WESTFIELD — Westfield State College has announced that Richard Lenfest of Springfield, Mass., has been selected as director of athletics. Lenfest, 37, is currently assistant director of athletics at American International College in Springfield, where he also was assistant professor for sports management and assistant coach of women’s basketball.
His appointment will begin officially on June 20.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of leading a premiere college athletics program, and to getting to know the Westfield State College community, especially students, faculty, and coaches,” Lenfest said. “I owe a great deal to Bob Burke and Peter Cinella [at AIC] who gave me the opportunity to get involved in college intercollegiate athletics.”
“We are pleased and excited to welcome a new director with the right experience to lead Westfield State athletics into the future,” said Vicky L. Carwein, president of Westfield State. “With his background in Divisions I and II, and familiarity with intramurals and fitness facilities, I am confident that he will work hard to strengthen our sports and recreation programs.”
At AIC, Lenfest managed 16 varsity sports, including Division I men''s ice hockey. He was also compliance coordinator, monitoring all NCAA rules and regulations, and ensuring institutional compliance. Lenfest contributed to long-range planning, developing marketing and fund-raising programs, and managing intramurals and student fitness facilities.
Lenfest also has served as program liaison for the National Youth Sports Program, which provides summer activities for inner-city children in Springfield. As former assistant general manager with the Pittsfield Mets Baseball Club from 1991-99, he was involved in marketing, sales, corporate revenue, and human resources management, working extensively with the New York Mets Program.
A native of Lee, Mass., Lenfest coached varsity boys basketball at Lee High School for three years. He is a 1990 graduate of the UMass Amherst sports management program and earned a master's degree in business administration from AIC.
Westfield State College senior Peter King of Athol, Mass., (Athol High School) was recently selected as the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference’s Howard C. Smith Male Scholar-Athlete of the year.
The award is presented annually to a male and female senior student-athlete who have excelled both academically and athletically while a student of a Massachusetts state college. The award is named in honor of Howard C. Smith, a former state college trustee who was largely responsible for the formation of the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC) and the acceptance of intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the state college system.
To be considered for the award, a student-athlete must have achieved a least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and be in his or her last year of athletic eligibility.
King, who majored in criminal justice at Westfield State, was an eight-time All New England and a four-time ECAC All-Conference performer while competing in the shot put and discus. He won five New England Alliance championships and was a four-time MASCAC discus champion. He also won MASCAC shot put titles in 2004 and 2005 and was the team's most valuable field performer in 2002, 2004, and 2005.
King broke three long-standing school records in the discus (150 feet even), the outdoor shot put (52-6) and the indoor shot put (52-1 1/4). He was named the Westfield State College Senior Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
“Peter has played a major role in the success of the Westfield State College men's track and field program for the past four seasons," said Westfield State head coach Sean O'Brien. "Because of his leadership and skills in the throwing events, Westfield State was able to win four New England Alliance and four MASCAC championships during his collegiate career. He is one of the top weight-men in the history of the Westfield State track and field program, evidenced by the fact that he broke long-standing school records in the shot put and discus. Peter also was disciplined and a hard worker in the classroom. Westfield State and the track and field program are extremely proud that he received this honor."
King is the 12th Westfield State College student-athlete to receive the Howard C. Smith award since its inception in 1980. Westfield’s 12 scholar-athlete honorees are the most in the eight-team conference, followed by Fitchburg State with nine and Mass. Maritime Academy with seven.
Recent Westfield State College graduate Tessa Donoghue of Springfield (Cathedral High School) has been selected as the 2005 NCAA Division III track and field athlete of the year by the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards sponsored by Honda.
To celebrate this prestigious honor, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. will donate $1,000 to the women’s athletics fund at Westfield State College.
The Honda program has completed its 29th year (its 18th year at the Division III level) and recognizes the top women’s collegiate athletes in each of 12 sports. The 12 recipients were listed on a final ballot as candidates for the Division III Collegiate Women’s Athlete of the Year, and Wartburg College’s Missy Buttry, a three-time national cross country champion, was selected the athlete of the year. Donoghue was the only New England representative on the final ballot.
“This might be the most impressive honor ever bestowed upon a Westfield State College athlete,” said Westfield State sports information director Mickey Curtis. “Tessa truly deserves this award, but to be selected the best women’s track and field athlete in the entire NCAA Division III is still difficult to fathom.”
Donoghue’s accomplishments were hard to overlook. She transferred to Westfield State College during her junior year from Wheaton (Mass.) College, where she was an eight-time All American, including the NCAA long jump champion her freshman year. Also, she was a member of three national champion 4 x 400 relay teams at Wheaton.
