Season 1, Episode 27- Andy Alvarez and Larry Diehlman

In this week's episode of Immaculata Athletics' "Tuesday Talk" podcast, we discuss the last few games for each of the spring teams and preview the upcoming week.

For this week's interview, Connor interviews Andy and Larry on their sports information careers and how they got into the field!

"Memories" interlude music written by Soundroll
https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/memories
License code: 1DFK7PQ3EPFYKYOJ

Release date: Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Follow Immaculata Athletics on Social Media:

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Facebook: Immaculata Mighty Macs

Transcript

Introduction

Men's Volleyball

SPEAKER_00 0:12

And welcome to episode 27 of the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. Joined by Director of Athletic Communications, Larry Dielman and student assistant Connor Kikowski. This is Sports Information Director Andy Alvarez, bringing you results and news from this past week's action and previewing the week upcoming week in Immaculata Athletics. Last week, baseball earned a series win over Gwynn and Mercy. Men's volleyball will host a United East Conference playoff match this week with a season super holy family. The flag football team is staying in the AEC playoff race. Women's Lacrosse is heating up. Track and field saw some more personal and program records fall at the Lebanon Valley Blue and Wide Open. Tennis played Ridgewater and Pratt this past week. Softball went three and three last week, and men's lacrosse went one and one. Let's get started looking back at the uh last week's results. Getting started with men's volleyball. The men's volleyball team went one and three last week, but they've clinched the fourth seed in the United East Conference playoffs that will host Gallaudet on Thursday, April 2nd, here at Alumni Hall in the United East Conference first round of their tournament. Most likely be a 7 p.m. start. The Mighty Max defeated Valley Forge in five sets on Tuesday, but fell to Cairn and Ramapo on Thursday and Friday, and then fell to Wilson last night. Versus Valley Forge, Nate Bailey led the team with 14 kills, three blocks, two solo, one assisted. Luke Dortenzo had 32 assists. Brandon Lieberman and Anthony Fitch each had three service aces. And Michael Prawl's 14 digs were a team high. Immaculata had led two sets to none. Valley Forge uh fought their way back to fourth to fifth set in the max one uh into fifth set 15-12 to uh take the uh the match. You know, up they were out, you know, they still have one more non-conference match to play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Wilkes, and uh then they'll be home for that playoff match on Thursday. What are your guys' thoughts on the volleyball team qualifying for the United East Conference playoffs in their first year in the conference?

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah, really impressive for the volleyball team. Um, for the longest time I've been here, men's volleyball is independent, so they didn't have a conference. To seeing them host a playoff match in their first year in the new conference is gonna be big. Hopefully we can get a good crowd out there. Gay Debt was a dog fight the first time we saw him and went to five sets, so hopefully we can come on top again.

Baseball

SPEAKER_02 2:30

It'll be interesting to see how the men's team does with Gallaudet. You know, it was a tough, uh, tough five-game match against them a couple weeks ago. It was a win, but it was definitely a dog fight. And um, yeah, like Connor said, hosting a playoff match in your first season in a new conference is definitely a great accomplishment. And um, you know, we'll see how this team can do. You know, they've had a lot of great success with you know their offensive options and Noah Zunski and Nate Bailey, and um, you know, Josh McGurl has been battling injury, but when he's on the court, he is um he's definitely a difference maker. So can't wait to see what Thursday brings, and hopefully we can get a playoff win. Moving over to baseball, baseball went 2-2 last week. They fell to Arcadia 19-3 in seven innings, but they took two of three games over Gwynnon Mercy in a crucial AEC series. So against Gwen and Mercy on Friday, it was at Gwyn and Mercy. 6-2 was the final. They went up 1-0 in the series for the Mighty Max. Hunter Whitesall had a big day with two runs and three hits. Whitesall, Bobby Woodward, and Logan Barn each had an RBI, and Thomas DeSarno went six and two-thirds innings on the mounds with five strikeouts, and he only allowed one earned run. The Griffins won Game 1 of the double header on Saturday, 17-3 in seven innings. It was a tough one, but the Mighty Max bounced back with a seven to one game two win to clinch the weekend series. Logan Barn had three runs. Nick Turnage, Danny Nasito, and Hunter Weitzel each had two hits. Uh Danny Nasito added three ribbies, and Steven Devaney took the pitching win in six and two thirds innings and logged three strikeouts on the day. Danny Nasito put the game away essentially on a basis clearing double down the left field line in the fourth inning. So Danny Nasito really coming up big on the offensive side and on the defensive side. Steven Devaney really pitched a gem in that second game. And for his efforts, Steven Devaney was named to the AEC Weekly Honor Roll. Up next, the Mighty Max will be at Penn State Abington today, March 31st at 3 30. They're in a three-game stretch. They'll be taking on Swarthmore tomorrow, April 1st. That is a home game at 3.30. The Garnet are receiving votes in the D3Baseball.com top 25 poll. And then they'll host Kairn on Thursday to wrap up their pre-Easter slate. So, guys, baseball tough one against Arcadia and that game two against Gwen and Mercy. But getting that weekend series was big, and Steven Devaney really uh played well in that second game.

Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Yeah, that was uh good for baseball. You had that bounce back um after that tough uh first series with uh Merrimount, where they, you know, they had a good opportunity to take two out of three in that series, and possibly even, you know, almost all three in that series, you know, to be able to get the win up at Gwinden on Friday. Then, you know, you're hopeful with your with your with your ace on the mound that you were going to be able to take that first game. It didn't happen, but they were able to get a big performance out of the out of the vany Devaney, and they were able to um, or Devani, sorry, get a you know, uh get that win in the second game and um take the series two to one. That will serve them well and it you know gives them a tiebreaker on uh Gwendon Mercy as you're fighting for one of four playoff spots in the conference.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah, tiebreakers are huge, as we know. Um it's good to see Hunter Whitesell back, too. He was bad on injury earlier this season. That's a big bat you want in the lineup, and he definitely had a good series overall. So good overall for the baseball team this week. Switching gears to track and field, men's and women's track and field compete at the Lebanon Valley Blue and White Open this past Saturday. There was a lot of good results highlighted by PR and school record, and even a conference record. Starting off with Colin Corbury, who set a new Atlantic East conference record and PR in shot put at 13.12 meters. He came in 10th in the hammer through at 38.15 meters, that's a PR and an Immaculate record. Joseph Pierre Jax won the triple jump event at 13.29 meters, which is an IU record. Thomas Smith came in sixth place in high jump at 1.72 meters, while Dylan Cruz came in at 7th at 1.62 meters. Dylan Cruz also placed second in the long jump at 6.05 meters. Aaron Koffer and Kevin Talisford both came in eighth in high jump and javelin respectively. Koffer came in at 1.62 meters and Talisford came in at 42.69 meters. Maurice Franklin, Thomas Smith, Alexander Wilson, Kendall Budlow, and Jason Cantorina also PRs in track. And for his efforts and performances weekend, Alan Corker was named the AC Field Athlete of the Week. On the women's side, Abby Grillo broke her own program record in the 400 meters with 1 minute 0.46 seconds and won the event. Aubrianihu placed second in the 3K at 1053.96. Jillian Humphreys took third in the high jump. Maggie Friend broke the IU record in the hammer throw. Maggie Friend and Abby Grill were named to the AC Weekly Honor All for their accomplishments this weekend. And the 4x1 meter relay placed fourth, while the 4x4 team finished second. The Money Max are off this week for Easter, but they will return to DeSales University for their that invitation on Saturday, April 11th. That is Matt Murray's alumni, so he's always happy to go back there. But a lot of good results for track and field this weekend.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Yeah, the records were off the charts this week. I mean, it was it was something writing that men's recap and Colin Corkery setting a not only a PR but a conference record is definitely a great accomplishment for him doing that in shot put and doing hammer throw as well, putting an IU record in there. So he was everywhere this weekend. JPJ also in triple jump winning that event, a lot of like top 10 finishes, a lot of PRs, and even on the women's side, too. Abby Grillo winning that event, breaking her own record, a lot of top places, Maggie Friend hammer throw record. The relay teams did well. So a lot of great performances this weekend on both both sides for the Mighty Max. And um, you know, you guys definitely deserve a break for Easter before heading back to the sales as we get closer and closer to the lovely outdoor championships that'll be hosted right here at Draper Wolf Stadium. So a lot to look forward to with that.

Women's Lacrosse

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yeah, it was a good weekend. I mean, I wrote the uh the women's article, and uh, you know, seeing the uh obviously Abby Grillow has had a really strong start to her uh time with the uh the track program, having set records in each of the two events that she's been in, breaking her own record again uh this week in the 400 meter. And then uh obviously Maggie Friend has been uh breaking some records uh this season as well with her her throws and everything like that. So I mean now in her junior year, she's been a consistent performer for the team. And then you you know you have you know your usals like Aubrey Donahue and the uh getting a second in the three 3,000 meters, uh Julian Humphreys getting a third in the high jump, you know, the relay team coming in second, getting a you know a second place finish in the uh in the in the relay. So that's you know a good start for the uh the track program as they uh they get a well-earned rest this weekend as they head into uh the upcoming events uh building up to the championships here in uh in that first weekend in May. So it should be exciting.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Let's switch gears over to Women's La Crosse. Women's lacrosse has been doing pretty good recently. After starting the season 0-8, they have won three of their last four. They took a 12-7 win over Delaware Valley, fell 24-6 against Mary Wood in the AEC opener, and then dominated Notre Dame of Maryland 21-2, which was almost the single game program record, by the way. The single game program record for goals in a game for the team is 24, and the Mighty Mac scored 21. Against Delaware Valley, Alexa Marzak had four goals, Julia Paul, five assists. Kira Benoit and Alexa Marzak, seven ground balls apiece, and Kira added three goals herself. Uh Elizabeth Mahmood had three assists, two cause turnovers, and seven draw controls. Abby Guarneri made 12 saves, going nearly the entire time in the cage, and a 4-0 run in the third quarter was the difference maker. Notre Dame of Maryland, the game was essentially decided in the early first quarter. It wasn't really even close. Elizabeth Mahmoud led the way seven goals while Alexa Marzak had six, so 13 goals between two players. Julia Pohl continues to pace the offense, four assists, and she won six draw controls, three ground balls apiece for Paul, Mamud, and Marzak, and just a lot of great stats across the board. Morgan Barnes, first two goals of her career. Bailey Knights, her first career point on an assist, and Abby Gorneri only played the first half, made a save, and then the backups got some chances with uh Claire Dunfey and um Anna Monteraso. So it was a great game to see against Notre Dame and Maryland. You know, the girls were having a great time. Coach Constantino was switching up lineups. Bailey Knights was on offense at one point. Julia Pohl uh was taking a lot of the draw controls, and it was just good to see, you know, them having fun out there. And then up next after Easter, they will head to Merrimount for an April 8th, 4 o'clock matchup to continue conference play. Guys, it's been good to see Women's Lacrosse get back in the win column. A lot of great performances, and Julia Pohl and Kira Benoit definitely have been contributing to this recent success.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Yeah, Marzak has been on that terrible at least. She had 10 goals this week, so that's pretty good for her. Um, yeah, but that nerd name of Maryland game was fun to do yesterday. I said I interviewed Bailey and Kira Benoit after game, and I said there was far too many people to interview for this game because everyone was pretty much contributing, and it was just good for our team who had a rough start, starting to get some wins in the win column.

Softball

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Yeah, that was uh good. Obviously, we we were thrilled to have our two podcast guests from last week uh be named to the Atlantic East Conference weekly honor roll for their performances with uh Alexa Marzak and uh Elizabeth Mahmood. And you know, yesterday, you know, there was a I was down taking photographs down by the field, and at one point Elizabeth felt she was kind of like cross-checked down on a face-off, and it should have been a foul or one threw on a face-off, and the ref set rep didn't agree, and you know, which led to uh Elizabeth scoring one of her. I'm just gonna take it down now and score on you because I'm mad goals, which was nice to see. But also great to see so many different players get involved yesterday. Obviously, seeing them trying to get, you know, Raleigh Mullen, one of your seniors, who's always a defender, get her up into the play. And she got a beautiful uh setup goal off of a great pass from uh from Julia Pohl. And you you look at the a real difference in this team the last couple weeks. You're adding in Julia Pohl and Kira Benoit from uh from basketball. I mean, since joining the team through five games, Julia Pohl has five goals and 12 assists for 17 points, and Kira Benoit has eight goals and four assists. You know, Benoit adds in 17 draw controls, Julia 11 draw controls. You know, you you just see a difference with them adding in additional, you know, cost turnovers. And you're seeing other players now being able to move into different positions with the team that are helping the team. Obviously, that was a tough game against Marywood. That's one of the top teams in the conference, that top three in the conference, which are Mary Mount Newman and Mary Wood are our high-end. You know, looking forward to seeing how Immaculata matches up with Gwinded and uh Sentenary in those conferences. They battle for a fourth, that fourth playoff spot in the tournament. So it'll be interesting to see how things go, but it's good to see uh, you know, real uh some real good matches and some more competitive matches for uh this team moving forward. Moving into uh softball, the Immaculata softball team went uh three and three, including a a uh doubleheader split with Marywood to open conference to continue conference play this past weekend. They had gone 0-2 against Newman the previous weekend, so they moved to 1-3 in the conference play. They started the week up at uh Penn State Abington in non-conference, uh winning uh sleeping that doubleheader, winning 12-1 in five innings and nine to three in the second game over Penn State Abington. Uh they had a five-run fifth inning that sealed game one. They fell uh six to three in eight innings and eleven to four to Arsinus, a very good Arsinus team on Thursday at home here. And then uh on Saturday they won game one, you know, 13 to 12 and 9 innings uh over Marywood before uh falling 12-7 in the second game. Uh in game one, five players each had two runs scored. Uh Alexis Andrada won five at five hits and six at bats and two RBIs. Uh four-way tie for two RBIs. Uh Nadia Boya earned the win on the mound with five in the third innings in relief with two strikeouts. Caitlin Kuster not only tied the game with a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to Centate Extra innings, but then walked it off in the ninth inning with a uh RBI single to center, the right center field to uh to win the game for the Money Max. Uh, real exciting time. Good to see the celebration after that game and you know for the players to earn that first win. In game two, uh Kate Daly uh scored two runs. Uh Jamie Green in game two of the doubleheader had uh two hits and two RBIs, including her first collegiate home run. Sarah Pearson got the start on the mound and struck out two batters and four and two-thirds innings work. It was eight to six uh until the top of the seventh inning when Mary Wood scored four ones, you know, to kind of pull away. Throughout the day, uh Riley Martin did hit a home run in each game for the Money Max, including a real bomb on that that second one in uh game two. There was uh was was gone off the bat. He knew it was gone and uh it went pretty far over defense. So it was good to see her bat come to life this week and uh see some power out there on the uh the uh the I.U. softball field. Uh Alexis Andrada was named to the uh was named the Atlantic East Conference uh player of the week, actually, uh on Monday after a real get a real solid week performance for the uh the Mighty Macs. And then uh they open up today with a doubleheader with Eastern on Tuesday, uh March 31st, uh playing at 3-5 out of the I.U. softball field. And then they're uh back in action on Thursday for a uh an Atlantic East Conference doubleheader against Centenary, which we just have been instructed. The games will be at 12-2 on Thursday for the uh centenary doubleheader, so they're moving up early. So uh, you know, just so everyone's aware of that. New uh new game times will be posted on the website for that. But uh good week for uh a solid week for softball. What's your guys' thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 17:45

That first game against Mary was a marathon of a game, I'll tell you that. Um I got their late comeback from Lebanon Valley, and it was 4-4, and it was just a back and forth affair pretty much all game. And seeing after being down 12-10, and when Mary Wood hit that three-run bomb, to be able to fight their way back and win at 13-12 is huge. Uh Kaylee Custer, we haven't seen a lot this year, was really a big bat that the softball team has this year, and they're definitely gonna want to use her more often. Everyone pretty much contributed across the two games, including our three pitchers who were definitely throwing some some gas out there, but it was good to earn a split in softball. It's gonna keep them, help them in conference line.

Men's Lacrosse

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Yeah, it was it's great to see they got that win. And I was uh I was starting baseball over, you know, right next door with the Gwendon Mercy series, and I see I'm looking at the scoreboard because from the baseball press box, I can see the softball scoreboard, and I'm like, I'm like, they're still going. And I see the score just keep going, and they're hitting double digits, and it's like eighth, ninth inning, and I'm like, man, which of these games is gonna finish first? Because uh for baseball, the first game unfortunately went a little longer because Gwendon Mercy was you know getting a lot of runs, but you know, it was like which one of these games is gonna finish first, and you know, see that you know walk off, that was that was pretty good. And um, you know, so hopefully they can keep that momentum going against Eastern and you know centenary this week. Eastern number 25 ranked in the country in the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association poll. So tough opponent, but we'll see how that goes.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah, that was that was kind of a crazy day Saturday with all the events we had going on to come running over across the uh area out there with all the gear from uh from coming from the women's lacrosse game, trying to get over to uh softball in time. But our sports information staff, we managed to get assistance and get through all our games on that crazy uh Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Yeah, definitely a crazy day indeed. Switching gears to Men's Lacrosse, who went one-on-one last week. They had a tough win over Albrecht and then faced a tough loss to Merrimack. Against Albrecht, 11-8 was your final score. Jason Smarin and Matthew Frame each netted three goals. Smarin also added three dimes. Carnell Lofton Jr. was cooking on the face-offs. He won 21 of 22 attempts and collected 19 ground balls. Both the face-off wins and the ground balls are IU's single-game program record, so he was having a good day last Wednesday. Matthew Ludlow also made 13 saves in goal and cost four defensive turnovers. Against Mary Mail in an AEC championship from last season, it was a heartbreaking 7-6 double overtime final. Ryan Gorman and Nick Center each locked two goals. Assists went to Gorman Smarin and John Stellachio. Colton Rose, Gael Albos, and Colin Woke cost two turnovers defensively. Ludlow added 18 saves and 11 ground balls. And Ludlow is now the IU record holder in Career Saves, a record that has stood for 16 years. For his efforts this past week, Jason Smarin was named the ADC player of the week. Matthew Ludlow was earned the ADC weekly honoral. Up next, they are off this week due to the Easter holiday, but they'll be at Merrywood Wednesday, April 8th at 7 p.m. So the Marymount game was obviously a tough loss. I mean, you fought your way back into it. Smarin tied it with 19 seconds left off of Matthew frame. It was like kind of like a he shot it, then it popped right out of the Merrymount's goalie's net, and then it went right back in. Smaron was able to get it and put it right back into the net, but definitely a tough loss in double overtime against a really tough opponent.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Yeah, it was a tough loss uh to Marymount. You know, it was just back and forth, and you had that tying goal in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. It was a shot, and then it was like a ricochet back in to tie the score at 6'6. Nobody scored in the first overtime. Double overtime was the deciding factor, though. Uh just great all around performance. Matthew Ludlow with another masterclass being the new career record holder is. Definitely a great accomplishment, especi especially since it's taken, you know, a decade and a half to break that record. So congrats to him. But the all break game, though, was definitely a good one as well. Slow start, but they were able to pull away at the end. And Carnell Lawton Jr. was, I don't know, like, you know, he woke up that morning and said, you know what, I'm breaking some, I'm breaking some records today. But, you know, he really just was absolutely on fire in the face-offs, like the against his opponent. Like every every face-off looked the exact same. It was like a little tussle. Ball went Cardinal's way, just scooped it right up. It was like carbon copy every single play. And after a while, I I pulled up the record book and I'm like, this has got to be a record, right? And he was getting closer and closer, and I'm like, yeah, there it is. And you know, what an outstanding performance by him. So hopefully they can bounce back against Marywood uh after Easter. Obviously, 0-1 so far in conference play, but there's still plenty of time. And um, we won't see them again at home until April 11th for senior day against Gwyn and Mercy. Only one home game for Men's Lacks this month. Very odd, but hopefully they can get it done on the road, too.

