Spotlight on Kean’s senior spring student-athletes

By Steven Merrill | Published by May 11, 2020

The Tower gave one senior from each spring sport (baseball, softball, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s lacrosse) the opportunity to share their thoughts as their final playing season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Unfortunately, these student-athletes did not get the chance to be honored on senior night this spring with their friends and family. So, this platform allows the chance for some of Kean’s seniors to be properly recognized for their efforts on and off the field or court.

Derek Walker is one of four Kean Baseball seniors that will graduate later this month. He finishes his career with 87 hits, 34 RBI, and a .264 batting average over 112 games played. Walker will be working on compliance at The Bank of Princeton after graduation. 

He said the following:

“When I first stepped onto campus at Kean University I wasn’t sure what I was in for. I was a shy kid out of a small catholic school in Somerville, realizing I was about to enroll at a large public University, and play for one of the best college baseball teams in the country at the Division 3 level. Being a college athlete, at any level, comes at the price of your time, effort, and attention to detail. It isn’t supposed to be easy and Kean University was no exception to that. With the help of my friends, family, and my brothers who were wearing Cougar Blue with me for the last 4 years, I made it to the end of the road.  Looking back on the last four years of my life at Kean, I don’t think I’m going to remember the triumphant victories I’ve had on and off the field as much as I’ll remember the journey that it took to get there. The early morning workouts that nobody seemed to want to go to, now seem like they would be the next best thing to heaven if I could do them one more time. The 16 hour days of class, practice, and studying just to wake up early the next day to do it all over again seem like nothing considering everything that our nation is going through during this crazy time. The late Kobe Bryant, God rest his soul, said that “It’s not about the destination, it’s the journey”. That’s always been something that I feel describes my time at Kean University because while I never held up a World Series trophy in my time here, I feel like we accomplished something bigger than baseball by grinding the way that we did the past four years. It has taught me countless things about not only myself, but life and I have so many people to thank for that.”

Walker went on to say:

“I thank my parents for working so hard all of their life so they could send me off to college to do what I love. I want to thank my teammates for having my back through everything because believe me when I say, I would NOT be here without every single one of them helping me out along the way. Mostly, I want to thank Neil Ioviero, Jack Nagy, and the rest of the Kean University Baseball staff for taking a chance on me and believing in me the past four years. I am forever in their debt. All in all, I speak on behalf of the entire Senior class who had the last half of their year stripped from them when I say that while this is awful and shouldn’t be the way that we say goodbye, I am one of the luckiest sons of guns out there for having this time spent. It led me to some pretty cool people and some great memories that I’ll never forget. Roll Cougs.”

Jack Bushey is a men’s lacrosse player who finishes his career with 26 goals in 41 games played. Bushey is graduating with a degree in physical education and health and is looking to become a teacher and coach in the future. He writes the following:

“My career at Kean and as a member of the Kean Men’s Lacrosse team has been an absolute blessing. One thing that I always enjoyed while being at Kean was the atmosphere. From the professors to the coaches, to the students and everyone in between, there was always a positive vibe. A few of the things that I am most proud about my Kean career was that I was fortunate enough to be a two-year captain of the lacrosse team, two-year president of our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and a Dean’s List Student.”

“I am very fortunate when it comes to family and friends. I have the most amazing family a person could possibly ask for. Through the good, bad, and ugly they were always pushing me to become a better friend, student, athlete, and teammate.  If it weren’t for my parents, my uncle and my two brothers I don’t know where I would be. As for my friends, I love you guys.  Thank you for the constant encouragement over the years to help me get to where I am today.”

Bushey went on to say:

“My coaches have taught me more than I could have ever imagined in these last four years. They taught me so much about lacrosse but even more about life.  I could write a novel about all the coaches on our staff thanking them for all they have done for me, but to keep it short and sweet. Coach Snellen, thank you for being a great friend, teammate, mentor, and coach. You constantly pushed me to become better and I will always appreciate that. Coach Adams, thank you for helping me grow as an athlete and a man. Your work ethic is unmatched and it certainly rubbed off on me. Coach King, thank you for being a constant motivator for not just me, but the entire program. You were not only a great coach but a great friend. Coach Kieltyka was one of the smartest people I have ever met. He has taught me so much about how a coach should carry themselves and this is something I hope to carry on with me into my coaching career. Coach Velez, thank you for always putting a smile on our team’s faces. Aside from being a great coach, you always knew how to brighten up the mood which had a very positive impact on our practices, meetings, and games. Coach Cantelli, thank you for everything.  One thing that stands out to me about Coach Cantelli is that he always keeps us grounded. It’s easy to be riding high after stringing together a few wins but he was always there to remind us of the big picture. It’s not about the wins in March, it’s about the wins in late April and May. Coach Sheiner, I can go on and on about all the things I would like to thank you about.  Thank you for taking me in as a boy and sending me off as a man. You constantly pushed me to be a better leader, you showed me what coaching is all about, and you gave me four of the best years of my life. To all the coaches, I speak on behalf of the entire team by saying thank you for everything you guys do and it never goes unnoticed.”

