Volleyball Ranked 17th in Nation by AVCA Poll

The women’s volleyball team extended its winning streak to 17 games by picking up three victories this week. According to the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, Catholic is ranked 17th in the nation. In addition to this, the highest ranking in school history, several members of the 31-4 squad had strong performances in wins over St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Marymount, and Eastern.
Upon receiving word of the ranking, Coach Nagy Abdelrazek said, “I am very excited about this. It was great to break through and get into the national rankings, but to move up in the rankings and gain the respect of coaches’ from around the country is an honor. By moving up we showed that Catholic University’s success is not a fluke.”
Last Tuesday, Catholic faced St. Mary’s to close out regular season conference play. The squad successfully defeated the visiting Seahawks by scores of 15-4, 15-1, and 15-6. In addition to winning their seventeenth straight game, the squad also finished with a perfect 7-0 Capital Athletic Conference record (the first in school history), and reaffirmed their status as the #1 seed in the conference tournament next week.
In the St. Mary’s game, junior Liz Carden recorded 11 kills, surpassing the 1,000 kill mark for her career. Junior Mary Ellen Ryan also had 3 service aces. For her efforts this week, she was named the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Player of the Week.
Over the course of the week, she tallied 50 kills and 49 digs as well.
Sophomore co-captain Bridget Guetle added 33 assists, 18 digs, and 6 kills. Other strong performances came from sophomore hitter Katie Acuff, who recorded 6 kills, and sophomore middle hitter Tarrah Beebe, who recorded 12 digs on defense.
On Saturday, Catholic defeated Marymount and Eastern in a doubleheader, winning each match in 3 games. In the first match, the Cardinals won by scores of 15-8, 15-12 and 15-10. Against Eastern, the squad picked up their second win of the day winning by scores of 15-10, 15-5, and 15-4.
“Eastern is #6 in the region, and it was a good experience for us to play a ranked team. We controlled the game, and gave them no room to breathe. Our defense was good, our hitting was effective, our serving was good as well. Playing against a ranked team shows you where you stand. We played the way we wanted to and we also played with a lot of confidence,” said Abdelrazek.
Before next week’s CAC tournament, in which Catholic has home court advantage throughout, Catholic will travel to the Messiah College Tournament in Grantham, PA on Saturday.

Cardinal Profiles

Every architecture major faces long hours of work, short hours of sleep, and four years dominated by life in the studio. Carrying a 3.5 GPA in one of Catholic’s most intensive majors, Stephanie Roselle is able to walk away from the drafting table and onto the fields of DuFour making her presence known.
Battling it out with the field hockey team, Roselle helped lift the Lady Cardinals to one of their most impressive victories this past week. Defeating St. Mary’s 5-2 in the first round of the Capital Atheletic Conference (CAC) playoffs, the sophomore landed three of the team’s goals, propelling the group forward into the second round of competition and closer to the championship they have been working for all season.
With a schedule of tough matches and a current record of 5-12, the forward believes her team’s aggressive spirit has not been dampened.
Demonstrating their heart in the St. Mary’s game, Roselle sees the victory as part of the group’s unwavering focus, commenting, “everyone wants to win and to play hard. We picked up an important win against York and the whole season picked up, people started playing better together.” Confident after these victories, the team will face top rival Salisbury State with a strong momentum behind them.
Intensely competitive, teammate Katie Iannacone explains Roselle’s development in her second year of college play: “she’s become more aggressive, she’s more of a challenge to opposing goalies and she’s grown into more of a leader on the field.”
In the culminating week of the 2000 season, Roselle has already helped the field hockey team to playoff success, been a part of the group’s dramatic progress, and is ready to step up and help the team move even farther in seasons to come.

