Dick
Blood
Cornell
University Head Coach
Now in his 14th year at the helm of the
Cornell softball program, Coach Blood has led Cornell
to three Ivy League titles in his 12 years, compiling
an impressive 396-185-1 record. He ranks 23rd on the NCAA
Division I winningest active coaches charts with his .681
career winning percentage and is looking to regain the
Ivy title that he led the Big Red to in 1999, 2001 and
2004.
In 2008 Blood helped the Big Red finish with a nation's
best .351 batting average in the final NCAA statistics.
Cornell ranked in the top 10 teams in five different categories,
including batting average, scoring, win-loss percentage,
slugging percentage and doubles per game. He guided four
Cornell hitters to a ranking among the top 100 individuals
for batting average. Cornell finished the season with
a 40-10 overall record and its .80 winning percentage
ranked 10th in the country. The team finished in second
place in the Ivy South division with a 16-4 mark. Senior
outfielder Jenna Campagnolo earned one of Cornell athletics’
top honors, being named the female recipient of the Outstanding
Senior Athlete award. Campagnolo also earned her fourth
first-team All-Ivy honor, and was joined by Elise Menaker,
Samantha Hare and Alyson Intihar on the All-Ivy teams.
In 2007, Blood led the Big Red to its best start in program
history opening with 12 wins. Cornell went on to notch
a 35-14 record, while going 13-7 in the Ivy League. The
Big Red placed second in the Ancient Eight’s South
Division. Intihar and Campagnolo were named to the National
Fastpitch Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic All-Region
teams. Intihar received first-team honors in the utility
position, while Campagnolo was named second-team as an
outfielder. Intihar was also one of only three Ivy League
players to be named to the 2007 ECAC Division I softball
all-star team.
Blood led the Big Red to a team-record 42 wins in 2004
as it captured a piece of its third Ivy title. The long
ball was key to the team’s success en route to the
NCAA tournament, hitting a team-record 57 home runs. Blood
collected his 300th career win May 20, that year, in a
dramatic upset of Long Beach State in the opening round
of the NCAA tournament. Blood coached Lauren May ‘05
to consecutive Ivy Player of the Year honors (2004-05)
and the ECAC Softball Player of the Year award in 2005.
May closed out her career under Coach Blood in 2005 as
Cornell’s all-time leader in batting average, slugging
percentage, home runs and RBI. Blood’s 2005 team
also landed Erin Murtha and Jenna Campagnolo on the All-Ivy
first team and Erin Kizer on the second team.
The Big Red used powerful hitting (54 home runs) and
solid pitching (1.88 ERA) to earn a share of the league
championship in 2001. During a play-in series, the Big
Red swept Harvard to clinch a trip to the NCAA tournament.
The team’s 54 home runs ranked second in the country
behind NCAA champion Arizona.
Blood also led the Big Red to its first Ivy League championship
in 1999, compiling a 41-11 slate in the process.
E-mail Coach Blood at: rb53@cornell.edu
Contact Coach Blood by phone at:
607-255-8500
 Julie
Platt
Cornell
University Assistant Coach
Former
Cornell softball standout Julie Platt was named the Big
Red's assistant softball coach in the fall of 2002. Platt
joined head coach Dick Blood after spending four seasons
as a part-time assistant softball coach at the University
of Rochester.
Platt was a two-time All-Ivy second-team selection during
her career as a second baseman at Cornell and was a member
of the 1997 ECAC championship team. In 1996, she posted
a .423 batting average to become the first Cornellian
to bat over .400 for a season. Her .375 career batting
average and .419 on base percentage rank her in second
in both categories. She is 11th in career runs and is
10th all-time in hits with 128.
Platt graduated from Cornell in 1997 with a bachelor
of science degree in civil engineering and is currently
a licensed engineer in New York state. Upon graduating
from Cornell, she worked as a traffic engineer for the
Sear Brown Group in Rochester, NY. She competed in the
Empire State Games in 1997 and was a shortstop for the
Adirondack Ice women's fast pitch team the same year.
At the University of Rochester, Platt assisted with all
aspects of team development and was also involved with
recruiting and player evaluation.
A native of Albany, NY, Platt is a graduate of the Academy
of the Holy Names, where she lettered in basketball, softball
and volleyball. Platt and her husband, Tom, reside in
Ithaca.
e-mail Coach Platt at
jcp5@cornell.edu
Contact coach Platt
by phone at: 607-255-7334
Abby
Arceneaux
Cornell University
Assistant Coach
Abby Arceneaux will join the Big Red softball
coaching staff for the 2009 season Dick Blood the Jan Rock
Zubrow ’77 Head Coach of Softball has announced. Arceneaux
served as an assistant coach for Union College last season.
“We are excited to have Abby on board to join our
coaching staff,” Blood said. “She comes from
a coaching family and will bring a wealth of knowledge about
pitching and has the ability to pitch batting practice to
our program.
Arceneaux received her degree in psychology
from Union in 2006, where she played softball for four years
while receiving multiple league, ECAC and NCAA honors. She
attained All-America status at the Division III level after
ranking nationally in both pitching and hitting. Arceneaux
was first-team All-Liberty league all four years and was
named Player of the Year in 2004. She led her team to the
NCAA tournament every season and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament
team. Team captain her junior and senior seasons, she was
the NCAA Division III toughest player to strikeout with
no strikeouts in over 125 at bats in her senior campaign.
That same season, Arceneaux held a 17-6 record on the mound
with a 2.22 earned run average.
At Mechanicsville High, Arceneaux worked as
a substitute teacher and assisted with the softball program.
During her playing days, she led Mechanicsville to three
New York State championships and was a two-time New York
State Class “C” Player of the Year. Arceneaux
has also worked as a pitching and hitting instructor at
Warning Track Academy in Malta, NY and at All-Stars Academy
in Troy, NY
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