Baseball coach captures 500th win
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Baseball coach Norm Schoenig added another milestone to
his already impressive career April 20 as the Red Hawks upset No. 4 ranked
Eastern Connecticut, 4-3, to give the 17th-year head coach his 500th victory.
Now in his 17th season, Schoenig's 500 victories are more
wins than any coach in Montclair State Athletic history let alone the
baseball program. His resume also includes two National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Division IIII National Championships (1993, 2000),
five New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) titles, six NCAA Regional championships,
six appearances in the Division III World Series, and a national runner-up
finish in 1998. He has twice been named the Division III National Coach
of the Year and six times he was chosen as the NJAC Coach of the Year.
A former player under legendary coach Clary Anderson in the 1970's, "Moose,"
as he is known to most people, returned to Montclair State in 1988 as
the 10th head coach in the history of the program. Inheriting a team that
had just won the 1987 NCAA title, it took him just three seasons to return
to the World Series and by his sixth campaign he delivered the Red Hawks
their second baseball national championship when his band of players topped
Wisconsin Oshkosh, 3-1 to win the 1993 crown. Five years later, the team
nearly pulled off another championship, but instead had to settle for
second place.
Then in 2000, Schoenig guided the team to the greatest season Montclair
State has ever seen in 71-year history of the program. MSU won an unprecedented
42 of 50 games (42-7-1), setting the school record for victories, while
posting an amazing 17-1 mark in the highly competitive NJAC. His team
would go on to capture the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional title and earned
a berth to the Division III World Series. At the World Series, MSU would
lose its first game. But taking his one-game-at-time attitude, Schoenig's
squad rebounded with five straight wins, culminating with a 6-2 victory
over St. Thomas (Minn.) to give the Red Hawks their third national championship.
The following year, Montclair came very close to becoming the first team
to repeat as national champions since 1979 as they placed third at the
World Series.
In 1997, Schoenig surpassed former Montclair coach and Director of Athletics
Bill Dioguardi as the all-time winningest coach when MSU defeated Albright
in Pennsylvania, 6-3, giving him his 291st victory. Schoenig accomplished
the feat in just 10 seasons, and in his 16-plus years he has amassed a
500-231-8 mark (an average of 31 wins per year). He has had seven 30-win
seasons and currently ranks among the all-time Division III coaching leaders
in percentage (.682) and victories. Those numbers are perhaps more impressive
when you look at his NJAC record of 215-61-1, a .778 winning percentage.
That includes back-to-back 17-1 records in 2000 and 2001 and a 62-10 ledger
from 1998-2001.
During his tenure, 17 of his players have been named All-Americans, with
14 Red Hawks signing professional contracts, including Corey Hamman and
Brian Ellerson who were chosen in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft.
Seniors participate in Health and Fitness Games
More than 130 senior citizens participated in the second annual Senior
Citizens Health and Fitness Games held on campus April 21. The event,
sponsored by Essex County Division on Aging, was organized and conducted
by the Panzer Student Association with assistance from students in classes
taught by Carol Masterson, Ben Schaffer and Richard Tobin. The event was
chaired by Rich Lamberson, past president of the Panzer Student Association.
"The mission of the games is to help encourage seniors to live a more active lifestyle and learn how simple it is to adapt to a sport to a level anyone can participate in safely," Schaffer said. "Senior citizens are the fastest growing population in our country and health and fitness lifestyles are key to keeping medical costs down. Teaching seniors how to be active is a new field study that is getting more attention."
A younger group also had an opportunity to come to campus
when students in Masterson's Teaching of Physical Education and Movement
Education sponsored a field trip for eighth graders from PS 34 in Paterson
and their teacher alumnus Ron Broking '02. "I met Ron during my first
semester here," Masterson said. "Not only is he a good athlete
who played on the MSU football team, he is a wonderful teacher."
The students participated in various games and races throughout the day.