Oberlin Spring Sports Preview

Men's lacrosse looks for unity

Previous records:
1997: ( 3-10 )
1996: ( 6-7 )
Coach: Jim Donovan, 15th season
Key returners: Senior Sam Krasnow, junior Matt Jensen, senior Garth Stidolph, senior Scott Sheppard, and senior Chris Lavin
Biggest losses: Seniors David Kumpe, Mike Brown, sophomores Alex Nisbet, and Jon Steckel
Top newcomers: First-years Evan Kelly, Terry Jue, Jesse Cretaro and Daniel Kimmel
Team strength: Experienced offensive line. Team cohesion, an attitude and team leadership.
Team weakness: Inexperienced defense. Small team of only 15 players, some inexperienced players. No depth.
Conference rivals: College of Wooster, Kenyon College, Denison, and Ohio Wesleyan
Expected finish: Fourth in conference.
Outlook: Lack of depth and size will hinder the Yeomen throughout their season. A Herculean effort on the part of Coach Donovan will be required to keep the team together. The leadership of Krasnow will be tested early in the season, and the first-years will need to contribute in order for Oberlin to triumph.

Men's Lacrosse Schedule Strutting their stuff
3/7 Cleveland Club 1:30 p.m.
3/14 St. Vincent College 2:00 p.m.
3/21 at Wittenberg 1:00 p.m.
3/25 Kenyon College 4:30 p.m.
3/29 at Wooster 1:00 p.m.
4/1 Northwood 4:30 p.m.
4/4 at Marietta 1:30 p.m.
4/7 at Denison 7:00 p.m.
4/11 Wittenberg 1:30 p.m.
4/15 Wooster 4:30 p.m.
4/18 Marietta 1:30 p.m.
4/22 Ohio Wesleyan 4:30 p.m.
4/25 at Kenyon 1:00 p.m.
5/2 at Northwest 1:30 p.m.
5/9 Alumni Game 1:30 p.m.

Women's tennis has new leaders

Previous record:
1997: 13-10, second in conference
1996: 15-8, fourth in conference
Coach: Don Hunsinger, third season
Key Returners: Co-captain junior Leigh Ann Totty, junior Tara Sievers, co-captain senior Kate Peterson and sophomore Jill Brockelman.
Biggest Losses: Bethany Pribila and Erica Bradford.
Top Newcomers: First-years Claudia Martinez, Beth Krupski, Gayle Nadorff.
Team Strengths: According to Coach Hunsinger: team strength, attitude and dedication.
Team weaknesses: The team lacks depth.
Conference Rivals: Case Western Reserve and Denison.
Expected Finish: Third in conference.
Outlook: The team is in transition after losing two top seniors, Pribila and Bradford. The new group of first-years and returners are looking to establish a new identity under the leadership of number one singles players Peterson and Totty.

Women's tennis schedule
3/19 Ashland 7:00 p.m.
4/3-4 GLCA at Kalamazoo TBA
4/8 at Wooster 3:30 p.m.
4/11 Wittenberg 1:00 p.m.
4/14 at Denison 3:30 p.m.
4/18 at Case Western 1:00 p.m.
4/19 Ohio Wesleyan 1:00 p.m.
4/21 Baldwin-Wallace 3:30 p.m.
4/25 at Allegheny 1:00 p.m.
4/28 at John Carroll 3:30 p.m.
5/1-2 NCAC Championships at Case Western 8:00 p.m.

Women's lacrosse looks to repeat champ season

Previous record:
1997: 14-3 (7-0) Last year's conference championships
Coaches: Mindy Manolovich, third season; Assistants Blake New, second season; Kate Williams, first season.
Key Returners: Seniors Katherine Roberts, Alysia Oakley, Anne Ewens, Amy Kremen, Atsuko Sakurai, and junior Cecily Beane
Biggest losses: Elizabeth Barry, Kaelyn Stiles, Kate Williamson and junior Kim Allen
Top newcomers: First-years Mary Sara Salvania, Alex Grindle, and Kathryn Lanouette.
Team strength: Experience and strong stick skills.
Team weakness: Speed, depth.
Conference rivals: Ohio Wesleyan and Denison.
Expected finish: Conference Champion.
Outlook: Women's lacrosse is looking forward to capturing their second consecutive conference title and hopefully receiving a berth in the NCAA tournament. The team has very experienced and skilled returners as well as an excellent coaching staff to help the team meet its goals. The Yeowomen's key will be to play tactically smart and to capitalize on their possession game.

Hit me

Women's lacrosse schedule
3/29 Denison 1:00 p.m.
3/31 at Gannon 4:30 p.m.
4/1 Allegheny 4:30 p.m.
4/4 at Wittenberg 7:00 p.m.
4/5 at Earlham 1:00 p.m.
4/8 S.U.N.Y. - Fredonia 4:00 p.m.
4/11 at Wooster 11:00 p.m.
4/13 at Kenyon 4:30 p.m.
4/18 at Lynchburg 2:00 p.m.
4/19 at Bridgewater 1:00 p.m.
4/25 Ohio Wesleyan 1:00 p.m.
4/26 Canisius 2:00 p.m.
4/2-3 NCAC tournament at Kenyon TBA

Baseball improves with new coach

Previous records:
  1997: 3-30,
  1996: 2-25
  1995: 1-24
Coach: Eric Lahetta, first season as head coach.
Key Returners: Sophomore Matt Burns, junior Carson Keeble, junior Jason Quinn, senior Brendan Cody, junior Mike Fraydon, junior Dave Schummers, and sophomore Sean Nagle.
Top Newcomers: First-years Ebin Askins, Lu Anderson, Andy Smith, and sophomore Ray Cagen.
Biggest Losses: Quian Kim, junior Jay Johnson.
Team strength: Work ethic.
Greatest weakness: Inexperience.
Expected finish: Can't speculate.
Conference rival: No specific rival.
Outlook: Under new head coach Eric Lahetta, the team is excited and ready to fight their way out of the cellar of losing records.