During the past two years, she became the most highly decorated athlete in the storied Westfield State track and field program. She earned six All America certificates, including a second place in the triple jump and a fourth in the long jump at last month’s NCAA Division III national championships.
Competing against the best athletes in the Northeast, Donoghue was an 11-time All New England and a six-time All-ECAC performer at Westfield State during the indoor and outdoor seasons. She captured three New England Division III long jump titles and won ECAC championships in the long and triple jumps.
Donoghue led the Westfield State women’s track and field team to its eighth straight Massachusetts state title by winning seven of the 21 events in the conference championship meet. She holds Westfield State school records in the 400-meter dash (58.17), the long jump (19-6 1/4), and the triple jump (40-3 1/4).
“This (Honda Award) is a great honor for Tessa and for our track and field program,” said veteran head coach Sean O’Brien. “Besides being very talented, Tessa is a hard worker. Usually the athletes who have all the talent in the world don’t want to work hard but she does.
“We won’t be able to replace her,” O’Brien continued. “She could have gone anywhere she wanted, she could have gone Division I and competed and been successful.”
Westfield State sophomore infielders Troy Ferguson and Justin Parr were selected to the 2005 Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC) first team all-conference baseball team.
Ferguson, a left-handed hitting shortstop from Rochester, Mass., led the Owls in eight statistical categories while batting from the leadoff position: hitting (.375 batting average), hits (51), doubles (9), triples (6), slugging percentage (.640). runs scored (33), RBI (27) and stolen bases (10). He ranked second on the team with five home runs.
Parr, a second baseman from North Attleboro, Mass., batted .311 in his first season of intercollegiate baseball. Parr tied for the team lead in walks (17) and ranked second in on base percentage (.434) and sacrifice hits (5).
Four Westfield State players - led by conference Player of the Year Leah Peterson - were named to the 2005 Mass. State Conference softball all-conference team.
Peterson earned all-conference honors as a pitcher for the third straight year in leading the Owls to a runner-up finish in the MASCAC postseason tournament. She was a first-team all-conference pitcher this season and in 2004, and a second-team pick in 2003.
In addition, Peterson pulled a rare double as she was selected to this year’s second team as the designated player. The Lakeville, Mass., native also played first base and outfield for the Owls and led the team in hitting (.374), runs scored (20) and hits (40).
On the mound the hard-throwing lefty posted a 10-14 record with a 1.41 earned run average and 119 strikeouts.
Westfield’s other first-team selection was senior second baseman Amanda Fregeau of Athol. Fregeau batted .271 with 14 RBI and a team-highs of four sacrifice flies and 10 sacrifice hits.
Second-team selections were senior catcher Liz Oliveira (Fall River) and senior third baseman Casey Greggo (Wappinger Falls, N.Y.) Oliveira, who also was a second-team pick in 2004, batted .287 with 14 RBI and a team-high nine doubles. Greggo had six doubles and a team-high 15 RBI.
Westfield State College director of athletics Richard Lenfest announces the hiring of three new head coaches: Ray Arra (baseball), Matt Noyes (men’s soccer), and Todd Ditmar (women’s soccer).
Arra had been the Owls’ acting head baseball coach this past season. He has been a highly successful coach in Western Mass. for the past 40 years. The Westfield resident was an assistant at Westfield State in 2003 and 2004, working primarily with the pitching staff.
Arra, who recently retired after 32 years of teaching middle school, won more than 400 American Legion and high school games. His high school teams qualified for nine postseason tournaments and his Legion teams never finished below second place. He was inducted into the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2002.
A 1965 graduate of Westfield State, he was inducted into the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997. He starred in baseball and basketball at Westfield State, and was the baseball team’s Most Valuable Player in 1963 and 1964 and a three-year co-captain.
Noyes was the head boys’ soccer coach for the past five seasons at Lenox High School - his alma mater - where he transformed and 1-16 team into a tournament contender in four years. Lenox was a Western Mass. semifinalist in 2003 and 2004 and division championships in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Ditmar was the head women’s coach at Bay Path College for the past 12 years. During his tenure, Bay Path won North Atlantic Conference championships in 1998, 2002 and 2004. His 2004 team posted a 23-1 record and qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Ditmar, who resides in Longmeadow and graduated from Longmeadow High School in 1985, is the son of former Major League pitcher Art Ditmar of Pittsfield, Mass., who led the New York Yankees with a 15-9 record in 1960.