Flag Football

Men's and Women's Tennis

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Yeah, obviously uh, you know, Wednesday's win over uh Albright was a was a struggle, but they fought their way through it. Was able to you know come out with the with the victory. Carnell was outstanding. Uh and yeah, Friday, that was uh that was a slug fest and you know, defensive struggle. Uh both teams, you know, battling to the end, unfortunately. You know, just a tough turnover, you know, led to a fast break goal for uh for Marymount. Not much Matt Ludlow could have done Matthew could have done with that one, but he made some incredible saves and really carried the team through a portion of that game when it remained tied for a long time. And then obviously Smarin's goal, shot, frame put the shot, goal, he popped up in the air. Smaron comes in, jumps up, catches it, and throws it in the net on the way down. You know, it was an incredible moment to see. And then both teams had opportunities in the overtime, just weren't unable to convert until you know that that goal. And, you know, you get obviously Smaron gets the uh the player of the week honors this week for the conference. Uh he's been on the honor roll numerous times already this year. After a couple straight weeks as the play defensive player of the week, Matthew Ludlow's on the honor roll again. Just proves that, you know, that where they are. And you know, this is gonna be a battle. Obviously, there's only five teams still playing lacrosse this season, and with uh centenary shutting down your season for the year. So uh the battle for the four playoff spots in the conference and then trying to get a home game in that semifinal is important. So you're gonna want to come out strong against uh in your remaining games against uh Marywood, Gwinted, and Newman. So those are gonna be important games for the uh for the men's lacrosse team going forward. But it was, you know, I referred to it and I was having a discussion with the uh Marymount uh SID yet on Sunday during the flag football things. We were emailing back and forth, referred to it as Friday night's instant classic that game. Uh so that was uh an interesting, definitely a fun game to be to be at and everything like that. So we're looking forward to it. Moving along, speaking of that, moving along to flag football, the women's flag football team uh what uh we actually went one and two last week in their competition. Uh there was supposed to be two tri matches, but the uh the match with uh Merrywood scheduled to be played up at East over at Eastern was uh was postponed and will now be played later in April here at Immaculata. So uh they didn't miss their single game against uh Eastern. Unfortunately, they fell to Eastern 45 to nothing and then um went down to Marymount on on Sunday for that uh that tri match and found themselves in a real lockdown struggle with uh Holy Family in that game. Uh they were able to defeat Holy Family 14-7. Holy Family scored early in that game, and then Immaculata was able to kind of fight their way back when uh Eliana Zatkowski uh with a uh pick six in the second quarter, 63-yard return for uh for a touchdown to uh tie the game, and then uh she later caught a uh an 18-yard pass, taking it to the one-yard line that set up Devin Cosgrove's uh one-yard run for the go-ahead score. And then the Immaculate defense was able to lock it down. Uh Cosgrove went 11 for 19 for 83 yards, passing and interception. Uh Tierra Lawler ran five times for 30 yards. Uh, you know, Zakkowski had uh four receptions for 44 yards and two interceptions in that game. Tierra Lawler also made 11 tackles, 10 of which were solo and three tackles for a loss. Frankie Brunkel, Natalie Dodd, and Teresa Joppa each contributed uh six solo tackles uh in the game, but they fortunately they fell to Marymount 27 to nothing. That game did remain close for a long period of time. It is immaculate was just really unable to get anything going offensively in that game. D held it strong. It wasn't really until the fourth quarter that Marymount put that game away. So it was a good battle uh for her efforts for the uh for the week with all her tackles. I think 15 total tackles, 14 solos uh for Tiara Lawler. I think it was five tackles for a loss. Uh she was named the uh to the AEC Weekly Honor Roll for her efforts uh this week. So that was a good performance for Tiara. Uh they'll be up with a pair of tri matches this week. Uh today they'll be up at Sentenary taking on Penn State School and Sentenary. And then they'll on Thursday, the same three schools will meet at Penn State School for another tri match between the teams. So these are all important games for playoff seating. So Immaculata is going to be uh you know hard pressed uh to try to come out with as many wins as possible out of these four games this week. So uh I know they're a little banged up, but they're gonna be uh trying to fight their way through and try to take as many wins as they can, as uh coach uh Connington was telling us before he left as they're getting ready to get on the bus to head to uh Centenary. So what's your guys' thoughts on flag football?

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah, definitely running in uh the Eastern game, there was not much you could do. Both games, actually, not much you could do about. I mean, the defense is definitely holding strong. I mean, seeing the defense of Rockwell, Dodd, and Teresa Jappa, they're locked solid and they definitely know what their task is. But you know, there's some offensive struggles right now, and like it shows you might have to start changing things up. They're beat up right now. You got Malinini battling some injuries. Devin got some injuries this past week, so it shows that they're gonna have to battle through some things as we get closer and closer to the playoffs.

