St. John's Red Storm


The St. John's Red Storm is the nickname used for the 17 varsity athletic programs of St. John's University, in the U.S. state of New York. St. John's 17 NCAA Division I teams compete in the Big East Conference, with the exception of the fencing team, which compete in the ECAC.
The athletic program fields sixteen intercollegiate teams: basketball, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, golf, and fencing for men and basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, tennis, track and field, cross country, golf, and fencing for women. In 2002, the university eliminated five men's athletic teams and one women's team in order to comply with Title IX rules prohibiting activities that receive federal assistance from discriminating on the basis of gender.
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History

Prior to the 1994–95 school year, the university's nickname was the "St. John's Redmen", which referenced the red uniforms worn by its teams in competition. The name was interpreted as a Native American reference in the 1960s, and the university did have a mascot, which eventually led to the team's name change to the Red Storm. The change happened at a time when there was mounting pressure on colleges and universities to adopt names more sensitive to Native American culture.
On September 18, 2009, the new mascot, which was voted on by students, was revealed: Johnny Thunderbird. On December 15, 2012, St. John's and the other six Catholic, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the former Big East for a new conference.
The "Catholic 7", after purchasing the "Big East" name from the FBS schools and adding Butler, Creighton, and Xavier, began operating as the [Big East Conference|new Big East Conference (1979–2013)|Big East Conference] beginning in July 2013.

Teams

Baseball

The St. John's baseball team, currently coached by Mike Hampton, has been to the College World Series six times, recorded 34 NCAA appearances, 8 Big East Championships and have sent 70 players on to professional baseball careers. The team plays at the 3,500-seat Jack Kaiser Stadium, dedicated in 2007 to the Hall of Fame Coach and former St. John's Athletic Director. The stadium is one of the largest college baseball stadiums in the northeast, and is a featured venue on the EA Sports MVP NCAA baseball video game. The Red Storm played the first-ever game at the Mets' new ballpark, Citi Field on March 29, 2009.
St. John's major leaguers have included Rich Aurilia, Danny Burawa, John Franco, Sam Nahem, Joe Panik, Steve Ratzer, Wayne Rosenthal, Mickey Rutner, CJ Nitkowski, and Frank Viola.

Basketball

Men's Basketball

The men's basketball team has reached the NCAA tournament twenty-eight times, boasts two John R. Wooden Award winners, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA. The school is also the 8th winningest team in all of college basketball.
St. John's is the seventh-most-winningest program in college basketball history, St. John's boasts the seventh-most NCAA tournament appearances, two Wooden Award winners as national player of the year, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA. However, St. John's currently holds the NCAA Division I record for most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearances without a championship. The Red Storm play most of their home games at Madison Square Garden, "The World's Most Famous Arena", while their early non-conference games are held at Carnesecca Arena on the St. John's campus in Queens.
The basketball team is the most popular collegiate basketball program in New York City and has a world-wide following. There are numerous fan forums that support the basketball program, in addition to all of the university's teams. The most popular is redmen.com which often leads the mainstream sports media in breaking news regarding its sports teams.

Women's Basketball

Along with the St. John's fencing program, the women's basketball program at St. John's has been one of the most successful women's programs at the university. The Red Storm women's program are 4 time Big East Champions and have appeared in 10 NCAA women's basketball tournaments, including 7 appearances since 2006. On February 18, 2012, the St. John's women's team defeated perennial national power the UConn Huskies 57–56, in Connecticut, to end the Huskies' 99-game home court winning streak.
The women's basketball team is currently coached by Joe Tartamella, who became the program's seventh head coach in 2012. Since then the team has competed in six post-season tournaments in his seven-year tenure and won one Big East tournament title. The program's highest post-season finish came during the 2011–12 season when they advanced to Sweet Sixteen under Kim Barnes Arico led by WNBA draft picks, Nadirah McKenith and Shenneika Smith.
Since then the program has had two additional WNBA selections, in Aliyyah Handford and Danaejah Grant, who helped add a fourth Big East tournament championship in 2016.

Fencing

  • Head coach: Yury Gelman
  • National Championships: 1
  • Individual National Championships: 22
The St. John's fencing program has also attained national prominence under US Fencing Hall of Fame and seven-time Olympic saber coach Yury Gelman. In 2001, St. John's won the NCAA Fencing Championship. The team has ranked in the top seven each of the last 30 years from 1995 on under Gelman, and finished second in the NCAA during 1995, 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2010 seasons. In addition to team accolades, St. John's has won 26 NCAA individual national championship titles, and 140 of its fencers have been named All-Americans. Israeli Olympian Tomer Or is a coach of the team.

Golf

The men's golf team have won 10 Big East conference titles: 1979, 1981–84, 1986–89, 2014. The men's team also had three players finish in first place at the annual Big East Championship: Andrew Svoboda in 2001, Ryan McCormick in 2014, and Dylan Crowley in 2015.
The women's golf team won the first and only Big East team championship in 2005 and two individual championships in 2011 and 2014.