“To my teammates, I don’t even look at you guys as teammates. To me, we are family. Thank you all for coming to practice every day with a winners mentality and always striving to be better. You all made it really easy to be the captain of this team for the past two years. I will miss being on the field and playing for one another, but our friendship and memories will last a lifetime.”

“My favorite memory at Kean had to be my junior year spring break trip to Nashville. It was the experience of a lifetime. I enjoyed getting to see such a beautiful place, playing great competition, and eating amazing food.”

“I just also wanted to give a huge shout out to the athletic training staff. They are the backbone of everything Kean Athletics is. Thank you for taking care of all the athletes day in and day out.”

Danni LeSaint is a women’s lacrosse player who finished her Kean career with 128 goals in 57 games played. She will start graduate school in a few weeks at Kean in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. 

She said the following:

“On behalf of the Kean University Women’s Lacrosse 2020 Senior Class it’s hard to express in just a few sentences the impact that this program has had on us. As we’re still trying to make sense of everything that’s happened in the past 2 months, instead of focusing on what could have been this season we will continue to focus on what we can control, the memories we will have to appreciate forever. Although this was not the ending we had envisioned and anticipated for years, what we’ve learned along the way through the culture of the athletic department at Kean has prepared us for anything and everything in the future. We’ve learned how to be resilient in the face of adversity. That doesn’t take away the painful feeling of what we’ve lost this season, but what it does do, is allow us to see the bigger picture and focus on something bigger than ourselves. While we never got the ending we had hoped for, together we will always reflect back on this time with gratitude and a sense of thankfulness that above all we had each other. We will continue to learn from the lessons this program has taught us and continue to strive to represent and be a great example of Kean University athletes. The athletic department here is something we will forever be grateful for. We would like to say thank you to every one of our teammates and coaches throughout the years for having our backs, pushing us out of our comfort zones, and most importantly being our biggest fans. Although we wish we had more time, I know I can speak for all of us and say that we are so grateful to have been Kean Cougars the past 4 years. We don’t exactly know what the future holds for each of us but what we do know is that we gave this program everything we had. Thank you Kean Athletics for giving each of us a home away from home.”

Caroline Ratti is a senior softball player who completes her career as a Cougar with 140 hits, 15 home runs, and 82 RBI to go along with a .354 batting average in 134 games played. She writes the following:

“To my parents, thank you for supporting me and being my biggest fans for the last 14 years playing this sport.”

“To my coaches, thank you for always pushing me to work harder every day and teaching me skills for life both on and off the field.”

“To my teammates, thank you for supporting me for the past five years. Thank you for always being there for me through the ups and downs. I am so glad I was able to be part of such a great family (program). I’ll miss all of you so much. Best of luck next year.”

“Shout out to the other senior Tatiana Yourstone. Definitely not the way we wanted softball to end but I am so glad I got to spend the last 4 years on the field with you. I am so proud of the player and person you’ve become. I know you’re going to do great things in the future.”

“Now that softball has come to an end my plans for the future are to become a physical education teacher and a coach.”

Maxim Kostin finished his career at Kean with 70 kills in 34 matches played for the men’s volleyball team. Kostin grew up in Moscow, Russia, and is the only men’s volleyball player that will graduate this month. 

He said the following:

“I can’t believe five years went by so fast. Thank you, Kean, for an unbelievable opportunity not only on the court but also off the court. I made friends for life on this team and I’ll always be grateful for the guys that had my back these last five years. It’s time for me to start a new chapter of my life and all of the adversity I faced on and off the court has definitely prepared me for the real world. With my degree, I will enter the service industry and open my own restaurant in the future. Russian is out.”

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