My Oneonta Life SUNY Oneonta

Tracey R. So on an early morning practice, we literally, one of the players actually got sick in the middle of the practice because of the effort. Like you know how you go out of your, your own comfort zone. This is what we were doing in this training session..... I stepped out into the hallway and I got really emotional myself because I, I thought, wow, if they're willing to give that much, you know, I can't imagine that other people are doing that.

And one of the players actually caught me kind of in that emotional state that I still, here I am, you know, 15 years later still in that state. Um, and she said, coach, what's wrong? What's going on? I went back inside and I said, I said, ladies, I, I think we can win.



Intro



Host: 16 years ago this month, the SUNY Oneonta Women’s Soccer team achieved something that all athletes dream of - winning a national championship. On this episode, we talk with former coaches, staff and players who take us inside that historic win.



It was 2003, and team was on a hot streak. They finished the regular season with a 17-1-2 record and a SUNYAC Championship. They made it into the NCAA national tournament and went on to win the quarterfinal and semifinal matches, and set themselves up to compete for the national championship.



Geoff Hassard, Assistant Athletic Director and Sports Information Director, remembers getting a phone call, after Oneonta won their quarter finals match.



Hassard: “we host the quarter finals and now you have to wait because to host the national championship, the NCAA has to evaluate and see, well, who's who are the final four teams and then where does it make sense to put the final four based on geographics and, you know, team records, strength of schedule, all that stuff. And so we get, I get a phone call, like on Sunday night, like late Sunday night, it's like 11 o'clock. And, uh, the athletic directors like, Hey, we're hosting. I'm like, you know what I mean? Like, it's like, okay, we're hosting the national championship weekend. Uh, and that was during Thanksgiving week. So of course, now you're saying there are no kids on campus at the time. I had a part time intern, assistant person, Sandy Moxley, who lives in Oneonta, uh, helping me. So I told her, I said, you know, we gotta get ready for this, this final four.”



When it came to prepping for the game, Head Coach Tracey Ranieri wasn’t worried.



Ranieri: “the fact that we were hosting was gonna be a huge advantage. The fact that Chicago and DePaul and New Jersey were all traveling quite a distance. We, we, we felt confident that sleeping in our own bed and having a real normal routine was going to be an advantage for us. “

We just said, let's try to do this. And the community rallied together to support the team. I'll never forget. Um, Thanksgiving day, uh, I came back to my, to my house after practice and folks on campus had made a Thanksgiving dinner and left it inside our kitchen so I could rally the players and say, Hey, let's, let's go have some, let's go have a meal. And those are the kinds of things that make Oneonta so incredibly special. Um, you know, and everybody was doing, everybody was excited for the women. And that made the women even more, um, feel responsible to do their absolute best.



Host: Its game day. Everyone’s excited, nervous and ready to hit the field.



And the game began. Both teams were on point. The first goal went to Chicago, just before halftime.



Ranieri: “And I think the greatest part about the game for myself that I remember is Chicago in that national championship game scored an amazing goal from a flank service to a diving. I mean Laura Morcone, who's now in our hall of fame, got her fingertips on this ball. It was one of the greatest goals I've ever seen in division three. I mean it was a really high level goal and we were losing one to nothing at halftime. So in the locker room that speech was the speec