Soccer

Men's soccer

The St. John's men's soccer program has appeared in 15 consecutive NCAA tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 in each of the last ten seasons, and the Final Four on 3 occasions. They have captured 11 Big East Championships, including the 2006 season title as well as the 2009 season title, and in 1996, St. John's won the NCAA National Championship. Their home games are hosted at Belson Stadium, a state-of-the-art 2,300-seat stadium on the university campus. In 2006, the men's soccer team became the first American soccer team to be invited to play in Vietnam. The team played against several Vietnam Football Federation squads as well as participating in community service.
  • Head coach: David Masur
  • Stadium: Belson Stadium
  • Big East Championships: 15
  • College Cup Appearances: 4
  • National Championships: 1

Women's soccer

The St. John's program have been members of the Big East since the conference started sponsoring women's soccer in 1994, and winning the conference's inaugural tournament. The Red Storm have competed in four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championships with a record of 2–2–1 with their two wins coming in 2013 against Central Florida before falling to Arkansas in the second round, and their second 1–0 over Brown in extra time in the first round in 2021. They were led by two-time NSCAA All-American Rachel Daly who went on to break many university scoring records and being selected in the 2016 NWSL College Draft by the Houston Dash with the sixth overall pick.
  • Head coach: Ian Stone
  • Stadium: Belson Stadium
  • Big East Championships: 2
  • NCAA Appearances: 4

Softball

The 2015 campaign for the St. John's softball team was a historic one for the program. The Red Storm softball team won their first ever Big East Championship in 2015 and appeared in the 2015 NCAA softball tournament for the first time in program history.
  • Head coach: Michelle DePolo
  • Stadium: Red Storm Field
  • Big East Championships: 5
  • NCAA Appearances: 1

Tennis

The men's tennis team has won 7 Big East conference titles: 1980, 1991, 2014–2016, 2019, 2025.
The women's tennis team won their first and only Big East conference championship in 2018.

Volleyball

The women's volleyball team at St. John's have won 3 Big East regular-season championships and won the Big East Championship in 2007 and 2019 – and appeared in the Women's Volleyball NCAA tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2019.
  • Head coach: Joanne Persico
  • Arena: Carnesecca Arena
  • Big East Championships: 5
  • NCAA Appearances: 3

Football

St. John's discontinued its varsity football team in 2002.

Championships

NCAA team championships

St. John's has won two NCAA team national championships.
  • Men's
  • *Soccer : 1996
  • Co-ed
  • *Fencing : 2001
  • see also:
  • *Big East Conference NCAA team championships
  • *List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships

Mascot

In spring 2009, St. John's allowed its students to vote on what the new official Red Storm mascot would be. At a soccer game in fall 2009, members of the Athletics Department announced that a Thunderbird had received the majority of votes and would become the new mascot. After a vote, the new mascot was named Johnny Thunderbird. He can be seen at many of the school's athletic events, cheering on the Red Storm.

