Caitlin Flynn
Nick Brunner
Sports Co-Editors
While most of us were relaxing on the beach and enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation, McDaniel’s fall athletes were out sweating in the August heat on The Hill vigorously preparing for their upcoming seasons.
This year’s upcoming events will not only bring a lot of new faces to McDaniel, but also plenty of excitement for the students. The women’s soccer team, led by Coach Bryan Schumaker will kick off this season’s home games in their match on September 1st against St. Mary’s College of Maryland at 3:30. The men’s soccer team will follow, their game against Wesley being at 5:30 the same day.
Coach Jim Reigel of the men’s team had many positive words to say about their team, consisting mostly of incoming players and a few key upperclassmen returning who are expected to give plenty of guidance on their first year players.
“Although we are picked to finish 9th in the conference, I feel we are in the position to surprise many schools in our conference,” says Reigel.
The men’s team has hopes of ultimately qualifying for the conference tournament, which will consist of the top five teams in the conference.
Green Terror Volleyball also has potential in succeeding this season, beginning with their home opener against Stevenson on September 3rd at 7 PM.
Coach Carole Molloy believes that the many new faces along with the returning veteran players will create a team that could certainly win the conference title. There are eight girls from the class of 2013 trying out for the team, including a setter from a state championship high school team as well as players with some height whom will assist with blocking, ultimately making their defense more effective.
“A good mixture of talent and experience will add a bit of competition amongst ourselves which will only make us better against our competitors,” states Molloy.
There are a good number of McDaniel volleyball games to look out for this season other than their home opener. Big rivals include Franklin and Marshall as well as Gettysburg. These games will take place on September 23rd and October 21st respectfully. McDaniel will also be hosting Haverford, the defending conference champion, on October 31st. Students: Come in your Halloween costume to this game and get a surprise!
Being in a brutally competitive field hockey conference, Coach Jones of the McDaniel field hockey team has high expectations for her players this season. After graduating seven seniors, all of which were starters, and losing three other players for various reasons, the team is left with eight new members, two whom will be transferring in. According to Coach Jones and Coach Ramey, many of the new members are expected to have a significant amount of playing time.
“Everyone will be underestimating us since we lost so many players, but our incoming players are very talented, and our returning players are very strong. We have the ability to pull out a great season,” says rising junior Kaitlin Boerman.
“What separates this year compared to the last few is that the new incoming players have a golden opportunity to really step up and make an immediate impact,” says Jones. Field hockey’s home opener will be September 5th against Catholic at 5 PM.
Coach Renner of McDaniel cross country speaks on both the men and women’s team when he says every member has great potential if they can stay healthy. For the women’s team, rising junior Lindsey Wilson has a great chance to qualify for nationals this year after earning second team all conference honors as well as all Mideast region honors a year ago.
Also, senior Roxanne Fleischer and junior Emily Peoples ran number two and three for the team last fall. They too are also very promising members of a talented women’s cross country team.
When it comes to the men’s team however, Coach Renner feels that one of the biggest keys to the season will be depth. Graduate Kevin Bowman and senior Rob Kelvey are two leaders of the men’s cross country team. The key to this season, however, will be finding dependable 5-7 men, says Renner. If leaders like Bowman and Kelvey are able to set a tone of hard work from the top, it will go a long way in helping the rest of the team. With strong leadership and dedication the terror men have to like their chances of finishing with a great season.
Last but not least is the Green Terror Football team. The team in the past few years has been in a bit of a recession if u will, finishing last year with a record of 2-8. However, there has been a positive aura amongst the team throughout the off season which has carried through camp. Coach Keating feels that this year’s senior class is full of quality young men on and off the field who are dedicated to reestablishing McDaniel as a force to be reckoned with in the Centennial Conference. Added to its strong core of returning players and coaches will be a slew of promising new faces, including defensive coordinator Mike Daily. Coach Daily brings with him not only professional coaching experience but also an “armor” that the team has adopted. When the Green Terror step on the field this year they want to be smarter, tougher, and fiercely more competitive than any opponent they line up against. The first test of the year will come at home on Saturday, September 5th as the team will take on St. Vincent at 1:00 PM.
Fall 2009 is shaping up to be a very exciting time on The Hill. The Green Terror sports teams are raring to kick the season off with a bang and we here at the Free Press are ready to keep you up to date with all the latest action. Get out there, have a good time, and show your support for the McDaniel’s fine student-athletes.