June 5, 2009
Terrier Nation,
On behalf of the Boston University Department of Athletics, it is my privilege to say "Thank You" for all of your dedication and support as we conclude the 2008-09 season.
In so many ways, it has been a magical year for the Terriers -- certainly one of the best we have ever had. We won eight conference championships, with six teams and 10 individuals qualifying for NCAA postseason competition. Among the coaches we attracted were Patrick Chambers from men's basketball Final Four-participant Villanova and former men's crew Olympian Tom Bohrer. We hosted the 2009 Women's Frozen Four at Agganis Arena, the second NCAA championship in three years held on our campus. Most memorably, we hoisted our fifth national championship trophy in men's ice hockey when Coach Jack Parker rallied his team to one of the most dramatic comebacks in the annals of college athletics.
In the coming weeks we will officially publish the America East Commissioner's Cup and national Directors' Cup standings, and I am confident you will find these press releases to be the exclamation points on this memorable season.
Our Department's motto is "Excellence in Athletics, Academics and Community" -- and this year we were true to each facet of our focus. In the classroom, our student-athletes raised the department's overall GPA to a 3.0, while 10 teams earned perfect Graduation Success Rate (GSR) scores and two had perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. In the community, our commitment intensified for serving greater Boston. In addition to our annual charitable activities and donations, we forged a unique partnership with the non-profit group College for Every Student, which allowed dozens of our student-athletes to become year-long mentors to middle-school students at nearby Jackson-Mann Middle School. In total our coaches and student-athletes volunteered nearly 4,000 hours for the greater good of Boston's youth and underprivileged.
I am proud that our staff always has demonstrated fiscal responsibility, and this acumen was especially critical when the economic recession occurred last fall. We significantly reduced our operating budget mid-year to help the University balance its overall budget -- and were able to do so without compromising our athletic success.
Some other Points of Terrier Pride from this past year:
- Matt Gilroy won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, Jack Parker won the Spencer Penrose Award as National Coach of the Year, Kieran Millan was named HCA National Rookie of the Year and Colin Wilson was named USA Hockey's College Player of the Year.
- Three teams -- women's soccer, women's basketball and women's lacrosse -- went undefeated during America East Conference regular-season play.
- Three teams -- men's soccer, men's ice hockey and women's softball -- won NCAA tournament games in the same year for just the second time ever and first time in 15 years. Seven NCAA wins -- including triumphs over Ohio State, Iowa and Auburn -- are the most ever in one year for BU.
- Five head coaches joined our staff - Patrick Chambers and Tom Bohrer plus three others with extensive collegiate coaching experience: Stacey Rippetoe of women's rowing, Bruce Chalas of women's golf and Rick Edelmann of men's tennis.
- 11 conference Players of the Year (or the equivalent), including midfielder Michael Bustamante in men's soccer, midfielder Marisha Schumacher-Hodge and defender Casey Brown in women's soccer, Andrea Walkonen in women's cross country and indoor track and field, Tess Waresmith in women's diving, Matt Rickett in men's swimming, Andre Watson in men's diving, Jesyka Burks-Wiley in women's basketball, Stephanie Nunic in women's tennis and Sarah Dalton in women's lacrosse.
- Six conference Coaching Staffs of the Year, including men's soccer led by Neil Roberts, women's soccer led by Nancy Feldman, women's basketball led by Kelly Greenberg, men's swimming and diving led by Bill Smyth, women's indoor track and field led by Robyne Johnson and women's lacrosse led by Liz Robertshaw.
There are many more impressive statistics and countless memories, and we hope you enjoy reliving many of them this month on GoTerriers.com. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next four weeks, we will unveil the second annual "Terrier Twelve", a countdown of what our staff has determined to be the top dozen achievements by our teams and student-athletes from this past year. Trust me, this year in particular these selections were not easy to make!
As excited as I am to look back, I am just as eager to look ahead to 2009-10 and beyond. In September, we publicly unveiled our Strategic Vision document, which articulates in great detail the future objectives of Terrier Athletics. We have a lot we wish to accomplish, and we are well on our way to making that happen. Your commitment to our Vision is essential. Simply put, we will achieve these ambitious goals only with your support.
In today's economic climate, everyone is carefully considering every expenditure, and especially so for their philanthropic priorities. We are so thankful that so many of you have continued contributing to Terrier Pride and supporting our 500-plus student-athletes as they compete in 23 varsity sports at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics while earning a degree from a world-class institution. They take pride in these pursuits, and all of us take pride in helping make their dreams become a reality.
Pride is shown in so many ways. Please know that every which way you choose to show your Terrier Pride -- by donating, buying tickets or merchandise, purchasing an All-Access subscription, bidding in our online auctions, or even just following us on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook -- allows us to become a better athletic department, and, in turn, a better BU.
For that and much more, again, we say Thank You. Have a wonderful summer.
Sincerely,
Mike Lynch
Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics
