In November, Weiss finished eighth in junior men’s foil at USAF’s North American Cup in Austin, Texas. Photo by Bill Cardoni.

By Christopher Hann

Why the foil, instead of the épée or saber?
It was actually the one I started with. When I began in instructional league, that was the one the instructor put in my hand. As time went on, I really grew to love this weapon more than the other two.

Why?
The game is different in foil. It has this thing called right of way, which is all about finding energy between your opponent and yourself and figuring when it’s appropriate to attack. I think it’s more challenging than the other two weapons. The target area is just the torso, the side and the back.

You were 57 and 5 last season, one of the best individual records in Drew fencing history. Do you still find yourself explaining your sport to your classmates?
Oh, yeah, absolutely. It’s an acquired taste for a lot of people. They’re interested by it, but it’s difficult to understand. I find it difficult to verbalize what goes on in a bout.

What’s the secret to being a great foil fencer?
Wow, that’s a really tough question. I think it comes down to smart fencing. Fencing is often referred to as physical chess, and it really is.

At the European Maccabi Games in Vienna last summer, you received an individual gold medal, a team gold, an individual silver and a team bronze. Do you prepare any differently for fencing in an international competition?
I think I treat every competition as if it was the highest level possible. Only because I know that’s when my best fencing is going to come out.

You finished 19th nationally last spring. How much better can you get in the next three seasons?
I want to go until I can’t go any farther, and I think I’m miles away from that.

Christine Meconi scored nine goals and assisted on seven others to lead the Rangers.

Women’s Soccer

Christine Meconi C’12 became the Rangers’ first Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year after a stellar senior season. She led the Landmark with 25 points and collected her third-straight All-Conference honor. She finishes her career ranked in Drew’s top 10 in points, goals and assists.

Men’s Cross Country

Steven Monteleone C’12 entered his name into the Drew record books after he turned in the fastest time ever by a Ranger runner at NCAA Regionals in November. He finished 41st out of a field of nearly 300 8K runners with a time of 26:28.

Cross country rookie Jennifer Van Wingerden became the third Drew runner to take first place in an overall race.

Women’s Cross Country

Jennifer Van Wingerden C’13 broke the Drew 6K record this fall at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University. Earlier in the year, in a field of 80 runners, she won the Misericordia Cougar Classic with a 6K time of 24:08.

Field Hockey (12–9)

For the first time since entering the Landmark Conference in 2007, the Ranger squad made it to the conference championship game. The Rangers eventually fell to ninth-ranked Catholic, 5–1.

By Christopher Hann

You have a lot of great basketball players in your family, including your cousin, Eric Murdock, who played nine seasons in the NBA. Those must have been some brutal pickup games.

Photo by Bill Cardoni.

When you’re coming from that lineage, whatever you do, it could be better. If you had a 50-point game, you could always do better. There’s a lot of trash talk. And there’s a lot of never giving up. That’s what they taught me.

You attended two other colleges for a year apiece before coming to Drew, where you weren’t even expecting to play. What happened?

I walked on at Rutgers. [Former head coach] Fred Hill told me, “You’re a good player, but we got these scholarship players, and I’m going to play them.” I was recruited to go to Idaho State. It was a good situation, but basketball just didn’t fall [into place] as I had planned. When I came to Drew, I actually knew the assistant coach, and he was like, “You’re a pretty good player. You should just play.” It was the best thing I ever did, because I had a great year.

The team rebounded last season from a rough start. How did that come together?

We started off the season 4 and 10. We were headed in the wrong direction. Coach [Darryl Keckler] told us we have a good team, we just have to get it clicking. I said I’m just going to do what I have to do to get the team winning. We got one win, two wins. It was a snowball effect. Next thing you know, we won nine in a row. We just made a conscious effort to play harder.

As a political science major, what’s your assessment of President Obama?

With all the criticism, he’s handling himself well. This Osama thing definitely helps his chances, in my opinion, to get a second term. If I had to give him a grade, I’d give him a B minus/B.

