October 17, 2018

Around Friartown

Student-athletes display the Christmas gifts they collected and wrapped in an Adopt-A-Family drive for local community members.

Friars hit a national service winner

The winning continues for Friar athletics — this time beyond the field of play. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the Fiesta Bowl recently announced Providence College as one of two runners-up for the 2018 Community Service Award. The award recognizes Division I programs with meaningful commitments to community service and volunteerism. The Student-Athlete Advisory Council collaborates with coaches and professional staff to identify service opportunities and to maximize impact. Recent examples are a collaboration with Providence’s DaVinci Center to provide Christmas gifts to local children and a Walking School Bus initiative, through which student-athletes walk local youngsters to school. All 19 men’s and women’s athletics programs participate in service initiatives.

Women's swimming and diving team members are excited to hit the water for Swim Across America's cancer research fundraiser. — Women’s swimming and diving team members are excited to hit the water for Swim Across America’s cancer research fundraiser.

Swimmers make a splash for cancer research

Coach John O’Neill’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams continue to be major contributors to the Swim Across America cancer research fund-raising effort. The 2018 Rhode Island Swim, held in September at Roger W. Wheeler State Beach in Narragansett, raised more than $205,000 to support the Women & Infants Hospital Oncology Center in Providence. The Friars raised just over $30,000 this year, bringing the program’s nine-year total impact to more than $180,000. O’Neill, who is a Swim Across America-Rhode Island board member, said that “the big winners … are the patients who will benefit from the outstanding doctors and research specialists” at Women & Infants.

Army-Navy baseball a Friar affair

Paul Kostacopoulos '87, left, and Jim Foster '93 unite at Fenway Park. (Mady Salvani photo) — Paul Kostacopoulos ’87, left, and Jim Foster ’93 unite at Fenway Park. (Mady Salvani photo)

When the Army-Navy rivalary moves to the baseball field, there is a decidedly Providence College flavor. Navy coach Paul Kostacopoulos ’87 and Army coach Jim Foster ’93 both wore the Friar uniform. In fact, Kostacopoulos — who was PC’s last head baseball coach — recruited Foster. Both have had extraordinary success as college coaches. In nine seasons at URI, Foster won 268 games — the most in program history. He has been at West Point for two seasons. In 29 years as a head coach, Kostacopoulos has racked up 915 wins, putting him among the 19 most successful college coaches of all time. In addition to coaching the Friars, he led the Maine program for nine seasons before taking over at Navy in 2006. He is married to Joan (Powers) Kostacopoulos ’86 & ’97G, a former Friar basketball player. Army and Navy squared off at Fenway Park in Boston last April, with the Midshipmen winning 4-0.