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Elec Trainor
What a wild year of sports 2010-2011 has been at McDaniel College.
Up’s and downs were a repeating pattern throughout each athletic season here on “The Hill”, and the roller coaster ride that is Green Terror Athletics tossed and turned athlete’s and fan’s minds alike and played with their hearts.
Take the football season this year for example. A fast start saw the Green Terror go half way through the season with a 4-1 record, including two shutout victories. The second half of the season saw the complete opposite, finishing the year off with a mediocre record of 5-5.
One game alone captured the intense back and forth drama that embodied the whole season. On Saturday, November 6th, after a triple-overtime-come-from-behind thrilling homecoming, the Terror beat Gettysburg College 36-30.
But that wasn’t the only heart stopping McDaniel game. For the men’s soccer team, 13 of their 17 games played were decided by two goals or less. Although the Terror ended on the losing side of most of them, the team had heart, and competed with every team they played.
The same could be said about many of the other fall McDaniel teams such as Field Hockey, Women’s soccer, and Volleyball.
By the time winter rolled around, the Terror were ready for more of the same heartache. And they would need it.
One of the biggest heartbreakers came at the CentennialConference Men’s Basketball tournament first round. A shocking one point loss to Haverford, on Wednesday February 23rd, that saw the Green Terror’s championship hopes dashed.
Despite the poor records and deflating defeats that many of the Terror teams had faced throughout the fall and winter seasons, there were many bright spots.
New faces shined for the green and gold in many sports, giving signs of a bright future here in Westminster. Joe Rollins became a human highlight reel at running back for the football team. Sophomore Jake Zamostny found his place to take over the reins from always accountable senior’s CJ Naper and Ron Shriver in cross country.
Old faces shined as well, and laid claim to many post-season honors. Chris Kolb, Paul Smith, Sam Cox, Jake Nichols, and Aaron Slaughter were tabbed All-Confernce players for football. Cox also earned All-American as a defensive lineman, and Kolb earned a spot as All-Region after tying McDaniel record of eight interceptions. Shriver and Naperboth represented McDaniel at the regional Cross Country run after having great individual seasons. Lindsey Wilson had another outstanding year in Women’s Cross Country and earned herself All-Region. Devon Lesniak earned himself All-Conference after a impressive season in Men‘s Basketball.
Finally, no one had a better year individually than senior wrestler Brock Glotfelty. Finishing the season with a 34-3 record, Glotfelty earned All-American status and captured the College’s all time wins record with 126, and finished third at the NCAA championships. All thanks to his abilities and never say die attitude.
“I think that there are a few things that separate me from other wrestlers in my weight class,” recalls Glotfelty. “First is my athletic ability and quickness. This allows me to use different techniques that some heavyweights cannot use effectively. Another thing is my conditioning. In many of my matches I am able to push the pace and tire out my opponents. The last thing is my will to win. I hate losing! No matter who steps out on the mat I expect to win the match.”
But the Green Terror are not done yet!
The spring season is still in play, and all though the teams are not winning as much as hoped or anticipated, the Terror rollercoaster seems destined for a wild finish.
For Men’s Lacrosse, DJ Rickels is trying to find a way to lead his team to yet another post season berth. After a slow start, the Terror have won three of their last four games.
In Tennis, the freshmen phenoms from North Carroll Brian Kron and Matt Langsdale are looking to push their way to Conference tournaments and lead the Terror to a winning record.
For the baseball team, the bats are busy, cranking out 137 runs in just 26 games. However, keeping with the spirit of the college, the wins and losses are both coming in bunches.
The same is true with the Green Terror Softball team with a record now of 11-19.
As the school year winds down, so does the athletic calendar. And although this year’s wild journey has had more fall’s than anyone would have wanted, the Green Terror ride is far from over. There’s always next year.
