Tag: Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Shorts Week of Oct. 31- Nov. 6
by The Cowl Editor on November 7, 2019
Friar Sports
by Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Coeditor
Men’s Soccer Update:
Traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio for their final road game of the season, the Friars defeated the Xavier University Musketeers 2-1. After being down 0-1 for most of the game, the Friars were able to score both of their two goals in the final 10 minutes of play. Paulo Lima ’22 scored the first goal for the Friars off a corner kick by Gil Santos ’22, notching him an assist. Ramzi Qawasmy ’22 scored his second goal of the season and second Friars’ goal in the game off of a pass from Joao Serrano ’20RS. PC outshot Xavier 19-3. The Friars won their last regular season game against St. John’s University 2-0. Lima and Esben Wolf ’23 netted both goals for the Friars.
Women’s Hockey Update:
The Friars split this past weekend with a 1-0 win against the College of the Holy Cross and a 2-5 loss against Boston College. Sandra Abstreiter ’21 started in net for the first time this season against the Crusaders and recorded her first career shutout as a Friar. She made 26 saves. Bailey Burton ’23 scored the lone goal for the Friars on a redirect off of a rebound from a wrist shot by Chloe Gonsalves ’21.
Clare Minnerath ’20 started the game against BC but after letting in five goals, she was replaced in the second period with Abstreiter, who saved all of the 15 shots on net that she saw. Maureen Murphy ’21 notched both of PC’s goals and won 12 out of 23 faceoffs, the highest on the team that day.
Volleyball Update:
On Friday, November 1 the Providence College Volleyball Team was able to snag a Big East win against Seton Hall University in three straight sets. Some match highlights include Jenae Alderson ’20 and Brielle Mullally ’23 both recording eight kills. Allison Barber ’21, along with Alderson and Addison Root ’20, led PC with 13 digs. As a whole, the team totaled 14 blocks. The team hosted St. John’s University on Nov. 3, when they fell 1-3 to the Red Storm. The match went four sets, with PC winning only one of the four. Despite the loss, Barber tallied 25 assists and eight digs, Root had 14 kills, and Mackenzie Taylor ’22 led the team in digs (12).
Addison Root ’20 Hits Career Milestone
by The Cowl Editor on October 31, 2019
Friar Sports
Senior Joins an Elite Group of Players With 1,000 Kills
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
The Providence College Women’s Volleyball Team may have lost their match against Butler University on Oct. 10, winning only one of the four sets played, but for Addison Root ’20 there was a lot to celebrate.
Root did not realize at the time, but she registered her 1,000th career kill.
While she did acknowledge that she had a feeling that she was close to achieving the milestone statistic, Root said on the feat, “I knew that I needed 12 in that game so my mindset was ‘alright, gotta go get it!’”
Root was keyed into her achievement by an official announcement during a time out. “During the timeout, our coach was kind of getting on us, so I tried not to smile or anything to keep it casual. My teammates were smirking up at me and I was like ‘Guys, not now!’”
A transfer student from the University of Memphis, Root began her career as a Friar in a stellar sophomore season, starting in all of PC’s 33 matches. At the end of her first season, she led the team in kills (416), aces (36), and was third on the team in digs (258). The MVP of the 2018 Friar Classic, Root was named to the All-Big East Second Team, which at the time made her the first Friar since 2001 to earn a Big East Award in volleyball.
Her first season as a Friar holds not only some of the most memorable playing moments in her career (her first weekend of Big East play included an upset against both Georgetown University and Villanova University and personal career highs), but was also pivotal in rediscovering her love for the game.
“The best decision I ever made personally was to transfer here. Being able to get two degrees and also re-find my love for volleyball after transferring was really everything I could have asked for and more,” said the Kansas native. The ultimate highlights of her career as a Friar are all of the memories she has with the team, hanging out in the locker room and on their road trips.
However, despite her immediate success as a Friar and the success that would follow, Root credits her teammates for having the biggest impact on her career and experience at the College.
