The Ultimate Athlete

The Dome has seen many great Jamesville-DeWitt athletes.

It hosted Jamie Archer, J-DHS physical education teacher when he played lacrosse for the Syracuse Orange. It is the current home of former J-D Rams Syracuse point guard Brandon Triche and guard Andy Rautins. And in 2009 the Dome hosted yet another Jamesville-DeWitt athlete.

Hundreds of fans sat on edge as the Jamesville-DeWitt Boys Varsity Football team played the Fowler Falcons in the first game of the season. During the opening quarter of play, the J-DHS defense was scattered across the field with the score tied at zero. Notable athletes like the monstrous Kenny Schunk approached the Falcon's offensive line, but one man went unnoticed.

The Falcon's quarterback dropped back and threw a bullet to his receiver, who was near the Rams sideline. Then a streak of red flew through the sky, and the ball was intercepted by senior linebacker Dave Urciuoli.

"That play just shows how smart Dave is," says J-DHS senior and football teammate Schunk. "He knows where he has to be and he knows his responsibilities."

Urciuoli is clearly a versatile athlete, participating on varsity sports' teams all year: football to volleyball to lacrosse. Not only is Urciuoli an unstoppable athlete, he is a great student. "He clearly strives to do well in school," says David Nylen, a J-DHS math teacher. "And (he) is a logical thinker as well."

Urciuoli takes high-level courses such as AP Statistics and Honors Physics, but he has reached High Honor Roll every marking period in his four years at J-DHS. He is also part of National Honor Society.

Urciuoli's academic track record's impressive and his athletic one is starting to pile up. Urciuoli was on the 2008 Varsity Boys Lacrosse team that won the Section III championship and advanced all the way to the state semifinals where they fell to Canandaigua High School. "It was amazing," says Urciuoli as he describes winning the section. "Just like Christmas day but even better. It was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders and we were finally victorious."

In a school accustomed to having victorious basketball and lacrosse teams, Urciuoli doesn't care about the glory, he plays on the Boys Varsity Volleyball team for the pure fun of it. "To me it is all about playing what you have the most fun at," says Urciuoli. "So I'm not so jealous about the glory some of the other sports get. I feel that if our team works hard enough we can make a name for ourselves."

Not only is Urciuoli excited about the volleyball season, but his coach, Jason Hays is even more excited for his senior stud.

"Dave is able to listen to what coaching advice you are giving him and then go and translate that into results on the floor," says Hays. "Because he has the ability to do that, he has become and will continue to be a force to be dealt with this winter on the volleyball court!"

The drive and determination that Urciuoli brings to the court comes from an older family connection. "My inspiration would have to be my older brother Bill," Urciuoli says. "Growing up he was incredible athlete, one of the fastest and strongest people I have ever known." After Bill Urciuoli blew out his knee, which ended his sports career, his little brother took note of the "hard work" and "determination" that it took for him to recover.

Even though this scholar-athlete seems to be very serious whether he is picking up a pencil or a lacrosse stick, Urciuoli still finds ways to have fun.

"One time we filled Jesse Evensky's lacrosse stick with rocks when he wasn't looking," says Uriciuoli. When Evensky got called to play, the rocks rattled in his stick;"It sounded like a maraca. I don't think the coaches were too happy, but it was funny."

Despite being a force to be reckoned with on the lacrosse field, Urciuoli also is quite the dominant Ultimate Frisbee player. "Dave is a natural athlete," says J-DHS senior and lacrosse teammate Cam Stone. "He's got a great mind for sports. We play Ultimate Frisbee a lot in our neighborhood. He dominates me every time." When asked about these rumors Urciuoli replied, "It is absolutely true, I'm a pretty dominant ultimate Frisbee player."

Sports haven't always been fun and games for Urciuoli. During his eighth grade year he transferred from Christian Brothers Academy to J-DHS. Urciuoli decided to play soccer instead of football because more of his friends played on the modified soccer team. A year later the football star inside him decided football was a direction he wanted to go and he rejoined the football team his freshman year. "Even though he was faster and was better at certain drills the coaches never played him," says his father, David A. Urciuoli. "Midway through the season Dave came to a decision." Urciuoli told his father that he didn't care about playing time, he just wanted to be a better football player.

"I was so proud of his team spirit and perseverance," says Mr. Urciuoli.

This attitude that developed at a young age clearly paid off. That young freshman could have easily quit, but through blood, sweat and tears he found himself on the turf of the Dome, with the crowd applauding his defensive efforts.

"Dave is a hard worker who cares a lot about his coaches and his teammates," says his father. "To me, this is the quality of a true athlete."