Making Headlines in the Media - The University of Scranton

HOPKINS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM COACHING
John Hopkins, former head wrestling
coach and current men’s and women’s
cross-country coach at
the University, has
announced his retirement
from coaching.
He will remain, however,
in his current
role as Assistant
Professor of Exercise
Science and Sport.
“ It was ve ry enjoyable,”
says Ho p k i n s ,
John Hopkins
who came to the Un i versity in 1967,
founded the wrestling program in 1968,
took over as head coach of the men’s
c ro s s - c o u n t ry program in 1972, and started
the women’s cro s s - c o u n t ry program in
1982. “I learned a lot. When I first took
over the job, I knew nothing about cro s s -
c o u n t ry running or coaching. I hope ove r
the 32 years I’ve learned something.”
Apparently, he did.
During his distinguished tenure as
head men’s cross-country coach, Hopkins
guided the Royals to fourth-place finishes
at the Middle Atlantic Conference championships
five times and to a sixth-place
finish at the NCAA regionals in 1986.
Three of his runners – Bill Burke (1984),
Chris Heaton (1987, 1988) and, most
recently, Joe Fent (1998, 1999, 2000) –
qualified for the NCAA Division III
championships, with Fent earning all-
America honors twice. Fent was also a
two-time Verizon Academic all-American
and an NCAA post-graduate scholarship
recipient. He is currently enrolled in the
veterinary program at the University of
Pennsylvania.
“Looking back, I’ve coached many
g reat runners,” says Hopkins, who holds a
Bachelor of Science degree from East
St roudsburg Un i versity and a Master of
Science degree from the Un i versity of
Massachusetts. “St a rting with the Jo e
Ha g g e rty era (1975-1978, Wall of Fa m e
Inductee, Class of 1991), Jimmy Ma l l oy
(1972-1975) was probably the first re a l l y
good runner I coached, but most import
a n t l y, the friendships with many of my
runners have lasted throughout the ye a r s . ”
When the Middle Atlantic Confere n c e
decided to sponsor a women’s cro s s - c o u n-
t ry championship in 1982, Hopkins convinced
former athletics dire c t o r, Dr. Ga ry
Wo d d e r, to field a team.
“I was teaching a running class at the
time,” Hopkins says. “I approached him
(Dr. Wodder) with the idea of taking
seven women from the running class
down to represent the (University). The
women surprised me; there were people
who had never run competitively before
and they finished in the middle of the
pack. It was the start of a great thing.”
Ho p k i n s’ women’s teams will be duly
noted for their consistent efforts. The Lady
Royals finished second at the MAC championships
four times (1984, 1995, 1996,
1997) and we re fourth at the NCAA
regionals in 1984. Se ven of his ru n n e r s
earned NCAA all-regionals honors, including
T h e resa Meade, a two-time academic
all-American who became the first female
harrier in Scranton history to qualify for
the NCAA championships (1985).
“Through the years, I’ve had good
women’s teams and there were some years
when we struggled to get four of five
runners,” he says. “The last ten years it
has been almost overwhelming the number
of women who have run (for us).
Last year’s team was not up to par with
some of the teams we’ve had, but four of
our top seven runners did not run in
high school. And yet we were still very
competitive.”
From 1968 through 1998, Hopkins
coached the Royals’ wrestling program to
a 180-250-4 record (.426), including
top-ten finishes in the MAC championships
nine times.
“That was my main reason for coming
h e re,” says Hopkins, “to start the wre s t l i n g
p rogram. The best thing about it is that
most of the people who have run for me or
w restled for me are still my friends.
Ac a d e m i c a l l y, both of our sports have done
well – through no credit of mine. I think it
is the nature of those sports. Ten years in a
row, our cro s s - c o u n t ry teams have been
(selected) academic all-Americans, which,
this year with the more stringent guidelines,
is impre s s i ve. That speaks well for the
Un i versity and its athletics pro g r a m . ”
Did You Know?
• Meghan Quinlan, a four-year starter
on the women’s soccer team, set an
NCAA Division III alltime
record for most
minutes played by a
goalkeeper with 7,713,
surpassing the previous
mark of 7,450. This past
year, Quinlan established
a Scranton single-season
record for fewest goals
allowed (9) and had 14.5 Meghan Quinla
shutouts to extend her
all-time Royal record to 51.5.
• Sara Suchoski, a freshman
on the women’s soccer
team, was named
first-team all-American
by the National Soccer
Coaches Association of
America (NSCAA) in
November. She was the
only freshman among the
33 players honored.
• Dan Loftus, a junior on
the men’s basketball team,
was named to the Ve r i zo n
District II Academic all-
America team in
Fe b ru a ry. In order to
q u a l i f y, a student-athlete
must be at least a sophom
o re, be a key starter or
re s e rve, and have a cumul
a t i ve grade point ave r a g e
of 3.2-or-better.
Sara Suchoski
Dan Loftus
• For the 11th straight ye a r, the women’s
basketball team, led by veteran head
coach Mike St rong, won 20-or-more
games. The Lady Royals captured the
Freedom Conference championship,
a d vanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA
Division III tournament and finished
the season with a 25-5 overall re c o rd
and a 10 t h -place national ranking by
d 3 h o o p s . c o m .
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