Raul Smego C’13 is the Landmark Conference Player of the Year in tennis.

By Scott Fitzgerald

Men’s Tennis (12–7)

The team completed another chapter in its storied history by capturing its 11th straight Landmark Conference championship. The team extended its winning streak over conference opponents to 95 matches. Raul Smego C’13 was named Conference Player of the Year after posting a 7–0 singles record in league play.

Women’s Lacrosse (11–8)

The Rangers narrowly missed their third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance after suffering a 12–11 loss to Catholic University in the Landmark Conference champion-ship game. Among the eight All-Conference selections, Stacie Brown C’11 became Drew’s third player to be a four-time All-Conference performer.

Matthew Greenberg C’11 was honored as Drew’s male Athlete of the Year.

Take A Bow

Seniors Matthew Greenberg and Kati Eggert were named Drew’s Athletes of the Year at May’s Athletic Awards Banquet. Greenberg, a soccer forward, was the Landmark offensive player of the year, while Eggert, a tri-athlete (field hockey, swimming, softball) was the conference’s offensive player of the year in field hockey and an All-Conference selection in swimming.

New Baseball Coach

Brian Hirschberg, former assistant baseball coach at Lehigh University, has succeeded longtime baseball skipper Vince Masco. At the helm of the team for the past 27 seasons, Masco is Drew’s all-time leader with 387 wins. Masco will continue to serve as associate athletic director

By Christopher Hann

In November 1929, E.Franklin Carwithen C’32, T’32 wrote a letter to Drew President Arlo Ayres Brown regarding a matter of great campuswide concern. Carwithen was enrolled in the new undergraduate college of liberal arts, Brothers College, which a year earlier had admitted its first (all-male) class. With the change, Drew Theological Seminary became Drew University.

The Ranger Bear, played by Cesar Barrientos. Photo by Bill Cardoni.

For decades the seminary had adhered to the not-quite-official colors of blue and green, but Carwithen and his supporters, perhaps seeking to create for Brothers College an identity of its own, had another idea. And so, just 23 days after the stock market crash that would come to herald the Great Depression, Carwithen scrolled a blank sheet of paper through his manual typewriter and began to strike keys to ribbon.

President Brown:

We the undersigned members of the student body of Brothers College respectfully petition the members of the faculty to consider a change in the official colors of the university. It is our conviction that the colors, Blue and Green are not satisfactory and as a student body we should greatly prefer the adoption of (Kelly) Green as the official color. We would further suggest that each college as it is admitted be permitted to select another color to combine with it. The Seminary may in this way still hold to Green and Blue, but we of Brothers College wish to use Gold.

Carwithen’s signature was followed by those of 29 classmates, below which he added this handwritten note: “Those who have not signed have given their consent orally. Therefore 100 percent of Brother’s [sic] College are in favor of the change.”

In the storied annals of Drew, let Carwithen’s entreaty stand as the first volley in the sparsely documented and often misunderstood debate over which of the rainbow’s hues should rightly represent the university.

The confusion began early. Shortly after Brown received Carwithen’s letter, a front-page story in The Acorn reported that the faculty committee charged with considering the request made no decision (though it did permit the Brothers College basketball team to wear uniforms of green and gold). Beneath the headline “‘Green and Gold’ Not Accepted by Faculty,” The Acorn reported: “It was deemed necessary to appoint a Seminary Student Committee, authorized to make proposals, while a General Committee would see that the necessary sample pennants and stickers would be made to show the possible color combinations. The final decision would rest with the Faculty and the Board of Trustees.” (Can you say punt?)

Alas, the archival trail ends there, offering no documentation to suggest when—or whether—the great color debate that Carwithen had inspired was ever formally resolved. In fact, it seems the choice of school colors had long been a muddled matter. “It will be remembered,” The Acorn reported, “that the old ‘Seminary Colors,’ Green and Oxford Blue, were never officially adopted.”