“After I got [the 1,000th kill], all of my teammates were posting on social media and I was like, ‘Guys, this wouldn’t be without you because I can’t hit the ball without you. This is all you, I just have to swing.’ We are really close as a team. This has probably been the closest team that I have been a part of,” admitted Root. “We are more than willing to work hard for each other.”
And, despite their overall 5-18 record going into the second half of their season, Root believes it is the team’s closeness and hardworking mentality that will allow them to have a winning record for the final stretch of the season.
“Our record hasn’t necessarily shown all of the work and talent that we have on the team,” Root said before stating that despite the team’s losing record, they are winning more sets than ever this season and only suffered a two-point deficit loss to the ninth team in the country. “We come into the gym every single day and don’t let the losses get us down. We continue to work incredibly hard and have fun playing together.”
Vowing that the team is ready to do whatever it takes to have a winning second half of their season, Root said, “I think we just need to continue to keep the same mentality of working hard and keeping up the fight. We can upset some teams and upset their seasons.”
Individually, Root would really like to see the team capture some Big East wins that she feels they deserve after all of the team’s hard work thus far. “We’re obviously tired of losing but it’s not [as if] we are going to give up. I would like to see some of that translate into some wins.”
More focused on what the team is doing as a whole in comparison to her own personal goals and achievements, Root said she is “pretty happy” with her 1,000th kill achievement. “It was pretty cool,” she concluded.
Editor’s Corner: Crashing Through Gender Barriers
by The Cowl Editor on October 10, 2019
Professional Sports
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
Olympic gold medalist and former Providence College Women’s Hockey Team member Cammi Granato ’93 has been hired by the National Hockey League expansion team based in Seattle as the first female pro scout.
Team general manager Ron Francis said, “I know she’s a female pro scout for us, but her resume is why she got the job—not because she’s female.”
However, there is a lot of importance in the fact that Granato is a female.
As one of the handful of women working in the NHL, Granato’s new position signifies that the NHL is beginning to catch up to current times and solve the gender inequality that has had a daunting hold over professional sports for many years. The only difference between the NHL and other leagues is that the MLB, NBA, and NFL have already made attempts to close the gap between the male-to-female workers ratio.
As of 2018, the MLB has over 100 women working in baseball operations (front office and on-field jobs) and the NBA and NFL have hired woman to take on full-time coaching roles. And while it must be noted that no women has been hired as a full-time general manager or head coach, at least there has been acknowledgement from these three leagues that women are capable of working within both the game and with the athletes.
MLB chief diversity officer Renee Tirado said on the issue, “There’s no sugar-coating this. There’s a lot to do.”
The acknowledgement towards the lack of female presence in professional sports has been lost amongst the NHL it seems, considering that, of the four major pro leagues, they are the only league who has been reluctant to hire women. Of the 31 NHL teams, there is not a single female coach, assistant coach, general manager, or assistant general manager. Even within hockey operations there is a sparse amount of women working.
With that being said, Granato’s hiring might be an indication that the NHL is finally beginning to realize that they are very far behind not only the MLB, NFL, and NBA, but also society as a whole. In a league where many coaches, GMs, and AGMs are former professional players themselves, Granato’s hiring is opening doors to a vast amount of people—male and female alike—to find jobs in the NHL. Especially for women, Granato’s hiring is proof that outsiders of the NHL can know the game and do beneficial work within it.
On her new position, the first female Hockey Hall of Fame and United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductee said, “I know the game and I’m confident in that. I’ve been around the game since I could walk. It’s really cool to be able to do it as a job and I’m looking forward to contributing my opinion.”
Granato’s words and Francis’s comments on her extensive resume being the reason that she got the job demonstrates a solution to what has been the main argument for not hiring women to work for the NHL: that they do not know the game.
