Sports Talk
By Brian DePasquale
Football Opens 2001 at Home Against Towson
The Great Danes, who begin their 2001 season at home against Towson on Saturday, Sept. 1, dipped slightly in the Northeast Conference standings with a fourth-place finish last year. UAlbany returns 16 starters from a team that found its wings in October and November.

Albany has made good use of a multiple option scheme, and averaged 31.1 points and 362.4 total yards in 2000. The Great Danes ranked 14th nationally in rushing at 215.2 yards per game.

UAlbany has a legion of running backs, including senior Brian Manigault, who set single-season records with 1,041 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. Manigault was the first UA player to run for 100 or more yards in three straight games since 1989. Charles Gill and Jon George showed in the spring that the fullback position is in competent hands.

Preseason first-team All-America split end Chris Phillis has already taken his place among the school’s all-time receivers. He caught 49 passes for 856 yards and eight touchdowns last year. SE Jay McFarlane and FL Jonathan Garrick combined for 46 receptions.

Marcus Rotondi is expected to start at quarterback with Ryan Roeder on the shelf while recovering from offseason knee surgery. Rotondi threw for 304 yards and four TDs and ran for 140 more and two scores in five starts as a junior.

In the trenches, preseason All-America and All-NEC left guard Alex Argulewicz is one of three returning starters. Regan Jones has become a solid center, while Ryan Downes has moved over to right guard.

Despite returning eight starters on defense, the coaching staff experimented with personnel changes last spring. John Bolt, Josh MacAnn and Kevin Gribbin have become defensive ends, while senior Ryan Clair switches to defensive tackle.

No moves were necessary at linebacker, where first-team All-America Josh Bazan roams the field. Bazan led the Albany team in every statistical category, including tackles (109), hits for a loss (18.0) and sacks (6.0). ILB Tim Campe had 75 total hits, and ROV Ryan MacLean totaled 86 tackles and nine pass break-ups.

Samson Brown, a first-team All-NEC free safety for the second straight year, may be the key to the UAlbany defense’s improvement. He has 144 career tackles, including 82 as a sophomore.

Place-kicker Bryan Bagstad has scored 50-plus points in back-to-back seasons. Billy Pike was fifth among the NEC’s top punters last year at 35.0 yards per attempt.

Michael Olivia and Dawn DiMicco Named 2000-01 Atheletes of the Year Michael Oliva, a baseball all-star, and Dawn DiMicco, a two-sport standout, have been chosen as the University at Albany’s 2000-01 Male and Female Athletes of the Year. The athletes were selected in voting by the head coaches of UAlbany’s 19-sport intercollegiate athletics program.

Oliva was an All-Northeast Region, All-ECAC and All-New York State Baseball Conference outfielder as a senior. He led the conference and was 15th nationally with a .428 batting average. Oliva established UAlbany single-season records for total hits (74) and doubles (14), plus posted the third-highest batting average.

DiMicco scored 25 goals and 16 assists as a lacrosse midfielder, and became the school’s all-time scoring leader with 182 points (121 goals, 61 assists). She ranked second among the NCAA Division I leaders in ground balls at 5.73 per game. A basketball co-captain, DiMicco averaged 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists from her guard position.

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