St. John's Athletics Hall of Fame

In 1984, St. John's established an athletics hall of fame with 10 charter members representing a cross-section of the school's athletic history.
1984–8510Larry Bearnarth, baseball; LeRoy Ellis, men's basketball; Tom Farrell, track and field; James Freeman, men's basketball coach; Lynn Burke, swimming; Joe Lapchick, men's basketball coach; Frank McGuire, men's basketball coach; Dick McGuire, men's basketball; Walter T. McLaughlin, athletic director; George Seewagen, tennis coach
1985–8610Harry Boykoff, men's basketball; John Duenzl, track and field; Matt Galante, baseball; Tony Jackson, men's basketball; Max Kinsbrunner, men's basketball; Kevin Loughery, men's basketball; Jack McMahon, men's basketball; Nancy Midwinter, swimming; Philip Reilly, fencing; Bill Ward, track and field coach/intramural director
1986–8710Frank Briggs, rifle; Lou Carnesecca, men's basketball coach; Jack Garfinkel, men's basketball; Hy Gotkin, men's basketball; Ling Ling Hou, women's basketball; Jack Kaiser, baseball coach and athletic director; Andrew Levane, men's basketball; Mickey Rutner, baseball; Alan Seiden, men's basketball; John Warren, men's basketball
1987–885Sue Bretthauer, women's basketball; Reggie Carter, men's basketball; Pete Close, track and field; Sonny Dove, men's basketball; Bob Sheppard, announcer
1988–896Tito Balestrieri, rifle; Mel Davis, men's basketball; Andre Deladrier, fencing coach; Sal Ferrara, baseball; Dr. Carl Fields, track and field; John "Doc" Gimmler, head athletic trainer/golf coach
1989–906Kim Thomas Barnes , track and field; Rev. Henry Honsberger, moderator of athletics; Bob Kaczmarek, baseball; Billy Schaeffer, men's basketball; Joseph Schneider, track and field; Peter Toennies, swimming
1990–916Gerry Bush, men's basketball; Oneitha "Nene" Davis, track and field; Timothy Hanlon, track and field; William McKeever, men's basketball; Kathleen Murphy-Meehan, women's basketball; Mike Proly, baseball
1991–926Frank Alagia, men's basketball; Steve Bartold, track and field coach; Debbie Beckford, women's basketball; Ed Bertram, tennis; John Gallagher, men's basketball; Marty Satalino, baseball/men's basketball
1992–936Mike Diffley, golf; George Johnson, men's basketball; Joseph Lang, track and field; Milt Rosenbaum, baseball; Maryanne Persan-Torellas, track and field; James White, men's basketball
1993–946Herb Hess, equipment manager; Bob McIntyre, men's basketball; Rev. Robert Rivard, moderator of athletics; Constance Darnowski-Stoll, track and field; Solly Walker, men's basketball; Ed Waters, baseball
1994–956Gerald Calabrese, men's basketball; Jack Curran, baseball/men's basketball; Al "Dusty" DeStefano, men's basketball; Rev. W. Graham, administrator; Bartholomew Nnaji, track and field; Randi Samet, fencing
1995–965Bill Cimmillo, football; Bill Esposito, sports information director; Richard Krempecki, swimming; Barbara Perry, tennis; David Russell, men's basketball
1996–976John DaSilva, hockey; Dr. Irving Glick, team physician; Billy Paultz, men's basketball; Bob Ricca, football coach; Frank Viola, baseball; Virginia Young-Coleman, track and field
1997–986Dennis Bligen, football; Jack Carew, cross country; John Franco, baseball; Frank Gilroy, men's basketball; Rev. Edward Kiernan, moderator of athletics; Dorothy Pace-Giordano, women's basketball
1998–99no induction ceremony held
1999–20006Sonja Fitts, track and field; Sabrina Johnson, women's basketball; Roger "Dutch" Ouderkirk, assistant football coach/equipment manager; Ron Rutledge, assistant men's basketball coach; Tom Sowinski, baseball; Glenn Williams, men's basketball
2000–018Joe Brodeth, fencing coach; Gil Hodges, honorary inductee; Erin McDonnell, softball; Ken McIntyre, men's basketball; Rich Napolitano, baseball; Anthony Russo Jr., football; Jackie Smith, women's basketball; Bill Wennington, men's basketball
2001-02no induction ceremony held
2002-03no induction ceremony held
2003-045Cozette Ballentine, women's basketball; The Belson Family , contributors; Dr. David Masur, men's soccer coach; Michael Ricigliano, baseball; 1996 Men's Soccer Team, men's soccer
2004-05no induction ceremony held
2005-06no induction ceremony held
2006-07no induction ceremony held
2007-08no induction ceremony held
2008-09no induction ceremony held
2009–10no induction ceremony held
2010–11no induction ceremony held
2011–12no induction ceremony held
2012–1310Walter Berry, men's basketball; Cristin Burtis, women's soccer; Huey Ferguson, men's soccer; Courtney Fitzgerald-Cardot, softball; Youree Spence-Garcia, track and field; Dolores Dixon-Grevious, women's basketball; Keeth Smart, fencing; Arlene Stevens, fencing; Donald and Eleanor Taffner, contributors; Anthony Zito, football
2013–147Rich Aurilia, baseball; Fred Bischoff, men's soccer; Mike Bolger, lacrosse; Adriana Burke-Viola, women's soccer;
Wioleta Leszczynska, women's volleyball; Janet Roos, women's basketball; Malik Sealy, men's basketball
2014–157The Brennan Family, contributors; Tina Loven, fencing; Chris Mullin, men's basketball; C. J. Nitkowski, baseball; Erik Scharf, men's tennis; Andrew Svoboda, men's golf; Kia Wright, women's basketball
2015–16no induction ceremony held
2016–17no induction ceremony held
2017–18no induction ceremony held
2018–19no induction ceremony held
2019–208Jackie Ahlers, women's volleyball; Keegan Bradley, men's golf; Yury Gelman, fencing coach; Roman Linscheid, men's track and field; Felipe Lopez, men's basketball; Joe Russo, baseball coach; Da'Shena Stevens, women's basketball; Chris Wingert, men's soccer
2020–21no induction ceremony held
2021–229Ralph Addonizio, baseball; Kevin Daly, men's soccer; Joe Depre, men's basketball; Jim Hurt, track and field coach;
Mark Jackson, men's basketball; Todd Jamison, football; Harin Lee, women's golf; Shenneika Smith, women's basketball; Dagmara Wozniak, fencing
2022–236Priscilla Frederick, track and field; Ed Blankmeyer, baseball coach; Jayson Williams, men's basketball;
Kieran McArdle, men's lacrosse; Jerry Houston, men's basketball; Nadirah McKenith, women's basketball
2023–248Craig Hansen, baseball; Gus Alfieri, men's basketball; Greg "Boo" Harvey, men's basketball;
Bernard Rencher, men's basketball; Aliyyah Handford, women's basketball; Erin Burner, softball;
Ben Hickey, men's soccer; Diana Poulin, women's soccer
2024-256Michael Dzurilla, baseball; Marcus Hatten, men's basketball; Danaejah Grant, women's basketball; Pat Fogarty, men's golf; Shalrie Joseph, men's soccer; Marsha Henry-Seagrave, women's track & field

Notable sportspersons