DELHI, N.Y. (April 9, 2020) – A total of 4,723 votes were registered in the opening round of SUNY Delhi's Athletics Staff Madness. Fans and students went to the polls at DelhiBroncos.com/vote and on Twitter when voting began last Friday, with many too-close-to-call matchups decided by just a few dozen votes heading into the final day Thursday. The remaining eight Broncos compete in Round Two's Regional Finals, beginning Friday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. and running through Thursday, April 16 at 4:30 p.m. Same rules apply by voting online and on Twitter.
Dave Arehart (Men's and Women's Golf) and Sam Miller (Men's Lacrosse) won their matchups in the Green Region. Robb Munro (Cross Country/Track & Field) and Brian Mitko (Men's Soccer) advanced in the White Region. Beau Bracchy (Women's Volleyball) and Meagan Hillard (Softball) got the support they needed to move ahead in the Gold Region. Bob Backus (Director of Athletics) and Mike Burud (Swimming & Diving) both overcame defeats in the Twitter voting with online polling victories to punch their tickets through in the Blue Region.
The Blue Region matchup between one-seed Zack Thomsen (Men's Basktball) and the fourth-seed Burud produced the highest turnout with 1,089 votes. Though Thomsen had a sizable lead in the Twitter Poll, 79-26, Burud flourished in the online voting, 646-338, to carry him through to victory. The other Blue Region showdown followed a similar narrative as three-seed Dan Graham (Sports Information Director) led the two-seeded Backus in the Twitter voting, 70-34, but not enough to cut into Backus' 193-130 online lead.
The three-seed Hillard's Gold Region meeting with two-seed Lauren Mackay (Women's Soccer) had the second-highest turnout with 1,035 total votes. Hillard rode a 579-338 online lead in the polls to the win, despite Mackay leading, 69-49, on Twitter. Three was certainly a crowd in the other Gold Region battle, as the top-seeded Bracchy was pitted against the tandem of Michelle Stemper and Rachel Gleason (Athletic Training). Both sides finished tied in the Twitter voting at 51-51, but Bracchy's devoted following proved to be the deciding factor in the online voting, winning by a 218-144 margin.
The one-seeded Arehart and four-seed Lynn Oles (Administrative Assistant) competed in a see-saw matchup over in the Green Region. While Oles held a steady lead through the first couple of days, Arehart's late surge saw him finish with a sweep in both polls, 109-72 on Twitter and 199-163 online. The two-seed Miller edged out Mark Birman (Men's & Women's Tennis) in the online voting, 153-125, but performed overwhelmingly on Twitter, 88-13, to widen his margin.
The one-seed Munro and fourth-seed Cathy Foto (Associate Director of Athletics) competed neck-and-neck all week in their White Region clash. Foto finished ahead narrowly in the Twitter voting, 58-53, but Munro pulled through with a 177-115 win in the online poll. Two-seed Mitko stayed consistently ahead in his challenge with three-seed Lauren McRoberts (Women's Basketball), resulting in a 166-121 online win and a 65-31 victory on Twitter.
Voting for the Regional Finals begins Friday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. and concludes Thursday, April 16 at 4:30 p.m. Cast your votes at both DelhiBroncos.com/vote and on Twitter @DelhiBroncos.
