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Golf Classic 2009

Thanks to all who made the 2009 Golf Classic a rousing success. O&B’s largest one-day fundraiser attracted 124 golfers to the links at the Hanover Country Club on May 29 and raised $71,965.00 for Bullets athletics. Butter-Krust Baking Company and Jim ’58 and John ’50 Apple sponsored the event for the 17th year and many individuals and companies provided generous support. Congratulations to all (see the O&B website for full results and photos).

A three-year veteran of the Annual

Fund office and undisputed sports

enthusiast, Ben Rupp was named

Director of Orange & Blue and the

Cupola Society. Originally from

Ephrata, Ben’s degree in journalism

from Penn State led to a marketing

position with the Reading Phillies,

the AA affiliate of the 2008

World Series Champs.

What a year for Bullets athletics—

three more Centennial Conference

championships (men’s basketball,

women’s swimming, and men’s

lacrosse), the push to Foxboro

and the NCAA finals for men’s

lacrosse, and an impressive array of

individual honors for Gettysburg’s

scholar-athletes. And it’s been an

important year for the O&B Club.

Together, we raised more funds

and provided more opportunities

for students, alumni, parents, and

friends to connect in support of our

Bullets athletes and teams.

O&B Beats Goal

O&B raised $371,151 in 2008-2009,

exceeding the goal by $35,855, 11

percent over the previous year’s

total. The accomplishments that

brought us great joy this year would

not have been possible without the

generous support of O&B members.

Thank you for a great year.

Out in Force

O&B hosted a variety of events to

muster team spirit, at home and

away. The highlights:

• Special welcome events for athletes and their families as they arrived on campus last fall; • Tailgates for the Dickinson and Juniata football games; • A midyear celebration for men’s and women’s basketball; • A gathering at the cross country championship; and • Events for both the women’s and men’s lacrosse teams at their respective finales. Gettysburgians were 300-strong at the women’s lacrosse final four at Roanoke and more than 700 stormed the O&B tailgate at the men’s lacrosse postgame event in Foxboro.

Connecting Past and Present

In what is fast on its way to

becoming a new tradition, the 2008

inductees of the Hall of Athletic

Honor were invited to campus

in advance of the formal HOAH

celebration to share a meal and

swap stories with current athletes.

Time will tell if the honorees met

some HOAH candidates of the

future.

Looking Ahead

As the 2009-2010 academic year

begins, O&B looks forward to • Increasing unrestricted giving

for all sports, as well as promoting sport-specific needs; • Launching the “O&B Bullets Connection” as a pilot program with football, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s track and field, and men’s lacrosse; • Hosting a full field of 144 players at the 2010 Golf Classic • Holding even more events to support the Bullets.

O&B Year in Review

Ben later worked in fundraising

with the American Red Cross before

joining Gettysburg in 2006.

“Athletics is one of my passions,

and I’m looking forward to working

with our athletics department,

the O&B Advisory Council, and

members of the O&B Club to build

on the tremendous support for

Bullets athletes,” Ben said.

Many O&B members know Ben

from his work on reunions and

with the Cupola Society. An avid

fan of Philadelphia teams and

college sports, he plays tennis,

inline hockey, and collects sports

memorabilia. Ben and his wife,

Karla, live in Chambersburg.

Meet Ben Rupp

Although the team may not have

won any style points, she cherishes

her memories from the spring

of 1984.

“The track team was just plain old

fun with a little sweat thrown in,”

said Merz. “I remember admiring

the uniforms and sweats the other

teams had at the time. I remember

taking off my racing shoes after

I ran and sharing them with a

teammate. We made do with

what we had.”

Following her collegiate career,

Merz, who makes her home in

Virginia and works for the Navy-

Marine Corps Relief Society, has

continued to pound the pavement

at a record-setting clip. She has

raced all distances up to the

marathon and set an age group

record (38:08.11) for 10,000 meters

at the 2008 Penn Relays.

It was 1984, and while one track

& field star was born, another was

cementing her legacy as one of her

school’s all-time best.

At the Summer Olympics in Los

Angeles, 23-year old Carl Lewis

became a household name

overnight, tying Jesse Owens’s

record of four gold medals.

But several months before Lewis

was sprinting and jumping his way

to stardom, Martha (Orem) Merz ’84

recorded a fabulous season on the

oval as Gettysburg College rolled

out its first varsity women’s track &

field team, coached by Ed Riggs ’77.

Already an accomplished distance

runner and a cross-country all-

American as a sophomore, Merz

turned in a nearly unblemished

season on the track as a senior in

1984. She won 12 of the 15 races

she lined up for, but her most

impressive performance came at

the Middle Atlantic Conference

(MAC) Championships, where she

set school and meet records while

winning the 3,000 (10:34.7) and the

5,000 (18:01). She also claimed a

silver in the 1,500 while setting an

additional school record in 4:53.7.

