B&W Goes Quarterly; Features New Look

It’s a new dawn. That four-word phrase is often employed when something new occurs. That new something, in this case, is the revamped and expanded Blue & White, the longtime and official newsletter of The Citadel Brigadier Foundation.

We are adjusting from printing 10 times annually to quarterly, and we’ll throw in a special Football Issue prior to the season, all of which is a benefit of your TCBF membership. The new Blue & White is now more encompassing, feature-oriented, entertain-ing and easier to read.

Further, we encourage all of our readers to subscribe to the weekly, electronic Today’s Blue & White for more updated informa-tion on our athletic teams in addition to activities within The Brigadier Foundation and the Department of Athletics. To get on the mailing list for Today’s Blue & White that comes free to your email address primarily on Friday mornings, please email me at Andy.Solomon@citadel.edu (or call 843.953.6300) and we’ll be happy to add you to our growing list.

We hope you like what you see in this issue because, as we’ve learned, it’s a new dawn.

Andy Solomon, Editor

After fielding a relatively young ballclub the past two seasons, The Citadel Bulldogs are looking forward to reaping the benefits of two seasons of gaining experience. Sporting a balanced roster that has almost as many seniors as it does juniors, sophomores and freshmen, the team is hoping to get off to a strong start to a challenging 2009 schedule.

Following a productive fall practice season, The Citadel has the tools in place to field a very competitive team in ’09. The return of All-American Richard Jones behind the plate and three-time All-Southern Conference hon-oree Sonny Meade at the plate lead a team filled with experience.

Fielding the Southern Conference’s top pitch-ing staff in 2008, 11 hurlers return as the Ca-dets look to maintain their perch atop one of

the nation’s toughest offensive conferences. Seniors Wes Wrenn and Matt Crim lead a pitching staff that led the nation in pickoffs and the league in ERA last season. With three new pitchers, the Bulldogs are poised to continue to remain in the top third of the conference.

Defensively, the Bulldogs were one-thou-sandth of a percentage point away from finishing in the top three in the circuit last season and a year of experience should lead to an even more successful season in ’09. Jones, a freshman All-America selection in 2007, returns behind the plate along with senior Sid Fallaw. The tandem of Jones and Fallaw hands the Bulldogs the two more ex-perienced catchers in the league.

(2009 Baseball continued on p.3)

2009 Baseball OutlookFrom Larry...

Football to Play Six Road Games in 09Wrestling to Host SoCon TournamentRenewed Football Rivalry with VMI

Basketball Alumni Game

2009 Tennis OutlookFrom Mark Nash...

Stray Dog Society Donates to Stadium FundAndre Roberts Receives All-America Honors

2009 Track & Field OutlookFall Academic All-Conference Selections

John McAleer Joins Department of AthleticsOn the Diamond With Sonny Meade

2009 Golf OutlookFormer Coach Mel Thompson Passes

A "Bucket List"Bulldogs Ink 18 on Signing Day

Experienced Corps to Lead The Citadel Baseball in 2009By Patrick T. Walsh

The Official Newsletterof The Citadel Brigadier Foundation

Spring In This Issue... 2009

Richard Jones

Football to Play Six Road Games in ’09

Director of Athletics Larry Leckonby has announced the 2009 Bulldog Football schedule with Football Bowl Subdivision University of North Carolina highlighting

the lineup as the season-opener on Sept. 5 in Chapel Hill.

The ‘09 slate consists of 11 games, five of which are at home and six on the road. After opening the season at UNC, which

fell 31-30 to West Virginia in the Meineke Bowl, the Bulldogs have a week off before traveling to Princeton (Sept. 19). The

Citadel will then return to Charleston to host Presbyterian (Sept. 26) for the home-opener that features a matchup with the Blue

Hose for the first time since 1991.

Southern Conference action kicks off on Oct. 3 when the Bulldogs host Appalachian State, followed by back-to-back road trips to Elon and Western Carolina (Nov. 10 and 17). The Citadel will then return

to Johnson Hagood Stadium for three consecutive weeks including an Oct. 24 Parents Day matchup against Furman, a Halloween game against Samford and Homecoming on Nov. 7 against Wofford.

The Citadel then concludes the regular season on the road at Chatta-nooga (Nov. 14) and at Georgia Southern (Nov. 21).

2009 ScheduleSept. 5 at University of North Carolina TBASept. 19 at Princeton TBASept. 26 Presbyterian 7 p.m.

Education/Youth Day

Oct. 3 Appalachian State 1 p.m. Military Appreciation Day

Oct. 10 at Elon TBAOct. 17 at Western Carolina TBAOct. 24 Furman 2 p.m.

Parents Day

Oct. 31 Samford 1 p.m. Hall of Fame Day

Nov. 7 Wofford 2 p.m. Homecoming

Nov. 14 at Chattanooga 2 p.m.Nov. 21 at Georgia Southern TBA

All times and dates are subject to change.

From Larry...Since my last communication in this space, many positives have happened in and around the Department of Athletics.

To begin, the hiring of John McAleer as the college’s first-ever Associate AD for Development and Jerry Baker as the new executive director of The Citadel Brigadier Foundation have provided our fundraising arms the solid foundation and boost we need. I have confidence that both John and Jerry will be true assets to the athletics department as we move forward and meet the financial challenges ahead of us to be able to support our coaches and cadet-student-athletes. I also feel certain that you will enjoy working with them both in the weeks and months ahead.

Visually, the appearance of this publication has changed drastically as we – in both the Department of Athletics and The Citadel Brigadier Foundation – attempt to be more ef-ficient and, as a direct result, more effective in our spend-ing. We want as much TCBF money as possible to go toward the funding of scholarships for our deserving ca-det-student-athletes, and producing The Blue & White quarterly instead of monthly will help contribute more toward our scholarship bill.

Further, we encourage everyone to get on our email list to receive the weekly Today’s Blue & White for more updated information.

