Winter Sports
Goucher’s winter sports teams (men’s and women’s basketball, swimming and indoor track and field) have been practicing for a while now, but their competition seasons are just getting started.
Swimming
The Women’s swim team won two out of four meets, beating Hood College and Stevenson University, while losing by small margins to Frostburg University and Elizabethtown. Against Elizabethtown, the Gophers racked up a lot of high-scoring swims, lacking the depth to secure the points to bring home a win. It’s worth taking note that Goucher took first, second and third places in the 1000 freestyle against Elizabethtown by Alexis Regopoulos, Kathryn Shannon, and Catherine Yost. First-year Alexis Leszewski successfully won the 50 and the 100 freestyle, and fellow first-year Kathryn Shannon won the 100 backstroke. Additionally Co-Captains Alexis Regopoulos and Kyanna Cadwallader won the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke events.
On the Men’s side, Goucher also lost to the Blue Jays but rallied behind some impressive swims. Senior Co-Captain Ian Furst took first place in the 1000 freestyle while junior Eli Gang secured The duo also took first and third in the 500 freestyle. Senior Jerel McCord placed second in the 100 fly, and first-year Troy Thompson placed third in the 50 freestyle. Basketball
Women’s basketball will open on November 15th in a home game against Shenandoah University. Men’s basketball begins later that same night in a home game vs. Wilson College. Good luck Gophers!
Athletics Reaches Out
Student Athlete Advisory Council
The Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) has had a busy semester so far. SAAC, which acts primarily as a medium for student athletes to communicate with the academic and athletic administration at Goucher, also hosts fundraising events and provides new opportunities for Student-athletes to get involved outside of the realm of sports. This fall, SAAC has hosted the One Family Dodgeball Tournament. The tournament raises money for the scholarship fund dedicated to honoring former men’s lacrosse player Matthew Gabriel, otherwise known as the MG3 fund. SAAC is still accepting donations and selling MG3 t-shirts. Beyond the MG3 Tournament, SAAC has also played a large role in organizing the athletes for Athletes games, which aim to promote inter-sport support and pride and get more Gophers out to cheer on their teammates at home matches. The team to attend the most games will win a trophy, recognition at the Spring Athletic Awards banquet, and of course, free food. Looking toward the future SAAC is hoping to organize more community service opportunities for athletes to attend during the spring semester in an initiative that hopes not only to increase volunteer opportunities for athletes, but also connect them to local communities.
New Director of Communications
In other news, Goucher Athletics is excited to announce that John Gatto has been named director of Athletic Communications.
“After a national search that brought us a number of strong and experienced candidates, we are thrilled to announce the hiring of John Gatto,” said Director of Athletics Geoff Miller. “John has close to ten years of experience in the field of athletic communications. He knows the Landmark Conference well, has experience with video and all social media platforms, and he has proven to be nimble and adaptable in a business that is dynamic and changing daily. We can’t wait to get him on board and integrate him into our team here in athletics”.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining the Goucher College family,” said Gatto. “I want to thank Director of Athletics Geoff Miller and everyone involved in the search process for this incredible opportunity. Having the chance to publicize the accomplishments of Gopher student-athletes and coaches both on the field and off of it is a thrill and an honor, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Gatto comes to Goucher after previously working at another Landmark Conference School, the University of Scranton where he served as the Athletics Communications Assistant. He has also served as the media contact for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, and men’s and women’s track & field at Georgia Tech. He earned his degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations in 2008 from Bloomsburg University.