Gender issues aside, until recently it has been extremely difficult for non-NHL experienced players to break into the league. Even AHL coaches struggle to get a promotion. This is all changing. As of 2018, 14 of the 62 head coaches have never played in the NHL; the same goes for 13 of the 62 general managers.
Sports writer Lauren Kelly writes, “If there is a time for women to break into this area of the industry, it is now.”
Because, as with any sport, one does not need to play the game to know the game.
PCI: Who is the Greatest Coach in PC History?
by The Cowl Editor on October 10, 2019
PCI
Ray Treacy
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
There have been a number of coaches at Providence College who have contributed to forming the school’s reputation for having a top Division I athletic program. From former basketball coach Joe Mullaney to current hockey coach Nate Leaman, there have been many great coaches at PC. However, when weighing them against one another, it can be argued that Ray Treacy ’82 has been the greatest PC coach thus far.
The director of cross country and track, Treacy has been coaching at the College for the past 33 years. A member of the men’s cross country team during his time as a student at PC, Treacy has an extensive list of both champion runners and championship teams under his belt and is considered one of the nation’s most successful coaches.
Treacy has coached 65 All-American runners, who together have received a total of 176 All-American accolades and seven NCAA individual championships. Treacy’s coaching has led to 15 NCAA individual titles and 45 Big East individual champions, who combined for 117 Big East titles. He has also coached 11 Olympians.
Under Treacy, the women’s cross country team has won two NCAA Cross Country Championships (1995 and 2013), 14 NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships, 22 Big East Cross Country titles, and 20 New England Championships.
Under Treacy, the cross country teams have won the most championships of all of the teams on PC’s campus and the women’s cross country team is the only team besides the 2015 men’s ice hockey team to win a NCAA Championship title.
While only the women’s cross country team has been able to win the NCAA Championship, Treacy has successfully coached both the men’s and women’s programs to make seven NCAA Championship appearances; four of the seven appearances were back-to-back.
In addition to coaching successful men’s and women’s cross country teams, Treacy has also found tremendous success as a track coach. Throughout his career, Treacy has coached nine athletes to individual NCAA track titles and coached a team to setting the world record in the 4X1500 meter relay in 1991.
In addition to his success as a coach at PC, many of Treacy’s runners have gone on to compete internationally. To date, he has had more than 10 runners compete in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012 Olympics. Treacy himself has also reached an international level; at the U.S. national level, three of the top five athletes in the women’s 10,000 meters at the USA World Championship Trials were coached by Treacy.
Treacy’s record alone speaks to the fact that he is the greatest coach PC has had to date. His ability to put together teams that continuously compete and win at the highest level is a job that not many coaches on campus have been able to do. His collegiate and international success demonstrates that he not only knows his craft, but that he is the best of the best and the College is lucky to have him.
Nate Leaman
By Joseph Quirk ’23
Sports Staff
Providence College has been very fortunate to be the home of a plethora of talented and famous coaches over the years. Picking just one as the greatest coach in school history has proven to be quite a difficult task. However, in the entire history of Providence athletics, no coach as had a more dominate run than current Friars men’s hockey coach Nate Leaman.
Coach Leaman took over the Friars bench in 2011 and since then there have been only two seasons (his first two) that the Friars did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. And in both those seasons, 2011-12 and 2012-13, the Friars made it to the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament. In addition, every year that Leaman’s squad has qualified for the national tournament, they have not been eliminated before the regional semis, which includes a 2014-15 National Championship and a 2018-19 trip to the Frozen Four.
Leaman’s team this year also looks strong as they beat the University of Maine 7-0 in the home opener this past weekend. In addition, this year’s squad features eight players who currently have their draft rights owned by NHL teams.
Leaman’s stretch of success with the men’s hockey program goes unmatched by any other coach in the school’s history.
The first coach to make a conference or NCAA tournament appearance (a semifinals loss) was Tom Eccleston in 1961-64. It would be another 13 years before the Friars made another NCAA tournament.
