Men's Coaches
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Michael Caravana
| Affiliation | Faculty | | Title | Head Men's Lacrosse Coach | | Email | caravanam@denison.edu | | Phone | 740-587-6590 | | Fax | 740-587-6362 |
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The 2009 lacrosse season will mark the return of Michael Caravana to the Denison sidelines.
The return to Denison marks a
homecoming of sorts for the Caravana family. He began his collegiate
head coaching career with the Big Red in 1991 and went on to post a
record of 145-65 (.690), highlighted by five North Coast Athletic
Conference championships, eight trips to the NCAA Tournament, and a
pair of NCAA semifinal appearances in 1999 and 2001.
Since
leaving Denison in 2005, he has served as the boy’s lacrosse head coach
at Woodbury Forest School in Woodberry Forest, Va., and most recently
had accepted the men's lacrosse head coaching position at Otterbein
College. At Otterbein, Caravana was assigned the task of building a
lacrosse program from the ground up, with the Cardinals not slated to
hit the playing field until the spring of 2010. This made the decision
to return to Denison a trying one for Caravana.
"After spending
15 years here, I am well aware that Denison is a unique and special
place to be a teacher and a coach," says Caravana. "My family and I are
thankful and excited to be back. It was a difficult decision to move
from my present position, but with many of my former players, parents,
alumni, and colleagues encouraging me, it became more evident each day
that returning to lead the Big Red was the right choice."
Caravana
continues, "I am excited to reconnect with the Denison student-athletes
and help them during their time on campus to be not only the best
people they can be, but also to see how good a lacrosse player each can
become. I am confident that with the caliber of student-athlete we can
attract, we will be able to do things in a first-class manner in the
classroom, on the field, and in the community that will continue to
secure Denison’s place among the nation’s elite Division III lacrosse
programs for years to come."
A 1983 graduate of the University
of Virginia, Caravana was a four-time All-American attackman for the
Cavaliers. He earned a bachelor's degree in education and was a captain
during his senior season. Caravana led U.Va. in scoring three times and
in assists all four seasons. Following graduation, Caravana spent two
seasons as an assistant coach at Brown University, then returned to
U.Va., where he served as assistant head coach under Jim "Ace" Adams
before accepting the head coaching position at Denison in the fall of
1990.
Caravana ranks second at Denison in all-time victories,
trailing only Tommy Thomsen who guided DU to 255 wins over the course
of 25 seasons (1966-1990). Caravana is entering his fourth and final
year as an assistant coach for the United States lacrosse team, which
earned a silver medal at the 2006 International Lacrosse Federation
World Championship.
A three-time NCAC Coach of the Year and the
1994 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year, Caravana is a member of the
Long Island Metro Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Charlottesville
Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Caravana and his wife, Ashlin, live in Granville with their three sons, Nicholas, 15; Sam, 13; and Wyatt, 10.