Cardinal Profile

Mike Corrigan likes engineering because it allows him to think analytically. “I like being able to solve problems that will help society and figure out things that will make things easier for the people around me.”
He approaches soccer in the same way. The sophomore defenseman stepped into Catholic’s starting line-up this year and brought with him a savvy work-ethic to a team that would otherwise have been searching for direction. “We didn’t have a really good season,” says Coorgan’s teammate Adam Kimmel. “It takes a player like Mike to lift the team up. He gives 110 percent in every game. He inspires us [to play hard].”
The team’s 4-11-2 record was disappointing considering their promising 1999 campaign. Before the season started they were considered to be one of the better teams in the CAC. But despite a strong defense, they had trouble putting the ball in the net and consequently lost seven games by only one goal. “We could have easily had a much better record,” remarks Coorgan. “It’s frustrating because the potential’s there.”
But looking forward, players like Coorgan give the Cards reason to be optimistic. They graduate only three seniors this year and keep the core of their team intact. And according to his teammates, Coorgan has the type of leadership ability that young team will need. “He’s definitely mature,” says Kimmel. “He’s got great composure and he never looses his cool.”
Though there are many problems to solve in order to make Catholic soccer a winning program, Mike Coorgan seems to be up to the task.

Cross- Country Races to 4th, 5th Places at Mason-Dixon Champs.

The Cardinal men’s cross-country team placed fourth and the Femme Cardinal women fifth at the Mason-Dixon Conference Championships last Saturday. With 68 points, the men finished behind conference rivals Salisbury State, Mary Washington, and Christopher Newport. The Femme Cardinals, with 108 points, finished behind Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, Salisbury State, and Frostburg State.
Junior Matt McHugh was Catholic’s top finisher, completing the five-mile course in eighth place with a time of 28:10. Freshman Michael Audette and senior Pat Leonard followed with 10th and 12th place finishes. Senior Dan Dougherty was 13th; junior Michael Clarke was 25th. Rounding out the finishers for the Cardinals were seniors Ryan McDermott in 30th and Andre Mouledoux in 32nd.
Coach Mark Robinson said that “the team ran really well,” and he was pleased with the race. He said, “For the first time in twenty years at this meet, we had four runners, McHugh, Audette, Leonard, and Dougherty, who made All-Conference. We were up against stiff competition. Our point total was closer to the top finishers than it was last year, showing improvement that other teams and coaches noticed.”
McHugh said, “I ran reasonably well under the conditions of the meet, but I definitely have room for improvement. As a whole, the team needs to run as both a closer and tighter pack. To do this, we all need to better our individual times.”
For the women, senior co-captain Nicky Bhalla was again the top Catholic runner, finishing in eighth place with a time of 20:19 for the 3.1-mile course. She was also named to the All-Conference team for her performance. Juniors Donna Flanagan and Liz Pfifer were 20th and 21st overall. Junior Emily Levasseur ran to a 28th place finish. Senior co-captain Sarah Vagley was 31st; freshman Becca Freyvogel was 32nd. Junior Lori Agnew was the final point runner for the Cardinals in 39th place.
“Despite some good performances, I was not very happy with our overall effort,” said Coach Joe Fisher. “We did not run as well as we should have as a team.”
Flanagan said, “I was a little disappointed with my overall race. I think I could have run better, but as a team, I think we showed potential for the future.”
Both teams are looking ahead to the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Championships on Nov. 4. “The men’s team is training hard and is looking to rest next week,” said Robinson. “Salisbury will be the home team and favorite for the meet, but we definitely have a chance to win it. I am optimistic that our best race is yet to come.”
Fisher said, “Working really hard will hopefully get us back to how we have been performing all season. I am looking forward to running better.”
Flanagan added, “We are all really excited. The team is working hard and hoping to place high at CAC’s.”

