Hannah Whelan
InMotion Staff Writer
With an ever-expanding sports program, Daytona State welcomes the introduction of two new sports teams. Coming in August 2016, the college will offer a men’s and women’s soccer team to accompany the variety of sports already offered such as softball, golf, basketball and more.
Originally from Fort Walton Beach, Bart Sasnett will be joining the Daytona State men’s soccer team from his previous coaching position holding nine seasons at Darton State College in Albany, Georgia.
“We are extremely excited that Bart is joining our institution. He brings a strong coaching resume to our program,” said Director of Athletics Will Dunne. “The position drew many inquiries and Bart stood out early in the review process.”
While coaching the Cavaliers in Georgia, Sasnett amassed an overall record of 123-42-4, bringing his personal record to 186-94-15 for his career. The Darton Cavaliers ranked top 10 in the NJCAA’s national poll through the last five years. Sasnett led the team to 33 straight wins in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Championship’s Region VII Play. The team ranked number one in the country the entire season and has been undefeated in regional play for two straight seasons with an impressive record of 22-0.
“I would like to thank President LoBasso, Will Dunne and the search committee for the chance to lead the men’s soccer program at Daytona State and become a Falcon,” Sasnett said in a press release announcing his hire. “It has been a dream of mine to have the opportunity to create a program from the ground up, and I’m excited to get started.”
Joining the excitement of a new soccer program, Brittany Jones will be joining the Falcons in the fall of 2016 as the women’s soccer head coach. Jones recently completed her fourth season at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. Florida Southern is a NCAA Division II member that competes in the Sunshine State Conference.
Hailing from Central Florida, she attended high school in the Orlando area and played college level soccer at Stetson University, where she began her coaching career as an assistant coach prior to Florida Southern.
One of Jones’ biggest accomplishments is maintaining academic integrity within her teams. The past three years in a row, her teams ranked in the top 20 for the NCAA Division II Team Academic Award and finished fourth last year with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.57 (out of 4.0).
“Academics are such an important aspect of our Intercollegiate Athletic program, and we’re confident that Brittany will help this new team maintain that critically important focus as we move forward,” Dunne said.