Andy Alvarez and Larry Diehlman Interview

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Switching over to our final section with men's and women's tennis, the men's and women's tennis teams played twice this week and fell to Bridgewater and Pratt. Obviously, Pratt being a conference matchup for the men. It was 5-2 against Bridgewater and 4-3 against Pratt, so a tight one there. Against Bridgewater, Pat Arnold, and Alex Corstones, a hard fought 7-5 doubles loss. Nick Brown won in number two singles, 4-6, 6-4-10-6. Patrick Arnold 6-2-6-2 with a win in number three singles. Pratt, Easton Ragno, and Patrick Arnold came up just short, six to four in doubles. Patrick Arnold, uh uh, Nicholas Brown, Alex Corstones, each winning in singles. For the women, six to one against Bridgewater and a seven-nothing sweep with Pratt, uh, with Bridgewater. Sophia Carey and Elizabeth Madsen won 6'2 in doubles, and Sophia also won in number three singles. 7-5-6-3, Laura Farrow and Ashley Batigen were defeated in three sets in singles. Against Pratt, Laura Farrow and Ashley Batigen fell 6-4 in doubles. Athena Criticson put up a good fight in a 7-5-6-0 singles defeat. Both teams will take on DeSales at DeSales on Thursday, April 2nd at 3 o'clock before Easter break. So, guys, tennis and tough losses this week, but a good showing on the men's side. The men have had a tough season. Good to see them competing against Pratt, and um hopefully we can get some good results with the Sales.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Yeah, that was uh I was out there for the men's match against uh Bridgewater last week, and uh there were some competitive matches. Uh one of the uh the Bridgewater players was he liked to let everybody on the in the court know when he broke, you know, I was a break on court two, break on court two, trying to fire up his guys, and uh I was very happy to see uh Nicholas Brown come back and uh win that match against him later because it was kind of fun to have a little bit of a fiery competition that you don't normally see on the tennis court, but it was good to see him uh battle back and uh there were some good matches out there, and you know, they played some good teams, and uh hopefully, you know, things will uh you know as they move along in the season continue to uh improve. I think now would be a good time to transition to our interview this week. We're gonna be trying something a little different for the first time. Uh, Connor will be uh conducting the interview, and he'll be interviewing uh Larry and myself about how we got into sports information and our life in sports information and kind of give everybody a little insight to what we do in our jobs and uh about getting into the field if you're people are interested, and you know, where you know how we got to where we got to and you know what people can do. So uh we'll be back with Connor taking over to conduct this interview when uh we're back from this quick break on the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Welcome back to the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. We're gonna do something different here this week for our interview. I will be interviewing our two hosts, Andy Alvarez and Larry Dillman, about their careers in sports information and what their jobs entail. So, guys, first off, how did you both get into this field and what inspired you to get into this field?

SPEAKER_00 31:42

Well, I had uh worked previously in in sports and athletics when I first got out of college. Uh, I was in minor league baseball for a while and then worked at the University of Delaware in the ice right in the ice rink business out in Michigan. Then I got into work at the University of Delaware and then worked in a couple of different sports facilities before leaving the field and uh spending, I guess, about 16 years in uh patient customer service, uh, request diagnostics and uh transunion before that. Well, I decided at one point that I was, you know, looking to get forward to getting back to doing what I really enjoyed doing, which was working in sports. So I started a master's degree program during that time at my previous job, uh working on a master a master's of public administration with a graduate certificate in sports information or sports management and athletic administration at Westchester. And uh, you know, working there, I got to know uh a friend, good friend of mine uh who was in the classes of me, who's over at Larry Messler, who was a Immaculata alum, and was the sports information director after he finished his degree. He was a grad assistant at the time when I met him at Westchester, before he went back to Westchester, where he is now, is the assistant sports information director. He was sports information director here at Immaculata. So when it came time for me to do my internship, because I was a little behind because I was only doing one class at a time, I did my first in internship here at Immaculata, and then spending most of the time in sports information with him and game and event operations. So got real good experience, learned a lot about sports information in that time. And then I did my uh second, because of the pandemic slowing things down, I did my second internship in 2022 in the winter into the spring at Westchester University. Larry was there, but I did more game operations and event operations, and then I graduated in May. I thought I had a job coming to me at Westchester that I was up for. Unfortunately, I got beaten out by another candidate that had a you know a different experience set than I had, but they kept me on part-time and uh gave me a chance to continue to work for them. And then August of uh 2022, uh Larry I was over there to work a couple events for them at Westchester, and Larry told me, Hey, you should apply to Immaculata. They need a sports information director because uh you know Sean Nestor, who was there, was going to be leaving and they needed somebody quick. So I kind of submitted a resume uh for the job. The next morning, Jason Hyman, who was the assistant AD at the time, who I also interned under while I was here, uh also a Westchester program graduate, called me up or you know, said, Hey, is there any way you can do uh an interview today? I said, Well, I had to be at Westchester at this time to work volleyball tournaments. So I did uh you know a zoom interview because it was just past the pandemic time. Still doing a lot of zoom interviews then. So I did a zoom interview with him, Paul Murphy, and uh Claire, who was the uh track coach at the time here. And uh it was a really successful interview, went really well. And five minutes later, uh I got a call from Paul Murphy offering me the job. So I went to Westchester, told them I got the job. They're like, Oh, we gotta get them off all the schedules, and happily put in my two weeks' notice at my uh my job that next Monday and kind of started working both jobs over that uh next couple of weeks when you were just starting here at the time, Connor. And uh was coming in, working till three at my previous job, then coming in here to get trained by Sean before he left and took over, started helping with events with uh my former assistant director, Connor Boyd, and that's how I kind of got back into sports information and really have found the job that I kind of wonder why I was doing anything else all that other time. So that's kind of my story with it.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

I'd say for me, the way I got into this field was a little bit uh unusual, but still kind of cool in a way. I was finishing up my time as a student at Rowan University, and this was fall of 2022. I graduated a semester early because I had taken some courses in high school, specifically German. I had taken some German courses that doubled up as college credit. So I came into college and like every semester was 15 credits. I came into college with nine credits, so I was kind of ahead a little bit. My final semester at Row in fall 2022, and I'm like, well, I better get started on you know, looking for jobs because um I'm going into the middle of the semester, like into the job market, and I'm not gonna have anything. So I had actually worked as a student worker at Rowan Athletics, panning the camera like so many of our great students do for us at our games. And I was like, you know what, let me apply for some athletics jobs. Let me see, you know, I'll email some schools in the area because I figured, you know, if you just go on LinkedIn, if you go on a regular application, you're one of a thousand names. I figured if I emailed some people, I'd stand out a little more. I'm emailing schools in the area just like, hey, I'm about to graduate. Do you have like an entry-level job for somebody like me? I have two bachelor's degrees, one's in sports communication and media, and the other one being in journalism. So I'm like anything in sports journalism, kind of like an entry-level role. And a lot of schools were like, No, we don't have anything, but we'll keep your name on file. Thanks for asking, you know, that kind of stuff. Finally, Widener University over in Chester uh gave me my first break, and they were like, Yeah, we have something for you. So I ended up being an athletic communications and operations assistant, which basically is an assistant sports information director. And I got my first real role there. I was there for about a year and a half. It was a great experience. The thing, it was kind of rocky at the beginning, though, only because I did not know anything about sports information. I was a blank slate. Like I obviously have watched sports and played sports, but I did not know anything about sports information. I didn't know how to stack games, I didn't know what sidearm was. And for those of you who don't know, sidearm is the back-end admin side of our website, go mightymax.com, and a lot of sports, uh lot of athletics programs use sidearm. I didn't know how to use sidearm, I did not know anything. But thankfully, our sid over at Widener was very patient with me and you know I got through it and really learned the craft. Then it was time for me to leave Widener. It was just that time where I felt that it was good to transition out of there. And I did the same thing. I was emailing schools in the area. Do you have something for me? Hey, I have experience this time. No, we'll keep your name on file, blah, blah, blah. I got an email back from Delaw State University, which is a division one institution down in Dover, Delaware. And the SID over there was like, Yeah, I got something for you. So I was able to go in there and after a few title changes, my title was Sports Communications Manager, which is again an assistant SID basically. And I was there for eight months at a Division I institution. I got more experience. I was able to do things, you know, instead of doing things always as like a team effort, I was able to learn things by myself too, which was beneficial for me. And then before Delaware State, I actually applied to Immaculata in 2024. Um, I did not get the job then, but I saw in 2025 the job was open again. I put my name back in the application process and I got it the second time, which I was very happy about. So I would say my my career has been not a usual one instead of just throwing my name out in the you know the application world, but um it was definitely it's been a great experience so far in my career, and I've been in some great institutions, and um, you know, it's good to be here.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

