Penn Sport_Winter08.indd - University of Penn Athletics

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The following student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in one or both semesters of the 2006-07 academic year. Steven Gable, C’10 Stephen Danley, C’07 Micheal Cosulich, EAS’07 Derek Gollnitz, C’10 W’10 Brendan Baker, C’09 Matthew Carey, C’07 Lorenz Haselberger, C’09 Jessica Bartos, C’09 Emil Cappetta, C’07 Benjamin Scholom, C’10 W’10 Eve Overton, C’07 Matthew Carre, C’07 Gregory Sih, EAS’09 W’09 Todd Tewksbury, EAS’10 Karen Jann, C’07 Joshua Baugh, C’09 Olivia Mauro, W’07 Susan McIlvaine, C’07 Gregory Hollander, W’10 Peter Stevens, C’09 W’09 Albert Tsai, C’08 Rahil Shah, W’07 Ainsley Cookingham, C’10 Michael Cassidy, C’07 Michael Hall, C’08 Austin McDaniel, C’08 Charlotte Lawson, C’09 Madeleine Evans, C’09 W’09 Erica Denhoff, C’08 Kara Kopp, C’09 Elizabeth Hurst, C’07 Baseball Basketball JV Basketball Heavyweight Crew Heavyweight Crew Lightweight Crew Lightweight Crew Crew Fencing Fencing Fencing Football Lacrosse Lacrosse Lacrosse Soccer Softball Softball Sprint Football Sprint Football Sprint Football Squash Swimming & Diving XC/Track & Field Track & Field Track & Field XC/Track & Field Track & Field Track & Field Track & Field Volleyball tor, but all the experience with orthopedic surgeons over the past year, have made me want go into surgery. I interned with an orthopedist over the summer and loved it. But the point is that now I see life, and opportunities, as more transient. And that’s why I am so happy that every student in this room is not taking their athletic ability for granted, nor their intellectual ability. We have a unique chance to develop in one of the highest caliber environments in the world, and we’re taking advantage of it. This isn’t going to last forever. College will end. But we will be able to leave knowing that we took all there was to be given, and I’m proud of that. Sports are a smart decision for life, and I believe we can be prime examples of that for our society. I started this speech with the stereotype that athletes are not that bright. In the current world we live in, I think that is unfortunate. In a society where two-thirds of the population is overweight and the majority of people don’t exercise on a regular basis, where people can’t find time in their job routine for exercise, where people literally work themselves to death once they leave childhood, the idea that dumb people play sports is a deleterious one. Arguably our greatest national health problem is a dearth of athletes. Sports are a smart decision for life, and I believe we can be prime examples of that for our society. So when you enter the workforce in whatever impressive career path you choose, don’t shy away from telling people you were a college athlete for fear of what they might think of your intelligence. You’re proud to be an athlete now, and you should continue to be. Tell everyone where you end up working that you were a Penn athlete, and then show them how good you are at the other things you do. Make people want to be athletes because they want to be like you. Make them want their kids to be athletes, because they want their kids to be like you. Muhammad Ali once said “I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I’m so mean I make medicine sick.” Or more simply, basketball player Antoine Walker in response to the question, “Antoine, why do you take so many threes?” “Because there are no fours.” Motivational clichés and amusingly foolish quotes don’t need to be the only things people expect when athletes open their mouths. Keep taking full advantage of your chances here, you might just change the way people think. Gregory Sih Madeleine Evans Ainsley Cookingham Steven Gable
Salute to Micahnik In July 2007, with a life devoted to fencing as a player and coach, Penn Fencing Head Coach Dave Micahnik, C’59 was selected to be inducted to the United States Fencing Association Hall of Fame. Penn fencing head coach Dave Micahnik has been elected for induction into the United States Fencing Association Hall of Fame in the 2008 class. Along with former Penn assistant coach Cathy McClellan, Micahnik will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2008 Summer National Championships in San Jose, Calif. Hall of Fame nominations are made by the Hall of Fame committee, based on research as well as suggestions from the USFA membership, and voted by the USFA Congress. Micahnik was a member of the 1960, 1964, and 1968 United States Olympic epee teams. In 1960, he won the U.S. National epee championship. From 1960-73, he was ranked in the top 10 in men’s epee 10 times and was nationally ranked in foil and sabre. Twice the epee gold medalist in the World Maccabiah Games, he was coached throughout his career by the late Maestro Lajos Csiszar. As the University of Pennsylvania’s Head Fencing Coach since 1974, Micahnik has winning records in each of his 33 seasons, with 664 victories versus only 