RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College is celebrating 100 years at its current location in the Bronx with the 2022 fall semester. The Jaspers have enjoyed plenty of success since the school's relocation from 131st Street and Broadway to its present-day location in Riverdale.
GoJaspers.com is looking back through the decades and highlighting some of the top teams through the 100 years of residence in the Bronx. The teams featured made national tournaments, won conference, regional, and national championships, and featured numerous hall of famers.
1935 Men's Indoor Track & Field
On March 2nd, 1935, the Jaspers defended their title of Intercollegiate A.A.A.A. Indoor Track and Field team championships at MSG with 12,000 in attendance. Stars of the meet were, Charles Pessoni in the 50m and Thomas G. Russel in the 1600m relay, 3200m relay, and 3000m.
Pessoni was inducted into the Manhattan Hall of Fame in 1996. During his time as a Jasper, Pessoni was the star leaper for Manhattan's track team. Pessoni recorded four first-place finishes as a junior, including wins in the 110-meter hurdles at both the Junior and Senior Metropolitan Championships. As a senior, Pessoni recorded seven first-place finishes, including a meet-record 7.0-second timing in the 50-meter hurdles at the indoor IC4A Championships.
1947 Men's Cross Country
November 4th, 1947, in Van Cortlandt Park, the Jaspers ended the NYU Violets' seven-year reign in Cross Country, stealing the Metropolitan Cross Country championships. Stars of the meet were Ignatius Rienzo, Philip O'Connell, John C. Moran, Robert McNeil, Martin Enright, John Seberle. The title was the first for the Green and White since 1930.
Rienzo was inducted into the Manhattan Hall of Fame in 2007. Rienzo was the top Jasper finisher as Manhattan won the 1947 IC4A Cross Country Championship, earning the team a trip to the NCAA Championships. A versatile runner, Rienzo competed in all events, from the 440-yard dash to the five-mile cross country races. He won a total of 46 medals during his Manhattan tenure. He is a member of the Pen and Sword Society.
1957-58 Men's Basketball
The 1957-58 men's basketball team was the first Manhattan team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. The program's first postseason win in the NIT or NCAA Tournament was when the Jaspers beat West Virginia, 89-84.
Manhattan was led by head coach Kenneth Norton and finished 16-10. Norton coached the Jaspers from 1946-68 and is the program's all-time leader in wins with 310.
The Jaspers started the season 4-1 and won the first three games of the season against Fairleigh Dickinson, Bridgeport, and Wagner. Manhattan closed the regular season with four straight wins, including a 69-67 win over Fordham, before beating Jerry West and West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
John J. Powers was the team's leading scorer in 57-58, notching 17.1 points per game. Powers finished his career with over 1,100 career points. He had his number (#34) retired and was the first Jasper to receive the honor.
The team was inducted into the Manhattan Hall of Fame in 2007.
1967 Men's Indoor Track
The Jaspers qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished T14th in the country. The team included three-time All-American Joseph Kearney, who outran the world-record holder in the qualifying heats of the half-mile.
Kearny Held nine school records when he graduated in 1967. He captained the track and cross country teams. The indoor track at Draddy Gymnasium is named in his honor.
1973 National Championship Team Indoor Track
The 1973 men's indoor track and field team is the lone Division I Team National Championship in Manhattan history. That year, Mike Keogh won the two-mile run in 8:38, beating David Wottle of Bowling Green. Wottle was the Olympic champion in the two-mile run at the 1972 Munich Olympics. That season, Clifford Bruce and Ken McBryde finished third in the 1000m and triple jump, respectively.
On Feb. 19, the Jaspers won their third straight Metropolitan Championship with three meet records. Less than a month later, Manhattan took home the IC4A Title with the help of event wins in the triple jump, 1000-yard run, 2-mile run, and the DMR. The Jaspers then won the NCAA Title on March 7.
Seven team members are in the Manhattan Hall of Fame, and head coach Fred Dwyer was named National Coach of the Year. Coaches Fred Dwyer and Frank Gagliano are Manhattan Hall of Fame members too.
1986-87 Women's Basketball
The Jaspers, in 1986-87, became the first women's basketball team in program history to win 20 games in a season. The Jaspers advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Duke, 70-55, in the opening round.
Manhattan won three games in the MAAC Tournament to claim the title. It was the first MAAC Title in program history. The Jaspers beat Iona in the quarterfinals, top-seeded La Salle in the semifinals, and then No. 2 seed Holy Cross in the final. Bridget Robeson was named MVP of the MAAC Tournament. Sandy Gordon and Stacey Jack were named to the All-Tournament Team. Gordon & Robeson are also members of the Manhattan Hall of Fame.
