The University of Akron Athletics
athletics emails tom 2012 13 october 3 2012
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COME HOME FOR HOMECOMING …
We look forward to welcoming back to campus this weekend University alumni who are returning as part of our annual Homecoming festivities. There’s no one better than alumnus Jim Tressel to tell you why you should come back.
Zips Fest and Coleman Common will be packed again with tents and activities … which actually began tonight as part of an entire week of programming. Saturday will feature the UA 5K, our Title IX reception, a tailgate for alumni, a tailgate for Faculty & Staff, our team’s arrival at noon for ROO Walk, Zips Fest … and that’s just before the 2 p.m. kickoff for Football vs. Bowling Green. Please visit the Homecoming website for all of the activities all weekend long (including Men’s Soccer vs. Florida Atlantic at 7:30 p.m. Friday and the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge with Women’s Soccer vs. Kent State at 1 p.m. Sunday).
CALLING ALL FORMER AND CURRENT FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETES …
We have invited all female Zips – past and present – plus the general public to attend a special reception to honor the 40th Anniversary of Title IX and the history of Women’s Athletics at The University of Akron.
On Saturday, the doors to the FirstMerit Foundation Club Level (fifth floor) of InfoCision Stadium open for a social hour at 10 a.m. for all current and former female student-athletes. At 11 a.m., our program, which is open to the general public, will feature two of our female NCAA champions, Christi Smith of Track and Field and Jenna Compton of Rifle. Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Connie Dieken has graciously offered to serve as emcee, and both Women’s Basketball head coach Jodi Kest and Vice President/Chief of Staff Candace Campbell Jackson will provide remarks as well.
Afterward, all alumnae are invited to the Varsity “A” Tailgate Tent inside the stadium for a pre-game meal – this is free for Varsity “A” members and costs $8 for their guests and for non-members. All former student-athletes who attend the reception can receive two complimentary tickets (with more available for purchase) to the football game vs. Bowling Green at 2 p.m., during which we’ll recognize on the field all of our female student-athletes.
We've compiled a list of our 40 greatest female student-athletes and have been counting down the top 10 on GoZips.com. So far we have unveiled:
#10: Dani Vance Crookston, Softball
#9: Zara Harutyunyan, Women’s Tennis
#8: Carrie Kayes, Track and Field
#7: Kira Sims, Track and Field
#6: Mary Varga, Track and Field
#4: Beata Rudzinska, Track and Field
#3: Jenna
Compton, Rifle
Log on to Zips
Athletics Title IX Central to see the final two on
Thursday and Friday … and don’t forget, you can
vote for the greatest moment in Zips Women’s Sports History
through Facebook. We will announce the winner at the
reception.
Finally, this video provides a sense from our coaches how much this legislation has meant to them, personally and professionally.
BASKETBALL RENEWAL DEADLINE, AND SELECT-A-SEAT
Please note that our renewal deadline for men’s basketball season tickets is Friday, so call 888-99-AKRON (25766) or visit here for more information. On Oct. 20 at 4 p.m., we’ll host a Select-a-Seat event in Rhodes Arena (conveniently after the noon Football game vs. Northern Illinois and before Volleyball hosts Central Michigan at 5 p.m.) for new season ticketholders and those of you who want to add more seats. There’s greater demand than ever for Zips Basketball – as evident by many of our games being cleared for television – so don’t lose your seats by missing the deadline.
And while we’re talking hoops, our Women’s
Basketball team officially started practice today. We have an
exciting team this year and season tickets are available by
clicking here.
OUR GROWING ONLINE PRESENCE
Wanted to share some numbers that indicate the growth we’ve had online: in September 2012 alone, we had more than 131,000 visits (not page views) to GoZips.com – which means more than 4,300 people each day visited our site… since February, our main Facebook account has grown 20 percent to more than 18,000 total likes and our main Twitter feed (@FollowTheRoo) has grown more than 40 percent to over 2,700 followers. We continue to emphasize our social media strategies and hope that you have enjoyed interacting with us every day, but especially when it’s a #ZipsGameday.
Our updated social media directory – with links to every account for each team, coach and staff member – is available here.
COMPLIANCE TIP OF THE WEEK
As we celebrate Homecoming this week, we look forward to welcoming back a large group of alumni to the Akron campus. We also will be hosting recruits. As we roll out the blue and gold carpet for all of our campus' visitors, we want to take a minute to remember that only authorized coaches are allowed to interact with recruits while they are on our campus visiting. We appreciate your desire to make Zips Athletics better, but donors, boosters, alumni and friends of the department cannot be involved in direct recruiting activities. Thank you.
ZIPS CLIPS AND CONGRATS TO …
… senior wide receiver Marquelo Suel, who was added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List …
… junior forward Reinaldo Brenes was named Mid-American Conference Men’s Soccer Player of the Week and was named to two national teams of the week…
… redshirt senior Tina Dimitrijevs was named MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week, which helped Volleyball capture the 700th victory in program history …
… Women’s Soccer (and our Marketing staff) for setting a home attendance record Friday with 1,165 at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field to watch our match vs. Northern Illinois …
ASK THE AD
As always, if you have a question or want to comment about Zips Athletics, click here now or at any time on the “Ask the AD” button on the home page of GoZips.com.
Go Zips!
Tom Wistrcill
Director of Athletics
