Sports Talk
By Brian DePasquale
Football
Sophomore cornerback Will Arzenis scored on a fumble return and Jelani Dandles returned a blocked punt for a touchdown as Albany posted its third straight win, a 27-3 Northeast Conference victory over St. John�s at DaSilva Memorial Field on Friday, Oct. 13.

Albany (3-3, NEC 3-1) scored twice in the first quarter before its offense even touched the ball. Arzenis returned a mishandled punt snap five yards for the game�s first points before Ben Kelcey�s blocked punt was returned 25 yards for a touchdown by Dandles with 9:04 left in the period.

The Great Danes upped their lead to 20-0 in the second stanza when tailback Brian Manigault scored on a four-yard run. Manigault�s seventh rushing TD of the season capped a 41-yard drive.

St. John�s (2-4, NEC 2-4) held the Great Danes to 165 total yards and forced four turnovers but could never capitalize on that effort. The Red Storm offense only managed a 37-yard field goal by Lawrence Tunnell midway through the third quarter.

Albany put the game away in the final period, when reserve quarterback Ryan Roeder hooked up with split end Jay McFarlane on a 34-yard scoring pass.

�We did a great job defensively, and the special teams performed well again,� said Albany coach Bob Ford, whose defense forced two fumbles and added one interception. �I believe we are truly getting better each week, and I hope we have turned the corner.�

Linebacker Tim Campe finished with nine tackles, broke up three passes, and wiped out a second-quarter scoring threat with a 75-yard interception return. Sophomore linebacker Josh Bazan added nine tackles, and one of his team�s six sacks on the evening.

Cross Country
Former Cortland All-American Mickey Kelly won the women�s race and Houghton�s Pat Weaver was first across the tape in the men�s event at the 34th annual Albany Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 14. Marist captured both the men�s and women�s team titles on the UAlbany course.

Kelly, who was competing unattached, covered the women�s 5,000-meter layout in 18:50, and was 19 seconds ahead of Albany�s Jessica Walton. Nicole Herring was sixth with a time of 19:47 for the Great Danes, who placed second in the team standings. Marist, the team champion, had three runners among the top-10 finishers.

�It was a little warm today,� said Walton, a freshman who hit the finish line in 19:09. �The course was nice and flat; it was almost like a road race. There was so much support out there. It helped me get my nerves up.�

Albany was third in the men�s competition behind Marist and Binghamton. UAlbany�s Jeffrey Brooks ran 8,000 meters in 26:47 to take seventh place. Weaver�s first-place time of 25:55 was 26 seconds better than his nearest competitor.

�I love this event,� Brooks commented. �It helps to have people at every corner of the course. You want to please the fans.�

Basketball
The UAlbany men�s and women�s basketball teams began practice last weekend in preparation for their second season at the NCAA Division I level.

The women took the floor for the first time at midnight on Saturday, Oct. 14. Head coach Mari Warner is in her 19th season at the helm, and will build her club around seniors Liz Tucker, a 5-foot-10 forward, and Dawn DiMicco, a 5-foot-5 guard.

Tucker averaged 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds, while DiMicco scored at a 6.4 clip in 1999-2000, as the Great Danes finished 12-15.

The men followed the women onto the hardwood twelve hours later on Saturday afternoon at 12:15. Scott Beeten, who was hired as Albany�s head coach on Aug. 1, has seven lettermen returning off last year�s 11-17 squad. Will Brand, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, is the top returning scorer (11.2 ppg) and rebounder (5.9 pg).

Baseball
Director of Athletics and Recreation Lee McElroy announced on Oct. 12 that the baseball program will join the New York State Baseball Conference, a new NCAA Division I conference, effective with the 2001 season. In addition to Albany, the six-member league includes Binghamton University, Long Island University-C.W. Post, New York Institute of Technology, Pace University and the University at Stony Brook.

The teams will play a 10-game league schedule and the conference championship will take place on the second weekend of May with exact schedule, dates and sites to be determined.

�This is an opportunity to enhance our schedule among Division I-playing baseball institutions,� McElroy said. �We will continue to pursue broad-based conference affiliation for our entire 19-sport intercollegiate program.�

Albany is competing as a Division I independent in 16 sports for men and women. Football, playing at the I-AA level, is a member of the Northeast Conference. Men�s soccer joined the Atlantic Soccer Conference in 2000.

The UAlbany baseball program, under head coach Jon Mueller, went 19-24-1 in its first season at the Division I level in 1999. All-ECAC outfielder/first baseman Steve Checksfield is among the returning players.

�It�s exciting and great for the University,� Mueller commented. �In two years, there is a possibility of the conference champion receiving an NCAA play-in bid.�

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