Before Nate Leaman, no team placed better than third in the tournament. Leaman won the first hockey national championship in school history. He stacks up well with coaches from other sports too.
The first notable name that could be thrown in is Joe Mullaney for basketball, but he coached in the ’50s and ’60s and only had two NCAA tournament appearances. Dave Gavitt had five, including trips to the final four and sweet sixteen, but again that was in the 1970s and Gavitt never placed higher than fourth. Rick Pitino had a short but memorable stint as the Friars leader but only served as coach for two years. Ed Cooley has also made the NCAA tournament five times but unfortunately has never made it past the second round.
There are many others as well, but I think the point is evident: Nate Leaman and what he has accomplished as a strategist, recruitor, and coach as well as what he looks to accomplish in the future establishes him at the greatest coach in PC history.
Cross Country Runs in Beantown
by The Cowl Editor on September 26, 2019
Friar Sports
Wheeler ’20 Wins Women’s Race
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
Despite the high temperatures for running this past weekend, Abbey Wheeler ’20 was able to pull off a first-place finish at the seventh annual Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown cross country meet. Having won the race last year as well, Wheeler became the second runner to win back-to-back in the race’s history.
Wheeler, who likened Saturday’s temperatures to last year’s track nationals in Austin, Texas, definitely noticed the heat’s effect on her race.
“This year was a lot harder,” she said. “Last year, I had a big gap so that I could glide in.” The seven-second gap that Wheeler had on the other runners last year was not present in this year’s race. Instead, her win came down to the final 200 meters where she managed to out-sprint the two Syracuse University runners that would take second and third place, respectively. Wheeler’s 17:03 time was not only a personal best for the Franklin Park course where the meet was held, but also a seven second improvement on her time from last year.
“I’m happy for Abbey,” said Providence College Cross Country Head Coach, Ray Treacy. “She’s been running really well for us.”
Wheeler, whose goal for her final season at PC is to find the “perfect” race, said that the Battle in Beantown is the second biggest race of the season for both the Providence College Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams before the Big East Championships and Nationals—the first being the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational meet.
“There is always good competition,” said Wheeler. “Schools come from far away. The bigger the meet is, the further people will come.”
However, despite the importance of the Battle in Beantown for both teams, Wheeler points out, “We don’t race that much, so every meet is important.”
After Wheeler finished, the next Friar for the women’s team to cross the finish line was Maria Coffin ’21. Coffin came in 12th place with a time of 17:40, a 12-second improvement on her 17:52 28th place finish last year.
Lily Tuck ’23, Orla O’Connor ’23, and Hannah McReavy ’22 completed the list of top-five finishers for PC and the women’s team finished eighth out of the 22 women’s teams present.
The men’s cross country team was also present at the meet and finished 12th out of the 21 men’s teams present.
David Rosas ’21 was the first to finish for the Friars. Coming in 24th place overall, Rosas improved upon his last year’s 32nd place finish. After Rosas, Sean Meehan ’22 was the 57th runner to cross the finish line. Peter Rindfuss ’20 and Ryan Gallagher ’21 rounded out the top five runners for the College.
Looking ahead, the Friars will be back at Franklin Park on Oct. 12 for the New England Championships before they head to Madison, Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 18. Following these two big meets, they will head to New Britain, CT for the Central Connecticut State University Mini Meet at the end of October and then the first week of November will be when both teams compete at the Big East Championship meet.
“Big East is really bunched up this year,” said Wheeler. “Usually there is a front-running team but I think depth will play a big role in Big East this year. It is always quite competitive…and so hard to tell.”
With that in mind, the goal for both teams, according to Wheeler, is to continue to return to nationals year after year and put runners up on the podium.
“That is something that we try and build at Providence. That is what you strive to do,” said Wheeler.
Swim Team Raises Money for Swim Across America
by The Cowl Editor on September 19, 2019
Friar Sports
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
Before the start of the 2019-2020 season, the Providence College Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Teams joined colleges all over the northeast to raise money for cancer research at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island as a part of the 10th Annual Swim Across America (SAA) event.
