From the time they step on campus as freshmen, Buffalo State's 400-plus student-athletes are welcomed by director of athletics Jerry Boyes and informed that they no longer represent only themselves as individuals.  "In addition to representing yourselves and the name on the back of your jersey, you now are now accepting the added responsibility of representing your team, your head coach and the SUNY Buffalo State community in a positive manner."  For six Bengal student-athletes, you can add "country" to that list. 
 
In advance of Veteran's Day on Wednesday, Buffalo State would like to salute five current student-athletes (Andrew Buczek-Football, Nick Jones-Football, Tianna Hatch-Soccer, Chrissy Rennard-Softball, Felipe Yanez-Cross Country/Track) that have embraced the responsibility and admirably represent themselves, Buffalo State, and their country, as students, community members, athletes and as former or active members of the United States Armed Forces.
 

Andrew Buczek (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) – Football
 
Andrew Buczek is embracing his final season of football, finally in a Buffalo State uniform.
 
Two months after graduating from Cheektowaga High School in 2006, Buczek found himself in boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina, beginning a five-year commitment in the United States Marine Corps.
 
"I needed structure," Buczek said.  "My parents guided me into the Marines, recognizing that I needed to be set on the right path."
 
His first seven-month deployment was to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba working national security.  On his second seven-month deployment, he was sent to Rota, Spain and continued to perform national security, traveling to Greece, Cypress, Sicily and Ghana.
 
A third and final deployment sent him as a team leader, overseeing three other men, for a five-month tour in Iraq working a security detail and training Iraqi military and police. 
 
Shortly before Corporal Buczek concluded his five-year commitment, a friend and now teammate at Buffalo State Nick Jones joined Buczek's unit.  From Jones, Buczek was made aware of the opportunity to play football for the Marine Corps.  He jumped at the opportunity rekindle his love of the sport.
 
"I thought my football career was over after high school," Buczek said.  "It was great to play again."
 
The Marines team played against several semi-pro teams throughout North Carolina of varying skill levels, but getting back on the field reignited Buczek's passion for the sport.
 
After he concluded his military commitment in 2011, Buczek was prepared to begin his pursuit of a college degree.  He visited with Buffalo State's football coaches and applied, but was only admitted as a part-time student, so he made the decision to attend Erie Community College.  After earning his associate's degree and playing two years of football with the Kats, including one year with Jones, Buczek was recruited to continue his career at St. John Fisher.
 
The day after his first game with the Cardinals, however, Buczek received news that would ultimately finally lead him to Buffalo State.  Buczek and now fiancé Kristie learned they would be having a daughter.  Buczek spent the semester travelling back-and-forth from Pittsford to Buffalo, and after the season, he transferred home in time to welcome his daughter Kallie in February 2014. 
 
After serving a year of residence at Buffalo State, Buczek is now using his final season of eligibility in a Bengals' uniform as a defensive end, recording 11 tackles and two sacks, helping the team to a 6-3 record with regular season finale against Brockport this Saturday remaining.  He is also on track to complete his bachelor's degree in health and wellness at the end of this semester, and hopes an internship he completed in the spring at the Buffalo VA Medical Center as an ordering agent in prosthetics will lead full-time employment. 
At home, he and his fiancé are raising their daughter Kallie, 1, and his two stepsons, Sam, 9, and Charlie, 3.  As for being a 27-year-old with the Bengals, he is loving the opportunity and laughs when asked about being teammates with a number of 18-year-olds.
 
"Sometimes it is fun to take out my frustrations of the day on some of the younger guys and toughen them up," Buczek said.  "At times it is different, because I almost feel more like a dad or babysitter, but I feel like I have an added responsibility, and I know some of the guys are watching me and looking up to me.  It is nice to have Nick (Jones) here, because we are really close and can understand what each other is going through."
 
Nick Jones (Buffalo/West Seneca West) – Football
 
Like Buczek, Nick Jones' road to Buffalo State covered several years and thousands of miles and he is committed to making the most of his experience both on the football field and in his pursuit of his bachelor's degree in health and wellness.
 
"I will be the first member of my family to earn a college degree," Jones said.  "That is what drives me and football is helping me get there."
 
Upon graduation from West Seneca West High School in 2007, however, Jones knew he wasn't ready for college and chose a different path.
 