Good news abounds in the classroom as our teams’ GPA has exceeded the overall Corps average for the fall semester. I would like to congratulate all of our cadet-student-athletes, coaches and faculty members for the fall semester results in the classroom. Our coaches continue to do a marvelous job in keeping our athletes’ academics a top priority.

The successes of our basketball team is truly one of the biggest stories thus far in 2009, and Coach Ed Conroy, the coaching staff and the players should be credited with putting in all of the hard work that has resulted in such a successful season to date. I am looking forward to both the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament and the SoCon Wrestling Tournament to be held in early March.

As we move full stride into our spring sports, I hope you’ll be able to make it to some home tennis and golf matches, a track meet or two and, of course, enjoy the beauty of Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park while watching what I understand to be one of Coach Fred Jordan’s better baseball teams.

And, of course, spring football begins in mid-March and I know there will be a lot of eyes focusing on what we’ll be doing on the practice field.

I hope you enjoy The Blue & White’s new look and I look forward to seeing you at our spring events.

The Blue & White is the official quarterly publication of The Citadel Brig-adier Foundation, Inc., with its office located at The Citadel, McAlis-

ter Field House, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29409 (office 843.953.5277).

Publishers: .....................................Larry Leckonby & Jerry BakerEditor: .................................................................Andy Solomon

Contributing Writers: ......Noelle Orr Blaney, Patrick T. Walsh, .................... Reah Nicholson, Ashley Keyes, Allison Taylor

Photographer:.................................................Russ PaceLayout/Design: .................................... Jamie Severns

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2009 Baseball (continued from p.1) Coach Fred Jordan, who begins his 18th season at the helm, is among the many who believe that successful teams build through the middle and the Bulldogs have those tools in place. In addition to the experience behind the plate, the middle infield duo of Bryan Altman (2B) and Kyle Jordan (SS) have two years of experience playing together while redshirt sophomore Matt Simonelli returns to center field after redshirting last season due to injury.

The offense has the tools to succeed if the team can keep the lineup moving. With the return of the 3-4-5-6 hitters, the Bulldogs again have the experience to be successful. Meade, Jones and Chris McGuiness will combine to form the heart of a lineup looking to become a force in the conference.

PitchingThe ’09 Bulldogs feature an experienced pitching staff that is expected to keep the team in games until the later innings. With Wrenn and Crim, The Citadel has two seniors who have pitched a great amount of baseball to date. Combined, the senior duo has logged more than 522 innings on the hill.

Wrenn, who enters the season with 289.0 innings pitched in his career, will likely set the school record for career innings this season. Wrenn’s 289.0 in-nings pitched is seventh in the college’s career his-tory and is close to Brian Wiley’s record of 316.1 in-nings pitched from 1996-99. Wrenn has the ability to establish consistency early, as the right-hander pitched a stretch of 29.1 innings at the start of last season without allowing a walk.

Meanwhile, Crim has averaged six wins a year as a Bulldog and if he continues with that rate of suc-cess, the southpaw will finish his career around the

middle of the school’s top 10 charts for career wins. Sophomore Asher Wojciechowski led the team with 78 strikeouts as a freshman last season while sophomore Matt Talley tallied nine pickoffs. Both are expected to have solid and consis-tent seasons in ’09 and round out a talented rotation.

Juniors Raymond Copenhaver and Matt Reifsnider give Jordan’s Bulldogs two veteran bullpen arms while Reifsnider has the ability to perform as the team’s fifth starter, if needed. Senior Brett Bull has made a collegiate career out of good middle-relief performances while Chris Boyce, Drew Mahaffey and Nick Sprowls have the capability to succeed in certain match-up situations. The addition of TJ Clarkson, Zach Garrett and Jeremy Long add youth and even more depth to the staff. (2009 Baseball continued on p.5)

Wrestling to Host SoCon Tournament

The Citadel Department of Athletics will be hosting the annual Southern Conference

Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 7, in McAlister Field House. Each individual weight class champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.

Tickets for the day-long event are $15 for adults and $10 for youth and

students. Doors open at 10 a.m. and first-round matches begin at 11 a.m.

Semifinals are set for 1 p.m. with the finals beginning at 5 p.m.

Wes Wrenn

Asher Wojciechowski

Raymond Copenhaver

Keith Koziel

3

The Citadel & VMI to Renew Football Rivalry in ’11 and Beyond

The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute have agreed to bring back the “Military Classic of the South” for six con-secutive years beginning in 2011 at Johnson Hagood Stadium and alternate for the next five seasons.

The series between the two schools dates back to 1920 and they have met every year since 1946 with the exception of 1956, 2004 and 2008. The Bulldogs lead the series 34-30-2, with 21 wins in Charleston,

where they have played on 31 occasions. The rivals have met in Lexington for 26 games and at neutral sites for nine.

The series was coined “The Military Classic of the South” in 1976 by Citadel President Lt Gen George Seignious. The 1976 game was held in Charleston and VMI gradu-ate Bobby Ross was the head coach for The Citadel. The Keydets of VMI claimed the first victory, 30-14, and returned to Lexington with The Silver Shako, the clas-sic’s official trophy. The Cit-adel first gained possession of the Shako in 1978 with a 14-3 win in Charleston and the prized trophy has changed hands many times

since. Currently the Bulldogs maintain possession after an impressive victory in Lexington in 2007.

Harris Leads Whitein Alumni Game, 74-73

Andre Harris ’93 pumped in 30 points to lead the White Team to a narrow 74-73 victory over the Blue Team in the 7th Annual Citadel Alumni Basketball Game on Jan. 31 in McAlister Field House.

Jamie Jenkins ’98 poured in a game-high 44 points in a losing effort. He had the op-portunity to send the game into overtime with three free throws with 1.4 seconds left but missed the third after making the first two. Jenkins, who collected 999 career points as a Cadet, had 25 points at the half and connected on eight 3-pointers.

