Springing ahead: Profs look to win big in new athletics season

Expectations are high as Rowan University’s athletic teams begin the 2023 spring season. Here’s a team-by-team look at the Profs.

Softball

Coach Kim Wilson’s squad, defending champions of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, are the pre-season favorites to repeat as NJAC champs. But the team, which advanced to the regional final last year, is looking to go bigger in 2023.

“Winning the NJAC and making it to the regional final was a great step for our team, but we’re expecting to make it further into the postseason,” says Wilson, whose team finished 35-10 last year and won Rowan’s 12^th NJAC championship before falling in the NCAA Tournament regional final to Tufts.

“Our goal is to make it to Texas for the national championship.”

Chosen to win the conference in the NJAC Softball Preseason Poll, the Profs are ranked 24^th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll. The NFCA poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Last year, the Profs finished 21^st in the rankings.

Wilson expects big contributions from a bevy of returnees, including all-region selections Korie Hague, McKenzie Melvin and Cat Thomas. Hague and Melvin also were All-NJAC selections last year, as were Liz McCaffery and Rylee Lutz.

Lutz will build upon her solid pitching season in 2022, while Hague will contribute offensively and defensively behind the plate as she handles a younger pitching staff, according to Wilson.

Now entering her 27^th season leading the Profs, Wilson’s career coaching record is a remarkable 901-340-2. Under her leadership, Rowan has won eight NJAC championships and 18 NCAA tournament appearances, including a third place national finish.

Rowan opened the season on March 3 at the Grand Slam Triangle Classic hosted by William Peace University in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Profs play their first home games March 22 in a doubleheader versus Rosemont.

Baseball

Last season, the Profs won the NCAA Annville Regional title and the NJAC crown, but fell just short of the College World Series with a loss in the NCAA Willimantic Super Regional. Rowan, which finished 33-10, fell in 13 innings to eventual Division III champion Eastern Connecticut State.

This season, Coach Mike Dickson’s team is ranked 11^th in the nation in preseason polls D3baseball.com and Collegiate Baseball. The Profs also are the favorites to win the NJAC again this season.

Rowan is returning four of the team’s top five hitters from a year ago, including D3baseball.com Preseason All-America Third team selection Ryan Murphy, a senior right fielder who led the Profs in almost every offensive category in 2022. Murphy batted .380 last year with 51 RBI and nine home runs.

Murphy will have plenty of help offensively with Anthony Schooley (third base), who batted .372 last year; Tyler Cannon (second base); and Pat Defeciani (designated hitter). Cannon hit .354 last year, while Defeciani batted .338.

On the mound, Rowan will be led by senior right handers Jason O’Neill and Mike Shannon. Closer Christian Bascunan, who set the school record with 10 saves last year, also returns.

Newcomers include pitchers Zach Grace, Nick Hammer, Matt Choi and Sean Colbert, outfielders Jason Morgan and Phil Sedalis and catcher Brian Gallante.

Rowan’s season opener was March 4 at Virginia Wesleyan. The home opener is March 21 against Haverford.

Lacrosse

Coach Lindsay Delaney’s squad will look to compete for the NJAC title this year as the Profs return four of their top six scorers from last season.

Rowan, which was second in the NJAC in 2022, is ranked second in the conference in pre-season polls. The Profs finished 10-8 last season and 5-1 in the NJAC.

“Our team expects to compete for the top spot of the NJAC again this year,” says Delaney. “We have an incredibly challenging out-of-conference schedule in the beginning of the season that will have us competing against the best in other conferences/regions. These young women are ready for the challenge and are prepared to work hard and have fun on the field and in the classroom.”

Returning top scorers for the Profs include attack player Julianna Corson and midfielder Molly Green.

A senior, Corson tallied 52 points last year and is the Profs’ leading returning scorer.

Green, a sophomore, enters this season as one of the top players in the nation after being named to the 2023 Preseason Division III All-America Third Team as chosen by USA Lacrosse Magazine. Green was the first-ever Prof to earn NJAC’s Rookie of the Year last year. She also was the first Rowan player named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Boardwalk Region First Team. She totaled 49 points in 2021.

Also returning for Delaney’s squad are attack player Erin Renshaw and midfielder Jamie Cutrera. Renshaw, a senior, had 20 goals and 20 assists in 2022, while Cutrera tallied 27 goals and 10 assists a year ago.

Delaney expects strong play from juniors Hannah Lombardo and Sophia Schiavo and seniors Michaela Donnelly and Reilly Shaup.

The squad opened the season Feb. 22. The home opener was March 1 versus Drew.

Men’s track

Excitement is high for Coach Dustin Dimit, whose Profs are eyeing both NJAC and NCAA team and individual titles this season.

“We expect to extend our NJAC winning streak to nine straight years and to contend for the podium at the NCAA championships and potentially earn our sixth outdoor track and field NCAA team title,” says Dimit, who was named the 2022 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Metro Region Men’s Coach of the Year in 2022.

The Profs return 16 athletes who have competed at the NCAA championships, 13 who have earned All-America honors, and six who have won NCAA titles.

Among the returnees are seven-time All-American Jah’mere Beasley, five-time All-American Nana Agyemang, four-time All-American Ahmir Johnson, and three-time All-American Amara Conte.

Also returning is All-American Greg Poloso, who last year was ranked the seventh best javelin thrower in Division III history.

Dimit expects big contributions from newcomers, including Shamar Love, a transfer student who was an All-American last year, and freshman Evan Corcoran, who was a two-time New Jersey state champion in the 100 and 200m.

Rowan will begin competition in the Washington & Lee Carnival in Virginia on March 17. The team opens at home April 8 in the Oscar Moore Invitational.

Women’s track

The Profs will rely on some talented returnees as they seek NJAC and NCAA titles this spring.

Coach Derrick “Ringo Adamson” will rely on sophomores Jasmine Broadway, Molly Lodge, and Navaeh Lorjuste, and seniors Kat Pedersen and Amanthy Sosa Caceres in the 4x400o relay and open 400m and 200m races.

“These ladies are capable of delivering a lot of points to the team,” says Adamson.

The Profs will seek strong performances in distance events from returnees Anna Saase, Robin Collura and Amanda McNally, while, in the field events, Emily Galvin, a transfer from Villanova, will lead freshmen Alexia Bey, Comfort Adesina and Grace Vit in the weight throw and shot put.

Newcomer Gabrielle Pagano is expected to have an impact on middle distance events.

The Profs, who finished second in the NJAC last season, open competition March 17 at the Washington & Lee Carnival in Virginia. Their first home meet is the Oscar Moore Invitational on April 8.