So, Andy, how did you go from Q coaching youth hockey to SID work?

SPEAKER_00 39:21

Coaching was something that I I had always intended to kind of get into uh from my time playing ice hockey. Uh, even when I was in playing uh at the what they call as the ACHA America Collegiate Hockey Association club level of college hockey. Since hockey's a semester sport to fund in college, I displayed an aptitude for the game and an interest in coaching and everything like that and be able to see things within the game and help with the team with sometimes even helping make coaching decisions at times when I was playing with things I would see in the game. And athletic coaching was my minor in college, so I always intended to get that and I always wanted to give back to the game of hockey. But when I left sports, I continued coaching and it was my way to stay involved in sports, even though I left the field uh of athletic administration at the time in favor of uh, you know, a normal work week and a you know different existence of working Monday to Fridays and allowed me to a lot more time to coach, experiment with some different types of positions, get more involved in coaching and you know, more time on the weekends available to it. And it was something that really was satisfying, but you know, as time moved along, you have a shelf life in coaching, and you know you do it at times and it gets hard. There's a lot involved in it, particularly coaching at the youth levels. You they pay you a stipend, but more times you end up spending your own money to do what you want to do with it. So I always wanted to I thought about it, and I resisted, I resisted, I resisted, I let too many people tell me I couldn't do it. And you know, and but then I decided to commit to going back to sports, knowing that while I was working on the master's degree, once I finished the program, I probably was going to have to step away from coaching if I wanted to get back into this field full time. So I kind of prepared for it. And then, you know, unfortunately some things that happened within the coaching world. Um you know, you have a uh situation developed where you know I had a player get a serious injury in the game, and it just kind of pointed me more and more towards the direction that I wanted to move, needed to kind of step away at some point. And um and then, you know, I had a very successful season coaching with my friends and uh we we had an incredible season, we went the nationals, uh team went 61, 8, and 2, you know, finished seventh in the country, everything you could have hoped for in a season. And I was thinking, and I had family members pushing me saying, Hey, now would be the time to get out. Then this opportunity opened in Immaculata and you know, I had to go to my friends and say, I need to step out. And uh it's the time. I knew it was time and you know, it was time to step away from the coaching end. Something I enjoyed, uh, but I did everything. I did it for 25 years, and it was something I knew I wanted to give back to the game, and I I did that. I was successful. I helped several players move on to higher levels of hockey and in the good places in colleges and life and everything like that. Very satisfied with that, and you know, it was just a matter of committing to entering this wanting to be a part of this field again and step in and you know, while I miss the game of coaching and everything like that, I miss being around the game. I stop over and see friends from time to time. I always get asked if I want to come back. I knew it was time, and I'm happy I made the decision and would not trade it for the world right now.

SPEAKER_01 42:22

So, Larry, for you, what's the difference between working Division I, which you did at Delaware City, which you talked about in the first question, versus Division III at Winer and Immaculata?

SPEAKER_02 42:32

It's an interesting transition, believe it or not, going from Division I and Division III. And the way I went, I went from D three to D one back to D three. You might not believe it, but working Division III, there's actually a lot more that you have to do personally than at Division I, which might seem weird given that Division I, you know, gets arguably the most attention. You know, you're seeing it right now with March Madness, the stadiums get filled up, and there's so much that has to be done. But D3, you have to do a lot more. Um, so I'll give you an example with Widener and Immaculata, game day setup. You're in charge of the stats, obviously. You're in charge of the PA, you're in charge of making sure the scoreboard's up on the field or on the court, and you're also in charge of the live stream. You know, you're doing all that, make sure it's done, versus at Division I, where you might not be necessarily responsible for everything, it might fall on somebody else. At Immaculata here, Andy and I are basically the co-media contacts for all 22 of our teams. When I was at Widener, I was the media contact for five teams. I was in charge of men's and women's soccer, women's basketball, women's lacrosse, and baseball. So those were my teams that I would stat. I'd make sure I'd get those games moving and writing their recaps, stuff like that. Delaware State, kind of the Same thing. However, live streams weren't necessarily our problem. At Delaware State, they have two main conferences that they are in. The MIAC, which is the Mideastern Athletic Conference, is their main one, and their alternate is the NEC, the Northeast Conference. The MIAC, a lot of their teams were on ESPN Plus or ESPN U, right? So for basketball, for example, we never had to worry about a live stream. Now, you guys here at Immaculata for our student athletes, and we're always having kids on the production truck laptop, like controlling the scoreboard and stuff. At Division I, there is literally a truck sitting outside of the stadium or the arena or whatever with directors and producers and a thousand cords and wires. There is a literal truck sitting outside with all the cameras and the director, and that's why it's called a production truck. All I had to do, if I'm starting a game, let's say I had to do basketball for Delaware State, live stats. That's all I had to do. So that was for the MIAC teams. But for the NEC, we streamed on a platform kind of like the Atlantic East Network for Immaculata. For the NEC, it's called NEC Front Row. So when I was doing baseball or women's lacrosse at Delaware State, I had to do what we do here at Immaculata is hook the camera up and you know make sure it's, you know, get it sent to the Northeast Conference and just make sure everything was running smoothly. So Division I, you're not as hands-on with things. You you still are, but like not to the extent of Division III. And Division I, I also had media contacts. Division I, media contacts are more of a thing than D three. D three, it depends on the school, like how many SIDs are there, how many sports. Um, maybe if you have like football, for example, you might have like multiple like secondary and tertiary contacts just because it's such a large to-do. At Delaware State, I was the media contact for women's soccer, women's lacrosse, women's tennis, and yes, we had horses, we did equestrian as well. So I was the equestrian contact uh for them as well. So I had four sports, and I was hired at Dell State after soccer had ended. So I really was not as hands-on with them. Lacrosse and tennis and equestrian, I was. That's I would say is the main difference with D1, D3 is just I'm not saying at D1, you don't do as much work. It's more so that there are a lot more people in the department versus D3, where um like game day setup is different. I I feel like in D3, I do like the fact that you're more hands-on. It feels like you know you're you're contributing more than Division I because it was weird going to Dell State and realizing, oh yeah, I don't have to set up a live stream. It it's it's definitely it's definitely different, but I definitely uh enjoyed my time at Delaware State.

