Army West Point Athletics
From Soccer All-American To FBI Agent
September 02, 2008 | General
Editor's Note: This is the seventh in a series of stories profiling the Kenna Hall of Army Sports inductees, Class of 2008. Each week, goARMYsports.com will take a look at these outstanding athletes and their accomplishments, leading into the induction on Sept. 19.
Alexis Albano has tried her hand at a few careers. After graduating as a second lieutenant from West Point, she was stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., and Fort Belvoir, Va. A career in pharmaceuticals with thoughts of medical school followed. During her time at the Academy, she researched the FBI and decided to finally apply. While her application was pending, she was a contractor, not wanting to take a job she had no long term plans for.
She completed the rigorous application process for the FBI and was assigned to Orlando, Fla. And now, she is coming home, for two very good reasons.
A Special Agent, Albano is moving to the New York office, closer to her hometown of Staten Island, N.Y. She will also be at West Point again, being inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame.
Albano is one of 10 people who will be inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame. The Class of 2008 includes nine athletes and one coach. Former men’s basketball coach Bob Knight, as well as Mike Silliman (baseball and men’s basketball), Curt Alitz (cross country, track and field and men’s swimming), John Boretti (baseball, soccer and hockey), Ted Kanamine (men’s swimming), Arnold Tucker (football and basketball), Jose Olivero (lacrosse and men’s soccer), George Clark (hockey) and Richard Shelton (pistol) comprise the fifth class to be honored.
The 10 honorees will officially be inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 19. A special afternoon plaque unveiling ceremony will be held in the Kenna Hall of Army Sports inside Kimsey Center, with the formal black-tie banquet set for Eisenhower Hall later that evening. The group will also be recognized during Army’s football game against Akron the next day at Michie Stadium with a special photograph and autograph session planned in Black Knights Alley prior to the contest.
The Army Sports Hall of Fame is a subset of the Kenna Hall of Army Sports, a comprehensive museum displaying Army’s rich and proud intercollegiate athletic program. It is located on the third floor of the Kimsey Athletic Center, Army’s massive football training facility.
In addition to the 10 Hall of Fame members to be honored in September, Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson will also present the Office of Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (ODIA) Distinguished Service Award to Gus Fishburne. Fishburne, a vital resource in the Kenna Hall of Army Sports, has been a generous supporter of the United States Military Academy. His daughter, Holly, was a women’s soccer player while his son-in-law, Mark West, competed in sprint football. Both athletes graduated with the Class of 1991. His son, Gus Fishburne IV, graduated with the Class of 1994.
Before embarking on her FBI career, Albano was a two-sport athlete at West Point, lettering four times in both women’s soccer and track and field. Honored with the department’s Army Athletic Association Award in 1996, she was a three-time regional all-American and three-time Patriot League all-conference player in soccer. Albano was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in 1995 after leading the conference in scoring with 33 points as a senior the same year that Army ranked as high as second in the Northeast.
Albano closed out her career on the pitch ranked second on Army’s all-time list for goals (56), third in points (130) and seventh in assists (18). Those numbers currently rank second in goals, fourth in points and ninth in assists.
A co-captain for the 1996 outdoor track and field and a captain in women's soccer, Albano was a member of the record-setting distance medley relay team that still holds the school mark of 11:43.44. She was also an individual Patriot League champion in the indoor 400-meter dash and outdoor 200-meter dash. As a member of the 4x100 and 4x400-meter outdoor relays, Albano won Patriot League titles in those events as well.
Her success in track and field came despite a four-year layoff from competition. She ran track during her freshman and sophomore years in high school and didn’t compete at the Academy until her junior year.
Catch Us Up On What You Have Been Doing Since Graduating: “Of course after I graduated, I served for five years. When I go out of the military, I worked in pharmaceuticals. I had thought about the FBI since I was a firstie and finally decided I needed to do it. I put in my application and worked as a contractor for the State Department while completing the application process. In September of 2005, I started my FBI training at Quantico. Orlando was my first assignment with the FBI.”
Reaction When Received Letter You Were Chosen: “I was overwhelmed. I got home from work one night and saw the Fed-Ex envelope at the door and wondered why it was there. I saw it was from West Point, opened the letter and was ecstatic. The first thing I did was call my parents (Dr. Alejandro and Ophelia). It was late so I called (her Army soccer coach) Coach (Gene) Ventrigilia the next morning.”
Favorite Athletic Memory: “For soccer, it would have been my yearling year when we won the Patriot League Championship. It was at Colgate and a really hard-fought weekend. We won 5-4 in overtime and I had a hat trick and the winning goal, in the snow and mud. In track, it was my senior year during the outdoor Patriot League Championships. I never ran with blocks and as a sprinter, I was supposed to use them. My form wasn’t good; I would jump upwards instead of outwards. So I stuck with the down start. At the league meet, I was the only one without blocks. As we took off, I guess I had a great start in the inside lane. As I was making up my stagger and coming around the corner, I apparently had a fan base yelling “no blocks, no blocks,” which became my nickname for the weekend.”
Favorite West Point Memory: “Graduation. I was lucky enough to get the AAA Award so I was sitting in the first row at the end which made it that much more exciting. Since I was at the corner, I was able to really celebrate with a lot of my classmates as they came through the line. It was just a great experience. Exciting and nerve-wracking.”
What Does It Mean To Be Inducted: “I’m very grateful for everyone else that has been there for me. I was telling someone the other day that I feel I am more of the stand-in for my coaches and teammates. I invited my first-ever soccer coach to the banquet because they were like second parents for me and really looked out for me. Anne (Sorensen) was my coach and I remember one game when Ed (Sorensen) had been in a pretty serious accident. He came to the game in a limo they rented and was on the field in a wheelchair. My parents and coaches, including Coach Ventrigilia in college and afterwards, and my teammates have really helped me. I don’t see this as my accomplishment, I see it as there’s. As my teammates and coaches, they always made me look good.”
Who Had The Biggest Influence On Your Athletic Career: “It’s always been my parents. I was always active as a kid but never competed in organized sports. When my mom and I went to registration for fourth grade, she saw a sign-up sheet for soccer and registered me. And of course my father as well. When I started playing soccer, he was still in his residency and they made it to as many games as they could. When I was in college, my father worked 24-hour shifts every other day. Tuesday was one of his 24-hour days and we seemed to have a lot of games on those nights. He would have someone cover for him for a few hours, come to West Point for the game and then go back to Staten Island to continue work.”
What’s The Biggest Difference At West Point Since You Were A Cadet: “I have been back a few times for alumni games and was joking with a friend about how some things never change. Not necessarily the traditions but it’s amazing how you can come back to West Point and still see yourself there. We would see cadets that resembled our friends and it was almost like stepping back in time, even though you moved forward and were at a different point in life. When you step foot at West Point, you remember what it was all about and in some ways, it explains why you are still friends with so many of your classmates.”
Tickets for the event are available to the public and can be purchased by calling Army's External Operations Office at 845-938-2322. Proceeds will be directed to a fund that supports the daily care, maintenance and growth of the Kenna Hall of Army Sports and Army Sports Hall of Fame.
