Alumni
From a simple knock at the door to knocking on the door of greatness.
From “arriving with nothing” to leaving with everything.
From honoring previous Mustang legends to now becoming one.
Those were just some of the memorable storylines highlighting the SUNY Morrisville Athletics Wall of Fame Class of 2023, which honored seven Mustangs:
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Country music bounces non-stop off the concrete bleachers in the cavernous Syracuse Coliseum as the show ring gate swings open and the announcer crackles to life.
“Here’s draw number 20, back number 591, Holy Cannoli Katie and RE Sears.”
The chestnut mare jogs into the center of the ring and, with nearly invisible cues from Sears — a tap on the neck, a touch of the spur — spins four times to the left, four to the right.
Chris Pelrah ’06 and his wife were hiking in the Adirondacks when they came upon a forest ranger heading out to check on a complaint.
“There was some bear activity with people camping in the High Peaks area and the bears were getting into people’s food,” Pelrah said. “I remember the feeling I got — of the ranger helping others — and doing so outdoors. It was an interaction that changed my life.”
As most of you journalism (J-grads) now know, Dan Reeder, 74, former Morrisville journalism professor, died Sept. 20, 2023 from complications of lung cancer. In June, Dan and his wife, Janet, relocated from his beloved Lawrence, Kansas, to Texas, to be closer to their son, Tim.
Doyen “Dolo” Grant’s past is always present in his professional life.
Hanging on the wall of Dolo’s Fitness — a gym Grant ’09 owns and operates in his hometown of Canarsie, New York — is a dark green SUNY Morrisville football jersey. When his gym opened in 2019, the former Mustangs football captain and star wide receiver had his No. 9 home uniform, flanked by two action photos, mounted in a customized black frame.
When Bret Bossard ’02 and Luke Huysman ’03 were students at SUNY Morrisville, they supplemented their classwork with internships at Barbland Dairy, which began as a potato farm in the 1950s before transitioning to beef and then dairy.
Two decades later, they are co-owners of the farm with two other families, milking 4,000 cows daily and managing 10,000 acres across Central New York. More than 80 employees are part of the enterprise, including a number of Morrisville alumni and interns.
Nova Cadamatre’s time at SUNY Morrisville is etched in her memory. She lived on campus with a roommate before moving to a cozy attic apartment in a house off Route 20 and she appeared in musical theater productions of “Cabaret’’ and “Godspell.’’ The South Carolina transplant recalled the connection she instantly felt with her fellow horticulture classmates.
And then there was the paper on grape diseases she wrote for a plant pathology class. It was pivotal — life-changing, really — as it fueled her interest in and passion for wine and viticulture and set her on her career path.
Malcolm Ivers isn’t wasting any time making his mark on the world. He’s jumping right into the renewable energy field after graduation, working as a wind turbine technician for one of the leading onshore wind companies.
He’s moving from Rochester to get closer to his job at RWE Renewables, which starts on June 3. He’ll be working at Munnsville Wind Farm, a 34.5 MW project located in Madison County. RWE constructs, owns and operates some of the highest performing wind, solar and energy storage projects in the United States.
It’s an experience they will never forget. A team of SUNY Morrisville automotive students and their coach set out to win it all. And they did!
SUNY Morrisville’s Mopar Career Automotive Program (MCAP) students were crowned champions in the first-ever Mopar® Career Automotive Program (CAP) Bracket Challenge, a competition that featured 16 schools across the country.