SPEAKER_01 46:55

You mentioned the production truck that you guys had in Delaware State. I remember when I first started working here, I I did ball running and I did production truck. And the first time I did production truck was for a woman's basketball game. And I remember I had no idea what that was. I was literally looking for a truck somewhere, and I asked Claire, who was the track coach at the time, who was game engine, I'm supposed to be on this production truck, but I don't see a truck. She's like, Oh, it's just a live stream. So I felt stupid then, but it's okay though. It shows the main differences between the levels in which you compete at but hold up to hold up one second.

SPEAKER_00 47:27

To explain, to explain what what the program that we used for that is uh it was called Blue Frame Pro production truck. Huddle since bought Blue Frames production truck, so it's part of Huddle now, but that is the name is production truck, is the name of the program. That's how it gets listed on the schedules as production truck.

SPEAKER_01 47:46

Yeah, and I just did not know that at the time. I was literally looking for a truck at the basketball game. I'll never forget that. But this is a question that I get asked all the time. What is a day-to-day schedule for game days versus nine games? Everyone always asks me, what are we doing up in the press box during our games? I'm like, it is not as easy as you all think. So please feel free to explain.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

For non-game days, uh, if there's days we're here and it's a non-game day, our normal hours during the uh the week in in season on a non-game day would be 8 30 to 5 p.m. And we're coming in, we're preparing stuff for all the games going on, coming ahead, whether it be writing game previews, checking, uh, make sure all stats were put in correctly from other games. If we have rogue games, we need to get rosters out ahead of time to and stat files ahead of time to other schools, or getting them from the other schools, creating scripts. We get comp communications from the uh conference in the beginning of the week about player awards and everything like that, preparing, you know, things for the releases, the writing stories graphics, um, generating game day graphics for the upcoming games ahead, uh, just making sure everything, if there's any changes to the schedules, getting those updated. So we're we keep busy on usual eight to 8:30 to 5 basis. Sometimes some certain things may keep us here later, or we'll have a staff meeting on Mondays with the whole staff to go over everything for the week ahead. And then uh game days, it really varies on depending upon what are the times on the game days. A weekday game day, depending upon if it's four or seven, or double headers, or multiple locations. We'll try to come in later, we'll try to stagger our day, shorten it up. So if we have a seven o'clock games, we'll come in around one o'clock. Sometimes I tend to gravitate in a little bit earlier to make sure. Regardless if we're in here or not, we got to get the game day graphics posted in the morning for the day so we get those out on social media so the team everybody knows there's a game that day. Then we'll come in, we'll make sure we'll have all the scripts and everything ready to go for the uh the games, and then we'll try to head out to the to the the venue that we're going to be at or venues we're gonna be at on that day to set up for live streams and everything like that ahead of time. Make sure, you know, help make sure everything gets set up at the facility for the games, and just be ready for when the teams arrive. We go get starting lineups. If one of us is starting, we're setting up our starting computer as well to uh stat the individual games. And you know, we'll work as well as we can together to get things done. Following the games, depending upon results, we've got to break everything down at the venue, bring it back in here, post the files, write recaps, and that's gets sometimes gets a little later when time we get done, particularly during basketball season when you're dealing with the double headers and things like that. Weekend games, uh, depending upon when things start. Obviously, this past Saturday we had a lot of events, so we were in early to be ready for an 11 a.m. start. As you know, we had a 9 a.m. start this past Saturday with uh with tennis, so that was uh an earlier start, so we had to make sure we had what they needed. We don't have a whole lot of responsibility for starting until after the match on in tennis. We also had to make sure we had everything going for the other events, and it was a gonna be a situation where I was gonna have to move from one event to the other event afterwards. So making a plan for how we were gonna cover something until I could get over there to uh set up to cover that event as well. And then when we come in, we uh we send out the stat file to the other team. We upload any stat files we got from other schools, make sure we get them into the system so all the stats are in, and then we sit down and start writing stories and uh recaps and everything like that. Usually Larry and I will have a system worked out as to how we uh we're gonna who's gonna write what recap for what, who's gonna make if we need win graphics made, who's gonna generate those, get them posted, anything we see that may be wrong in anything, make sure we uh we gotta export the live stream video, send it to the coaches so they could upload it to their whatever league shared thing they may have for uh for video and everything by the by the deadlines to get that in. And uh, and when we have road events on non-if we have non-home game road events, those games still have recaps still have to be written. So we'll work out a system of who's covering who's gonna write the recap for what event on a when it's on the road. Like yesterday, Sunday technically was an off day for us, yet we had a uh a flag football tri match on the road. So I was the one, you know, I said I would cover that. So I was, you know, prepared to watch the live stream, get the statistics files, and you know, write the recaps for that. And then on Sundays, you know, we do our nominations for the conference. Usually they have to be in by 10 a.m. on for conference awards on um on Monday. There's something to do just about every day in in our field. It just depends. Sometimes we sometimes we do get off days, we do get an off weekend where we just don't have anything to do, which is nice. But we do keep busy throughout the year. Then in the summer, nice thing is we're you know, we're basically eight to four thirty in the summer, four days a week uh here in Immaculata, which is nice from uh the end of the semester till the till August. And then we go back to the five-day work weekend and everything. So that's kind of what our days look like here in sports information.

