HOBOKEN, N.J. (Feb. 15, 2021) – Under the leadership of current Director of Athletics Russell Rogers, who is in his 21st year in the position, the Stevens Institute of Technology Department of Athletics has risen to unprecedented levels of success.

Under Rogers' leadership, Stevens has finished inside the top 45 in the DIII College Directors' Cup standings 11 consecutive years including a program-best 13th-place finish in both 2010-11 and 2015-16. The Ducks also won the Jostens Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Institution of the Year Award in both 2007-08 and 2012-13, while also finishing as the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey DIII Cup Winner in seven of the last 10 years.

The Department of Athletics will look back into the archives to reflect on the development's evolution under Rogers. Each week, key moments will be highlighted that happened "This Week in Stevens History."

The week of February 15-21
Feb. 15, 2020 – Barnes Sets Single-Season Program Wins Record for Women's Fencing
Heading into the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference Championships needing five wins to break the all-time record, Stevens women's fencer Kiera Barnes made sure that she left no doubt as she racked up 16 total wins to become the first and only student-athlete in program history to register 100 victories in a single season.

Barnes bested the previous record of 89 held by Stevens' all-time wins leader Abby Kaye and helped the Ducks finish in second place overall in the championships. Additionally, Nicole Strezewski became the fourth foilest in program history to accumulate 200 career victories with 15 wins in the meet.

Feb. 15, 2013 – Men's Basketball Locks Up Empire 8 Regular Season Title for First Time in Program History
The Stevens men's basketball program won its first-ever Empire 8 Regular Season crown in the 2012-13 season with a 67-55 victory over Alfred University to move to 11-2 in conference play on the year.

The Ducks were led by senior Sheldon Jones who went 9 for 13 from the floor and racked up a total of 27 points in the victory. Matt Skrelja also was extremely productive, nearly producing a double-double with 10 rebounds to go along with nine points.

The win also helped Stevens secure an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history and the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Feb. 15, 2012 – Women's Basketball Upsets No. 6 William Paterson on Benjamin's Late And-One
With two seconds remaining trailing by two, Avis Benjamin drive to the bucket and hit a layup to tie the game at 68 and drew a foul in the progress. Benjamin then went to the line and calmly sunk the free throw to give the Stevens women's basketball team a thrilling 69-68 victory over No. 6 William Paterson University.

The Pioneers came into the contest with a 26-1 overall record while the Ducks sat at 12-12, but it was Stevens who came out of the gates hot, shooting 83 percent from the floor in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Trailing by as many as seven points in the second half, the Ducks were able to stay within arms-length to mount the comeback late in the game. Behind 66-61 with under three minutes to play, Stevens scored eight of the final 10 points of the game, including a huge 3-pointer by Jillian Barrett with 42 seconds left to knot the game at 66.

Feb. 16, 2009 – Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Combine to Break Five School Records at CTC Championships
The Stevens men's and women's indoor track and field programs shined at the 2009 Collegiate Track Conference Championships, breaking five total program records and both earning seventh place finishes.

On the women's side, Shanna Beairsto shattered the program record in the 1,000-meter dash by more than 10 second as she finished with a time of 3:15.30. Additionally, the Ducks broke the record in both the 4x200 and 4x800-meter relay. Chika Ekweghariri, Amethyst Holder, Caroline Pawalowski and Lauren Griggs teamed up to become the first relay in program history to break two minutes with a final time of 1:59.88. Then, Salme Cook, Hillary Paul, Beairsto and Melissa Franzese totaled a time of 10:17.18 to break the previous record by nearly a minute.

For the men, the Ducks also broke the record in the 4x200 as the combination of Greg McLeod, Michael Pawalowski, John Sangiovanni and Drew Ballinger finished in 1:39.17. The other record came in the pentathlon as Victor Servito finished with 2,855 points, 204 better than the previous record set all the way back in 1998.

Feb. 17, 2020 – Men's and Women's Swimming Both Win First-Ever MAC Title on Same Day
The men's and women's swimming programs made history in 2020 as they both won the Middle Atlantic Conference title in their first year in the new conference.

The men won their eighth straight conference title dating back to their time in the Empire 8 and set a new MAC Championship record with 1,519.5 points in the meet. The Ducks swept all five relays in the event and got first place swims from Kurt von Autenried in the 50-yard freestyle and Tyler Zanki in the 100-yard breaststroke to take home the victory.

The women, meanwhile, edged out Misericordia to take home the title, also setting a new meet record with 1,178.5 points. It was the first conference crown for the women since the 2012-13 season. The Ducks were led by Isabella Fairman who was named MAC Swimmer of the Year after winning the 100, 200 and 500-yard freestyle while also being a part of all three relay teams that took home gold in the event. Isabelle Rivera (50-free) and Samantha Zdesar (1,650-free) also won gold in individual events for the Ducks.

