A long goodbye

So many athletes still cherish the competition while days as D-I program are winding down

Each morning Anthony Clavette has had to rise early from his apartment at the University of Hartford and make his way with the track team to Hartford Public High, where the facilities are available to work on his craft.

That craft is the high jump and Clavette, at the end of the week, will wear his red and white Hartford colors at the NCAA regional championships, representing a school that is bowing out of its conference, America East, and in a year’s time plans to drop out of Division I competition.

For athletes competing in the moment the past controversies and future direction must all be pushed aside.

“I’m pumped,” said Clavette, a junior from Maine. “I can’t wait to get out there where I deserve to be. I like to think of it as representing the previous professional athletes and national qualifiers and every student athlete that has ever gone to the University of Hartford.

“We fought and worked against all odds for the history of athletics at the University of Hartford, that’s just what we do, so I wear that name with the student-athletes in mind.”

The school’s baseball team, too, put together with transfers looking for a shot in DI, has pressed on. The Hawks came together during the final weeks of their season and swept top-seeded Maine on the road last weekend to clinch a spot in the conference tournament, where the hottest team will advance to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s one of those things we’ve preached since the first meeting,” coach Steve Malinowski said. “We’ve had a lot of turnover, some guys that moved on, but the group we addressed early in September, it was to focus on the goal of making the tournament and becoming a team and just really focus on what we could do with the 2022 season. When we come through the gates, we’re just trying to become the best baseball team we can.”

What the athletes still representing Uhart are doing is admirable as they have overcome adversity not of their own making. That adversity itself is another matter. Uhart’s plan to transition to Division III, revealed in April 2021 after the men’s basketball team played in the NCAA Tournament, appears to be a fait accompli. Its application to move has been accepted by the

NCAA to be completed by Sept. 1, 2025; a conference home must still be found.

“The transition is a multiyear process and we are excited to have exactly 100 new student-athletes committed to our new model for fall 2022,” Uhart spokesperson Molly

Polk said. “This is as many or more student-athletes than any incoming class in recent years. Many of our coaches have done an excellent job recruiting, [baseball and track and field] specifically. They each have great new cohorts of student-athletes joining their programs.

“We have also recently announced plans to build a new track and field in 2023 and our intention to add sports in the near future, including tennis, ice hockey and field hockey. We are in active conference discussions and intend to share updates on provisional conference membership soon.”

At the 2021 graduation ceremony disaffected athletes voiced their displeasure with the school’s administration.

Two weeks ago Athletic Director Sharon Beverly sent a memo to athletic department personnel warning that any disruption of commencement ceremonies could result in diplomas and transcripts being held, or possibly forfeits or suspensions for offending programs in 2022-23.

The memo got out, as was inevitable, and drew yet another round of criticism, national in scope, for Uhart, which sometimes appears to seek out and find the worst way it could possibly handle any situation. For better or worse, depending on where you come down on free speech, the mission was accomplished. Commencement was quiet and coaches and athletes, we’ve been told, were asked not to comment on any of the above even though the school says there is no gag order.

“To my knowledge, student-athletes have never been asked not to comment on the transition,” Polk said. “Many have done so since the decision was made last year.”

In the meantime Uhart will be a Division I mid-major independent in 2022-23. What schedules will look like is anyone’s guess, but it will at least give Clavette, who will be a senior, a chance to compete for the NCAA Tournament. It will also give the players on other teams a chance to showcase their abilities for the transfer portal.

Meanwhile, Clavette, 6 feet 1, was disappointed in his performance at the America East championships, where he didn’t clear his opening height, but he rebounded to win the New England championships with a school record jump of 2.08 meters, or 6.8 feet. He’ll be the 46th seed at the NCAA regionals in Bloomington, Ind., but that’s no reflection of his level of determination. His goal is to reach 7 feet, if not this week, then next year.

“I go into a meet with the same mindset every time,” he said. “I’m just showing up to win. I’m on the lower end of the list going into this meet, but it’s still a track meet, it’s still competition, I’m still showing up there with my eyes on first place.”

Clavette, a computer science major who chose Uhart for its state-of-the-art program, will be the fifth Hartford athlete to compete in the NCAA regionals in the last five years. Coach Stacie Wentz looks for athletes that fit what Uhart can offer, and plans to continue to do that.

“I always recruit kids who want to attend the University of Hartford and I feel like it’s going to be a good fit,” Wentz said. “With [Clavette], he has excelled. He’s a straight-a student, has almost a perfect GPA, and he was a kid we thought could do well balancing athletics and academics. We knew as a coaching staff watching him in the preseason, he was so much stronger and faster than he had ever been. He really kind of put everything together to jump 2.08 in the indoor season.”

Uhart baseball reached the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and was an America East contender nearly every season under

Justin Blood, who resigned after last season. Malinowski, a Berlin native who played at Uconn, was an assistant for 10 years and stepped up, holding things together. More than 10 players left, six of nine recruits decommitted and the Hawks, with 14 new players among 32 on the roster, lost their first 11 games, and 15 of their first 16.

“It was an opportunity for some players to finish their careers at the same level, or challenge themselves,” Malinowski said. “We do have some junior college guys that came in, guys who were at Division III schools before, so it’s kind of a healthy mix of levels, truly a blended group. Over the last three weeks, we’ve been playing better baseball. This last weekend was a culmination of guys knowing what’s in front of them and finally being healthy and the combination was right on the field.”

Hartford (13-35) has won seven of its last nine games.

The lineup has gelled around infielders Derek Tenney and Tremayne Cobb Jr., and outfielder Donnie Cohoon, all hitting over .300. Tim Blaisdell will start on the mound as Uhart begins the conference tournament against NJIT on Wednesday in Orono, Maine.

Nobody ever told them there’d be days like this, but athletes have a way of being of singular purpose, and one day Uhart’s will look back and have some stories to tell.

“I can’t sit here and focus on what could have been,” Clavette said. “All I can focus on is what I can control, living in the moment and showing up at every meet ready to win. That’s what it’s about.”