Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/775128
2 Crusader Nation • Winter 2017 AD's Corner Fellow Crusaders, Happy New Year! This past year was historic in many ways for Holy Cross Athletics. In light of that, I thought it was an appropriate time to reflect upon the mission and core values of our Department, which are spelled out in our updated Athletics Mission and Core Values: Holy Cross Athletics Mission: "We promote the academic, athletic, and personal formation of our student- athletes above all else. Athletics embodies the College's mission to develop the mind, body, and spirit in the Jesuit tradition. With this legacy as our foundation, we strive to educate and inspire through athletics." Our mission serves to guide and inform every- thing that we do, in all aspects of the Athletics Department. Using this mission as our guide, we have developed a set of core values: Passion, Achievement, Integrity, and Respect. These time- less values are reflective of the Holy Cross philoso- phy. Our values are what propel us forward through all manner of challenges. They are a manifestation of the essence of Holy Cross and its proud history and traditions. As we write this newest chapter in the College's story, we are taking care to build on those things that have made us great in the past. Our newest chapter is rapidly taking shape on campus. Construction on the Luth Athletic Complex continues to progress on schedule. This fall we reached some important milestones in the project: The basketball arena work has been completed and our teams are already practicing and playing in this amazing new space. Upgrades to the hockey rink are also finished, including new women's locker rooms, and new coaches offices for the men's and women's programs. We also opened the new main entryway to the complex, which has greatly enhanced the facility. The next time you are visiting campus, I encourage you to make time to visit the Luth Athletic Complex and see this most impressive undertaking for yourself. For more information on the Luth Complex project, please read this issue's article on page 10. The fall semester was another successful one in the classroom. Our student-athletes posted their sixth consecutive term with a GPA of 3.07 or higher. This past semester our 730 student-athletes combined for a 3.12 GPA, which brought our cumulative GPA to 3.10. Our student-athletes continue to distinguish themselves in the classroom and in competition. Finally, a few of our fall teams had notable accomplishments that I would like to share with you. Our Women's Field Hockey team finished the regu- lar season in third place in the Patriot League and qualified for our first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2006. The Women's Cross Country team finished in third place in the Patriot League Champion- ships, our best finish since 2001. There were also a number of individual all-conference and all-academic achievements in each of our fall sports. I know you will join me in congratulating our student-athletes, coaches, and support staff for their impressive efforts on these fronts. Go 'Saders! Nathan Pine Director of Athletics In This Issue 3 Coaches' Game Plan 8 Paying it Forward 9 Student Spotlight 10 BUILDING THE GAME-CHANGER 12 honoring coach Blaney '61 15 Ram-Crusader cup weekend 16 10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT... 17 Calendar 18 Catching Up With Crusaders 19 What I was Thinking 20 Why I Give Crusader Nation P H O T O G R A P H E R S Andrea Bettencourt, Peter Cooke, Greg Fiume, Phillip Lehans, Tom Rettig, Michael Alan Ross, Mark Seliger, Gil Talbot D E S I G N E R Michael Grinley T E L L U S W H A T Y O U T H I N K : Write Crusader Nation Office of Advancement One College Street Worcester, MA 01610-2395 Email CrusaderNation@holycross.edu Call 508-793-2415 Send ideas, thoughts, and comments. We want to hear from you!