202 losses. Dave was chosen as the 1997 Collegiate Coach of the Year, and previously as the Men’s Coach of the Year and Women’s Coach of the Year, by the U. S. Fencing Coaches Association. His Penn teams have won a combined 22 Ivy League championships, two NCAA team championships, and 10 Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) team championships. Micahnik’s teams have produced 96 All-America selections and 109 first-team All-Ivy selections. Several of his Penn fencers have competed internationally on United States teams in four Olympics, the Pan-American Games, World Championships, World University Games, World Junior Championships, Junior Pan-American Games and World Maccabiah Championships. Maestro Micahnik, a certified Maitre d’Armes, has coached United States teams in four Under-20 World Championships, five World University Games, two World Championships, two World Maccabiah Games and two Junior Pan-American Games. Devoted to the sport he loves, Micahnik has served on numerous NCAA, AFLA, and USFA committees, including the AFLA International Committee and the Olympic Fencing Committee. A current member of the USFA’s Congress, Veterans Committee, and Board of Directors, he is a Vice President of the United States Fencing Coaches Association. Dave Micahnik is a member of the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame. Fellow inductee and a former Penn assistant coach, Cathy McClellan is a five-time US National Foil Team Champion and a two-time US National Epee Champion. She was an assistant under Micahnik from 1982-84, and was the first woman ever to coach fencing at an Ivy League institution. Penn graduate and longtime supporter of Penn baseball Walter O’Malley, C’26 was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. He is the first graduate from Penn to receive such an honor. O’Malley owned the Dodgers franchise from 1944 until his death in 1979. In 1946, it was O’Malley who was instrumental in the integration of baseball, signing Jackie Robinson to a professional contract. Following the 1957 season, O’Malley moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles. This relocation is credited with starting baseball’s “California Gold Rush,” as other teams such as the Giants and Athletics also moved to the West Coast. “Mr. O’Malley was a visionary by opening the gates to the West Coast. He linked the entire country to the game of baseball,” Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda said at the press conference announcing O’Malley’s induction. At Penn, O’Malley was highly involved in campus life. He graduated from Penn in 1926 as the outstanding overall student, receiving the Spoon Award while serving as class salutatorian at graduation. Penn became a family tradition for the O’Malleys. Walter served on the Board of Trustees at Penn from 1966 until his death in 1979. His son Peter, W’60 and grandson, Kevin, C’97, WGS’04 are also graduates of Penn. Kevin was also a letterwinner on the 1996 baseball team. To this day, the O’Malley family continues its support of Penn, having participated in the fundraising efforts for the new baseball stadium and other University endeavors. When Penn hosted No. 1 North Carolina at The Palestra on the night December 4, it turned out to be only the second-biggest basketball story in the city of Philadelphia that day. That’s because earlier that day, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers introduced Ed Stefanski, W’76 as their new president and general manager. It was the latest move in a whirlwind NBA career for Stefanski, who gave up a successful and lucrative career in the mortgage business nine years ago to become a scout for the New Jersey Nets. In 2004, he was elevated to the role of general manager with the Nets. Speaking to Stefanski’s ability as a general manager, John Nash – who originally hired him for the Nets, and now works for Comcast SportsNet – said, “he is the best talent evaluator I have ever seen.” Peter Luukko, president and COO of Comcast-Spectacor which owns the Sixers, had this to say at Stefanski’s introductory press conference: “Ed was very, very successful in the mortgage business. We see him leading our business side and working with our people as we sell tickets and sponsorships and sell promotions.” Stefanski was no stranger to the basketball world before jumping to the Nets, of course. As a player at Penn, he was a member of Ivy League championship squads in 1974 and 1975. He was a head coach at his high school alma mater, Monsignor Bonner, and spent a few years as a television analyst for both Big 5 games on PRISM Network and Atlantic 10 games.
Page 2 and 3: The past year has witnessed the pas
Page 4 and 5: Honoring the 4.0 junior Joshua Baug
Page 8 and 9: Hall Of Fame The Philadelphia Big 5
Page 10 and 11: Penn Rec This was the Penn Sailing
Page 12: Compliance Corner The rules and reg

Penn Sport_Winter08.indd - University of Penn Athletics

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