Breast Cancer Battle Leads Coach to Schedule ‘Think Pink’ Game

The Stockton women's basketball team hosted its "Think Pink" game against Montclair State on Feb. 3, 2024, to celebrate breast cancer survivors and to continue to bring awareness and raise money for breast cancer research.  

The cause is very personal for Stockton head coach Devin Jefferson, whose team was having its most successful season in her six years at the helm. Jefferson shared her own experience with breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2023. Early detection was pivotal in her learning of her diagnosis.

“I went to my routine mammogram appointment in March 2022. I was not initially concerned. I don’t think I really gave it much thought. It was just one of those annual health appointments you have to take care of. Breast cancer is not in my family history,” Jefferson said.

The guidelines for screening vary, and in some cases, health insurance recommends that screening begin at age 50.

“In September 2019, I got a call that my college teammate Simona “Monie” Burgess passed away after battling breast cancer for a couple of years. She was only 38 years old when she passed. She was so young and so full of life,” said Jefferson.

Except for skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and Black women die from the disease at a much higher rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A common misconception is that most people think of it as an inherited disease, but that is only in about 5% to 10% of cases. According to the American Cancer Society, most people who are diagnosed have no known family history.

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Unified Sports Club Celebrates 10th Year with Special Olympics

Stockton’s Unified Sports Club celebrated its 10th anniversary this year of being affiliated with the Special Olympics of New Jersey this year — and the basketball team had a title to defend.

The student-run club is one of 10 at a New Jersey college or university that competes in soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter as part of the Unified Cup, which the Ospreys won in basketball for the first time in 2023.

“One of the greatest things we do here in athletics is unified sports, and all the credit goes to our Stockton students,” said Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation Jeff Haines, who oversees the club. “The time, the dedication, the passion, and the patience they have for our Special Olympic unified athletes is incredible.”

Special Olympics is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team.

Haines said that while the club has been affiliated with Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) for 10 years, it was established at the school at least 15 years ago. Currently the program features about 20 athletes for soccer and about 40 for basketball, according to SONJ, while about 10 to 15 Stockton students participate in the program as aides and coaches for the athletes.

The athletes, who range in age from their 20s to their 40s, meet with the students weekly on campus for practice. The club also plays once a year in G. Larry James Stadium at halftime of a Stockton intercollegiate soccer game and once a year in the Sports Center at halftime of a basketball game. This year’s basketball game on campus was held on Feb. 14, 2024, at halftime of the men’s basketball game vs. Kean University.

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Campus Community Sends Off Men’s Basketball Team to NCAAs

Stockton students, faculty and staff gathered Feb. 29, 2024, in the Campus Center for a mini-pep rally to send off the men’s basketball team to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Ospreys (17-10) were scheduled to play Tufts University of Massachusetts (19-7) in a first-round game at 4:15 p.m. Friday, March 1, at New York University in Manhattan. With a win, Stockton would face either NYU (20-5) or Husson University of Maine (23-5) in the second round on Saturday, March 2, also at NYU.

Stockton men’s basketball coach Scott Bittner addressed the crowd and thanked them for their support this season.

“The thing I take the most pride in is seeing the community engagement. Anybody that was at the game on Saturday (the NJAC championship) realizes that importance of athletics and what it can do for a campus community,” he said.

Senior DJ Campbell said that this is the third year in a row he and the team have reached the tournament.

“Thank you all for coming out this morning. Hopefully, we will go out this weekend and play the right way, play Stockton basketball and come out with a win,” he said to cheers from the crowd. “Let’s keep this thing going.” 

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Stockton Athletics Inducts 2023 Hall of Fame Class

Stockton Athletics inducted its 2023 Hall of Fame class at a banquet held on Oct. 6, 2023, in the Campus Center Event Room of the Galloway campus. The inductees included Nick Bologno '15 (men's lacrosse), Jared Lewis '18 (men's track & field), Sasha Williams '18 (women's basketball) and the 1985 Softball Team.

After Bologno, Lewis and Williams were inducted, the evening concluded with the induction of the 1985 Softball Team, which won the ECAC championship to earn the first postseason title of any kind by any Stockton team. Val Julien, who was an assistant coach in 1985 and later served as head softball coach for 29 years, spoke first and then brought first baseman Abby Roessler to the stage to speak on behalf of the team.

Roessler called it "surreal" that team members could be together 38 years later and said of the 1985 season, "We had the time of our lives." Roessler was one of 10 players from the squad who were in attendance as well as three siblings of the late Chris "Scrapper" Ross, the team captain who Roessler called "the heart and soul of our team."

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Stockton Wins First-Ever NJAC Regular Season Title

The baseball team split its doubleheader with Ramapo on April 27, 2024, and in doing so clinched the NJAC regular season title for the first time in school history. The Ospreys took the opener 9-8 with a stunning ninth-inning rally but dropped the nightcap 8-2.

Stockton was ranked seventh in the NJAC preseason coaches and chosen as the dark horse, a billing that they lived up to by winning the regular season crown.

In the first game, Robbie Ford went 3-4 with a double and three runs. Russell Halvorsen went 3-4 with two runs and an RBI while Tony Gatti was 3-4 with two RBI and a run.

Stockton scored four runs in the third inning, and the teams went back and forth on the way to a 4-4 tie after seven frames. Ramapo jumped ahead 8-5 in the bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for a thrilling comeback by the Ospreys.

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Stockton V8 Captures Bronze Medal at Dad Vail

Stockton finished the 2023-24 season with three crews competing on the second day (May 11, 2024) of the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate regatta in the United States. Stockton's day was highlighted by a medal in the varsity eight.

The Stockton varsity eight captured a bronze medal with third place in the DIII V8 Grand Final in a time of 7:38.967. The Ospreys missed out on silver by just 1.78 seconds but earned a medal for the fourth time in the last five Dad Vail regattas. Earlier in the day, Stockton earned their spot in the grand final with third place in their semifinal heat at 8:04.237.

Emily Latshaw, Amber Hartzell, Joslynn Hurley, Madelynn Schina, Marissa Martinelli, Ashley Timm, Megan Baldwin and Sydney Rowand comprised the varsity eight and Lorie Hendricks was the coxswain.

The Stockton second varsity eight placed fourth in their semifinal with a time of 8:11.613 under the direction of coxswain Kelley Mason. The Ospreys then fell to Simmons College (Mass.) in a head-to-head Final 2 race in which they posted 8:28.797.

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Ospreys Track & Field Finishes Third in NJAC Championships

Stockton University finished third out of 10 teams in the NJAC Championships, which were hosted by Stockton at G. Larry James Stadium on May 4-5.

The women’s team won four events and earned six runner-up finishes on the way to a team score of 177.5. The men’s team earned five runner-up finishes and registered a team score of 96.5.

Emma Petrolia led Stockton by placing third or higher in three individual events and one relay, highlighted by a win in the triple jump. The sophomore also was second in the 400m hurdles and third in the long jump.

The Ospreys went one-two-three-four in the triple jump with winner Petrolia followed by Ashanae Morrison in second, Khristina Washington third and Brooke Valan fourth.

Marcellus Malloy, Darnell Cartwright, Joseph deBeaumont and Santana Wittenburg finished second in the 4x400 relay (3:22.20), with deBeaumont placing third in the 800m (1:55.47).

Gavin Lum finished second in the pole vault and Joseph Morales was second in the long jump. Kevin Lu-Chua placed second in the decathlon and Dan Squicciarini was second in the 3000m steeplechase.