Left: Adrian Spracklen, rowing
’ Right Top: Mike Sisti, women s ice hockey Right Bottom: Joe Spano, baseball
’ Middle: Rick Gotkin, men s ice hockey
For rowing director Adrian Spracklen, Mercyhurst’s unique support was enough to pull him back. Spracklen, a 1990 Mercyhurst graduate, returned as an assistant coach after earning his master’s degree at Western Michigan University. In 1992, Spracklen became the women’s head coach and was tabbed men’s coach in 1998. “Part of the reason why I came back was because of the way I was treated here,” Spracklen said. “As a student, I was surrounded by very good people who supported and encouraged me.” Rowing is a family afair for Spracklen, whose father, Mike, has led multiple teams to the Olympics and World Rowing Championships. So, it should come as no surprise that he regards the Lakers in the most familial terms. “I really view them all as an extension of my personal family,” Spracklen said. “I view them as my own children in that I hold them accountable, I try to advise them and, together, we grow as a family.”
Multiple Spano children currently share a similar experience, as their fathers Joe, Mercyhurst’s head coach, and Charlie, the associate head coach, have led Mercyhurst’s baseball program to national prominence in recent years. The young Spanos regularly frequent the campus, whether having lunch at the dining hall or paying visits to the baseball ofces in Baldwin Hall. “The way the administration welcomes families and has made my family feel like they’re a part of the university, it’s just really unique,” said Joe Spano, who led the Lakers to the College World Series in his 20th season on the bench this spring. “It’s a wonderful place and that’s what makes it so strong and keeps us bouncing back through all the hard times — because it’s a family.” Every Homecoming weekend, Laker loyalty results in an alumni game that draws as many as 50 former baseball players, Spano said. Such a turnout represents impressive growth from the frst alumni game, which drew just a handful of players 17 years ago. For coaches, relationships with past student-athletes are a welcome byproduct of their lasting tenures. “I’ve had kids that I’ve coached that are now married and have their own families,” said men’s basketball coach Gary Manchel, who will enter his 16th season in the fall. “When I see them at weddings or when they come back to campus, we’ll have long conversations over dinner, and it’s something that is really rewarding.” Perhaps even more rewarding is the fellowship between veteran coaches, an uncommon dynamic that yields not only productive collaboration but friendships as well. “It’s interesting that people outside of athletics think those in our department would be at odds and that’s not the case,” Gaudette said. “When we have lunch together every day or when one of us asks another coach for advice, we’re not competing against each other.
For other longtime coaches, Mercyhurst and family has taken on a more literal meaning.
After three decades leading the men’s hockey program, Rick Gotkin is the longest tenured hockey coach in the NCAA at one school and the only coach to lead one team in divisions I, II and III. For the last four years, Gotkin held another title for one Laker: Dad. Before graduating in the spring, Gotkin’s son Brandon competed for his father at Mercyhurst. To little surprise, Brandon Gotkin now coaches a junior hockey team in Maryland. Rick Gotkin cited Mercyhurst’s environment as a reason for setting down roots. “It’s a great environment to work and raise a family, which is what I’ve done,” he said. “I raised my family on campus — my daughter and son have literally grown up on campus.”
-
“I’ve worked at other schools, and it’s just diferent here.”
24
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online