 Athletic Director Mike Thomas  |
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Dear Bearcat Nation,
Thanks for taking the time to review this interactive area of UCBearcats.com. I enjoy having the opportunity to communicate directly with you and share our many points of pride within Cincinnati Athletics.
I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our student-athletes on another great year of work in the classroom. One thing that our friends in the corporate world invest a great deal in is R&D – Research and Development. Here at UC Athletics, we want to develop total student-athletes who strive for RINGS & DIPLOMAS. With facilities like Varsity Village and the Lindner Center there is no reason why top-flight achievement cannot be commonplace here in Clifton. Graduation Day is June 10 and I encourage all of Bearcat Nation to keep our departing student-athletes in your thoughts as they embark on the exciting journey of life.
The 2005-06 athletics year was our first in the BIG EAST Conference, and what a year it was! From the opening of the Richard E. Lindner Center and Varsity Village to the myriad of competitions with our new conference rivals, this was a year of achievement unmatched in the history of the University of Cincinnati.
Ann Degenstein, UC’s record holder in the 100 and 200 butterfly, won both events at the 2006 BIG EAST Championships, becoming UC’s first-ever BIG EAST Champion. The senior from the Woodlands, Texas, qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished the season ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, in the nation in the 100 and 200 fly. An interior design student in the challenging DAAP program, Degenstein holds a 3.72 GPA and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV second team.
John Bowie won the BIG EAST 100 meter championship and ran the anchor leg for the champion 4x100 relay team, becoming the first BIG EAST Track & Field champion at UC. Bowie, a defensive back on the football team, qualified for the Mid-East Regional Championships and competed in both the 100 meters and 4x100 relay. Justin Conway, Cedric Powell and Bob Kandell combined with Bowie on the championship relay squad, which finished in the top spot in all but two races this season.
On the team front, we had six squads that finished in the top five of BIG EAST competition this year, led by our third place finish in men’s soccer. Both volleyball and men’s outdoor track & field finished fourth, while women’s golf, men’s golf, and men’s swimming and diving each completed the season in fifth place among BIG EAST member schools.
Off the field, Track and Field standout Jake Richards was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and largest academic honors society. A four-year member of the UC track and field team, John holds a 3.81 GPA in secondary education. He finished second in the 800 meters at the 2004 Conference USA Championships and won the All-Ohio Championships that same season. A full Cincinnatus Scholarship recipient, Richards is co-president of C.P.A.W.S., UC’s student-athlete community service wing. Richards is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a member of the University Athletics Committee, and has been awarded the Men of Metro Service Honorary. Also, senior Baseball player Jack Nelson was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American for his efforts on the diamond and in the classroom. A finance major with a 3.61 GPA, he ranked fourth on the team in hitting and third in RBI, while adding five home runs and 16 doubles. On the mound, Nelson held a 3-1 record with four saves in a team-high 24 appearances.
Performances such as these underscore what a great group of student-athletes and staff that we have. It is imperative t hat we keep striving for excellence on all fronts as we move forward. Earlier this week I visited with every member of our athletics staff and unveiled my vision for UC Athletics. The title, CATAPULT, represents the movement that we must empower for our teams to surpass the extraordinary level of competition which we face in the BIG EAST.
Under our CATAPULT plan our goals are three fold:
To win a BIG EAST Championship in every sport over the next five years. This is an ambitious goal, but one that we must set if we are to move each program and our department as a whole to the next level.
Our student-athletes WILL continue to set the pace academically by outperforming the general student population in terms of overall grade point average. Our first responsibility is to our student-athletes, supporting them in their academic endeavors and helping earn their degree from the University of Cincinnati.
We WILL respect and honor the privilege of competing as Cincinnati Bearcats. We recognize our goals cannot be achieved without engaging the UC family and the Cincinnati community. We WILL develop the resources to put our Department in a position to compete among the top-tier of the BIG EAST. From the youngest fan to the most veteran supporter, the Bearcat Nation must be unified across the board to achieve our goals.
The key to winning conference championships and competing for national titles is a total commitment to being the best, both in athletics competition and in the classroom. CATAPULT will set the vision for how this can be achieved at the University of Cincinnati, but we cannot do it without your support and that of Bearcat Nation as a whole. Through your purchase of season tickets and membership in UCATS, substantial funding for our 18-sport, 530 student-athlete program is generated. For more information on UCATS membership please call 1-877-55-UCATS and to get in touch with our ticket office please dial 1-888-CATS-TIX.
We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you on campus at events over the next few months and as we move closer to the start of another year of athletics competition in August. Stay logged on to UCBearcats.com for the most comprehensive information about the Bearcats and special activities that will take place over the summer.
Go Bearcats!
Mike Thomas
Director of Athletics