In the ten years that SAA has taken place in Rhode Island, it has grown into one of the largest SAA events in the country.
Providence College Swimming and Diving Head Coach, John O’Neill, who is on the board for SAA-RI, said, “It’s extraordinary to think how important this swim has become to all those whose families are impacted by cancer.”
SAA was founded in 1985 as a sequel event to Run Across America. The first swim took place in 1987 in Nantucket, MA. Since then, SAA holds 20 open water benefits across the country and 100 annual pool swims. The overall mission of SAA is to “unite the swimming community by hosting benefit swims that raise money to fund life-saving cancer research and clinical trials.”
This year’s event, which was to be held at Roger Wheeler Beach in Narragansett, RI, had to be cancelled due to four to six foot swells and rip currents caused by Hurricane Dorian. However, the teams involved were still able to raise over $200,000 in donations.
PC raised the most money out of the 10 schools involved with a total of $34,407. PC swimmer Parker Cramer ’21 raised a total of $3,800, the third highest amount for the entire event and the most out of all PC athletes involved. In the 10 years that PC has been involved in the event, the swim team has raised over $220,000.
“We can all take pride as our event has topped the one million dollar mark for funds raised,” O’Neill said on the money raised for Women and Infants Hospital, one of the largest oncology services for women in the northeast.
Cross Country Teams Ready For New Seasons
by The Cowl Editor on September 12, 2019
Friar Sports
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
The time has come for the Providence College Men’s Cross Country Team to show that they are just as strong of a team as their female counterparts have been the last couple of years.
“They’re going to have a very good year this year I think,” Providence College Women’s Cross Country Team member Abbey Wheeler ’20 said. “They were kind of in the position we are in now last year. The group of junior boys now remind me of the group of freshmen girls now.”
The boys that Wheeler is talking about includes Marcelo Rocha ’21, who finished first in the team’s first dual meet of the season against the University of New Hampshire. The men’s team placed first, while the women placed third. Rocha, who was the 2016 Massachusetts Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year, finished 35th at last year’s Big East Championship.
The men’s team had runners place in the top 10 out of 11 spots, with a mess of sophomores and juniors taking third through eleventh place.
“They have a lot of depth,” commented Wheeler, who also placed first at the UNH Dual Meet. “I’m excited to see how far we can take it this year.”
While the men are already showing their promise for a great season, especially after coming off of a few building years, the women are entering a year of regrowth.
Having graduated eight seniors and graduate students over the past two years and losing top talent like Millie Paladino ’18 and Catarina Rocha ’18, both of whom have had outstanding seasons with PC, is placing the team in what Wheeler refers to as a rebuilding year.
“The team is a bit different from past years where we have had upperclassmen return with all-star records behind them. This year, the majority of the team will be either freshmen or people that are relatively new to running,” Wheeler said. The women’s team has been collecting a number of championship titles, both individually and collectively over the course of Wheeler’s time in the program.
Admitting that the team’s 2016 Big East Championship win will be a hard memory to beat in her career as a Friar, Wheeler adds that on the upcoming season is, “kind of a building year, which is really exciting.”
One runner who is new to both PC and running is Orla O’Connor ’23, a native from Waterford, Ireland who set the Irish under-20 record in the 10,000 meter race walk at the European under-20 Championships.
O’Connor is one of the six freshmen on the women’s 14-member roster this year. She is joined by Ireland native Alexandra O’Neill ’23 and Wellington, New Zealand native Tessa Hunt ’23, all who have chosen the College based on both teams’ head coach, Ray Treacy.
“He’s the reason why I came here…and that’s why a lot of the other girls come here—to be coached by him,” Wheeler said.
A coach at PC for over 30 years, Treacy’s goal for the team is to improve as much as they can individually and as a team, and to finish better than when they started.
Of course, as Wheeler points out, the season will not be easy for their rebuilding team, and with the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown coming up on Sept. 20, the team will get their first real chance to see where everyone’s legs are.