"I needed stability, structure and discipline," he said.  "I needed to start a career and grow up."
 
Jones found that stability and structure in five years of active duty in the United States Marine Corps.  After boot camp at Parris Island in South Carolina, Jones was a Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) member, spending three more months training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before a seven-month deployment throughout the Pacific Ocean.
 
After that tour, Jones was assigned to a security detail for the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince, Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake. 
 
Late in 2010, Jones was transferred and became a squad leader of an infantry unit that was deployed to Afghanistan with nine men under his command for another seven-month tour.
 
"We maintained a command center about the size of the infield of the softball field," he said.  "Our mission was to seek out Taliban and eliminate them.  Through an interpreter we would also work with the locals and try to meet their needs while convincing them to support our efforts."
 
Following his tour in Afghanistan, Jones concluded his military commitment in April, 2012, and then felt properly prepared to restart his academic career. 
 
Jones enrolled at Erie Community College in Fall 2012 where he spent three semesters and played two seasons at a standout tight end with the Kats' football program.  Following his successful junior college football career, he was afforded the opportunity to transfer to Division I University of Texas-El Paso in the Spring 2014, but due to injuries, could not make the most of his experience on the gridiron, red-shirting that fall.  With things not going as planned at UTEP, Jones decided it was time to come home, and in the Spring 2015, he finally made his way to Buffalo State with two seasons of football eligibility remaining.  This season, his first as a Bengal, he has nine catches for 79 yards with a touchdown, and has played a major role in the blocking game, clearing a path for a Bengals' rushing attack that has averaged a league-best 204 yards-per-game.
 
Equally as important as his on the field contributions, Jones has emerged as a natural leader and role model in the locker room, mentoring student-athletes as many as eight years his junior who may have had very limited life experiences by comparison. 
 
"I see many of my teammates as my little brothers," he said.  "I don't try to do anything other than be myself, but I think I am a natural leader and think the younger players respect me and look to follow my example."
 
As for his five years of military service, Jones believes all of his experiences have changed him for the better and have prepared him to be successful in both his football career and in life beyond college.
 
"I grew up fast," said Jones, who stands an imposing 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 265 pounds.  "I learned to appreciate things differently.  I don't think I have the same fears as a lot of other people, and it enables me to be a better leader on and off the football field."
 
Tianna Hatch (Endicott/Elmira Free Academy) – Women's Soccer
 
When Tianna Hatch scored in the 99th percentile on the Armed Forces Vocational Battery (ASVAB) during her senior year of high school, military recruiters started lining up to see her at Elmira Free Academy.
 
At the same time, college soccer coaches were also calling, and Hatch knew she wanted to find a way to use all of her talents.
 
After consultation with her uncle, a recently retired command sergeant major, Hatch decided to follow in his footsteps, and determined the Army National Guard 31 Bravo military police was the proper fit.  She enlisted on February 20, 2014, and was off to basic training for eight weeks in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
 
"I was able to graduate early and had to miss my formal high school graduation for basic training," Hatch said.  "It was tough not being able to walk with my friends, but the school held a special small ceremony for me, so it was nice."
 
Her next major decision was to figure out the best college fit for her to be able to balance her military commitments with schooling, knowing that she also still wanted to play soccer as well.
 
"I could not imagine being done playing competitive soccer," Hatch said.  "I love the feeling I get playing.  It's actually very similar to the feeling I get serving in the military with the comradery and idea of working together under a common symbol."
 
Hatch found Buffalo State to be the best place for her.  The women's soccer program was on the ascent toward the top of the SUNYAC, and its location has allowed her to serve the military with an uncommon simultaneous contract.  Hatch fulfills her National Guard commitment with one weekend per month of training at the Masten Avenue Armory, but is also a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), cross-registered through Canisius College where she takes daily classes in mock leadership and field training.
 
On the soccer field, Hatch helped lead Buffalo State to its best season in school history with an overall record of 15-4-1 as it made its second-ever appearance in the SUNYAC Championship game.  Hatch tied for second on the team with seven goals in 18 games, while having to miss the final weekend of the regular season because of her commitments to the Army.
 
