The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is expanding its athletic department in order to provide more athletic opportunities for both current and prospective students.

The school has applied to move up to a Division III program as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a college sports governance association focused on small colleges. ESF will know the results of their NAIA application this fall.

‘The college is interested in getting a boost in school spirit, press coverage, alumni and parent support, student leadership and recreation, campus activities and other areas that can benefit from (joining) an intercollegiate sports program,’ said Robert French, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at ESF.

One of the sports that would benefit from this membership is the school’s men and women cross country teams. More than 30 runners have signed up to participate for the team so far, French said.

ESF hired alumnus James Goulet as head coach and John View, director of financial aid at ESF, as assistant coach for the cross country team.

‘I feel like there are a lot of people who used to run cross country in high school, and I think once the team is more established, those people will join and the team will be stronger,’ said runner Paulette Lloyd, a sophomore conservation biology major at ESF.

Previously, ESF students interested in running cross country turned to Syracuse University’s running club, The Jackalopes. ESF students are not eligible to run for SU’s cross country team because it is a Division I sport.

‘I tried running with the Jackalopes a few times, but they didn’t have enough structure so it wasn’t beneficial to me, said Mike Miles, a sophomore forest engineering major. ‘ESF seems to have more structure.’

The teams practice behind Bray Hall near the campus’ Robin Hood Oak as often as possible. The cross country teams have a flexible practice schedule, allowing students to attend practice when they have time without facing penalties for being absent. This allows students to balance busy class schedules with running.

Currently, the teams are considered club sports, but ESF plans to compete on a fully intercollegiate basis by the 2010-2011 academic year, French said.

ESF’s golf team is also undergoing changes. The team moved their home course from Drumlins to The Links, a course in Erie Village. The move will challenge the team to improve their skills, coach John Tuberville said.

The team consists of 18 players, though only five players compete per tournament. A large roster is necessary because of the labs and studio classes that often prevent players from making the tournaments, Tuberville said.

Practices take place twice a week, and the team will compete in four tournaments this fall. The interest in ESF golf was larger than usual this year, allowing for team tryouts.

‘In the previous years we didn’t have tryouts because we were having trouble filling our roster,’ said Brendan Beeke, a junior landscape architecture major and a co-captain of the golf team. ‘Having tryouts makes our team better as a whole because if players think they mightnot make thecut itpushes them to workharder to get to the level of player that we are looking for.’

ESF’s pending membership in the NAIA will allow the golf team to compete against more teams and strengthen ESF athletics on the whole, Tuberville said.

‘The goal for this season is to win one of the four tournaments that we have scheduled,’ said James Burt, a senior in the landscape architecture program and co-captain of the team.

‘We have some good new recruits and our returning players have definitely improved, so I think it can be done.’

jlsiart@syr.edu

Published on September 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm