PERRY, N.Y. -The 2008 men's
lacrosse postseason honors continue to pour in for national
champion Salisbury University as head coach Jim
Berkman was named the United States Intercollegiate
Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III National Coach of the
Year.
Berkman, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA men's lacrosse
history, engineered one of the best lacrosse seasons in SU history.
The top-ranked Sea Gulls graduated its entire defense in '07, which
included five All-Americans, three national position players of the
year and the national player of the year in Chase
Caruso. Salisbury (22-0) reloaded in '08 and didn't skip a
beat as the Gulls were ranked among the top 16 defenses in the
country.
This is the first time in 17 seasons that Coach Berkman has been
honored by the USILA as the National Coach of the Year (Francis
'Babe' Kraus award) and the first after one of his eight national
championship seasons. He was last honored by the USILA in 1991.
Berkman has been named Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the
Year seven times, including the past four seasons.
Coach Berkman surpassed retired Army coach Jack Emmer on May 10,
2008 with his 327th career victory in 21 seasons, 20 of which has
been at SU. Berkman guided the Sea Gulls to a second straight
national title and the fifth in the past six seasons as the maroon
and gold defeated SUNY Cortland 19-13 at Gillette Stadium in
Foxborough, Mass.
Berkman's career record is now 330-35 (321-30 at SU). The Sea
Gulls have won 45 straight games and are a stellar 124-2 in the
past six seasons.
Kylor Berkman, Jim's son,
earned the USILA Division III National and Midfielder of the Year
awards this past season and was also named a first-team
All-American.
Coach Berkman is one of the most recognized and respected
collegiate lacrosse coaches in the country. Since 1995, when SU
joined the CAC, the Sea Gulls have yet to lose a conference game, a
streak of 100-0.
An All-American midfielder at St. Lawrence University in '82,
Berkman came to Salisbury after serving as the assistant lacrosse
coach and head basketball and junior varsity soccer coach for three
seasons at his alma mater. The Watertown, N.Y., native, starred on
the basketball team as well as the lacrosse squad at St. Lawrence,
earning MVP honors in basketball as both a junior and senior. He
also was selected to play in the prestigious North-South All-Star
lacrosse game in 1982. Berkman was inducted into the St. Lawrence
Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
After graduating from St. Lawrence in 1982, Berkman spent two
years at Salisbury University while he earned his master's degree.
He served as the Gulls' assistant lacrosse coach during those two
seasons as SU compiled a 23-7 record. Following one season at
Potsdam State, where Berkman coached the lacrosse squad to a
school-record nine wins, he returned to St. Lawrence from 1985-88.
As head basketball coach, Berkman directed his '87-88 St. Lawrence
team to the ICAC league championship.
Berkman currently resides in Salisbury, Md., with his wife
Jennifer, who is the director of SU Student Health Services. Their
son Kylor will be a senior on the men's lacrosse team next season
and daughter Keli will play women's lacrosse at Mount St. Mary's as
a freshman this year.