“It was a thrill to finish out my

senior year, having finally figured

out how to race on the track,” said

Merz. “That was a very special

day for me.”

The team enjoyed an outstanding

debut campaign, finishing 5-2

and taking third at the MAC

Championships.

“MACs was amazing for us,”

said Merz. “We had a collection

of athletes that did not come to

college to [compete], and we pulled

off third place.”

Silver Anniversary for Women’s Track & Field Braden Snyder Director of Sports Information

Why We Give

Nancy and John Taylor P’09 believe sports teach important life lessons. They are also generous supporters of women’s soccer. “We didn’t invent 'pay it forward,'” John said, “but our family says it all the time.” “We want to help the program because we know that the students will go on to teach other students, and they'll go on to teach other students, and other students. They carry the lessons forward, like ripples in a pond,” said John. Their daughter Bethany ’09 plays defense and knows about life lessons. She pushed back after a season-ending injury in 2007 to play in 2008, and returns as a senior this fall. “The soccer program has been great for Bethany,” said Nancy. “As a parent you try to give your daughter a good foundation to go into the world and hope she finds a good place to land. For Bethany, Gettysburg is that place.”

Gettysburg Student-Athletes Find Balance Corey Jewart Assistant Director of Sports Information

It’s not easy answering the age-old

question of “what came first, the

chicken or the egg?,” nor is it any

easier to answer what comes first

at many collegiate institutions,

the student or the athlete. But at

Gettysburg, the two sides have

found a balance that lives up to the

definition of a student-athlete.

Perhaps the best example of

student-athletes comes from a

quartet of spring performers, all

leading their teams by example

on the field and in the classroom.

Recent graduate Tyler Kreitz and

rising seniors Nicole Ditillo, Kerrin

Epstein, and Tim Kurpis were

all named ESPN The Magazine

Academic All-Americans this spring,

marking the most such selections

in a given year in school history.

Their four GPAs average out to an

impressive 3.99 (on a 4.0 scale)

and each one copped postseason

honors on a conference, regional, or

national level.

Those four shining examples are

just the top of the crop. Roughly half

of the 500-plus student-athletes at

Gettysburg carry GPAs above 3.0

and half of the 24 varsity programs

carry cumulative GPAs above that

mark. Over 100 student-athletes

lauded academic awards from

various organizations during the

most recent academic year, most

requiring GPAs of 3.3

and above.

Do

gre

at w

ork

Quick Fact:

Gettysburg has had a dozen Academic All-Americans since 2002, triple its total in the award’s first five decades (1952-01).

Over the course of the last

six years, Alexa Keckler has

dug a respected niche in

the campus community at

Gettysburg. She has served

a variety of key roles, all the

while raising a continually

expanding family.

After receiving her master’s

degree from Frostburg State

University in 2002, Keckler

spent some time coaching

volleyball at the high school level, but her passion for higher education led

her to apply for Director of Campus Recreation at Gettysburg in the fall of

2003. Two years later, the dominos fell in the right direction and Keckler

stepped in as head volleyball coach, guiding the Bullets to a conference

title and almost 80 victories over the course of her four seasons. Between

those two positions, she has played an integral role in the development of

hundreds of Gettysburg students.

“I really think Gettysburg does a great job of appreciating their students

and making their experience the best it can be,” said Alexa. “Gettysburg is

a remarkable place to work. It’s a great community to be involved with and

the support from staff-to-staff is one of the best I’ve seen.”

Also in 2005, Keckler took over as Gettysburg’s Wellness Coordinator. Like

the volleyball team, the College’s Wellness Program has flourished into a

wide network, helping employees reap the benefits of healthier and more

engaged lives. Keckler has been highly involved in the opening of The

Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness and has been a leading voice

for the campus community, particularly in the types of new and better

equipment that will stock the fitness areas.

“Seeing the importance of athletics on our campus and the support

athletics receives, I really try to explain that’s not always the case at every

college,” said Alexa. “Here at Gettysburg, you can see the commitment the

College is making to athletics.”

Keckler’s commitment to Gettysburg led her to stay on in her dual roles,

despite her husband’s hiring as the head men’s basketball coach at Drew

University last fall. With the Wellness Program operating at a higher level,

the volleyball team shooting for another conference title, the opening of

The Center, and child number two on the way, 2009-10 has all the makings

of a banner year for Keckler.

Coach’s Corner: Alexa Keckler Corey Jewart Assistant Director of Sports Information

Tyler Kreitz–track & field

Nicole Ditillo–women’s lacrosse

Kerrin Epstein–cross country/track & field

Tim Kurpis–men’s lacrosse

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