“[Beantown] is the second biggest meet we’re going to face before championship season,” Wheeler said. Second to the Wisconsin Invitational, the Battle in Beantown will feature men’s and women’s teams from all over the country.
Wheeler, who won the event last year and is just hoping to have “another good run” this year, said that the team has “put in a lot of good training.”
Individually, Wheeler is just hoping to make it back to Nationals after coming up short last season. As a team, she wants to see just how far they can make it.
“We’re just really hoping to finish the season healthy and with some good showing,” said Wheeler.
Which Fall Sports Team Will Have The Best Season?
by The Cowl Editor on August 29, 2019
PCI
Field Hockey
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
A week before their season kicks off, the Providence College Field Hockey Team is already proving that they are a force to be reckoned with.
In the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the team was picked to finish third overall in the Big East. On top of that, players Corinne Kenney ’19RS and Mary O’Reilly ’20 were selected to be a part of the 14-player Preseason All-Big East Team, a team put together by the eight league coaches which features standout players from each of the Big East teams.
Kenney, who started as a defender in all 19 games of the Friars’ 11-8 2018 season, finished out her senior year with a career high of five assists. She was also named to the All-Big East First Team and National Field Hockey Coaches Association Divisions I All-Northeast Region First Team and earned a spot in the Victory Sports Tours/NFHCA Senior Game.
Alongside Kenney, O’Reilly also started in all 19 games. The mid-fielder registered a career best of 10 points last season and was voted to join the roster of the Big East Field Hockey All-Tournament Team, the All-Big East, and NFHCA Division I All-Northeast Region Second Teams.
On top of having Kenney and O’Reilly returning to their roster, the field hockey team will be able to rely on many of their veteran players this upcoming season, with 14 returning players on the roster. Five players were recognized as All-Big East First or Second Team members, something that Allyson Parker ’20 claims is “crucial” to the team’s predicted success this season.
However, while a veteran roster will definitely help lead the team to a strong, standout season, Parker believes that the players’ overall determination will be the one thing that will set them apart from others in the Big East.
The Friars are using last season’s Big East semifinal knockout by Liberty University to fuel their desire to have a winning season this year. The Friars have not surpassed the semifinals in Big East Tournament play the past two seasons and did not even make the tournament during their 2016 run.
“We are sick of getting to the same place every year. We want to win the ring this year,” said Parker, who led the team in goals and game-winning goals last season.
With both a highly accomplished veteran roster and the determination to make it past the semifinal round of Big East play, the Providence College Field Hockey Team is poised to complete the best fall season on campus this year.
Saying Goodbye to Friartown
by The Cowl Editor on May 2, 2019
Friar Sports
Hockey and Basketball Players Sign Pro-Contracts
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
There will be noticeable absences on the rosters of both the men’s basketball and hockey teams next year. Asides from the six graduating seniors on the hockey team and two seniors on the basketball team, hockey players Josh Wilkins ’20, Brandon Duhaime ’20, Jacob Bryson ’20, and Jay O’Brien ’22 alongside basketball player Alpha Diallo ’20 have all decided to pursue a professional career in their respective sports.
Bryson was the first player to announce his decision to cut ties with his college eligibility when, on April 15 he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres. Having completed three full seasons with the Friars, the tri-captain of the hockey team recently earned Second Team Hockey East All-Star honors after a successful junior season that consisted of four goals and 24 assists (28 points total) in 42 games.
A 2017 fourth round draft pick (99th overall), Bryson has completed 121 games total with the Friars and notched 73 points during that time. He also was a two-time recipient of Hockey East’s Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award.
In place of completing both his junior and senior years at Providence College, Bryson will compete at an amateur tryout with AHL Rochester before his contract kicks in at the start of the 2019-2020 season.
