our students participate in varsity athletics, competing for the love of the game. We are proud to join approximately 450 Division III schools in celebrating the academic and athletic accomplishments of student-athletes, as well as their leadership, community service and campus involvement.
The week begins with “Blue and Gold Day” on Monday, April 8. The athletic department encourages all members of the Cazenovia College community to show off their Wildcat pride by wearing our school colors. As this is the start of Division III Week, the Cazenovia College athletic department plans to kick off the week by making a splash.
For the cost of $1 per throw students, faculty, staff, and administration will have a chance to sink Director of Athletics, Rob Kenna, in a dunk tank outside of Park Hall. There will also be an information booth in the same location with the schedule for NCAA Division III Week and the sign-in for our week-long competition. More details are to follow about the specifics of the competition, but it consists of teams of four (that pay $4 per team) that get points for attending events throughout the week, and get bonus points for competing in contests during the week as well.
The competition is open to all students, as well as all employees of the College with the winning team and runner up winning prizes. The information booth and dunk tank will take place between 11:00 am – 3:00 pm and all proceeds will be donated to the Special Olympics.
On Tuesday, April 9 the Cazenovia College baseball team hosts Houghton in a double header starting at 2:00 pm, while the softball team will also be in action at 3:30 pm when they host Sage. All members of the College community should come out to cheer on our student-athletes. Those competing in the Division III competition will have their first chance to earn bonus points in a contest between the first and second games for both baseball and softball. All games will be played at Veterans Field.
After the games have been played on the fields, all are invited back to the Schneeweiss Athletics Complex as guest speaker Diana Cutaia will enlighten the crowd with a presentation about gender equity. Cutaia is the owner and lead peacemaker at Coaching Peace Consulting. She has been involved in athletics in a number of capacities for 20 years.
From 2005 to 2012 she was the Director of Athletics for Wheelock College where she was able to grow the department from 5 sports to 11, adding men’s sports for the first time in school history. Her unique approach was featured on the front page of the Boston Globe, NCAA On Campus, and Athletic Management Magazine.
For the past two years Cutaia has served as Emcee for the NCAA National Student-Athlete Leadership Forum and has presented to colleges on topics ranging from diversity and gender equity to sportsmanship and decision making. The speech will take place in the upper gym at 9:00pm.
On Thursday, April 9 the Division III Week competition takes to Christakos Field as competing teams will take part in the “Wildcat Olympics”. In an effort to represent all of the facets of student life at Cazenovia College the “Wildcat Olympics” will have an event that represents the arts, academics, and athletics. For the arts each team will construct their own version of the “Harlem Shake”.
For academics, each team will collaborate on a quiz testing their general knowledge, and last but not least each team will complete in an obstacle course to challenge their athletic prowess. All events will be scored and go towards the overall point totals for the Division III Week competition.
On Saturday, April 13 the Cazenovia College tennis teams will host Lancaster Bible. In addition, the softball team takes the diamond at Veterans Field once again hosting Keuka in a double header starting at 1:00 pm. Once again there will be a competition in between games for a chance to earn bonus points in the Division III Week competition.
At the conclusion of the softball game the athletic department will host its first Division III Week Water Race in the outfield of the baseball field. This competition is once again open to everyone and promises to be a wet, wild, and fun event for all. The cost for this event is $5 per team and once again all proceeds will be donated to the Special Olympics.
The winning team and runner up of the Division III Week competition, as well as the total amount raised for Special Olympics will be announced at lunch in the cafeteria on Monday, April 15.