Gryphon Spotlight

Periodically, GoGryphons.com will feature an extended look at student-athletes, coaches and members of the SLC community. The Sarah Lawrence College education is one of the most unique educational experiences in the country, and the Gryphon Spotlight highlights students' individual pursuits and contributions.

11.19.15 SAM AMBERCHAN and CAMERON MARTINEZ Women's Swimming & Softball, Men's Swimming & Vollyball After four seasons, swimming team captains and two-sport student-athletes Sam Amberchan (Alameda, Calif., Menlo-Atherton) and Cameron Martinez (Aledo, Texas, Aledo) have navigated the challenges of college and are leaving an impact on their respective programs. Click here to read more.

10.27.15 AUTUMN ATKINSON and JULIET SLADE Women's Tennis Doubles team Autumn Atkinson (Manasquan, N.J., George School) and Juliet Slade (St. Paul, Minn., Central) were a fixture of the Gryphon lineup for three seasons. Their partnership accrued a 33-7 record over three seasons, cementing a place in the team's record book as well as a permanent friendship. Click here to read more.

9.18.15 JUAN SUCRE Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis Juan Sucre (ASFM, Caracas, Venezuela) has been a leader on the men's soccer team for four seasons. The Venezuela native has thrived at Sarah Lawrence and found sports as an outlet to improve his academics and social network. He's ready to captain the squad in 2015. Click here to read more.

8.28.15 BRENDAN O'CONNELL Men's Basketball Brendan O'Connell (Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.) came to Sarah Lawrence to study pre-med but soon took an interest in business. Thanks to SLC's proximity to New York City, the men's basketball player has completed banking and research internships and took a summer job working on Wall Street. Click here to read more.

7.17.15 ERIN POMYKALA Cross Country Coach Pomykala was one of 40 women's coaches to be accepted into the Alliance of Women Coaches / NCAA Women Coaches Academy. The five-day training session was held in Atlanta, Ga., and featured participants from all three NCAA divisions. Click here to read more.

2.26.15 Gryphons Play First Division I Opponent Men's Basketball On Feb. 28, 2015, men's basketball became the first men's Sarah Lawrence team to square off in a head-to-head contest against a Division-I opponent. The Gryphons traveled to Newark, N.J., to face the Highlanders of NJIT in front of the largest crowd to ever attend a Sarah Lawrence game. Click here to read more.

5.13.14 TASHI and JIHAD ELVY Team IMPACT SLC men's basketball's newest players have encountered adversity and challenges unlike any other. Tashi and Jihad Elvy are brothers from the Bronx whose struggle with Sickle Cell Anemia has given new light to what it means to be a part of the team. Click here to read more.

2.24.14 GRAHAM GILLERAN Men's Basketball In his first year at the College, SLC men’s basketball player Graham Gilleran (Archbishop Riordan, San Francisco, Calif.) has exemplified the standard of engaging the community and making a mark on the world. Each week, he volunteers his time tutoring in the neighborhood. Click here to read more.

9.13.13 MYLES ALEXANDER Triathlon SLC graduate Myles Alexander '10 has become a world-class triathlete, but that reality almost never happened. Alexander struggled with anorexia and relied on a helpful SLC coach to turn his life around. Today, he is an advocate for those struggling with the diseas. Click here to read more.

3.28.13 LIZ STITZEL Equestrian Sarah Lawrence graduate Liz Stitzel '09 was a standout equestrian rider in her college days. Years after finishing her degree, she competes as a part of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Alumni Division, representing Sarah Lawrence in pursuit of a national championship. Click here to read more.

2.21.13 ARIANA PESCHKE Women's Swimming Swimmer Ariana Peschke (Topanga, Calif., La Reina) earned a full scholarship to an NCAA Division I institution, but after a year of intercollegiate competition, her scholastic future changed dramatically. She transferred to Sarah Lawrence to focus on her schoolwork and quickly became one of the league's most dominant swimmers. Click here to read more.

11.9.12 BROOKLYNN MOORE Women's Volleyball As the team's setter, Brooklynn Moore (Oakland, Calif., Santa Catalina) performs the humble role of making decisions and putting her teammates in scoring situations. Off the court, Moore's coursework places just as much of an emphasis on effective decision making as she studies economics and law. Click here to read more.

10.22.12 MADDY DESSANTI Women's Tennis For Sarah Lawrence College senior Maddy Dessanti (Teaneck, N.J., Teaneck), the idea of mental focus and mindfulness has evolved beyond sport and become her life's passion. Whether on or off the tennis court, the Teaneck, N.J., native has discovered that meditation and mindfulness can have a lasting impact on one's state of mind. Click here to read more.

8.31.12 LUC MITCHELL Men's Crew, Men's Cross Country, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming, Men's Volleyball Luc Mitchell (Chapel Hill, N.C., East Chapel Hill ), a five-sport athlete for the Gryphons elected to take a leave of absence in fall 2012 to devote his time to November's presidential election. A student of political science, Mitchell has suspended his studies to work for the Barack Obama campaign as a field organizer in Randolph County, N.C. Click here to read more.