Malcolm GauldHyde may be a small school — <200 students — but our athletes and coaches flat-out get after it! And relative to our size, a disproportionate number of our alums continue on with their sport of choice after they get to college. (About that “sport of choice” thing: Given our time-honored 3-sports-per-year tradition, some might say that the considerable success our recent alums are having in college sports might well fly in the face of current trends toward athletic specialization.)
Just for grins, I decided to do some informal analysis on just how many of our recent alums — last 5 years or so — have played sports for any length of time at the college level. I found 30 alum college athletes! (And if I missed you, please let me know. And, if you’ve got a pic of yourself in action, send it my way. One of the cool things about blogs is that they can be updated!) Here’s what I got:
Basketball: 19 Recent Alum College Ballers!
– U Mass-Amherst (D1)
– U Mass-Boston
– U Mass-Dartmouth
– Florida Gulf Coast University (D1)
– Monroe CC (NY)
– University of New England
– New Mexico Military Academy (2 alums)
– Pace University
– Penn State-Wilkes Barre
– Sacred Heart University (D1)
– University of Southern Maine (USM)
– St. Joseph’s University (CT)
– Thomas College (3 alums)
– Trinity Valley CC
– Westfield State (MA)
– Wylie University (TX)
Soccer: 2
– Central Maine CC
Check out this excerpted press release from St. John’s University:
QUEENS, N.Y. – Four St. John’s student-athletes have been named 2023 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sport Scholars with Danielo Parkinson being recognized as the sport scholar of the year for men’s lacrosse… To qualify a student must be at least a sophomore in academic standing, maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher, excel in athletic competition and demonstrate commitment to leadership in their communities… Parkinson, a senior short-stick defensive midfielder was the top scholar among Division I men’s lacrosse student athletes and holds a GPA of 3.79 in cyber security. (Great going, Danielo!)
Lacrosse: 7
– University of District of Columbia
– The Elms
– Onondaga CC (NY)
– University of Southern Maine
– St. John’s (D1)
– St. Lawrence U
– Wheaton (MA)
Wrestling: 2
– Sacred Heart
– USM
While these numbers would be impressive for any school, these examples are all the more so given the impact of the Covid pandemic on both our enrollment (we were a much smaller school for two years) and the simple fact that we essentially went two years without formal competition against our rival schools.
Like I said, We get after it! Well done alumni athletes! (And, lest we forget the fact that your coaches had a little something to do with your success!)
Onward, Malcolm Gauld