Feb. 18, 2011 – Men's Cross Country Posts No. 2 GPA in Division III for Fall Semester
The Stevens men's cross country program had a stellar semester in the classroom in the fall of 2010 as they posted a 3.56 cumulative GPA to rank as the second-highest GPA in NCAA Division III cross country.

The Ducks only trailed Earlham College who finished the fall with a 3.58 GPA and best the USTFCCCA Men's Scholar Team of the Year Haverford who finished with a 3.55 GPA. Stevens also enjoyed a fine season on the course in 2010 as they finished fourth at the Empire 8 Championships and 24th at the NCAA Regional.

Feb. 19, 2007 – Brabender Becomes First Swimmer in School History to Qualify for NCAA Championship
In her final season on Castle Point, Lorrie Brabender became the first swimmer in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championship. The 2012 Hall of Fame inductee qualified in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly at the Metropolitan Championships.

In both events, Brabender set new school records as she finished the 100 in 58.65 seconds and the 200 in 2:08.66. She later would go on to become the first Stevens athlete to register points in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship as she helped the Ducks produce seven team points to finish in 45th place overall.

Feb. 19, 2005 – Detsis, MacWhinnie Earn Individual Conference Titles to Advance to NCAA Championship
The Stevens wrestling program made history in its first varsity season since 1991-92, finishing in third place at the Centennial Conference Championship and sending two wrestlers, Michael Detsis and Brandon MacWhinnie, to the NCAA Championship. The Ducks also received a runner-up finish from Ryan Bennick at 165, a third-place showing from Patrick Falvey at 133 and a fourth-place finish by Ian Gorham at 125.

Detsis won the 141-pound championship while MacWhinnie, a 2013 Stevens Hall of Fame Inductee, grabbed his first of what would be four titles at 157. The duo, who were both in their first season on Castle Point, became the first student-athletes in program history to qualify for the NCAA DIII Championship.

Feb. 20, 2009 – Passalacqua Breaks Program Single-Game Record with 10 3-Pointers in Win Over Elmira
In his final season on Castle Point, senior Anthony Passalacqua did something no Stevens men's basketball player had ever done before and has never done since, knocking down a record 10 3-point baskets in a single game to help the Ducks defeat Elmira 96-70.

Passalacqua finished the contest with 39 points, going 10 for 17 from downtown and a perfect 7 for 7 from the free throw line. Virgil Gray and Bryan Franklin also finished in double figures for the Ducks as Stevens set a season-high with 96 points in the contest.

Feb. 21, 2020 – Men's Volleyball Upends the No. 2 Team in the Nation for Second Time in a Week
After defeating No. 2 Vassar College on Feb. 16, the Stevens men's volleyball team did a double-take and knocked off the No. 2 team in the nation once again just six days later as they defeated New Paltz 3-1 (26-24, 31-29, 26-28, 25-20).

The Ducks hit .322 in the match and held a 9-6 advantage in blocks to defeat the Hawks on the road. David Lehman shined in both contests, racking up 18 kills against Vassar and following it up with a 19-kill performance against New Paltz. Setter Grant Burden was also extremely efficient, producing 39 assists against Vassar and 44 against New Paltz.

Feb. 21, 2015 – Men's Fencing Topples No. 11 Brown at Temple Invite
The Stevens men's fencing program picked up a huge win against the No. 11 team in the nation at the Temple Invitational, knocking off Brown University 14-13.

Trailing 13-12 in the bout, senior Marco Egizi rallied from down 4-1 to tie things at 13 and Ian Fan overcame a 4-2 deficit to take the 14th bout and the match. It is believed to be the first victory over an opponent ranked inside the top-15 of the CollegeFencing360.com poll since the poll's inception in the 2009-10 season.

The games/events noted above are not meant to be a complete listing of Stevens' events on these dates, but a sampling of great moments as determined by the Stevens Department of Athletic Communications.

"This Week From the Pond" Archives:
Sept. 14-20
Sept. 21-27
Sept. 28-Oct. 4
Oct. 5-11
Oct. 12-18
Oct. 19-25
Oct. 26-Nov. 1
Nov. 2-8
Nov. 9-15
Nov. 16-22
Nov. 23-29
Nov. 30-Dec. 6
Dec. 7-13
Dec. 14-20 
Jan. 4-10
Jan. 25-31
Feb. 1-7
Feb. 8-14

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics     
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
#AllRise