Harris had 15 points in the first half as the White Team led at intermission, 42-39.

Joining Harris in leading the White Team to victory was Billy McQueeney ’98 with 20 points while J’Mel Everhart ’07 had 12 and Jim Atkinson ’73 contributed 11.

Terry Campbell ’94 recorded 12 of his 18 total points for the Blue Team in the first half.

BLUE (73): Jamie Jenkins 44, Terry Campbell 18, Greg Weber 5, Julian London 4, Doug Snyder 2.WHITE (74): Andre Harris 30, Billy McQueeney 20, J’Mel Everhart 12, Jim Atkinson 11, Al Kroboth 1.HALFTIME: White 42, Blue 39.

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2009 Baseball (continued from p.3) CatchingWith two talented and veteran backstops returning in Jones and Fallaw, the Bulldogs are confi-dent in the abilities of the men behind the dish. Jones and Fallaw combined for a .985 fielding

percentage in 2008 and posted a .989 fielding percentage the year before. The backstops ranked atop or near atop the Southern Conference both years and are expected to do the same in ’09. Jones is expected to be in the heart of the lineup offen-sively every day while Fallaw is near the top of the depth chart for the designated hitters. Both have played a lot of baseball to this point and will see action in most, if not all, games this season. Jones split the offseason between the Cape Cod and the Coastal Plains leagues, gaining valuable experience and improving in all facets of the game. That could translate into a successful campaign for the junior.

Jones and Fallaw return after limiting opponents to a league-best 45 stolen bases against while opponents, wary of their cannon-like arms, only attempted 60 stolen bases against, fewer than any other team in the loop.

InfieldThe middle infield has shed its youth, and with two consecutive seasons under their belts, second baseman Altman and shortstop Jordan bring ex-perience to a middle infield that was second in the conference in double plays last season. The Bulldogs hope that the ’09 season brings contin-ued improvement to a middle infield whose continuing goal is to make the routine play.

Both Altman and Jordan improved steadily throughout the ’08 season while combining to play in every game. Altman could see some time at short with freshman Nick Orvin or senior Johnny Dangerfield taking over the reigns at second should that happen.

The experienced tandem of Altman and Jordan, combined with reliable first baseman McGuiness, makes one of the better defensive infields The Citadel has fielded in recent years. McGuiness is a reliable first baseman who can read infield throws and seamlessly makes adjust-ments to make good plays happen. The main question facing the infield this season is who will step up and fill Matt Arnold’s shoes at third base. Entering spring practice, fresh-man David Greene led the race with Dangerfield, Legare Jones and possibly Altman in the running. Replacing Arnold will be a challenge for whomever wins the job as the now graduated infielder was generally a reliable and experienced defensive player.

OutfieldSimilar to the infield, most of the outfield returns talent and experience. The coaches empha-sized being fundamentally sound and not allowing the extra base in working with the outfielders. With decent arm strength and above average speed among the outfielders, opposing hitters will be challenged to get an extra-base hit.

Meade, a senior who has garnered All-SoCon honors all three years, returns to right field and brings a powerful bat with him. Meade led the team with a .393 batting average and was second in the ranks with a .528 slugging percentage last season. He also led the team in hits (90) and was tied for third in extra-base hits with 16 doubles and five home runs. A true student-athlete, Meade will lead by example in the field and in the classroom as he sports an impressive 3.8 cumulative grade point average.

(2009 Baseball continued on p.7)

Matt SimonelliBryan Altman

Sid Fallaw

Matt Crim

Trey Thomas5

Netters Look for Memorable Season in 2009By Ashley Keyes

With three starters returning, The Citadel’s 2009 tennis season could be one of the best in recent his-tory.

According to coach Toby Simpson, the emergence of four freshmen – Josh Cook, Derek Dickey, Tripp Larkin and Josh Rumph – helps the future of the program look bright.

The Bulldogs may be poised to make a run for a Southern Conference title and with it comes a NCAA tournament berth. Although they may look like a contender on paper, Simpson knows there is still much on-court work to be done.

“Though we have a team makeup of predominate-ly younger guys, this team is ready to work hard and make significant strides,” said Simpson. “As a team we must continue to work hard day-in and day-out to achieve our goals and not rely upon our talent alone. All of our conference opponents have improved over the course of the past year, as we also have, so it should be a fun and competitive year.”

Senior Martin King, juniors Alberto Diaz and Frederic Petrilli, and All-SoCon pick in sophomore Yufo Sutantio are returning after solid performances in ’08 and look to leave their collective and individual marks on The Citadel’s ten-nis program. Michael Kociecki, a graduate student transfer from Furman, is another wild card that could immediately bolster the lineup.

“There will be a lot of competition for all spots in the lineup,” Simpson claimed. “Hopefully by the start of the SoCon schedule we will have a solid lineup each and every day. I believe the freshmen will challenge the returners each day and this should benefit us in the long run.”

The Bulldogs already made their mark in two fall invitationals. The freshmen duo of Dickey and Lar-kin reached the championship of the B doubles bracket in their first collegiate performance as The Citadel opened the fall season at the Quality Inn/Georgia Southern Invitational on Sept. 19-21.

Dickey and Larkin posted their first career win with a 8-5 victory to ad-vance to the finals after securing a bye. The freshmen fell short in the title match, 8-6, to a tandem from North Florida.

The schedule is tough with the always-competitive SoCon sched-ule and includes a challenging non-conference schedule that in-cludes the likes of Clemson, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina and Richmond, among others.

Alberto Diaz Yufo Sutantio

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2009 Baseball (continued from p.5) Simonelli possesses speed, a good glove and returns to centerfield after redshirting his sopho-more season after a wild pitch broke his hand. Before his injury, Simonelli was off to a great start and had developed into a reliable leadoff man. Simonelli had a productive fall and has worked hard to rebound from his injury.

Left field could be the position that has rotation capabilities and could have some match-up op-portunities. Senior Trey Thomas won the job during the fall and it will be his to lose in the spring. Thomas spent time in left along with senior Brian Shubsda, who will also be competing for the left field spot. Freshman Justin Mackert, a product of St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, will also challenge for the position.

HittingThe team worked extremely hard in the offseason in addressing the inside game. The challenge in 2009 is to keep the lineup moving. The coaches have put emphasis on bunting in addition to the hitting and running games, and are hoping that emphasis will yield results. Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park is not known as a hitter-friendly park and with the majority of the games at home this season, the team’s goal is to be one of the top two or three executing teams in the league. Execution is a mainstay of the Jordan coaching philosophy and if the team can execute the game plan in certain situations, they should prove to be successful.

The coaches believe the ’09 team has good offen-sive experience in the lineup. They were disap-pointed in the ’08 squad offensively, but it was not because of effort. Coach Jordan believes that the team will be a better offensive club this year.

ScheduleOnce again, a rugged slate awaits the Bulldogs as the ’09 schedule features a very demanding listing of contests with great competition. The team is fortunate to have a few more home games both from an economical and fan support standpoint. An early-season tournament featuring Marshall, Radford and Tennessee Tech, along with a four-game series hosting Air Force, high-lights the non-league portion of the home schedule.

Success breeds confidence and confidence is something that must be achieved early to be successful. The first nine games leading up to the conference-opening weekend series against Elon are important to establish confidence and relaxed aggression. With the non-conference schedule being as demanding as always, the development of some depth in the team’s pitching staff could pay dividends down the stretch.

The Southern Conference is again the top mid-major conference in the country. The Bulldogs open the league slate the third weekend of the season with ’08 conference and tournament champion Elon returning to The Joe for the first time after advancing to the NCAA Regionals last season.

The addition of Samford to the Southern Conference has created scheduling challenges for all teams in the circuit and the Bulldogs will be faced with back-to-back road conference series. The Citadel will face that challenge early on, traveling to Appalachian State and Western Caro-lina in consecutive weekends the fourth and fifth weeks of the season.

It will be important for the team to be able to handle those road weekends in such a deep league as the Southern Conference as there is no longer an opportunity of having a weekend that is not like a championship series. Amplify that with having to be on the road for consecutive weekends and there is the making of a very difficult schedule.

This year’s conference tournament and its automatic bid to the NCAAs departs from Charleston for the first time in 20 years and will be held in Greenville at West End Field, home of the Class A Greenville Drive. An added challenge is the return to the limitation of eight teams into the tournament and the elimination of the play-in day.

Matt Reifsnider

Kyle Jordan

Chris McGuiness

Sonny Meade

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From Mark Nash...The Citadel Brigadier Foundation President

Greetings and Happy New Year!

As I enter my role as president of The Citadel Brigadier Foundation, I can’t help but notice how blessed we are to have the people in place that make such a huge differ-ence in the life of our great institution. From our school president Lt Gen John W. Rosa, Jr., to our Director of Athletics Larry Leckonby, to our new Executive Direc-tor Jerry Baker and our wonderful staff at TCBF, I feel we have a world class group of professionals that will help us meet the challenges the future holds for us.

It is my high privilege to serve you this year, and I will work as hard as I can to ensure the suc-cess of our great Brigadier Foundation. With the uncertainty of the economy, we have to be diligent in our work to achieve and surpass the kind of successes we’ve enjoyed in the past.

Remember, your school needs you now more than ever as our ultimate goal is to fully fund all athletic scholarships at The Citadel that are allowed by the NCAA. Our cadet-student-athletes are doing a wonderful job representing our school on the various fields of competition and we have the one of the best collection of coaching in the country. These young men and women need our sup-port in order to continue to be competitive at this level.

The State of South Carolina continues to cut funds that the college has to work with, and our challenges are steep but not insurmountable. I am here to serve you and hope you will call me with any issues, opportunities or concerns you may have regarding the Brigadier Foundation. I have learned so much from many of you over the years and I look forward to being your President in 2009.

Sincerely,

Mark Nash, ’90TCBF President

During the first timeout of The Citadel - College of Charleston basketball game on Jan. 24 in McAlister Field House, members of the Stray Dog Society presented a check in the amount of $10,000 for the Johnson Hagood Stadium project.

At homecoming last fall, the Stray Dog Society’s 2nd annual Jamboree was again deemed a huge success and the proceeds from that event help The Citadel showcase one of the best facilities in all of the Foot-ball Championship Subdivision.

The Jamboree is a new homecoming tradition that connects reunion classes and Citadel supporters in a festive atmosphere.

Presenting the check to Director of Athletics Larry Leckonby (sec-ond from right) are committee members (from left to right) John Nance ’68, Tommy McQueeney ’74, Michael Schwartz ’70, Joe Nuttall ’68, Scott Tucker ’70, Marcus White ’02 and Fred Duck-er ’63, who is accompanied by Boo IX.

Stray Dog Society

Donates to Stadium Fund

21st AnnualThe Citadel Brigadier Foundation Auction

“Cruising to the Future”

April 18, 2009 ~ 6 p.m. ~ McAlister Field HouseFor additional information or to volunteer

call 843.953.5277

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He obviously has great hands but may need a wheelbarrow to haul in his postseason awards.

Junior wide receiver Andre Roberts was named to his third All-America team for his 2008 record-breaking performance, including earning first team honors by The Sports Net-work.

Roberts, the top receiver in the Southern Conference, held several top five national rankings at the end of the ’08 season, including the No. 1 punt returner in the FCS. Roberts finished second in the nation in re-ceptions per game and total receiv-ing yards, and fourth in receiving yards per game at the conclusion of the regular season. He also held the No. 14 spot in all-purpose run-ning.

The soft-spoken receiver smashed several school records in 2008. He currently holds the record in receiv-ing yards in a season and in a ca-reer, and the most catches in a sin-gle game, season and career, while having recorded the most punt re-

turn yards of any Bulldog in a season and a career in ’08. In the league, Roberts finished third in touchdowns recorded in a season and second in touch-downs recorded in a career, while tying for third in consecu-tive 1,000-plus yard seasons.

Roberts, who was named Third Team All-America as a sopho-more last year by both the As-sociated Press and The Sports Network, was named Second Team All-America by the Asso-ciated Press and First Team All-America by the American Foot-ball Coaches Association for his recording-breaking season. He is the first Bulldog since Scott Thompson in 1986-87 to earn All-America honors from the Associated Press in multiple years.

Despite finishing the season as the No. 1 punt returner in the country, Roberts was named to The Sports Network’s honor-able mention list for punt return specialists.

Art Musselman ’60 gestures as he ad-dresses the McAlister Field House crowd on Jan. 31. A key mem-ber of the Norm Sloan-coached “Blitz Kids” of the late 1950s, Mus-selman returned during the basketball team’s Alumni Weekend to have his jersey No. 33 honored. It marked the first jersey ever hon-ored in The Citadel’s 108 years of basket-ball. Musselman, who led the Bulldogs to the 1959 Southern Con-ference Tournament Championship game against West Virginia and their star Jerry West, was enshrined in The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981.

Receiver Andre Roberts Hauls in More All-America Citations

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Track and Field Teams Have Solid Outlooks for ’09By Ashley Keyes

MEN’S TEAM: With the loss of five seniors to graduation, a more experienced men’s team will hit the track in 2009. Led by seniors Matt Earls, Zach Harten, Zach Johnson, Preston Kight, Caleb Moore, Corey Robinson, Jim Sanyi and Jose Trinidad, the squad will be aided by Jamel Brown, the reigning Southern Conference 400-meters hurdle champion and runner-up in the high hurdles who returns to complete his eligibility as a graduate student.

Sprints and HurdlesBrown looks to defend his 400m hur-dle title as well as setting his sights on both the indoor and outdoor high hurdle titles. Brown finished second in outdoor competition and third for indoor competition during his ’08 se-nior tenure and served as last year’s team captain. Freshman Aaron Overton and Christopher Graham will also compete in the high hurdles and will give the Bulldogs two ad-ditional quality hurdlers that look to make the finals for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Following a down year in the sprints, veteran coach Jody Huddleston and Assistant Coach Kris Kut’s recruiting efforts have allowed the Bulldogs to reload with a very talented group of freshmen. Twin brothers Christopher and Christian Graham captured state championships in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays for Spartanburg’s Dorman High School during their senior year. Anthony Guil-liams will also be a member of the 4x100m relay and joins Christian in the short sprints.

Sophomores Matt Sheaffer, Ellis Anderson and Maurice Washington will handle the 400m du-ties and look to replace former Bulldogs Jonathan Vallejo and Bryan Hladik. Vallejo and Hladik helped The Citadel to finish second in the 4x400m relay at both the indoor and outdoor cham-pionships.

Middle Distance and DistanceJohnson will lead a talented group of 800m/milers that include freshman Frankie Dioguardi, Harten and sophomore Joe Tkach. Dioguardi posted 1:56 for 800m and marked 4:19 for the mile while in high school, and had a breakout year as a junior running the fifth fastest indoor 800m in school history (1:56.49) at the University of Florida. Johnson followed that with the sixth-best outdoor 800m running 1:53.87 at Clemson. Freshman Chris Morgan, a high school all-state performer, will add depth in the 800m as well as Harten, Tkach and Sanyi.

Brendan Kight is an all-purpose runner who is effective in any race from the 800m through the 5k as he has been the Bulldogs’ top cross country runner for the past two seasons. Kight will also run on some of the relays and was a member of the fifth-place distance medley relay team at last year’s Southern Conference Indoor Championships. Sophomores Chris Fallis and Zach Yereb add much needed depth in these events and this trio will have a strong showing in the mile and 3k indoor events.

Most of the 5k and 10k duties will go to junior Alex Anderson, sophomore Nathan Jackson and freshman P.J. Wasilchak, all of whom showed promise during the cross country season.

ThrowsThe ’09 team will be led by Earls, the team captain, as he finished fourth for the past two sea-sons in the javelin. Austen Ditzhazy showed a great deal of promise his freshman year and is expected to show significant improvement for this season.

(2009 Track and Field continued on p.12)

Jamel Brown

Quintin Turner

Caleb Moore

Christopher Castagno10

The Citadel Places Third Highest Amounton SoCon Fall Academic All-Conference Team

The Southern Conference announced on Jan. 15 its Academic All-Conference teams for the 2008 fall season. A total of 291 student-athletes, representing all 11 Southern Conference institutions, were named to the team including 26 from The Citadel. The 291 student-athletes averaged a 3.55 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average entering the fall season and must have competed in at least one-half of their team’s competitions during the recently-concluded fall campaign. This is the seventh year that the Southern Conference has named an All-Academic Team by season. The league’s women’s soccer teams placed 71 student-athletes on the academic team, with football adding 58. Wofford had the most individuals selected with 44 honorees, followed by Elon with 35 and then The Citadel. Among the 26 Bulldogs were 11 football, five men’s cross country, six from volleyball, three women’s cross country and one soccer player. The following names are the cadet-student-athletes who made the Southern Conference Fall Academic All-Conference Team:

FootballRyan Keiper

Samuel KeelerTravis Ruff

Kevin McCaskillCharles MajorCody WilsonDewitt Jones

Jordan GilmoreJordan PanterJonathan Vest

Desmond Capers

Men’s Cross CountryJim Sanyi

Brendan KightNathan JacksonZach JohnsonAlex Anderson

VolleyballTatum JestilaJessica Maas

Blaine McAllisterEmily Hill

Amanda Beal Ashley Winter

Women’s Cross CountryNatalie Wolin

Sarah StricklandErin Ritter

Women’s SoccerJessa Scott

John McAleer Joins Department of AthleticsAthletics Director Larry Leckonby has announced the hir-ing of John McAleer as the department’s first associate director for development. McAleer was the former direc-tor of development for The Citadel Foundation’s stadium campaign and major gift fundraising for athletics. He be-gan his new responsibilities on Feb. 2.

McAleer, a member of The Citadel Class of 1972, will oversee all of the athletic fundraising activities within the department of athletics with a focus on major gift fund-raising. He will also continue to be involved with the marketing efforts for the suites and club level at Johnson

Hagood Stadium, work closely with The Citadel Brigadier Foundation, the football and basketball associations, and serve as the department’s liaison with The Citadel Foundation.

McAleer has 35 years of business experience in engineering, construction and manufacturing. This includes five years as a vice president and member of the executive committee of Ashland Paving and Construction (APAC), with annual rev-enues of more than $2 billion. He spent 25 years with Fluor, a world leader in the engineering and construction industry.

At The Citadel, McAleer developed and implemented a successful marketing and sales strategy and management of the new executive suites at Johnson Hagood Stadium, while overseeing the same for the club seating area. He is responsible for bringing in more than $3 million in revenue in 2007 and another $4 million in 2008.

A business administration major while at The Citadel, McAleer attended executive Education Programs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, the American Graduate School of International Management and The Buckley School of Public Speaking.

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2009 Track and Field (continued form p. 10)Sophomore Quintin Turner should have a successful season after recording good practice throws during the preseason. As the season progresses, Turner will show marked improvement in the 35-pound weight throw and the hammer. Robinson and Chris Castagno have had a solid offseason program in the weight room and their hard work will stand in the shot put. William Norris offers the Bulldogs added depth in the throws.

Jumps and Multi-eventsThe Bulldogs hope to see the return of 2006 SoCon Freshman of the Year and SoCon Champion Shaquill Smith, who did not participate last year as a result of an Achilles tendon injury. Sopho-more James Harris was a pleasant surprise during his freshman campaign as he finished fourth indoors and garnered All-Conference honors in outdoors in the high jump. Smith and Harris will be joined by Overton, who was impressive during pre-season practices.

Smith, who also holds the college’s freshman record in the triple jump, will get help from Preston and freshman Shane Woodard in both the long and triple jump.

Sophomore Brian Baize is expected to show huge improvement this year following a sixth-place indoor finish in the Heptathlon and fourth-place outdoor in the Decathlon. Joining Baize will be freshmen Ben Schwenk and Mason Sullivan in the decathlon as well as the pole vault as all three have been over 13 feet. These men should also create records in both the Heptathlon and Decathlon.

WOMEN’S TEAM: For the second consecutive year, the women’s team graduated con-ference points with the loss of Tasha Sanders, Laura Phelan and Allison Taylor. This year’s team will count heavily on graduate student Jodi Whittle and senior Monique Edwards for points as The Citadel has arguably the most talented women’s team in its brief history. With the returning upperclassmen and the new nine-member and talented freshman class, the Cadets will strive to build upon recent successes.

Sprints and HurdlesWhittle will put the finishing touches on a stellar track career as she currently holds or shares 10 indoor and outdoor school records. She is expected to be the workhorse participating in 11 different indoor and outdoor events. Whittle is joined in the hurdle events by freshman All-State performer Brillyance Gilchrist-Poteat, Francesca McCrary and Erinn Carter. These Cadets will also run in the sprint events and the relays as Whittle, Carter and Heather Harris will also com-pete in the 400 meters.

Sarah Creel returns for her sophomore season after running the sixth-fastest indoor 60m time in school history, the seventh best indoor 200m and the tenth-best indoor 400m. Creel followed

that with the third-fastest outdoor 200m and fourth-fastest ever 100m.

Rounding out the sprint group will be The Citadel’s first-ever high school All-American and three-time state champi-on Caitlyn Lees, who will run the 100m, 200m and relays.

Middle Distance and DistanceKathryn Gatewood, holder of four school records, will lead a good group of middle distance runners. Gatewood will run the 800m, 1500/mile and the 3k, along with senior Megan Jenkins (holder of 11 school records), Suzanne Gay and Sarah Strickland (holder of five school records). (2009 Track and Field continued on p.13) Sarah Strickland

Brian Baize

Megan Jenkins

Emily Green12

2009 Track and Field (continued form p. 12)Natalie Wolin, who also holds eight school records, will run the 3k and 5k events along with Erin Ritter and Sarah Stierwalt.

ThrowsEdwards will look to put polish on a great junior season after finishing fifth in the indoor 20lb. weight throw and second in the hammer at the SoCon Outdoor Championships. Edwards gradu-ated in December and finishes her eligibility as a graduate student this spring. Junior Emily Green and freshman Mia Trevino will also throw the weight and hammer.

Freshmen Kasandra Polson, Whitney Nave and Trevino will throw the shot put. Anna Fuzy and Theresa Johansen fill the hole in the javelin as a result of the graduation of Phelan and Taylor, who is a school record holder.

JumpsIndoor pole vault record holder Lauren Fleming as been working hard in order to add the outdoor record to her list of accomplishments and will also run the 400m hurdles.

Full name: Samuel S. (Sonny) MeadeSport/Position: Baseball/OF/P/1BAge: 21Hometown: Summerville, S.C.Major: Business AdministrationClass: SeniorCompany: CharlieWhy I came to The Citadel: To play baseball and to get a quality education.People who influenced me most: My father and mother.