Duhaime, like Bryson, also finalized an entry-level contract that will conclude his college eligibility. The fourth round, 106th overall 2016 draft pick was selected by the Minnesota Wild and will be playing for their AHL team, the Iowa Wild, on an Amateur Tryout Agreement. He dressed in 117 games as a Friar and during the course of three years, he totaled 22 goals, 50 assists, and a plus-18 rating.
Along with the April 16 announcement that he would not be continuing his career as a Friar, Duhaime made sure to thank the entire PC community, especially his coaches and teammates, for an “incredible” three years saying, “The memories made at Providence College were some that I will never forget.”
The last Friar who has decided to pursue a professional career is Josh Wilkins ’20, who signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators.
“Been a crazy few days but I’m excited to sign my first NHL contract,” he announced on social media. “Thank you Friars hockey for an incredible three years.”
Wilkins posted 46 points (20 goals and 26 assists) this past season; this is the best offensive season a Friar has had in over 15 seasons. He is not just the only 20-goal scorer since 2002-2003, but Wilkins is also the 54th hockey player to reach the 100-point milestone (he totaled 108 points over the course of three seasons).
And finally, rounding out the members of the hockey team who will not be returning next year is O’Brien. The Philadelphia Flyers prospect has decided to leave the College after what he described as a “tough” year in terms of injuries and playing style. Wanting to “play more games” and “have fun playing hockey again,” O’Brien commented that he will be looking to play in either the United States Hockey League, the Canadian major junior level, or the British Columbia Hockey League to “get back on track.”
It may be the end of their career as Friars for Bryson, Duhaime, Wilkins, and O’Brien, but for basketball player Diallo, coming back for his senior season will still be an option if things do not pan out the way that he wants in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Diallo announced on April 16 that he will submit an application to be an early entrant, which means that he will have the opportunity to withdraw his name by May 29 and come back to PC for his senior year.
In an official statement announcing his intentions, Diallo said, “I am excited to go through the workout process. I believe this process will help me grow as a player. I enjoy being at Providence College and playing for the Friars. The Friars have a strong group of players returning next season, and I believe the team could compete for a conference championship.”
Named to the Second Team All-Big East, Diallo put up 1,155 career points in 99 games with the College; he ranks 33rd all-time in scoring for the College.
Head Coach Ed Cooley commented on Diallo’s decision saying that “this process will enable him to gain knowledge and experience about the potential for his future in professional basketball.”
With the exception of O’Brien, all four players will be joining a group of very successful Friars in the big leagues. Most noticeably, for hockey, is former Friar Noel Acciari ’15, who is currently playing with the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a key part of their third line. A member of the 2015 National Championship Team, the style of play that Acciari developed at PC is what makes his NHL career so successful today.
According to Head Coach Nate Leaman, “[Acciari] takes the puck to the net hard, stays on the rebound and scores. That’s Friar hockey. That’s why Noelly’s out there.”
And while Acciari may be the most notable recent PC alum in the NHL, Bryson, Duhaime, and Wilkins can also be added to a list that contains some NHL greats such as Hal Gill, Fernando Pisani, and Chris Therien.
In Diallo’s case, should he chose to keep his name entered in the draft, he will be joining a long list of former Friar players who have gone pro, as well as current pro-player Kris Dunn, who graduated in 2016 and is now playing with the Chicago Bulls after being picked fifth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. Dunn most notably scored a season-high 26 points—eight of which were in overtime—and had 13 assists in a 126-120 overtime win against the Washington Wizards on March 20.
On the former basketball player, PC Athletic Director Bob Driscoll said, “He plays both ends of the court at an elite level all the time. Usually people are good at one or two things. He can rebound, he can pass.” All of which are skills that he was able to develop and grow during his four years at PC.
In addition to former Friars making it big in both the NHL and NBA, PC can also boast that their athletes from all sports are having great success in their professional careers. Tate Boyce ’19 just signed with the Boston Cannons after they drafted him in the first ever Premier Lacrosse League Collegiate Draft. Also, former cross-country and track runner, Emily Sisson ’14 just became the sixth-fastest American in history on a record eligible course after finishing the London Marathon with a time of 2:23:08.