Dr. Morris:        My heart rate was up and that's exactly what you don't want your heart rate to go up because you don't have that much oxygen. And I'm expended a lot of energy. I hadn't slept cause we left at midnight. People were getting sick, there were life flights, helicopters coming, picking up people. And so I was daydreaming about how I could get my life flight helicopter, come get me. So, and how can I stop doing this and what a stupid thing to do on my birthday.Host:                Welcome to my Oneonta life, a podcast about everything Oneonta. I'm your host Jared Stanley. On this show we discovered the stories and experiences of the people who make SUNY Oneonta the place we like to call home [inaudible].Host:                Most people can agree there's nothing better than a great vacation, whether it's time on a beach, a weekend in the city, or a trip across the world, it doesn't really matter where you go as long as it's time away from the daily grind. Dr. Barbara Jean Morris is Sunni Oneonta's eighth president and she just started her second year in the position in July. Her summer vacation was a bit unconventional. She decided to travel to the country of Tanzania and spent eight days climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. While many people wouldn't consider this challenge of vacation. Dr. Morris is an outdoor enthusiast and she is an avid skier, surfer and hiker. She attributes her love of the outdoors to her family outings. As a child,Dr. Morris:        I was raised, uh, essentially outdoors. I always like to tell a story. My dad, um, uh, taught my sister and I to be survivalist. And so when we were in elementary school, when we would go camping, whether it's the mountains, the desert or, um, beach camping, whatever it is, we would, he would place us somewhere and he would say, fine tin things and find your way back to camp. It was just, uh, a way that we learned how to, um, look at the surroundings and understand our surroundings and, um, be able to, to think about where you were and how you could survive, uh, at any given time. So outdoors was always part of our life.Host:                You may be wondering why Kilimanjaro, what was the draw to this particular mountain?Dr. Morris:        Yeah, so Kilimanjaro it's been on the list for some time and partially because it's one of the big mountains, but it doesn't have a lot of the mountaineering technical side. I mean I have done technical, um, climbing and I've done rock climbing, but it wasn't Everest or that type of commitment that you're going to have to be there for months. So, um, Kilimanjaro just is, has that more accessible way. They call it a walkup. But, um, I didn't really think it was a walkup. It was harder than a walkup.Host:                Climbing Kilimanjaro requires hikers to be an extremely good shape. Dr. Morris is a regular at the campus gym at 5:30 AM but she realized that her workout routine needed a boost. Come to find out the Hills of Oneonta were the perfect match.Dr. Morris:        So I had this, uh, kind of walk, run, um, loop that I did. So it starts over by the tennis courts. There's a very steep Hill to the Memorial Hill and to the upper, um, soccer and rugby fields and kind of come down and go down, um, the cow path. And then we'd go all the way into town. Then we'd do the Hartwick stairs and come back and then go up Clinton street and then come back up that, um, that other Hill. So those, because they're such steep grades, um, both going up and down and that was really the mimic, um, many of the steep grades, um, throughout the eight days of, of tracking. So, uh, I would say Oneonta is a very good place because of the, the Hills and where SUNY Oneonta is situated is, is great. So all of our students that, um, do the cow path, uh, on a daily basis that they're ready to go to KilimanjaroDr. Morris:        first f

Can you imagine standing on a mountaintop on a daily basis in the name of protecting fragile vegetation? For four summers, Dr. Tyra Olstad, Assistant Professor of Geography & Environmental Sustainability at SUNY Oneonta, worked as a Summit Steward for the Adirondack Mountain Club. In this episode, she talks about her time in the Adirondacks and how she brought her experiences back into the classroom.
music by scottholmesmusic.com

Ohh there’s a bald eagle right here. You see him?  Counting down the ridge?  Plenty of those today. If you’re a student at Oneonta, most likely, you have a hobby.  Maybe you have a love for sports? Music?  Knitting?  The top player of Can Jam in your residence hall?  Even if you don’t have a hobby, there are over 150 clubs on campus for you to explore.   Today, we’re going off campus to meet up with our next guest.  “My name is Kyle dudgeon. I'm counting hawks up here at Franklin Mountain Hawk Watch.....enjoying a nice cold early winter day, early December day.” Vo:  You hard that right.  He’s counting Hawks.  Today, he’s also on the lookout for the Golden Eagle.  Kyles is a wildlife photographer and avid birder, and volunteers his time, counting hawks, in between classes.  “So I'm actually working for the Delaware/Otsego Audubon society.  I was a sophomore, I transferred here, so I just came up here one day and got involved with everybody and uh, you know, it took a year of coming up here in the fall during Hawk watch season and then eventually I was vetted and I became a counter. So this is my second year, um, being a fall counter.  It's been fun.”Kyle’s interest in birds started when he was in high school, when his family introduced him to the local hawkwatch in his hometown of Warwick, NY.“all through high school I was going up there and I got really interested in hawks and birds of prey. It's like a big thing in the fall.  I got really involved in, the birding really came from that. I, my friends used to joke with me, I could care less about, you know, a little tiny songbird or whatever it may be. Back when I was, you know, first getting into this because I was so interested in seeing eagles and hawks and falcons and all that exciting stuff, But I guess in the past couple of years, i it's really become like a passion for me.”“So the first thing I'll always do is just throw in my binoculars because it takes probably 10 minutes to get ready and, uh, any bird can sort of pick up and start flying in those 10 minutes.  So it's important to, you know, be ready and be on a watch. But then I'll set up my scope, get the cameras out, um, you know, take my first set of data through data sheets on a clipboard and maybe drink a little coffee and, uh, yeah, I can get on with the day.”Every hour, Kyle documents the weather conditions on the mountains, such as wind, temperature, and barometric pressure.  Today, its been snowing for most of the morning, and visibility is low.“Yeah, well, today's cold, um, typical of early know or December either. Um, we have northwest winds today, which is really good for migration. And on a typical year we'd be seeing lots of Golden Eagles today. Um, but this year has been not so typical.” Franklin Mt. Is known to be the best location in NYS to spot Golden Eagles, as they migrate south for the winter.  During the fall season, they can be seen daily basis.  However, October 28th, 2018 was a day to remember for Kyle and bird enthusiasts from across the state.Kyle Dudgeon:"October was a, was an odd month. We had record numbers for an entire season in the month of October alone. Um, and then of course the Big Day of 10/25, 128 (golden eagles)which was pretty miraculous. I was here for an hour and saw a 20 and then had to go to class. But, um, I was happy for those people to all get those spirits." "when I was here, there was probably 15, 20 people here, not including the counter. So it was a pretty good crowd for sure. And they were all very surprised and very happy when they went home."As the snow continued to fall, Kyle decided to call it a day.  The data he and other counters collect from Franklin Mountain is sent to the Hawk Migration Association of North America, and will be used to gauge the health of the hawk population and help paint a bigger picture of the health of our environment.   There are indicators for the overall health of

