Felician Athletics Brings Couples Together: Uniting Love and Passion for Sports!

Many people meet their future spouses while at college or university and Felician University is no exception. Several Felician alumni met their spouses during their time at Felician, with about a dozen love birds getting married after meeting through Felician Athletics. Former Felician Athletes Eric and Katie Miceli are one such happy couple.

Eric and Katie Miceli met in the second semester of the 1999-2000 academic year. Eric had just enrolled as a transfer student at Felician to play with the Felician Baseball team. After moving into his dorm room the day he arrived on campus, he met up with some teammates who were hanging out in one of the “softball suites.” That is when he met Katie Quigley, a “super cute” Felician softball player.

Finding a future mate was the last thing on Eric’s mind. As a business major at Felician he had academics, baseball, job hunting, loans, and everything else in life to think about. “I didn’t want a serious relationship, I wanted to concentrate on school and baseball,” Eric admitted. But Felician’s “Cupid” had another idea. “Honestly, the way I felt about Katie after I met her was so different. I don’t know what it was, but I can tell you it was the best and scariest feeling I’ve ever had.” For Katie, who was chosen as one of the top 25 Felician softball players in the first 25 years of Felician University’s Softball program, that first meeting had a similar impact. “I was a freshman in the Elliot dorms when I spotted this handsome guy moving in,” she recollects.

They started dating. Their families lived in adjacent towns, and they spent time with both. Eric and Katie tied the knot on December 31, 2004. Their first son Ryan was born on September 26, 2007, followed by a second son Luke who was born on March 24, 2010, with a third son Colton arriving on April 13, 2013. Katie, who graduated with a BA in Psychology in 2003, now serves as a school counselor at Pompton Lakes High School. Eric graduated with a BA in Business in 2002, and is a business development representative for Iqvia, a healthcare data science company.

Seventeen years after marrying Katie, Eric still beams when speaking of his wife saying, “She was then, and still is, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I really cannot believe I get to spend every day of my life with her. I’m truly the luckiest person in the world!”

Some might call it luck – others a little bit of Felician Athletics cupid magic!

Felician University criminal justice major and baseball player Mike Farrell started at Felician shortly after breaking up with his high school girlfriend. He had no anticipation of being involved in anything serious romance-wise. Then he met fellow criminal justice major, Felician Softball player Tori Bradburn, a 2012-2014 Academic ALL-CACC, and 2011 Student Athlete. Tori was an Honorable Mention selection of the Top 25 Felician Softball Players in the first 25 years of Felician University’s Softball program. “I could tell he was so nervous, but at the time I couldn’t figure out why,” remembers Tori. She said they laughed and joked, and a few days later a class they shared was cancelled, so she asked around for his number and texted him to let him know. “So, technically I made the first move, although he denies that to this day,” jokes Tori.

The reason for Mike’s nervousness at that first meeting? The baseball player had first noticed Tori a few days earlier sitting a few rows ahead of him on the Felician shuttle from Rutherford to Lodi. “I remember telling my fellow teammate Steve Paladino that, ‘I was going to end up with that girl.” One of his teammates knew Tori’s roommate and convinced him to take him up to their room to hang out. “We laughed a lot and she texted me a day or two later and the rest is in the history books.”

The pair say they both avoided real commitment for the longest time but, “all along just knew.” Michael and Tori, who both graduated in 2014 got married on August 28, 2016, in Ocean Isle, North Carolina. Today the Farrells work in cybersecurity for the Department of the Navy in the U.S. Department of Defense. Mike is a Functional Security Controls Assessor, and Tori is an Information System Security Manager. The Farrells have two little boys, 4-year-old Noah, and Grayson, who is almost two, along with two Labrador Retrievers, Champ and Brewer. Tori says Felician University will always hold a special place in her heart, calling it, “the puzzle piece that was the start to my family and so many friendships that I hold dear.”