Officially or otherwise, however, the dye was cast. “Thy colors ever glorious / Still wave on high so bold,” wrote John Barclay, a 1935 grad, in the second stanza of the university’s alma mater. “All hail to Drew forevermore / All hail the green and gold.”

For some five decades, the unofficial college colors seemed, well, official. But for reasons the historical record has not fully elucidated, the university in 1982 sent gold packing, dressing both the Theo School and the College of Liberal Arts (as well as Caspersen) in blue and green—or, more specifically, Oxford Blue and Lincoln Green.

The seemingly permanent embrace of blue and green triggered another notable tweak to the university’s institutional identity. Which is why, when alumni returning for Homecoming this fall lift their voices to sing John Barclay’s alma mater, they’ll recite these (slightly edited) lines in the second stanza:

Thy colors ever glorious
Still wave on high so true;
All hail to Drew forevermore,
All hail the green and blue.

True Blue

In 1961, an administrative assistant named Larry Kalp wrote Oxford, seeking guidance on the proper hue of the colors in Drew’s shield, adapted from those of Oxford and two of its colleges, Lincoln and Christ Church.

“Over the years there have been many careless changes made in our use of the blue and green,” wrote Kalp. “We are presently at the state where we question the Oxford Blue and Lincoln Green as we are presently using it.”

Thirteen days later, Kalp got his answer. In a tersely worded response, the head clerk in the Oxford registrar’s office described Oxford blue as “a very dark blue, sometimes known as ‘Navy Blue.’” For clarification, he included a piece of ribbon “of the required colour.” As for Lincoln Green (a shade said to be that of Robin Hood’s woolens), the clerk suggested consulting with the town clerk in Lincoln, England, once a cloth-making capital and the color’s namesake.

Eggert is the first student ever named Landmark Conference All-Academic Team in three different sports.

The senior art major and record-breaking athlete on playing three varsity sports, coming from a family of jocks and life after Drew.

By Christopher Hann

You’re a member of the Drew field hockey, swim and softball teams. Do you know of any other college student in America who plays three varsity sports?
Not currently. I’ve been told there were some at Drew years ago, but I don’t know of any today.

You didn’t start playing field hockey until your sophomore year in high school, yet last fall you were named the Landmark Conference Player of the Year. How’d you get so good so fast?
Even freshman year in college I barely played. I guess starting sophomore year, it really—no pun intended—started to stick. The knowledge of the game finally came to me, I guess.

Do you come from a sports-crazy family?
Kind of. My dad’s mother still plays Senior Olympic softball. My dad is a track coach at Morris Knolls High School in Rockaway, N.J. My mom played for a national volleyball team. My brother played soccer at his school. My older sister did two sports in college. So it’s in our genes.

You were a student-teacher this semester. How did that go?
This was the most draining semester of all time. I was up at 6:30 every morning, and I was up ’til 11 at night. At the middle school I had complete responsibility for the classroom, from teaching the lessons to managing behavioral problems. I taught the sixth and seventh graders origami. My eighth graders did pencil portraits of famous people.

What did you want to do at Drew, but didn’t have time for?
Relax. I didn’t have much downtime.

Besides catching up on sleep, what do you want to do after graduation?
I want to teach and coach. Hopefully that will lead one day to being a high school athletic director.

Asmar Capers led the Landmark Conference in scoring with 22 points per game.

Men’s Basketball (14–12)

The Rangers posted their highest win total in 15 years en route to their first Landmark playoff berth. Head Coach Darryl Keckler was named the Landmark Coach of the Year, while shooting guard Asmar Capers C’12 earned First Team All-Conference Honors. Capers ranked 13th in the country in scoring, at 22 points per game.

Mariel Schwinger posted the conference’s second-best time in the 200 free.

Women’s Swimming

Mariel Schwinger C’14 broke Drew Hall of Fame records in the 200 and 500 freestyle, while she and teammates Kati Eggert C’11, Jess Harrington C’14 and Alexa Morrissey C’14 combined to break the 15-year-old 200 free relay record at Landmark Championships in February.

