The role of the student athlete requires a lot of responsibility and dedication. Student athletes must perform in the classroom as well as on the court for their team or teams.
In Emily Moranos’ case it is teams. Morano is a senior from Olyphant, Pennsylvania she is a member of the Women’s Tennis team here at SUNY Cortland and is currently in season for the Women’s Basketball team. After graduating highschool in 2019 Morano attended Kings college in Pennsylvania where she played basketball and tennis until she transferred to Cortland this past year.
“It is a very big change. The campus size, academic programs, and the community camaraderie are all very different compared to the college I had came from”
Although the adjustment of transferring colleges has not been easy for Morano she seems to have found her footing in both athletics and her academics.
Morano is a starting guard on the basketball team and is currently averaging 13.7 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds. She is one of the Red Dragons top offensive threats night in and night out as she leads the team in scoring. She does it on the other end of the court as well as she leads the team in steals with a total of 42 on the season.
Her effort on both ends of the court has helped propel the Red Dragons to a 17-3 record placing them only behind New Paltz in the SUNYAC standings.
She does not only excel on the basketball court but she has seen success on the tennis court as well. During the fall season she has an overall record of 8-2 winning both of her 2 singles matches and 6 of her doubles matches. She looks to improve her impressive record when the Tennis season resumes at the back end of March.
When she is not down at the park center getting extra reps in or on the tennis court practicing her serve. Morano is hard at work in Bowers, Morano is a biochemistry major which requires many long days in the lab learning from the knowledgeable minds of the science department.
To be a successful student athlete is a large responsibility and it is to be treated like a job. The role entails hours and hours of practices, lifts, games, and of course keeping on top of your work.
Morano stresses the student aspect of student athlete and says that everyone around her from family, to coaches and the Cortland teachers all encourage her to be successful in the classroom.
“it is a very comforting feeling when you know that your professor is there to help and encourage you to put forward your best work.”
After college Morano plans on using her biochemistry degree to pursue a career within the pharmaceutical field. She mentions that she has always found a liking to medicine and pharmacology. In fact it was her highschool chemistry teacher who encouraged her and helped guide her down the path of biochemistry due to her interests within medicine.
The interesting thing about Morano is that she seems to genuinely enjoy everything that she has committed herself to. She has been playing basketball for 10 years now and likes the competitive nature of the sport where she can show more of her aggressive and assertive side. Tennis is a sport she only decided to pick up a few years ago but enjoys just the same as basketball.
Morano is a great representation of everything a SUNY Cortland student athlete should be. Her performance on the court(s) and in the classroom can only be attributed to her work ethic and the high standards she holds herself to. Due to these qualities Morano has found success in her current ventures and will hopefully continue to find success in her post graduate career.