Looking Through the Lens of Karlee Sell

While athletes are usually the ones that share the spotlight amongst themselves, many others contribute to athletics without directly competing. Even though they might not get the same recognition as the players, these people are equally as important for athletics to stay afloat.

Karlee Sell has been working for athletics since January of 2017 as a photographer. Sell is graduating from Monmouth University this December with her BA in communication and a minor in photography.

Sell has been involved in sports ever since she was in high school at ConVal Regional High School in Peterborough, New Hampshire. “I was a member of and president of our Student Athletic Leadership Team, I played various sports, and I interned with my high school’s athletic director which got me involved with sports that I didn’t have the opportunity to play,” she said.

Sell first got into photography when she got a camera as an eighth grade graduation gift from her parents. “I brought it with me everywhere. It was through teaching myself how to take photos and finding my own style that I fell in love with it,” said Sell.

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Monmouth Hawks Flock to Vote

Monmouth Athletics has taken a voting initiative, along with the rest of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), reaching 100 percent voter participation among 20 Monmouth sports teams.

The MAAC’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee began this initiative as a way of getting eligible student-athletes and staff to lead the campus charge in voting this election season.

“I am proud of the effort made by our MSAAC representatives and our student-athletes who have made registering to vote a priority,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics at Monmouth University Marilyn McNeil, Ph.D. “Their insistence on having a voice in the election process and with the issues our society faces are an encouraging sign for the future of our country. It is our responsibility as educators to provide the necessary resources to help our student-athletes make informed decisions in elections at the national, state and local level.”

McNeil has led the initiative in a major way as nearly every Monmouth team has reached full voter participation. These teams include men’s sports such as baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field, and football. Meanwhile on the women’s side there is basketball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, bowling, and field hockey.

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Former Hawk Vincent Sasso Turned Principal

Many students have come and gone throughout the years at Monmouth University and have went on to do some great things in their lives. Monmouth alum and former football player Vincent Sasso stepped away from his football days to enter the next chapter of his life.

Dr. Sasso is a member of the class of 1998 and graduated with a Special Education Degree. During his time at Monmouth University, he was also part of the Monmouth football team where he played free safety.

While Sasso attended Monmouth as undergraduate from 1994 to 1998 that was not the end of his educational journey at Monmouth University, “I also attended from 2018 to 2020 and just graduated in August with my Doctoral Degree in Education Leadership,” said Sasso.

In 2002, Sasso also received his Master of Arts in Urban Education from New Jersey City University and later on went to receive his Master of Arts in Administration and Supervision in 2005 from New Jersey City University as well.

Sasso became the Vice Principal of Old Bridge High School in 2006 all the way until 2012. He remained Old Bridge’s Vice Principal until 2013 where he was promoted to be the principal of the school where he still currently works. This year marks Sasso’s ninth year as the principal of Old Bridge High School.

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Women’s Bowling Placed Fourth in Preseason Poll

On Oct. 8, the Monmouth women’s bowling team placed fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Poll and junior, Saige Yamada was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Team.

The Hawks are coming off of a great 2019 season. After closing their season at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Hawk Classic, the team finished with a 54-43 overall record and achieved nine top-25 wins throughout their entire season.

This year, the Hawks are expected to excel in their 2020 season placing fourth in the MEAC Preseason Poll. Head Coach, Karen Grygiel, spoke on the upcoming season saying, “We are excited for the season to get underway and look forward to any and all opportunities we have to compete.”

The Hawks are adding freshmen, Maria Fernanda Aguiluz, Jenna Lehrer, Madison McFadden, and redshirt freshman, Jamie Phelan. Coach Grygiel spoke on the newcomers saying, “We have made some great additions to our roster for this season and look forward to competing for a MEAC title.”

Standout, Saige Yamada, was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Team after earning tons of achievements last season. “I feel very honored to be a part of the Preseason All-MEAC Team,” said Yamada. “My love for this sport has brought me amazing opportunities and I am very grateful to be recognized in this way.”

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Former Hawk Earns National Scholar Honors

The former Monmouth women’s basketball star Alexa Middleton was recently awarded incredible off the court honors when she named to the 2020-21 Sport Changes Life Foundation (SCLF) Victory Scholar Program in late September.

“We are proud and honored that Alexa has been chosen as part of the Sport Changes Life program,” said Monmouth women’s basketball head coach Jody Craig. “She was a great leader for us at Monmouth, and I’m sure she will be a tremendous mentor in these challenging times.”

As a senior last season, Middleton was second on the team in scoring averaging 9.3 points per game. She also led the team in rebounds with 8.1 per game, blocks with 32 and double-doubles with eight. She finished off her senior season earning remarkable All-Conference honors as a member of the 2019-2020 MAAC All-Tournament Team.

Middleton joins fellow Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) athletes D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks of Canisius, Taylor Herd of Quinnipiac and Quinn Taylor of Saint Peter’s. There was a total of 17 athletes selected with six males and 11 females from 16 different schools.

MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor commented on these honors that four MAAC student-athletes received. “The MAAC is proud to continue its partnership with Sport Changes Life and would like to congratulate D’Jhai, Alexa, Taylor and Quinn,” said Ensor. “The Victory Scholars Program selected four very deserving student-athletes, and the MAAC wishes them nothing but the best as they complete their graduate studies and teach young people the value of sports and academics.”

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Men’s Basketball Announce New Freshman

Men’s basketball announced that they have signed a pair of players to join the program for the 2020-2021 season. Myles Ruth and Klemen Vuga will both be joining the freshman class for the blue and white this year.

Ruth is a native of Hillside, New Jersey and played his high school basketball at Don Bosco in Ramsey, New Jersey. In his senior season Ruth was name First Team All-Big North Division, First Team All-North Jersey and First Team All-Bergen County.

Standing at six feet tall, he averaged 13.6 points per game, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals in senior campaign in high school. He was also very efficient from the field as he finished the season with a 53 percent field goal percentage. With Ruth’s efforts, the Ironmen finished the 2019-20 season with a 14-6 record while posting an impressive 9-1 record at home.

Ruth also posted a total of five games in his senior year with at least 20 points including a 27 point explosion against Newburgh Free Academy. Not only did he score with ease, but he filled up the entire stat sheet in this contest. Ruth finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and six steals.

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Monmouth to Re-Air Classics on ESPN+

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures as Monmouth athletics has decided to bring something new to a deflated campus that is terribly missing their fall sports season. With the help of ESPN+ Monmouth will now be re-airing classic sporting events from the 2019-2020 athletics season starting on September 30th.

The schedule includes nearly two months of non-stop Monmouth action starting with men’s basketball versus Radford from last season and ending with men’s basketball versus Quinnipiac. The schedule includes a variety of men’s and women’s sports ranging from soccer to basketball to football to field hockey.

Each week ESPN+ will air three games starting at 3:00 p.m. sharply every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The links to these ESPN broadcasts will be provided on MonmouthHawks.com as well as the Monmouth Hawks Twitter page which will release schedule updates and news about these re-aired events.

Big South champion football leads the way with six games on the docket from their historic 2019-2020 season starting with the matchup from September 7th against Lafayette. They will also be airing the games versus Albany, Presbyterian, Gardner-Webb, North Alabama, and lastly Hampton which will be aired on November 6th.

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Former Hawk Pete Guerriero Signs With Panthers

On Oct. 1, former Monmouth running back Pete Guerriero signed with the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad.

Guerriero was asked to try out for the Panthers and competed against three other running backs for the practice squad spot. He impressed head coach, Matt Rhule, and became one of the two running backs that earned a spot on the squad.

The Lyndhurst native came to Monmouth in 2016 and spent his freshman year as a track runner. He won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Outdoor Championship in the 100m and 200m. In 2017, he became a redshirt freshman for the football team and immediately made an impact on the entire program.

The 2019 Football Championship Series (FCS) Running Back of the Year declared for the National Football League (NFL) Draft after completing his third season of eligibility. He ended his Monmouth season last year with a total of 3,974 career rushing yards which was the second most in program history. Throughout his career, Guerriero had 20 career over 100-yard rushing games appearing in 34 games for Monmouth.

Guerriero was the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) FCS leading rusher in the country and scored 239 points throughout his time as a Hawk, which is the third most in Monmouth history and helped the Hawks earn their first Big South Championship.

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Monmouth Baseball Alumn TJ Hunt Starts New Journey

Monmouth alumn TJ Hunt was once a young baseball player being recruited and now, he is the one in charge of that very same process.

TJ Hunt is the Director of Scouting and Operations of New Jersey for Prep Baseball Report (PBR), one of America’s biggest scouting services and top resource for amateur baseball. With PBR, Hunt is in charge of the scouting process of New Jersey amateur baseball players. As a 2015 graduate of Monmouth University his relation to the Hawks still hits close to home.

Hunt is also the grandson of Jim Hunt, a hall of fame high school coach, the son of Mickey Hunt, long-time head varsity coach of the Ramapo High School Baseball team, the younger brother of former MLB player and PBR National Crosschecker, Shooter Hunt, and the older brother of current Mississippi pitcher, K.C Hunt. Speaking of his early exposure to the sport, Hunt said, “It’s just through osmosis you just get involved in it and it was great!”

During his college recruiting process in high school, was the first time he had ever heard of Monmouth and is glad that he ended up here. “It’s just kind of a jewel of the state that many people don’t know about and it’s right next to the beach,” said Hunt. “You’re going to college at the Jersey Shore.”

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Monmouth Soccer Teams Earn Academic Honors

The Monmouth University women’s soccer team was named United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award winner for the 23rd consecutive season on Thursday, September 24 while the men’s team earned the award as well. This makes Monmouth one of 183 schools in the country to earn the award in both programs. 

“We are so proud of the continued commitment our team puts toward their academic performance,” said head coach Dr. Krissy Turner. “This recognition is a credit to the players and our academic support staff who help them reach their potential as student-athletes.”

All of the teams for both men’s and women’s who totaled a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher were granted the award for the 2019-2020 school year. This resulted in a total of 903 collegiate award winners across the country with 562 going to women’s teams and 341 to men’s.

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