PC has a legacy of producing top-notch athletes who go on to have great careers in their chosen sport and while Wilkins, Duhaime, Bryson, and Diallo are only just taking the first steps to further their professional career, the College most certainly wishes them the best as they set out to make a name for themselves outside of a college setting.
Millie Paladino ’19 Races to Success
by The Cowl Editor on March 21, 2019
Athlete of the Week
Paladino has Highest Finish for PC Since 1994
by Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Coeditor
For the first time since 1994, Millie Paladino ’19RS became the highest mile finisher from Providence College to place at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Placing third in the nation in an event that only 16 people nationwide qualified for, Paladino ran a 4:38.44 mile, a time that also earned her First Team All-America Honors.
Having been told by Head Coach Ray Treacy that she could finish anywhere from eighth to first, Paladino says that she was “really happy and proud” of her accomplishment.
“It means a lot for me to do it for the school because it’s one of our highest places in the last couple of years so I think it really puts the team and the program on the map in the NCAA, which is always really good to do,” Paladino commented.
Her third place finish concluded a very tactical race in which Paladino reserved her energy by maintaining a solid seventh place position and then pulling ahead to third in the final 100 meters. To Paladino, the race was more mind over matter as she felt she had to prepare for it more mentally than physically.
“For prep…your physical prep is done [during the season]. You have to really work on telling yourself that you’re good enough to do this and that you’re prepared for this. The whole season has led up to this…I just have to tell myself that it’s not worth it to step on the line if you’re not confident in what you can do. Otherwise, why do it at all?” said Paladino.
Having transferred to PC from West Virginia University after her sophomore year because she felt that she would not get to be the best runner that she could be if she remained there, Paladino primarily chose to join the Friar family due to the success of Coach Treacy.
“He’s the best in the biz!” praised Paladino when talking about Treacy’s influence to come to PC. “I never looked back.”
In her time with the Friars, Paladino has a number of top-three regular season finishes and has consistently been recognized by earning NCAA First Team All-America Honors. At the Big East level, Paladino recently won her third career Big East title when she was crowned 3,000-meter champion—the first Friar to win the event since 2015. She also set a school record for the 1,000-meter race this season with a time that is also the 12th fastest mark in collegiate history.
Paladino’s continued success, especially within this current season, in what she describes as a “day-to-day” sport, has all added up to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association naming Paladino the 2019 Northeast Region Female Track Athlete of the Year.
And while Paladino recognizes that running is very much an individual sport, she does not believe she could have had any of her success without her team.
“I can only do so much on my own…I owe the whole world to [the team] honestly,” says Paladino. “I think people really underestimate the people you are surrounded by and if I didn’t have my teammates to train with throughout the season…I would never have gotten this far.”
On the topic of her teammates, Paladino admitted that the cross country team’s Big East Championship win her junior year is her favorite memory.
“I still wear my ring,” she proudly admitted.
With the winter track season coming to a close, Paladino and the rest of the track teams are gearing up and heading outdoors with the start of the spring season, a season in which Paladino says the only main difference is that things are done outside.
“Mileages stay the same and your focus has to stay the same so your focus does not look that different even though it might,” she comments on going from one season to the other.
With a goal of finishing out her career at PC with an outdoor track Big East Championship title, Paladino also hopes to make it to Nationals again and just “make the most [of her final season].” And with the end in sight, she hopes to keep running and as she gets more “mature” in her running, she plans to up her distance, hoping to eventually run a marathon.
“But, I think that’s so far in the future,” she concludes.
Paladino will continue her distance running into the spring season, running both the 1,500 meter race as well as the mile as that is where her “strengths” are.
“Never give in,” is how she would encapsulate her running career. “If it’s really what you love and it’s your dream, keep chasing it because you’ll really surprise yourself.”