Men’s Basketball
Capturing its fifth Landmark Conference championship in seven years and the 22nd conference title in program history this past season was the men’s basketball team. The Royals made their 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and finished the season with a 24-4 record, the fourth time in the past six seasons they won at least 20 games, and the most wins since they went 24-6 in 2002-03.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team won the Landmark Conference championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. The Lady Royals finished the season ranked 16th in the d3hoops.com Top 25, and head coach Mike Strong became the first women’s basketball coach at the NCAA Division III level to reach 800 career victories.
Women’s Tennis
Winning the Landmark Conference championship for the third straight season was the women’s tennis team. They were undefeated in conference play during the regular season and then won a pair of playoff matches at home. Sophomore Emily Walsh, a first-team all-conference choice, and juniors Megan Azzalina and Nicole Mahaffey, who both earned second-team honors, led the Royals.
Top Honorees
Seven seniors received the top awards at the 23rd annual Senior Student-Athlete Luncheon on May 17 at the DeNaples Center.
Barry, Barry Good
Junior Colleen Barry turned in another winning performance at the 2014 Landmark Conference Swimming & Diving championships hosted by Marywood University in February, finishing first in the 1-meter diving competition, a performance that helped earn her the female diver of the year award for the third straight year. Juniors Paige Agnello and Alexis Walsh also won conference titles in the 200 and 100 breaststroke, respectively, leading the Royals to their fourth straight runner-up finish in the team standings.
Eight is Great
Senior Mike Deliberti was one of eight members of the men’s lacrosse team to earn all-Landmark Conference honors this past season. Joining him as first-team selections were John Gregitis, Nicholas McKaba, Alec Mikrut, Ryan Millard and Ryan Saraceni, while second-team honors went to Matt Finor and Gus Sturm. The Royals finished with a 10-7 record under head coach Doug Sage and qualified for the Landmark tournament for the fourth straight year. Scranton’s eight all-conference selections were the most for the program since it was started in 1987.
Welcome Aboard
The University inducted the seven newest members into the Wall of Fame at a ceremony held at the Long Center in January. The Wall of Fame was founded in 1970 to honor former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and those in the community who have been instrumental in the overall development of the University’s athletics program. The class of 2013 brings the Wall’s membership to 232.
Consistency is Key
Senior David Teres was a steady influence for the men’s tennis team over the past four years, winning a combined 68 matches in singles and doubles and earning first-team all-Landmark Conference honors three times. He was also named the conference’s rookie of the year in 2011, helping the Royals to the first of three straight Landmark Conference championship match appearances.
Hughes Comes Up Huge
Senior John Hughes set new Royal records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in leading the Royals to a third-place finish at the 2014 Landmark Conference Swimming & Diving championships. He finished runner-up in each event. In a preliminary heat of the 100 breaststroke, he swam an NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time of 57.21 seconds.
Individual Recaps
Meredith Mesaris
Junior forward Meredith Mesaris of the women’s basketball team became the 19th player in Lady Royals history to earn All-American honors when she was named honorable mention All-American by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Mesaris, who was also first-team all-Mid-Atlantic Region by d3hoops.com, led the Landmark Conference in scoring with 18.7 points per game, which was 44th-best in the country. She also set a school single-season record with 145 made free throws.
Ross Danzig
Junior Ross Danzig had quite a year, earning Landmark Conference Player of the Year honors while leading the men’s basketball team to the conference title, and earning second-team all-Landmark Conference honors in baseball while leading the team in batting average, RBIs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He scored the 1,000th point of his career on the basketball court while earning all-region honors from d3hoops.com and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. And he also collected the 100th career hit of his baseball career.
Chris Silakoski
Senior Chris Silakoski of the wrestling team completed a successful career with a fourth-place finish at 197 pounds at the NCAA East Regionals. He finished the season with a career-high 24 victories, which gave him 66 for his career, fifth-most on the Royals’ all-time list. His 24 victories this past season are the 10th-most in a single season in school history, and his eight pins are tied for 13th in a single season in school history.
Carl Danzig
In 13 seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at Scranton, Carl Danzig has a long list of accomplishments that includes seven conference championships, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, one appearance in the Elite Eight, and 245 victories. This past season, he added his second conference Coach of the Year honor, being named Landmark Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Royals to the conference title, an NCAA Tournament berth and a 24-4 final record, the seventh time Danzig has led Scranton to at least 20 wins.
Sarah Payonk
Freshman Sarah Payonk of the women’s basketball team wasted no time making an impact in her first year with the program, scoring 18 points and pulling down 18 rebounds in her first game. She didn’t slow down, going on to earn Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year and second-team honors while helping the Lady Royals win the conference title, reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and finish with a 26-4 record.