Fencing

First-year James Weiss had one of the finest seasons in Drew fencing history, qualifying for the NCAA National Championships at Ohio State. Competing against schools like Duke, Princeton, Penn State and Johns Hopkins, Weiss finished 19th nationally in the men’s foil.

Locker Room Project

Alumni, parents and friends can be a permanent part of Ranger Athletics by naming Forum lockers as part of a summer 2011 renovation project. To name a locker, contact Associate Athletic Director Christa Racine at cracine@drew.edu.

Poskay’s favorite food? Salad. Photo courtesy Major League Lacrosse

By Scott Fitzgerald

What’s daily life like for a professional lacrosse player? I imagine it’s a little bit different than a day in the life of an Alex Rodriguez. Major league lacrosse is in its 10th year. And you know the league’s excited by how much it has grown—we’re calling ourselves the pioneers of the sport. We practice a couple times a week, but I still live in Clark, N.J. I go up on Thursday, have Friday practice, play Saturday, maybe head home Sunday. Almost everyone in the league has another job. A lot are coaches like me.

What’s your position? This past year I moved to attack. Before that I played midfield.

You’ve been with the Cannons five years now. I had a little bit of a sophomore slump, but still scored a good amount of goals. My third year I was named team MVP. And then, my fourth year, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I had surgery, missed only four games and ended up playing through radiation treatments.

Wow. Obviously my goal total was limited that year, and I just came back this past year, becoming the all-time leading scorer in Boston Cannon’s history. But beating the cancer was more important than the accolades.

In high school in Clark, you set the national record for most goals in a career. Does that still stand? Yes. I think there are a good 80 goals between me and the No. 2 guy. If it’s broken, I don’t have a problem with it, but I kinda put it out of reach for a while.

As men’s assistant lacrosse coach, what do you have the Rangers do? We do the same drills here that I do at the Boston Cannons. That’s the best part of my day, the two hours we get to practice. I will do anything to teach guys the knowledge I’ve gained over my lacrosse career.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, your second at Drew? Work hard and get better everyday. Our goal is to get to the Landmark Conference playoffs, hopefully win it and earn a seed to the NCAA tournament.

Sophomore Michelle Malone’s goal landed Drew their first Landmark Conference championship game. Photo by Jordan Maslin

Women’s Soccer (15–7–1)
In a season for the record books, the Rangers took home their first-ever ECAC Metro/Upstate Championship with a 1–0 win over SUNY Brockport. Prior to the tournament, Drew had seven players named to the All-Conference Team—a Landmark Conference record—and the women’s 15 victories gave them their winningest season in 11 years.

Men’s Soccer (14–4–4)
The Rangers walked away with multiple postseason accolades, including a Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year Award for senior Matthew Greenberg.

Field Hockey (15–7)
Captain Kati Eggert C’11 was named Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year for her spectacular senior season. The three-sport star led the Landmark Conference in goals (18) and points (45). The Rangers posted 15 wins, the most under fourth-year coach Felicia Cappabianca and highest total since the NCAA tournament team of 1986.

Cross Country
Junior Steve Monteleone had one of the best years of any runner in recent Drew history and is the first Drew runner to earn Landmark All-Conference honors.

By Christopher Hann

Fornarotto, a poly sci and econ double major from Ewing, N.J., is thinking about entering financial law enforcement.

When did you start playing soccer? When I was 3½ or 4 years old, they would put us on little teams and let us goat it. My uncle is the head women’s soccer coach at the College of New Jersey, and he’s had tremendous success there. As soon as I was born, he would put a soccer ball in the middle of my walker, and I’d kick at it.

What is it about soccer? I can’t imagine life without soccer. I love the competitive nature of it. When I get focused and get out on the field, it’s like another whole world. My parents divorced when I was in first grade, so I found some peace in playing soccer.

You’re also the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee? We pick a person or group to raise money for. This year it was for Kyle Noonan, a Morristown resident who was diagnosed with leukemia. Last fall we put together a 5K race and raised over $1,000. Our other big fundraiser was Mr. Drew, a male beauty pageant, which was by far one of the funniest nights I’ve ever experienced at Drew.