Best advice anyone ever gave me: “Don’t hit ground balls.” That was from my father.Players past or present that I’d pay to watch play: Cal Ripken, Jr., Mickey Mantle and Larry Bird.Hobbies: Basketball, ping pong and racquet-ball.Favorite actor: Russell CroweFavorite actresses: Kate Hudson and Amy SmartFavorite TV show: EntourageFavorite movie: BraveheartFavorite sports movie: For the Love of the GameFavorite musical group/artist: Alice in Chains / Chris CornellFavorite meal: Chicken CarboneraFavorite Mess Hall meal: Chicken sand-wiches

Favorite ice cream flavor: SnickersFavorite Charleston restaurant: Vickery’sFavorite professional sports team: No real favoriteBest time of my life/Why? My years of playing baseball here at The Citadel because I’ve made lifelong friends.Biggest disappointment in my life/Why? Losing two conference championships in a row.Behind my back I hope they say: “He plays baseball the way it is supposed to be played.”Life after graduation: Hopefully play professional baseball or work toward my master’s degree. Favorite team road trip: Our trip to Las Vegas to play UNLV in ’06.I’d hate to be stuck in an elevator with: Richard Simmons.If I could change one thing about my sport it would be: Eliminate fields where the wind ALWAYS blows in!

Coaches and/or players I have learned the most from: Chris Swauger ’08, Richard Wiet-ers ’77 and Coach Stuart Lake.Most embarrassing moment (as a Cadet or a player): When the local paper ran a picture of me making an error in a game against Col-lege of Charleston.Event in history I would like to have wit-nessed: Gladiators fighting at the Colisseum in ancient Rome. Four guests (excluding family members) at my fantasy dinner: Cal Ripken, Jr., Mickey Mantle, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.One thing about me people would be surprised to know: Both of my parents were basketball All-Americans at the College of Charleston.

On the Diamond With…

Lauren Fleming13

Golfers Seek Improvement After Fall SeasonBy Noelle Orr Blaney

The golf team has a young squad that possesses a drive to succeed. They are willing to put in the practice hours it takes to be successful in a very strong golf conference. With time and dedication it is expected that team totals will hover around 310, a vast improvement from the past. This is their goal and they are determined to reach it.

The ladies tee off the spring season in the Kiawah Island Classic on Feb. 22-23. They will then travel to Hilton Head for the Low Country Intercollegiate on March 7-8. The J. Ralph J. Hargett Memorial Invitational on March 30-31, while the last conference competition takes place at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate on April 5-7 in Morganton, N.C. before concluding with the Southern Conference Tournament in Hilton Head on April 19-21.

“Kasey Owens has been a strong captain for this team,” said coach Lori Hatcher Bonacci. “She has led by exam-ple. She works hard during practice and always makes sure that everyone else is doing the same. It has shown during competition. Her scores have dropped significantly this year and she makes sure to remind the rest of the team that they need to keep up with her.”

Senior Brittany Nagel was a strong asset to the team her freshman and sophomore years. She stepped away from the sport for a year, but has now returned with a new found passion. She is expected to be a big factor in the spring season and should drop the team totals in the tour-naments to come.

Coach Bonacci claims that junior Natalie Flores is one of those rare people that never stops smiling. The coach calls her “the girl with the crazy swing that hits every ball right down the middle.” With a little bit of putting practice and success, Flores will be counted on to shoot career-lows.

Junior Dorien Shepard is the comedian of the group, ac-cording to the coach. “There is not a practice that goes by that she doesn’t have everyone on the team laughing,” Bonacci states. Shepard joined the team with little golf knowledge, but has been working hard and has seen sig-nificant improvement.

Now a sophomore, Christine Clark started every tourna-

ment her freshman year. Bonacci says that Clark is never satisfied and will work until every tee shot she hits goes straight down the middle and averages 250 yards. This dedication has helped the team greatly and will continue to help in years to come.

“Sheri Rockefeller started every tournament as a fresh-man last year, but as a past softball player she had a ten-dency to swing the golf club like a bat,” said her coach. “We have now corrected those quirks which created a very powerful swing. She is a strong player and that will only get better.”

Sophomore Kate Hardina also started every tournament as a freshman. She entered college golf with the experi-ence and knowledge from a very competitive high school career. This allowed her to have a successful freshman year that could continue.

According to Bonacci, Bree Baumgartner is “Miss Consis-tency.” Averaging 16 fairways a tournament, the freshman is in the No. 3 slot. She has a very extensive knowledge of swing mechanics.

Another first-year player, Alanna Keith, has been a great addition. According to her coach, Keith has a mental toughness developed from a challenging junior golf ca-reer. “If she continues to improve, she will be our No. 1 player as a freshman,” said Bonacci.

Christine Clark Brittany Nagel

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Like you, I’ve been fortunate to have witnessed many things in my life. Personally, I’ve kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland, attended two Roll-ing Stones concerts and felt the cool breezes at games inside both Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.

Additionally, in my 17½ years in The Citadel’s Department of Athletics, I’ve seen a lot of posi-tives as well. With that in mind, I’ve constructed a “bucket list” of 10 items – all Citadel-related – I’d like to witness before I kick the proverbial bucket:

10. AT LEAST 40 PERCENT OF THE ATHLETES EARN GOLD STARS: Educating principled lead-ers is our primary mission at The Citadel, and Gold Stars are awarded to Dean’s List students who have earned a grade point ratio of 3.7 (out of 4.0) or higher in a semester. Attaining 100 percent would be nearly impossible, so I’ll settle for 40 percent.

9. ALL OF OUR SCHOLARSHIPS BECOME FUL-LY FUNDED: The annual task of The Citadel Brigadier Foundation is to raise needed funds to cover the scholarship expense for our cadet-student-athletes. It would make so many lives better if we didn’t have shortfalls in that area.

8. A SOUTHERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN A WOMEN’S SPORT: Intercollegiate athletics for women at The Citadel remain relatively new and crowning a champion in any of our women’s sports would be something quite special.

7. MORE CITADEL GRADUATES BECOMING COLLEGIATE HEAD COACHES: We’ve had sev-eral grads serve as head coaches on the col-lege level, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to have more former Bulldogs possess the title of “head coach?”

