STANDISH, Maine - The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) postseason accolades for all fall sports have been released over the past 10 days and the Saint Joseph's College coaching staff includes five GNAC Coach of the Year honorees.
Rupert Lewis earns the third coaching accolade of his field hockey career after leading the Monks to GNAC regular season and tournament championships with a 13-6 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play this fall. Under his watch, Saint Joseph's led the conference in goals against average (0.94) and defensive saves (10) and ranked second in shots (289), assists (29), and penalty corners (169). By far the program's most successful head coach, Lewis owns a 141-81 (.635) career record with 10 winning seasons. This fall, Coach Lewis guided the Monks' to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament triumph – a 1-0 win over #10 Montclair State University on November 2nd.
Lewis has also skippered the SJC women's lacrosse program for four years with a pair of GNAC Coach of the Year accolades and a conference championship to his credit.
Jamie Smyth '92 earns his first Golf Coach of the Year accolade after leading the Monks to the program's first-ever GNAC Championship this fall. Under his watch, Saint Joseph's shot a 607 (301-306) to edge out Rhode Island College (610) and Southern Maine (610) for the conference crown and subsequent automatic berth into the NCAA DIII Tournament, which will be played in Florida May 16 – 19, 2017. Also the Monks' softball skipper, Smyth has earned seven conference coach of the year honors leading his teams on the diamond.
Scott Hutchinson earned the 14th Coach of the Year honor of his esteemed coaching career after leading the Monks to a fourth-place finish with 108 points in the 2016 GNAC Championship. Under his watch, essentially every runner on the Monks' roster – which featured six freshmen - showed significant improvement throughout the season.
Jenelle Harris collects her second GNAC Coach of the Year award in four years as the Monks' skipper guided the 2016 side to a 10-7-3 overall record with a 6-2-3 mark in conference play en route to earning the #4 seed in the GNAC Tournament. Saint Joseph's was 9-10-0 with a 6-5 record in GNAC games in 2015 and was picked to finish seventh in the 2016 GNAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll. This fall, the Monks defeated #5 Simmons College, 3-1, in a conference quarterfinal, a victory that counted as the program's first postseason triumph since the 2009 campaign.
Adrian Dubois earns his first Coach of the Year honor after leading his Monks to nearly as many victories this season (15) as the previous two combined (16). Under his watch this fall, Saint Joseph's – picked to finish second in the GNAC Preseason Poll – claimed the conference regular season and tournament titles and established new SJC single-season records for wins, unbeaten streak (20), winning streak (10), shutouts (16), consecutive shutouts (8), and winning percentage (.882). En route to punching an NCAA Tournament ticket for the third time since 2009, the Monks outscored conference foes by an 18-1 tally and paced the GNAC in a variety of statistical categories, including goals against average (0.41), shots (463), and shutouts. Coach Dubois led the Monks to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory – a 4-2 penalty-kick triumph over Babson College on November 12th.
During the 2016 fall season, the Monks' four record-bearing teams combined to post a 51-29 (.638) overall record – including a 25-8-4 (.758) mark in GNAC play – with four GNAC Tournament appearances, six postseason victories, two conference championships, and a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. The SJC golf team's championship pushes the SJC fall title total to three, the most won in a season since Saint Joseph's joined the GNAC in the fall of 2007.
#GOMONKS
Follow Saint Joseph's Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram!
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