Men's Soccer Heads to Play-offs

This past week saw the end of the women’s soccer season and witnessed the men’s team advance to the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) play-offs. In their last two games, the women shut-out Neumann College 7-0 on Saturday, and lost to St. Mary’s on Monday with a 4-0 score. As for the men, they won against Goucher on Saturday and Neumann on Tuesday, both with 4-1 scores. In Wednesday’s game, the team tied 1-1 with Wesley College.
Coach Scott Racek said, “The women won five of their last eight games. I was very pleased with that, especially having started out the season roughly.” In the women’s first-round CAC game on Monday, the Lady Cardinals were down 1-0 at the half. “After they scored the second goal, we just put our heads down,” said sophomore goalie Rachel Glennon. Freshman forward Julie McAlarnen said, “On Monday, we definitely played our hearts out. Senior [midfielder] Heather Winters was trying her hardest. We had the opportunity to score, but we just didn’t.”
About this past week’s game, Racek said, “We played well for the first 40 minutes. To be down 1-0 at the end of the first half wasn’t that bad. But, in the span of about 15 minutes, they had us.”
During Saturday’s game against conference opponent Neumann College, McAlarnen scored four of Catholic’s goals. Winters also had four assists on cornerkicks and various passes. McAlarnen said, “We killed Neumann. Everybody was playing really well together. There was a lot of unselfish play.” Glennon commented that her team dominated the entire game. “We really wanted to win,” she said.
Although the women’s season has ended, Glennon said, “I don’t think our record reflects the team’s work ethic at all. With a lack of a lot of players, it’s kind of hard to win a lot of games.” Racek stated, “I’m a little disappointed with the way the season ended. Next year, we have everybody but one coming back.”
The men’s team fared better in their three games earlier this week and they now post a 4-12-1 record. Playing against a conference foe, the men tied Wesley when senior midfielder Pat Kilner scored a goal for Catholic. Senior captain Pat Heenan said, “We’ve been playing pretty hard all season. We come out and we play hard.”
After their conference win against Goucher, Catholic was able to move up in the rankings. Freshman midfielder Pat Hennessy said, “We played a great game and we were able to step up when we needed to. It sent us going into the CAC Tournament on a good note.”
On Monday, the men will commence their CAC Tournament play against York College.

Field Hockey Ends Season With a 5-12 Record

The Lady Cardinals established themselves as tough contenders of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) as the conference tournament started Monday with a visit from the Lady Seahawks of St. Mary’s College. The Cardinals ignited the quarterfinal game with a 2-0 run behind their fast attack and smart defense. The run lasted over a span of ten minutes as Catholic headed into the locker room victorious with a 2-1 lead at the half.
Early in the second half, the Seahawks tied the game at 2-2. This was a minor setback as the Cardinals ended the game with a 3-0 run en route to a 5-2 victory and thus, advancing them to the semifinal game against Salisbury State University.
Sophomore forward Steph Roselle led all scorers with three goals. Sophomore center back Sondra Pires and freshman forward Danielle Deon chipped in with one goal apiece. Pires, junior forward Courtney Halter, and senior forward Meredith McMahon each had one assist as the Cardinals extended their winning streak to 2. Sophomore goalie Nikki Brewer had 11 saves in the contest.
Freshman center back Tricia Hines commented on the team’s performance by saying, “The forwards came out strong and our offense dominated the whole game. I am proud of our team’s intensity.” Coach Lisa Thompson was also impressed with her team’s performance. “Our skill and game sense is much more controlled,” she said. “We really came together as a team and we need to keep this kind of toughness throughout the playoffs.” Deon, commenting about the upcoming game against the Lady Sea Gulls of Salisbury State, said, “We are definitely ready to come out and play, especially after coming off the two big wins of the season.”
The Lady Cards’ next match-up came in the semifinal game against Salisbury State University on Thursday afternoon, which they lost 5-2. At halftime, Salisbury was up 1-0. Then, with 31:13 left in the second half, McMahon tied the score. The teams were tied until 17:14 remained, and Salisbury scored again. The women from Salisbury scored three more goals throughout the half. With seconds to go before the buzzer, Catholic scored their second goal of the game when junior forward Andi Snyder shot the ball into the net. The team finished its season with a 5-12 record.