SPEAKER_01 52:59

Larry, do you want to give us a sample of stat call from a sport you sat? Jump ball, hell ball, anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 53:06

Oh yes. I know the box scores look cleaner than they actually are, but you see Connor and I at the stat table or the press box sometimes, and you know, you might hear us barking calls at each other. Uh so I'll give you one for basketball. So, basketball, for example, uh when you have NCAA live stats, which is so much better than some of the other programs that are available for SIDs, you have the court diagram and you got to click all these buttons to say like where the where the ball is, what type of shot. So, for example, if you've a I don't know, made shot by Carly Coleman, so you'd say like you'd click on the court where it is, you know, two-pointer by Carly Coleman, like you know, two-pointer by 22 is good, jump shot, assist, let's say the assist was Olivia Etor, so assist 33. And then let's say, for example, we had you know a double turnover, and let's say we get the second one. So we have the other team, you have like I'm making up numbers here, like turnover two, lost ball, steal by three, and then you know, turnover three, lost ball, steal by 22, Carly Coleman, uh layup 22, fast break, no assist. So it's really just like a bang bang play. Lacrosse can also get weird when um, you know, with the extra stuff, like if you have like a turnover two, cause by three, ground ball 42, and then you know, successful clear, unsuccessful clear. Sometimes the calls can get ugly if it's like a bang bang sequence. Abbreviations definitely help. Um, so instead of like the fast break layup, Connor and I would just say like, you know, 30 all the way, and we knew what that meant. Um, so baseball, softball is really easy because the game moves at a pace where you can kind of keep up and the plays are not that difficult. Lacrosse sometimes can get weird. Basketball is just so fast. Flag football, I was introduced to that this year, and I did not expect that to be as as uh wild as that is. And uh hopefully that program, the stat program will get cleaned up in the next couple years as it grows. Um, but definitely something that I don't think everybody knows about, but you know, you'd be surprised at what it entails.

SPEAKER_00 55:33

And uh the the Conrad Kikowski special of Please Hold.

SPEAKER_01 55:37

Sometimes you can't always see those numbers out there. You gotta wait a little bit because everyone's moving. Sometimes you never know. The weather sometimes affects things, like that fog during fly football, couldn't see anything.

SPEAKER_00 55:47

Or you get three turnovers in about 20 seconds, like we did in that one lacrosse game last week.

SPEAKER_02 55:53

I usually I usually say like during basketball season, because Connor was so new to statting basketball, I'd like to bark all these orders at him and I'd be like, Did you get all that? And he was like, Yes, or he'd be like, What was that last one? So um, you know, it takes a it takes a minute and volleyball, I forgot volleyball too. Volleyball takes a few minutes to kind of get the hang of it, but yeah.

Conclusion

SPEAKER_00 56:15

For me, volleyball this year, I uh actually helped out and uh scored two uh Division I women's volleyball matches at uh Vornova this year, uh, you know, hiring out uh when they needed uh assistance, uh, you know, kind of freelance work. And it's the it's a lot quicker game when you get up to that uh big east division one level like that in a five-set match. It was it was it was a lot of fun, but it was it was it kept you busy.

SPEAKER_01 56:39

Yeah, it is not an easy job, ladies and gentlemen. Let me tell you that. So to wrap things up here, what are some words of advice for anyone looking to get into the sid profession or even sports in general?

SPEAKER_00 56:52

I would tell them to get started as soon as you can while you're in school. Go to your athletic department. We're always looking for interns in athletics. Anyone that can help us out get experience, and it's a great opportunity to get experience. So go to the athletic department if you have interest in sports information. Sports information is people that are always looking for assistance. There's always jobs, uh, things you can help take off the hands of uh sports information directors in season when they're when they're strapped. We will always most sports information directors will always take intern help when they can get it. And it's a good it's a good chance to get in there to see if this is what you really want to get into. You know, your field that way, and you get you experience. Uh particularly if you have aspirations to, you know, work at the higher levels, and then I would tell you if it's something you want to do, give serious consideration to possibly going to get your master's degree right after you graduate and trying to sign on for a couple years as a as a graduate assistant at some of the schools. I mean that I know a lot of people, my friend over at Westchester, Larry Messler, that was the route he took with it, and it helped him out greatly because he got two years of hands-on actual work before he ever applied for a job, you know, a full-time job. And uh got two years, helped pay for his master's degree, and basically put him right in the running for a job here at Immaculata as soon as he was out of school. He actually had two opportunities, and this was the one he chose because he was an alumni of undergrad alum of Immaculata, and then he you know was able to get the opportunity to go back. So that was something you know he he really wanted and was able to do.

SPEAKER_02 58:28

Yeah, and going off what Andy said before I give my uh my two cents as well. My at the time when I was at Widener, our grad assistant, he's a great, great kid, and um he did a couple years as the grad assistant at Widener. He then was the SID for a conference, the East Coast Conference, which is a Division II conference. Um, he was the communications guy over there for a couple months, and now he's working with the Washington Commanders. So um he in in sales. So you never know where this career can take you, but I would just say make connections. Anybody can have connections, say yes to everything. Don't be like, well, I'm better than whatever job I'm looking for. No, take everything you're offered. You never know who's gonna get connections. Make a LinkedIn profile. If you do not have one, make a LinkedIn profile. You don't have to go to premium if you don't want to, but make one so you're on the internet. Make, you know, make it as polished as you can and just say yes to everything. And even if you don't go the way I did with all the emails, you know, you never know who's gonna say yes. You never know who's gonna give you that one opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 59:35

Someone who has interned here with the sports information team, I can tell you, do everything you can to help everyone out and get all the experience you can get. But that was really good, guys. Good to be on this side of the interview for once. And we'll be back after this quick break on the Tuesday Talk IU Athletic Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 59:58

And welcome back to the Tuesday Talk IU Athletics Podcast. I hope that interview segment was uh was a good one. Uh Connor uh did a good job interviewing us, and we hope we provided you the a good background as to what we do in uh you know athletics, communications, and sports information here. And uh if anybody has insights or anybody's interested in having a conversation with us, we're always available. We can be found you know in on the internet and in our office here and everything like that in our in our on our emails. And uh once again, I hope uh everybody enjoyed. It was a good show this week, guys. Uh looking forward to, I think we're all looking forward to a little bit of a break this weekend with the Easter break, a couple days off and everything like that. A chance to kind of recharge the battery for that final stretch of the season as things are starting to wind down. And you know, we're gonna continue running the podcast through the season into the um to the end of the season, and then we'll probably take a break for the summer before we come back in the fall. Maybe over the summer, if something special happens or at different events or anything, we would jump on. But uh, we're looking forward to continuing the show. And uh we'll be having some discussions in the upcoming weeks about the uh the Max Fees are gonna be uh coming up with our our our banquet and awards ceremony and everything. So looking forward. We'll have some discussion about that too. Hope you'll join us uh next week on the uh Tuesday talk IU Athletics Podcast, Roll Max.