Baseball schedule Bringing the heat
3/15: at Urbana 1:00 p.m.
3/17 Hiram 3:30 p.m.
3/18 Penn State- Behrend 3:30 p.m.
3/21 at Earlham 1:00 p.m.
3/28 at Maryville Tournament TBA
3/29 at Maryville Tournament/ Decathalon (at OWU) TBA
4/2 at Heidelberg 3:00 p.m.
4/4 Denison 1:00 p.m.
4/7 Bluffton 3:00 p.m.
4/11 at Ohio Wesleyan 1:00 p.m.
4/15 Wooster 1:00 p.m.
4/18 at Wittenberg 1:00 p.m.
4/22 at Allegheny 1:00 p.m.
4/25 Case Reserve 1:00 p.m.
5/2 at Kenyon 1:00 p.m.
5/3 at Hiram 12:00 p.m.
5/5 at Baldwin-Wallace 2:00 p.m.
5/7-9 at NCAC tournament TBA

Outdoor track and field builds on indoor success

Previous Records:
  1997: Women 6th, Men 8th
  1996: Women 7th, Men 7th
  1995:Women 8th, Men 8th 1996
Coaches: Thomas Mulligan, Head Coach, 14th season; Thomas Smith, Assistant Coach, sixth season; Jennifer Sturges, Middle Distance Coach, second season; Suzanne Garland, Middle Distance Coach, first season; Deryl Nalle, Field Coach, eigth season.
Women's Key Returners: Juniors Nicole James and Amie Ely, and senior Trista Thornberry.
Men's Key Returners: Senior Steve Jackson, junior Gil Saenz and sophomore Sean Wesolowski.
Biggest Losses: Steven Kim and Melissa Barnard. Jumping for joy

Top Newcomers: Distance event runners.
Men's Team Strength: Sprinters
Women's Conference Rival: "Nobody wants to lose to Oberlin, so it's just us out there against the world," said Coach Smith.
Men's Conference rival: College of Wooster
Expected finish: Mulligan couldn't speculate.
Outlook: "This season we just want people to progress, to stay healthy, and to get better, so that at the end of April we can have momentum and perform like we did indoors. I'd be very happy with that," said Coach Mulligan.

Outdoor track schedule
4/4 at Otterbein Invitational 10:00 a.m.
4/10 Wooster/Wheeling Jesuit 4:30 p.m.
4/18 at Diviosn III all Ohio (OWU) 10:00 a.m.
4/24 at John Carroll/Wooster 4:00 p.m.
4/25 at B-W Invitational 10:00 a.m.
4/25 NCAC Heptathlon/Decathlon (at OWU) 12:00 p.m.
4/26 NCAC Heptathlon/Decathlon (at OWU) 12:00 p.m.
5/1 NCAC Championships (at Case Reserve) 12:00 p.m.
5/2 NCAC Championships (at Case Reserve) 1:00 p.m.

Men's tennis sets high hopes

Previous Record:
1996: 8-14, overall, 6th in conference.
Coach: Chris Barker, third season.
Key Returners: Junior Peter Swendsen, junior Sam Steckley, and junior Michael O'Connell.
Key losses: Tony Choi and Coji Ebersole.
Top newcomers: First-years Jed Greenberg and Ben Fox.
Team strengths: The players work well together as a team.
Team weaknesses: The team has problems finishing matches.
Conference rivals: Case Western Reserve University, and Ohio Wesleyan University.
Expected finish: Coach Barker predicts a fourth or fifth place finish. Digging ditches

Outlook: The team is hoping to finish .500 and is relying on the leadership of the juniors to replace the senior leadership it had last year. "The juniors are showing the freshmen how to win, not only how to win, but how to win as a team," Barker said.

Men's tennis schedule
3/14 Ohio Northern TBA
3/31 at Denison 3:30 p.m.
4/3-4 GLCA Tournament
4/8 at Wooster 4:00 p.m.
4/11 at Kenyon 3:30 p.m.
4/18 Allegheny 9:00 p.m.
4/18 Wittenberg 4:00 p.m.
4/22 at Case Western Reserve 4:00 p.m.
4/25 Ohio Wesleyan 1:00 p.m.
5/1-2 NCAC Tournament at Wittenberg TBA

Photos: (In order)

Strutting their stuff: Men's lacrosse players take part in drills during practice. (photo by John Matney)
Hit me: The women's lacrosse team can strike at any moment. They look to duplicate the conference-stomping performance they exhibited last season and take another championship. (file photo)
Bringing the heat: An Oberlin pitcher from a previous season fires the ball towards home plate. This spring's squad is looking to fight towards their best season in years. (file photo)
Jumping for joy: Oberlin athletes cannot help but leap with excitement for the warm weather that accompanies Spring athletics. (photo by Sadie Thorin)
Digging ditches: At an earlier practice a tennis player stoops low for a shot. The men's and women's tennis teams have already started their seasons, but crucial conference contests do not begin until after Spring Break. (photo by Richard Hong)

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