Lee Today

Bucs start 39th season of NCAA Division II competition

Barry University director of athletics Michael L. Covone announced a series of promotions within the department in advance of the 2022-23 season.

Jamie Carrig has been promoted to Senior Associate Athletic Director. Frank Gonzalez has been promoted to Associate Athletic Director for Academics & Support Services. Janelle Iaquinto has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/ SWA for Compliance & Operations. Matthew Santos-Vitorino has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine/ Health Care Administrator. Sydney Neighbors has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Trainer. Aliana Bennazar has been promoted to Coordinator of Student-Athlete Services.

"It is with great pleasure that we announce the promotions of exceptional staff who each have earned the opportunity to assume more leadership responsibility within the department of intercollegiate athletics, and the division of Mission & Student Engagement," Covone said. "It is exciting to continue to leverage the many talents our staff has to enhance our student-first philosophy, as we continue to offer a transformational education in an environment conducive to the growth of our student-athletes as scholars and future professionals."  

Carrig, as the Senior Associate AD and 25-year veteran of intercollegiate athletics at BarryU, has responsibilities for overseeing Athletic Communications, Athletic Facilities/ Athletic Event Operations/ Game Management, Marketing/ Brand Management, Promotions & fan engagement, and provides oversight of multiple sports. Carrig will be responsible for staging all home athletic events in accordance with departmental, Sunshine State Conference and NCAA policies and regulations.

Gonzalez, as the Associate AD for Academics and Support Services, has oversight of the academic programs for all student-athletes and has designated sport program management. He also provides leadership of our athletic compliance staff and develops programming, training, and education as it relates to mental health, social justice, and professional development for coaches, staff and student-athletes.

Iaquinto, as an administrator with coaching experience, assumes the role of Assistant AD for Compliance and Operations. Her responsibilities include but are not limited to game day management, compliance/ sport oversight, transportation, work-study program, student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC), and serves as Barry's Senior Woman Administrator (SWA).

Santos-Vitorino was named Assistant AD for Sports Medicine/Health Care Administrator. He is responsible for leading, coordinating, and administrating comprehensive athletic training service operations for health care for our 13 intercollegiate sport teams (all student-athletes), in addition to facilitating medical supervision for Club Sport athletic activities. In 2022, he was named Athletic Trainer of the Year for Collegiate programs in Florida.

Neighbors, as the Assistant Athletic Trainer/Clinical Instructor, assists the head athletic trainer with all duties including health care for all 13 intercollegiate programs (>300 student-athletes), supervision of the graduate assistant, and serves as a Clinical Instructor for undergraduate students in the CAATE accredited B.S. degree programs in Athletic Training. In addition to providing health care services, she also assists with medical records and documentation, tracks inventory to ensure proper supply and oversees the students in the department.

Bennazar, as the Coordinator for Student-Athlete Services, assists the SWA with the day-to-day management of the department's compliance program and academic services, acts as liaison with the Sunshine State Conference and NCAA, and educates student-athletes, coaches, staff, friends, and supporters of the University on SSC and NCAA rules and regulations. She will assist with implementing the student mentoring program, study hall and tutoring.

The 38th year of intercollegiate competition for the Bucs was another successful season that saw five teams earn bids to the NCAA Tournaments with two winning NCAA Division II National Championships (men's and women's tennis). In addition, the program captured six Sunshine State Conference Championships (men's and women's tennis regular season and tournaments & men's and women's golf tournaments), crowned 17 All-Americans, including three national players of the year (Alice Götbring in women's golf; AJ Ewart in men's golf and Deniz Khazan in women's tennis), 44 Scholar All-Americans and earned the NCAA President's Award for a 90+ percent graduation rate for the eighth consecutive time.

Barry now has 26 National Championships, the fifth-most among active Division II institutions, 419 All-Americans in 13 different sports, 591 Scholar/Academic All-Americans and 10 NCAA Woman of the Year finalists. Since the Fall of 2001, Barry's athletic teams have compiled a combined cumulative GPA of better than 3.0, and each semester the academic success stories continue to reach new levels and set new benchmarks.

Original source can be found here.