A Banner Year for Student-Athletes

When he was 13, current MiM student Ben Catton jumped into the pool to compete for the first time. The water has since become a place of fun, friendship, and stress relief.

Catton loves swimming in sprint events, such as the 100-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle. Over the years, he got very good at these events, winning a spot on the team at Hope College. But he didn’t know what to expect when he started amid the pandemic. The team made the most of it, but the number of meets during the season were ultimately cut in half.  

This year at UChicago, Catton says, men’s swimming is laser focused on the goals they want to achieve. The team is undefeated thus far and ranks highly, a trend Catton is confident will continue.

“Winning an NCAA title here would be awesome,” he says. “I think we have the talent and the skill to do it.”

The team’s impressive roster of swimmers is part of why Catton came to UChicago, but so too was the opportunity to attend one of the country’s top business schools for its new Master in Management Program. After graduation, Catton is considering a career in consulting or wealth management, and he believes the opportunity to get his education from Booth will help him achieve his goal.

It’s not easy balancing grad school, recruiting events, and swimming. But Catton says his experience as a student-athlete has helped him prioritize time management and self-care.

Plus, he says, his time in the pool serves as the ultimate stress-release valve. “When I go to the pool, I try to put all the stress of school and life aside,” Catton explains. “For the next two hours, I’m going to have some good laughs with teammates.”

Current MiM student Peyton Minyard has been playing volleyball competitively since she was 10 years old. As an only child, she found volleyball to be a fun hobby and a place to meet other kids who eventually became her best friends.

In high school, Minyard hit a growth spurt, shooting up to six feet tall, which helped her dominate on the court as a middle blocker. She was later recruited to Boston College, standing at six feet, two inches tall.

Her first year at BC in 2020 felt overwhelming. Practices were often truncated and the season was split between the fall and spring. Even still, the volleyball court was her escape from the stress of the pandemic.

As she approached graduation, Minyard heard about the MiM Program at Booth and was intrigued. She was studying neuroscience and believed a Booth education could help her combine business acumen with her healthcare knowledge to help her launch a career in biotech or medical device sales.

“I didn’t know if I’d get in, but I knew that I’d love to attend,” Minyard says. “Thankfully, all the puzzle pieces fell into place.”

At Booth, Minyard has appreciated learning from world-renowned professors and working with them to successfully juggle her schoolwork and athletics. She also loves playing with the UChicago women’s volleyball team, which made it to the second round of the NCAA Regional Tournament this season.

“The team’s been great,” Minyard says. “I have two other teammates in this program too, and they are my rocks. We’ve been having a great time. I’m so glad I did this. I would do it all over again.”

As a middle brother of three eventual collegiate hoopers, current MiF student Dominic Martinelli has been battling on the courts for as long as he can remember. Every day, he and his brothers would compete, pushing each other to improve at basketball.

Years later, Martinelli made the team at the University of St. Thomas. But his first season in 2020 was not at all what he expected, with daily COVID-19 testing and a limited schedule. He competed in empty gyms because spectators weren’t permitted. It made him all the more grateful to play basketball in the coming years.

Martinelli says that transferring to UChicago for his final year of eligibility has been a perfect fit. He finally gets to play basketball in front of his parents, who live in the area. His brother, who plays basketball at Northwestern University, is also nearby.

Thus far, the men’s basketball team is 5–2, and they have big goals. The Maroons hope to compete for a conference championship and make the NCAA Tournament this year.

“Going to a new place is always challenging at the start,” Martinelli says. “But we have a great group of guys on our team, who are academically and athletically doing a lot of amazing things.”

At Booth, he also gets to work toward his master’s degree in finance. After graduating, Martinelli aspires to work in private equity or hedge funds, an area where he has been interning the past couple of years for companies including the Baldwin Group in Tampa, Florida, and Magnetar Capital in Evanston, Illinois. He believes that a Booth degree will give him access to new opportunities, while his experience on the court will give him a mental edge.

“Being a student-athlete has helped me a lot,” Martinelli says. “I do my best work while I’m in season. Even though I’m busy, it helps me focus on what work needs to be done.”

Current MiM student Alex Salvino loves scoring goals and leading his team to victory on the soccer pitch. A lifelong forward, Salvino was inspired to play hard by his older sisters, who were college athletes. He followed in their footsteps, and was recruited to the men’s soccer team at Notre Dame after high school.   

Of his first year there, Salvino vividly recalls hot summer practices in masks, twice-a-day testing, and little opportunity to bond with his teammates off the field.

Salvino loves that he got that year of playing back while earning his master’s degree in management at Booth. The team welcomed Salvino, making him feel like he’d been part of the Maroons for years. And they all spent plenty of time together as teammates outside of practice.

“I feel really lucky that I got to play with such a great group of smart and talented soccer players,” Salvino says.

Salvino is excited to be receiving a world-class education as he prepares for a career in financial services and investment management through the MiM Program. And while the team’s season ended in November, he hopes to maintain his connection to soccer for years to come.

“I’m grateful to sports for teaching me to be competitive and make friends,” Salvino says. “I’ve met so many people from different backgrounds whom I wouldn’t have met without soccer. It’s been an amazing experience and I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to represent the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago.”