St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Begins 2008 With New Student-Athlete Orientation
8/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | General
Aug. 26, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - The 2008-09 St. John's athletic season opened for the Red Storm with the annual new student-athlete orientation on Monday, Aug. 25. The St. John's rookies were welcomed by Director of Athletics Chris Monasch and the staff of Student Development.
"Our Student-Athlete Orientation lays out a game plan, so to speak, for our incoming athletes' success across the board at St. John's," said Monasch. "We expect of our student-athletes to achieve academically, serve our community and compete athletically at the highest level of NCAA Division I Athletics. The orientation let's our student-athletes know of the many tools and support services St. John's will provide them to meet those expectations."
The event was a day-long orientation for incoming freshman and transfer student-athletes. This year, each new student-athlete was assigned to one of ten groups and given two returning Red Storm athletes as group leaders in order to help transition them to campus life at St. John's.
During the day, the student-athletes participated in different sessions covering a variety of topics and met with their team's academic advisor, campus minister and sports counselor.
"Our student-athletes have always been successful in the classroom and the orientation helps build the foundation for that success," said Eric Rienecker, Director of Academic Support for Student-Athletes. "The day gives these first-year student an opportunity to interact with athletes from other teams and build relationships that will last a lifetime."
The evening was highlighted by a welcome back dinner as the women's soccer team was honored as the 2007-08 StormTracker Champions after accumulating the most points based on academic achievement, attendance at career and life development workshops and community service hours.