Hartwick College has expanded its horizons for the 2012 Division I women's water polo season.
Twelve of the 24 women on the Hawks' roster hail from foreign countries, including their top three scoring threats in Canadians Shannon Leonard, Lisa Bass and Allyssa Analytis. The three seniors are entering their fourth and final seasons at Hartwick, which is ranked 13th in the country.
Leonard finished her junior season with 107 points (37 goals, 70 assists) en route to a Collegiate Water Polo Association Second Team selection for the Hawks, whose 26-11 season included an appearance in the CWPA Eastern semifinals.
Also a CWPA second-teamer, Bass amassed 102 points (59-43) last season, when Analytis had 69 points (51-18). Analytis also contributed 22 steals and a team-best 58 drawn kick-outs.
Californian Kristen Wagner rounds out Hartwick's seniors. She had 31 points (16-15) and five steals in her first season at Hartwick last winter.
Other offensive options are juniors Lily Martinez of California _ the CWPA Northern Division Rookie of the Year in 2010 _ and Sasha Freeborn of New Zealand.
Classmates Natalie Seabourn (New Zealand), Martina Shorkey (California), Laura Kuzma (Michigan) and Megan Clampitt (Illinois) should contribute at both ends of the pool for head coach Alan Huckins, who enters his ninth season with a 228-80 record.
Junior Hayley Cox (California) will take over for Jess Dorman in goal. Cox played the last two seasons behind Dorman, who completed her senior year last winter.
Jemma Dendy Young (South Africa) highlights the returners in the sophomore class, which includes Floridian Sami Capparelli, Lily Gall (Oregon) and Kanani Mazzone (Hawaii). Dendy Young had 51 points (28-23) and 52 steals last season, when Capparelli finished with 48 points (35-13) and 19 steals.
Dendy Young also competed for South Africa at the FINA Women's World Championship this past July, finishing as the team's No. 2 scorer.
Hartwick's newcomers are goalie Guia Carlini (Italy); utilities Anna Zdolsek (Sweden), Cayley Tonkin (South Africa) and Lyndsy Knapp (California); drivers Lara Dendy Young (South Africa), Kylie Traube (South Africa) and Kamila Zakirova (Kazakhstan); and center Alison Kositch (California).
The 2012 season will mark the first time at least half the team is from outside the U.S. since 2009, when Hartwick's 14-player roster included six Americans. In 2010, 14 of Hartwick's 22 players were U.S. residents. Last season, 16 of 25 Hawks were Americans.
The Hawks will open their 2012 schedule Saturday on the West Coast with games against seventh-ranked UC Irvine, No. 19 Cal-State Northridge and Redlands. Hartwick needs two victories to reach 300 all-time.
The Hawks have two games at Moyer Pool this season, hosting Brown on Feb. 24 and Michigan on March 9. Hartwick is attempting to earn its 11th division title, fourth CWPA crown and fourth NCAA Tournament berth since the program started 12 years ago.
BASEBALL
OHS graduate joins O-State
Oneonta High graduate Lance Ratchford will serve the Oneonta State baseball team as an assistant coach this season, the Red Dragons announced Wednesday.
Ratchford, who graduated from OHS in 2007, played three seasons of Division II baseball at Mansfield before transferring to D-III powerhouse Keystone for his senior year. Ratchford hit .339 in 42 games for Keystone last season, when the Giants finished third in the NCAA D-III World Series. He also played summer baseball for the Oriskany Blazers in 2009 and the Oneonta Outlaws and Sherrill Silversmiths in 2010.
Ratchford, who majored in sport and recreation management, interned with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in 2011.
Ratchford's appointment comes a little more than two weeks after O-State announced the hiring of interim head baseball coach Ben Grimm, the owner and former coach of the Silversmiths. Grimm took over after 16-year head coach Rick Ferchen was relieved of his duties Jan. 4.
The college refused to comment on the departure of Ferchen, who told The Daily Star on Jan. 13 that he did not leave the program on his own. O-State also refused to comment on the departures of assistant coaches Tom Marks and Mike Lum, who did not return for the 2011 fall season after the Red Dragons went 21-17 last spring.
WRESTLING
O-State 30, King's 10
Oneonta State won seven matches, capped by a pin from Vincent Barber at 285 pounds, for a non-conference road win Wednesday night.
Barber's pin of Kevin Trant in 3 minutes, 21 seconds marked the only six-point victory in head-to-head competition for the Red Dragons (7-8), who also earned two six-point forfeits.
Ben Mikac (133 pounds), Brian Berry (141), James Neal (174) and Jacob Smith (197) contributed victories by decision for Oneonta, which will compete in a quad-meet at Wesleyan on Saturday.
O-State 30, King's 10
at King's College
125 _ Aaron Perez (K) major dec. Joe Thompson, 17-3; 133 _ Ben Mikac (O) dec. Travis Boardman, 7-1; 141 _ Brian Barry (O) dec. Nate Seals, 12-6; 149 _ Matt Eberlein (O) forfeit; 157 _ Gordon Custer (K) dec. Daniel Graff, 3-1 OT-4 (takedown); 165 _ Frankie Provenzano (O) forfeit; 174 _ James Neal (O) dec. Shane Stark, 5-3; 184 _ Mike Reilly (K) dec. Steven Provenzano, 10-3; 197 _ Jacob Smith (O) dec. Cemah Tudae-Torboh, 7-3; 285 _ Vincent Barber (O) pinned Kevin Trant, 3:21.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Hartwick ranks among best
Hartwick College is ranked 14th out of 405 Division III men's basketball teams in field-goal-percentage defense as the Hawks have held opponents to 38.7 percent shooting from the floor this season.
Additionally, senior guard Mark Blazek ranks 15th out of 117 players in three-point field-goal percentage, at 44.5 percent. His team-best 49 threes leads the Empire 8 Conference.
Hartwick (18-2, 7-2), which also ranks 21st in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.27), hosts Alfred at 8 p.m. Friday.