Denis Muganza:            Oh, I remember going back home and people, I was in the plane and people are like, wait, are you that guy who wraps in the, you know, it was cool, like it's, if someone yelled my name across a airport in Brussels, which is weird but interesting, you know,Host:                            welcome to my Oneonta life, a podcast about everything Oneonta. I'm your host Jared Stanley. On this show we discovered the stories and experiences of the people who make SUNY Oneonta the place we like to call home. [inaudible]Host:                            music is a huge ingredient in the college experience just as much as pizza pulling all nighters, spring break. For some students, music plays a much larger role in their life. It's part of their personal identity and is the driver of who they want to be and where they want to go in life. Today I'm introducing you to Dennis Muganda, a musical artist from Kigali, Rwanda, and a 2017 graduate of SUNY Oneonta. I got to know Dennis during his time at Oneonta and learned about his life as an international student. His aspirations as a musician and what he was going to miss most about his college experience. Dennis's time at Oneonta started with his trip to campus, which was a bit longer than the typical Oneonta student when he boarded a plane from Rwanda heading across the globe to the United States.Denis Muganza:            It was my first time in the United States and the first place I Atlanta doors and JFK and you know, I went to New York city and it was the biggest city I'd ever been to and towns, a little overwhelmed. And then the next day I was in Oneonta, which was a huge contrast and I didn't know how people were going to, if people were meant to be nice to me or you know, if they're going to think of me as a foreigner and not to want to be friends with me, but it all turned out great.Host:                            Adjusting to life in college is a challenge for most freshmen students. And even more so as an international student, even though Dennis is from across the globe, he and many other Oneonta students have one thing in common, a love for music. Back in Rwanda, Dennis began his music career when he was 13 years old when he produced his first song by age 17. He was an avid performer and event organizer and formed his own music label, dark matter entertainment.Denis Muganza:            I just wanted to increase my chances of succeeding really. So I did everything that I could and like starting recording studio days and not the same as here cause I'm here. Oh, every other student has a recording gear, you know. Whereas there, um, not everybody is privileged enough to have a recording Mike or you know, any of the interface or even a laptop, you know. So I had that. Then me and my friends just tipped in like 10 bucks every, every month. Five of us that add up to 50 bucks. Believe it or not, they could actually rent a room this big, you know, you know, I ended up for a month, you know, so it was like, of course not in the best neighborhoods, but we'd still go and get every sound soundproof displays ourselves, camera and everything. And Hey man, the recording studio, I knew it was a lot of funHost:                            as a student. Dennis looked for ways to become involved in the campus music scene, but he found a lack of diversity in music styles amongst student musicians.Denis Muganza:            As much as I like all genres of music, everybody on campus seemed to have a similar style. They all had the guitar that they just pop out and start playing and singing a little bit like, um, some version of John Mayer, the most part at least that was the stereotypical on the Ontario musician, you know. So I was personally a little bit disappointed cause I, I didn't hesitate. I went to all the clubs, I went t

Ever wonder how the most popular fundraiser on campus began? In this episode, we ask the question "How far would you travel for a doughnut?".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxjX1g0mvqw