And you’re on the University Program Board? I was elected to be the chair of annual events, so I’ll be putting together the Holiday Ball in the fall and then FAP next spring.

I’m getting dizzy. I’m on the Living Council for my dorm. I’m on the Student Conduct Board, the Academic Integrity Committee …

You must like meetings. I joke that my whole life is one big meeting. But I don’t mind it. I can’t stand sitting still.

Is the summer when you sleep? No, in the summer I work soccer camps.

Michelle Gbelama finished her career by being named to her third all-conference team.

By Scott Fitzgerald

Women’s Tennis (13–4) The team made history this past spring by capturing its first Landmark Conference title, followed by their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. The squad traveled to Fredericksburg, Va., and shut out Western Connecticut State, 5–0, before falling in the second round to nationally ranked Carnegie Mellon.

Men’s Tennis (14–7) Men’s tennis continued its decade-long dominance,winning its 10th consecutive conference title this spring. The Rangers moved on to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round for the first time ever. Coach Jeff Brandes was named Landmark Conference Coach of the Year.

Stacie Brown led her team in scoring for the third year, with 32 goals.

Women’s Lacrosse (10–9) The Rangers were one of 28 teams in the nation to qualify for the NCAA Tournament this spring, as they made their second straight trip to the big dance. And for the second time in program history, four Rangers were selected as all-region performers. All will return in 2011.

Men’s Lacrosse (8–7) The team earned a spot in the Landmark Conference Tournament for the third time in as many years, this time as the number two overall seed. The senior-laden squad was upset in the first round by a red-hot Catholic University team. Coach Tom Leanos will say goodbye to 10 seniors, including Jon Bucknam, Drew’s Male Athlete of the Year and one of the most prolific scorers in Drew history.

Point guard Danielle Barber scored 321 points this season.

By Scott Fitzgerald

Women’s Basketball (15–11) got off to a 9–0 start and was one of eight teams to compete in the ECAC Metro Tournament at season’s end. The Rangers upset number-two seed, St. Vincent, before losing in the semifinals to NYU. Sophomore Danielle Barber C’12 took home first-team all-Landmark Conference honors as she led the Rangers in five offensive categories.

Men’s Basketball  (7–18) saw a great rookie campaign from Terrell Brown C’12, Landmark Conference co-Rookie of the Year. He finished ninth in the conference in scoring, averaging just over 12 points a game. He also ranked in the top five in the conference in field-goal percentage and offensive and defensive rebounds.

Fencing hosted NCAA Middle Atlantic and South Regional Fencing Championships where two Drew fencers placed in the top 15. Alex van den Bergh C’11 placed 12th in the men’s épée tournament, while Katie Galpin C’12 finished 14th in the women’s épée.

Guard and sophomore transfer Terrell Brown scored 310 points.

Women’s Swimming had standout performances from Kati Eggert C’11 and Selena Davis C’10 at the Landmark Conference Swim Championships. Eggert finished fourth in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, while Davis took sixth in the 200-yard backstroke.

Coles, a native of The Plains, Va., is majoring in sociology.

By Alex Langlois

Introduce me to the sport. I do show jumping, which is what you see sometimes on TV. My parents were both professional riders, so that’s how I got into it. Today I compete at the Grand Prix level. I’m a professional, so I only compete against professionals.

Are you familiar with Michael Bloomberg’s daughter, a fellow equestrian? Georgina is one of my good friends.

Show jumping looks incredibly dangerous. You have to trust your horse. It’s just getting in the ring, getting the experience. And I’ve been lucky and gotten that experience. I want to compete at the highest level, and I want to show in Europe. It’s amazing competing against all the best riders in the world.

Ever had a nasty fall? When I was little I got my foot [caught in] the reins. I fell off, and the pony took off and went through all these jumps and fences, and I was dragging behind. I looked like a rag doll. I had two scars on my arm, and I tore ligaments in my foot, but I didn’t break anything.