Hatch has also been excelling in the classroom, on pace to graduate a year early with a bachelor's degree in sociology and plans to remain at Buffalo State in pursuit of her master's.  She is currently in the second of a six-year active commitment in the National Guard, followed by two years in the reserve draft, but has aspirations to reenlist as well as pursue a career in CIA foreign affairs.
 
"It is a challenge to juggle everything, but I also think it has been a realistic plan," Hatch said.  "I feel all of these experiences are just better preparing me for the world."
 
Chrissy Rennard (Brockport/Brockport) – Softball
 
Chrissy Rennard enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in March of her senior year of high school, and two weeks after receiving her diploma from Brockport High School in June 2011, she was off to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training.
 
"The military was always something that interested me," said Rennard.  "My grandfather, my brother and sister and my uncles had all served and it was something that seemed right for me."
 
After basic training, Rennard continued with a six-month advanced training program to become an Army medic. 
 
After a year committed fully to Army training, Rennard began her collegiate career studying and playing softball at Monroe Community College in the Fall of 2012.  After one year with the Tribunes, she transferred to Buffalo State where in two seasons the outfielder has posted a .273 batting average with six doubles, a home run and 20 RBIs.
 
In addition to balancing a busy schedule of college life and athletics, Rennard continues to serve her country, committing one weekend per month with the 865th Combat Support Hospital that drills out of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base.   During this past summer, she also enrolled in a three-week Warrior Leadership Course in Fort Dix, New Jersey in an attempt to position herself for a promotion.
 
"Coach (Marie) Curran has been great allowing me the flexibility to fulfill my responsibilities with the Army while still having the opportunity to play softball," Rennard said.
 
Rennard's commitment to the Army will expire in March, 2017 and she is slated to complete her bachelor's degree in health and wellness, but she is keeping her options open for what's next.
 
"After graduation I want to be able to travel and possibly teach English in a foreign country," Rennard said.  "Long term, I want to go to graduate school to pursue a career in the health field to do something with children, but reenlisting in the Army is still an option."
 
Felipe Yanez (Corona/Forest Hills) – Cross Country/Track & Field
 
When Felipe Yanez was born in Chile in 1994, it was more than a long shot that he would find his way to the United States Army 20 years later.
 
When Yanez was 8 years old, his father, a second generation Chilean Marine, moved to the United States for employment in Corona, N.Y.  Seven years later in 2009, while visiting, Felipe accepted an invitation to stay and live with his father and attend high school in the United States. 
 
After graduating from Forest Hills High School in 2013, Yanez was driven to pursue a career in the medical field.  He enrolled at Buffalo State the ensuing fall as a dual major in biology and psychology with a minor in chemistry, and during his freshman year made an immediate impact on campus.  He performed well in the classroom, and was a standout in cross country and track.  During his rookie indoor track campaign, Yanez captured the SUNYAC Championship in the 800-meter run and ran a leg of the winning distance medley relay that clinched Buffalo State's second-ever men's SUNYAC indoor team championship.
 
Following an extremely productive freshman year, however, Yanez believed he was capable of more and chose to follow in his family lineage of military service and enlist in the United States Army Reserves.  After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Yanez hoped to pursue advanced training in nursing, but learned he was color blind which precluded him from entering the program.  Instead he chose to become a mechanic and completed advanced training at Fort Lee, Virginia, missing the Fall 2014 semester.
 
"I guess you could say instead of fixing people, I chose to fix cars," Yanez said.  "I'm like a nurse of the wheels."
 
Yanez returned to Buffalo State last spring, but did not compete in track and field as he did not feel prepared for the commitment of the season after the time away.
 
Now, Yanez has mastered his schedule, balancing a dual major, plus his monthly commitment with the Army at the Niagara Falls Airforce Base, and has returned to competing with the Bengals' cross country and track and field teams with his eyes set firmly on another goal.
 
"I want to break 1:50 in the 800 and qualify for the Chilean Sub-23 National Team," Yanez said.
 
Following graduation in Fall 2018, Yanez plans to attend medical school to study neuroscience.  He also aspires to commission as a captain and serve additional time in the Army following his current six-year commitment.
 
"The Army has given me goals," Yanez said.  "I am more responsible and am a better leader.  I have been able to extrapolate from the Seven Army Values and apply them in my everyday life."