Cleaning out the college notebook with updates from the past week around area schools:
Marie Curran was named the new softball coach at Buffalo State. Curran, a former coach at the University at Buffalo, joined the Bengals staff in 2011. She became the interim head coach for the Bengals this past spring, 14 games into the season, after Sandy Hollander passed away. Curran helped Buffalo State into the playoffs and, along with Hollander, was named SUNYAC Coaches of the Year.
"I feel very privileged and honored to become the coach of such a tradition-rich program," Curran said in a press release from Buffalo State. "I had the wonderful opportunity to have been involved with the program under Coach Hollander and truly understand the traditions of ht eprogram and how to continue and build on its successes. The Western New York softball community offers such a deep talent base, it provides the opportunity for our program to reach the NCAA playoffs on a consistent basis."
Meanwhile at Canisius, Jude Caserta was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Business Operations and Matt Reitnour was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications. Caserta, in her 24th year on the Golden Griffins athletics staff, will continue to be oversee business operations for the department and will also oversee the women's rowing program. Reitnour, in addition to directing the athletic department's communication staff, will be responsible for all broadcast and multimedia platforms along with advancing social media presence.
Dan McFarland, a graduate of St. Mary's and a junior at Hilbert, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court. He was the only honoree from the 10-member Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. McFarland averaged 17.9 points for the Hawks this season with his 1,168 points placing him seventh on the program's all-time scoring list. He has 3.2 grade point average as a criminal justice major.
--- Amy Moritz