What’s your schedule like? I fly out every Wednesday night to Wellington, Fla., near West Palm Beach. It’s the equestrian capital of the world.

So you get in Wednesday and compete Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday? Yeah. I fly back either Sunday night or early Monday morning.

How do you take classes? I take a couple seminars that only meet once a week, and then my other class meets Monday and Wednesday.

And you squeeze in lacrosse. When I came to Drew, I told Kim [head lacrosse coach Kim Christos] I wasn’t going to play. Kim sat down with me and told me we could work it out. Somehow we did, and I’m glad we did because it’s been a great experience being on the team here.

Are you looking forward to graduating in 2011? The horse-show world is such a different place. I’ve always used school as kind of an outlet, and I think I’m going to miss that.

Photo by Bill Cardoni

A new recruiting push makes Drew basketball more competitive than ever.

By Alex Langlois C’03

From one of the biggest rangers of all time (Dylan Bulger at 6 feet, 11 inches) to one of the smallest (Jennifer Mateo at barely 5 feet), Drew basketball brought in recruits this year who rank among the best in school history. In his first recruiting class, Men’s Head Coach Darryl Keckler added 11 new players, including five over 6 feet, 5 inches. “We brought in players that better fit our system,” says Keckler. “This year’s team is bigger, faster, stronger, and we will still be able to shoot the ball well.” Women’s Head Coach Gail Gilchrest did just as well, drawing eight newcomers who fit the Rangers’ up-tempo style. “This class helps us become a team that can attack,” says Gilchrest. “We will have more offense on the floor at all times.” A pair of 6-footers, Eden Blazovic and Rebecca Smith, will give the Rangers an imposing front line, while Brenda Kramer and mini-dynamo Mateo will continue the Drew tradition of great backcourts.

Select basketball games are now broadcast live over the Web.

Visit drew.edu/RangerRoar.

“Everyone wants to beat us, so there is definitely a sense of urgency this year,” says Brandes (center, in black). (Photo by Jim O’Connor)

Drew men’s tennis head coach on semantics, Puerto Rican slang and the delicious prospect of an unbroken, decade-long conference winning streak come May.

By Alex Langlois C’03

Is there one constant in men’s tennis throughout the past nine seasons?

We’ve always been blessed with great leaders and captains, and the previous coach, Ira Miller, established a good culture from the start. But every team is different. Every team has its own personality.

A couple years ago, you suggested that this streak, nicknamed “The Dynasty,” be renamed “The Legacy.” Why?

A dynasty is just about the results, the wins and losses, and our successes are more than that. There’s a bond among all the players that have set foot on that court, an unwritten code of conduct on and off the court that is passed down: a legacy. It’s a little bit like being in a fraternity, but without the obnoxiousness.

One of the quirkier traditions of men’s tennis is the nicknames. Please explain.

Since before I was an assistant coach in 2003, Ira Miller had everyone’s nickname printed on the back of their warm-up shirts where the last name would normally go. They aren’t genius, but they stick with you for the rest of your life.

Let’s hear one.

Jon Wood C’11 is Toto. First day he was on the team, he was wearing a Wizard of Oz shirt. When we introduced Toto to Elliot Smego C’12 (aka Rico, because he’s from Puerto Rico), he laughed. We went to Puerto Rico for our spring trip, and Elliot suggested we not say Jon’s nickname. In Puerto Rican slang, “toto” means something very bad.

What would a 10th winning season be called?

We’ve had Six-Peat, Seventh Heaven, Great Eight, Divine Nine. No idea. We’ll worry about it at the time. It will be a nice problem to have.

If the 2010 team wins the Landmark Championship, how would you explain it?

Two things: First, we believed; and second, we worked hard. You have to have both; they work in tandem. The harder you work, the easier it is to believe. And the more you believe, the easier it is to do the hard work. If we’re still trying to figure out what to call #10 in May, then obviously it worked.