Ramapo Athletes Who Stayed: What They’re Doing Now

By ELIZA PLUCKHORN

Ramapo College recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, as the school was established in 1969. But a lot of the alumni have stuck around – especially alumni who now work at the Bradley Center, the college’s athletic building.

Assistant Director of  Sports Information Kate Levin and Head Swim Coach Gary Orr both attended Ramapo College, as a softball player from 2000-2004, and as a swimmer from 1980-1982. Orr, the head swim coach, still holds a record for the 1,000 freestyle event, with a time of 9:47. The record is nw officially 39 years old, as Orr set it in 1981.

When asked about the past, Orr said that the team dynamic has remained the same, even through the swim team’s hiatus from 1992-2007.

“Though the mens and women’s teams have always been close and friendly, the dynamic in the past few years has showed how close a team can become. Also only about 3 people who were on the team then would even make it on the team now,” said Orr.

The college as an academic constitution has come a long way, as Orr stated that he wouldn’t recognize this school as it is today if 20 year old him could see what the campus has become.

“With the addition of the the Anisfield School of Business and the Adler Nursing Center, as well as hiring more esteemed professors, Ramapo College has come a long way and continues to prosper as an academic institution with good sports teams as well,” said Orr.

Levin hasn’t had as much expereince as Orr has, since she graduated Ramapo College in 2005. But she did help the softball team excel throughout the NJAC tournament season all 4 years in college.

“The NJAC is popularly recognizable throughout the Northeast in softball teams ad Division III Schools, like in the South Eastern Conference for Softball,” said Levin in regards to the quality of the teams in North Jersey.

As for the academics of the College, Levin has also noticed changes on the campus as well as in the classroom.

“Ramapo has changed a lot, academically they’ve always put themselves up there as one of the top schools academically, but its become especially evident in the past 10-15 years,” said Levin, “There are now more policies and procedures in place, like LGBTQA+ awareness, racial diversity awareness, and now sexual violence prevention awareness.”

Some other coaches on Ramapo’s campus, like Ryan Rinsky, Walker Larson and DJ Pinton are all now coaches for the teams they played for when they attended Ramapo College.

Ryan Rinsky is the current interim head coach of the Baseball team, and Walker Larson is the teams pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. DJ Pinton, who played under his father’s coaching in the 1990’s, has been the Men’s head soccer coach for the past 16 years.

 

WE ARE IN! For the second time in program history the @rcnjmenssoccer team has earned an at-large bid to #NCAA Tournament! Follow @RCNJAthletics for more info and updates! ??? #d3soc #WeAreRCNJ pic.twitter.com/Wq7e8CMeZw

— Ramapo College (@RamapoCollegeNJ) November 5, 2018

Pinton recently coached his team to a bid in the NCAA Division III tournament, for the second time in the program’s history.

Ramapo College is becoming more well known with in the sports community, by standing out in outstanding ways across many sports. Academically, the school has been taking off with the help of academic additions, both on campus and in the classroom.