Gordon averaged 8.9 points and 7.3 assists per game for the Jaspers and earned Second Team All-MAAC honors. Jack and Robeson were also second-team honorees. Robeson averaged 17 points per game, and Jack averaged 15.8 points, leading Manhattan at 6.5 rebounds.
1994-95 Men's Basketball
The 1994-95 men's basketball team made the NCAA Tournament and beat Oklahoma, 77-67, before losing to Arizona State, 64-54, in the second round. Since the league formed, the win was only the second by a MAAC school in the NCAA Tournament at the time.
Manhattan finished the season at 26-5. Those 26 wins are the most in program history in a single season. The Jaspers reeled off a winning streak of 14 straight during the middle stages of the season. Manhattan also started the season 8-0, which included an 88-48 win over Fordham in the battle of the Bronx.
Head coach Fran Fraschilla collected MAAC Coach of the Year Honors, and Heshimu Evans was named Rookie of the Year. Jamal Marshall was named First Team All-MAAC.
Fraschilla was inducted into the Manhattan Hall of Fame in 2012. Marshall was enshrined in 2007.
2006 Baseball
The 2006 Jaspers finished the year 34-23 and advanced all the way to the Lincoln (Neb.) Regional Final before falling 10-4 to regional's No. 2 seed Miami. Manhattan started regional play with a 4-1 win over the regional's top seed Nebraska. Manhattan then lost to Miami before beating San Francisco in the loser's bracket final to get another shot at the Hurricanes.
The 34 wins were the most in program history to that point. The 2007 team won 35, and the 2009 squad equaled that total.
The 2006 team won the MAAC Tournament and the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Jaspers entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and played the minimum number of games, three, to claim the title. Manhattan opened with a win over Rider and followed that with a pair of wins over top-seeded Le Moyne.
Chris Cody was the MAAC Pitcher of the Year in 2006, when he went 12-2 with a 1.42 ERA and 105 strikeouts, as Manhattan won the first MAAC championship in program history. He earned the win in the Jaspers' upset victory over sixth-ranked Nebraska. Cody, who was named to the MAAC's 35th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2016, still holds program career records for wins (29), complete games (19), and strikeouts (295). He was inducted into the Manhattan Hall of Fame in 2017.
2013-14 Men's Basketball
The 2013-14 men's basketball team finished the year 25-8 and 15-5 in MAAC play and MAAC Tournament Champions. The 25 wins were one off the program record for wins in a single season. The 1994-95 team won 26.
To win the MAAC Tournament, the Jaspers beat Saint Peter's, Quinnipiac, and Iona to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The win over Saint Peter's was a five-point win, 68-63. Manhattan won 87-68 in the semifinals over Quinnipiac and then by three, 71-68, over Iona in the final.
In the NCAA Tournament, the No. 13 seed Jaspers pushed No. 4 seed Louisville in the opening round before losing 71-64. The Jaspers held a 58-55 lead with less than four minutes to play before the Cardinals hit three 3-pointers in the final three minutes.
George Beamon was named First Team All-MAAC after averaging 18.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. Rhamel Brown earned MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and Second Team All-MAAC. Brown set the single-season record for blocks with 120. Michael Alvarado collected Third Team All-MAAC honors. The trio were the first three-member senior class in Manhattan history to each score more than 1,000 points.
2022 Men's Lacrosse
The 2022 men's lacrosse team avenged the 2021 team coming up short in the MAAC Championship Game by beating St. Bonaventure 8-7 in the final to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The title was the Jaspers' first in 20 years. Justin Malpica netted a hat trick in the final and earned MVP honors from the Championship.
The Jaspers edged Marist, 13-12, in overtime in the semifinals. Liam Walshe scored eight goals, and Kyle Gucwa supplied the game-winner in overtime. Walshe's eight goals were the second most in a game by a Division I player in 2022.
The Jaspers closed the regular season, winning three of their last four, with the one loss coming against Marist 13-12.
Defensively, the Jaspers were the best in the MAAC in clearing and second in man-down defense. All three starting defenders for the Jaspers, Christian Clifford, Blake Lothian, and Luke Pacher, collected All-MAAC honors. On the offensive end, Gucwa, Sean MacKinney, and Jake Nicolosi were named All-MAAC.