6. A WAITING LIST FOR FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS: Season tickets are the backbone of any athletic program, and for The Citadel to have a waiting list for tickets, like the Green Bay Packers or Washington Redskins, would simply be outstanding to have a backlog of those wish-ing to purchase season tickets.

5. A TRACK: Athletic facilities at The Citadel are now on par with or surpassed most all FCS member institutions, but we sorely need a track.

4. HAVE ANOTHER DOMINATING QUARTER-BACK IN THE MOLD OF JERRY NETTLES AND JACK DOUGLAS: Clearly the most important position on the football field, the Bulldogs could

stand to benefit from another dominating quar-terback like Hall of Famers Jerry Nettles ’60 and Jack Douglas ’92.

3. BASEBALL RETURN TO THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: The Bulldogs were the darlings of the 1990 College World Series at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha where they won one of three games yet stole the show. A return to the World Series would simply be a dream come true … again.

2. WEEKLY “SOLD-OUT” SIGNS AT THE REVI-TALIZED JOHNSON HAGOOD STADIUM: The stadium is a pleasant sight – thank goodness – but we’d be thrilled to post “sold-out” signs at the ticket window on a regular basis. In fact, it would be ideal if this was a regular occurrence so that the signs would be professionally cre-ated instead of hand-written.

1. SEE THE BASKETBALL TEAM REACH THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Can you imagine what the reaction would be to have the Bulldogs invited to the Big Dance? The Citadel has been to the fi-nals of the Southern Conference championship only once (1959), but bet on the national media lining up (in single file?) outside Lesesne Gate for a chance to do stories on a true Cinderella.

Former Citadel head basketball coach Mel Thompson, 76, of Indianapo-lis, Ind., died Feb. 5, following several years of declining health.

Thompson succeeded Norm Sloan as the head basketball coach at The Citadel in 1960 and guided the Bulldogs for seven seasons (1961-67) marking a career record of 67-96. His Citadel career was immortalized in the 2002 book, My Losing Season, written by his former player, Pat Conroy.

“Coach Thompson was a wonderful yet very competitive man of few words who kept his emotions to himself,” said former Citadel Direc-tor of Athletics and Basketball Coach Les Rob-inson, who traces his relationship with Thomp-son back to a N.C. State alumni game in 1961 when Robinson was a Wolfpack freshman. “I remember Coach (Everett) Case speaking so highly of him (Thompson) as a player, and he was.”

Born on Oct. 5, 1932, in Richmond, Ind., the son of the late John and Alma (Gross) Thompson, Thompson was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and baseball at Richmond

High School. Mel also pitched in the Chicago Cubs organization and was drafted to play basketball in the NBA by the Fort Wayne Pistons. After high school, he played basketball as a center for North Carolina State University under legendary Coach Everett Case. N.C. State, with Thompson at the post, won the inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament championship in 1953.

After his coaching career, Thompson returned to the Midwest and focused on business op-portunities and raising his family. He enjoyed traveling the warmer parts of the country in the winter months to play golf.

He was preceded in death by his wife Julia Thompson, and is survived by his five chil-dren, Sharon (Bob) Thompson-Brubeck of Findlay, Ohio; Mike Thompson, M. Keith (Lori) Thompson Jr. and Laura (Charlie) Thomp-son-Ponsler of Indianapolis; David (Diane) Thompson of Catania, Italy; his loving ex-wife and caregiver Pat (Bittner) Thompson of In-dianapolis and nine grandchildren, including Robbie and John Brubeck of Findlay.

A “Bucket List”: 10 Things (Citadel-related) I’d Like to Witness Before I DieBy Andy Solomon

Former Citadel Basketball Coach Mel Thompson Passes at Age 76

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Football coach Kevin Higgins an-nounced on Feb. 4 the names of 18 athletes who will join the Bulldogs as members of the 2009 recruiting class during a press conference held at the Pearson Club Level of the West Side Tower at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

The class consists of five athletes from South Carolina, two of whom are students at Bishop England High and one at Goose Creek High. The remaining 13 represent the states of Florida (7), Georgia (2), Minnesota (1), Ohio (1), Texas (1) and Virginia (1).

Among the players are three offensive linemen, two wide receivers, two tight ends, two line backers, two defensive tackles and two cornerbacks. There is also one defensive end, safety, running back, quarterback and kicker in the group.

Name Ht. Wt. Pos. Previous School/HometownGreg Adams 5-9 161 WR Ridgeview/Gadsden, S.C.Kyle Anderson 6-4 275 DT Western Kentucky/Bloomington, Minn.Bay Amrhein 6-2 230 LB Bishop England/Mount Pleasant, S.C.Daniel Berg 6-8 340 OL Goose Creek/Goose Creek, S.C.Devin Brice 6-3 245 TE Holmes County/Bonifay, Fla.Cullen Brown 6-4 222 TE Cocoa Beach/Cocoa Beach, Fla.Keith Carter II 6-0 272 DT N. Florida Christian/Tallahassee, Fla.Derek Douglas 6-1 241 DE Sachse/Garland, TexasRobert Finke 6-5 291 OL Carrollton/Carrollton, Ga.Brian Hill 5-10 175 QB Irmo/Irmo, S.C.Sadath Jean-Pierre 5-10 162 CB Immokalee/Immokalee, Fla.Domonic Jones 6-5 192 WR Fernandina Beach/Fernandina Beach, Fla.Van Dyke Jones 5-10 180 RB Indian River/Norfolk, Va.Jim Knowles 6-0 305 OL Glades Central/Belle Glade, Fla.Brandon McCladdie 6-1 175 CB Evans/Martinez, Ga.Patrick Nugent 6-0 200 LB St. Ignatius/Rocky River, OhioYemi Oyegunle 5-11 181 S Gaither/Tampa, Fla.Thomas Warren 6-1 180 K Bishop England/Mount Pleasant, S.C.

Bulldogs Ink 18 on National Signing Day