Six from Catholic Run Marine Corps

Twenty five thousand runners in the 25th Marine Corps Marathon were off and running as of 8:30 a.m. last Sunday, including various members of the Catholic University community. Two professors, Chair of the Biblical Studies department, Rev. Frank Gignac, and Politics Chair Dr. Stephen Schneck; women’s lacrosse coach Kristine Manning; and a few students, senior Meghan Callahan, senior Ryan Burke, and junior Kristin Brady, all finished the 26.2 mile course, which began and ended in Arlington.
Gignac, at age 67, just completed his 23rd Marine Corps Marathon, finishing in 4 hours and 53 minutes. A runner since high school, Gignac did not anticipate crossing the finish line on Sunday. In fact, he thought he would run at most six miles, and then drop out. On a training run on Sept. 30, Gignac hurt his sacroiliac. On race day, “my sacroiliac started hurting right after the start,” he said. “I thought I’d just have fun, drop out after a while, get my clothes, and watch. Once I made the turn at the 16 mile mark, I thought, ‘Well, this is it.’” Despite his injury, Gignac finished 32nd in the 65-69 age group and 10,325 overall. Gignac ran his fastest marathon in 1989, running a 3:27 time.
Gignac’s CUA running career began in 1974, after he left Fordham University’s theology department and came to Catholic to help design the Biblical Studies department. At Catholic, he ran “for lack of anything else to do.” Once the women’s track team was established, Gignac came on as a fellow runner and assistant coach. He ran his first road race in 1977, and from then on, he was “hooked” on racing.
For this year’s marathon, Gignac lamented that he began training too late. “My first 10 mile run was in August,” he said. “I started way too late and then I got injured. I virtually didn’t run since [the injury].” When he crossed the finish line, he said, “I was thrilled to have gotten that far. I got a huge bottle of water and my bag, took the metro home, and went to bed.”
Gignac said that if he had not finished the marathon, he “may well have stopped running marathons altogether. But yeah, I’ll probably try again.” After all, he has a marathon record to update every year.
Dr. Schneck ran his first marathon in 1995 when he was 41 years old. This year, running in his fourth Marine Corps Marathon, he posted a time of 3:55. His personal record rests at 3:46. While constantly running, Schneck said that he started training for the marathon in April. “I ran a couple of 24 milers in September,” he said. “For the last month and a half, I’ve been running at least 20 miles every Sunday.” Before the race starts, Schneck said, “It’s always exciting in the initial moments because you’re in a huge throng of people who’ve been doing the same thing you have. There’s a natural camaraderie on the starting line and it’s very nice.”
As for the actual running part of the marathon, he said, “In the first half, you’re feeling pretty good. You’re still talking to everybody about it. In the second half, it becomes quiet. It’s particularly painful in the last stages. Those last seven or eight miles seem the most painful to me. You’re in your own world; you just have to grit your teeth and try to make it.” When he crossed the finish line, Schneck called it a “cathartic moment. It’s a great sense of accomplishment and relief. Even if you didn’t run a good time, you’re still proud of yourself for what you did. It’s very emotional.” Schneck is planning to run another marathon either in the spring or next year.
In her third year as the women’s lacrosse coach, Kristine Manning has just begun her foray into the running world. On Sunday, she ran 4:44 for her first marathon. “My assistant coach last year was training for a half marathon,” she said. “She inspired me to start with the Marine Corps. The sign-up was the easy part. It’s kind of one of those life-to-do things.”
At the beginning of the marathon, Manning said she was mixed with excitement and nervousness. “My mind was just racing: why am I here, did I do enough?” she said. “Then you see everybody else there, they all have on their special t-shirts, or they’re running because they’re survivors. It’s just amazing.” She called Gignac an “inspiration. Every day he would stop by my office. I saw him at mile 24,” she said, “And to see that he put aside all his pain and just ran really did it for me.” Manning said she hit the proverbial runner’s wall at mile 22. “There were some Catholic people cheering on my player, Meghan Callahan, and they found me. They really helped out.” As for her future marathoning plans, Manning would like to run another. “I was a little naive with my time going into this marathon, and I’d like to beat my time,” she said. “I had wanted to run under four hours. I think I’d also like to try a triathlon and switch it up. But it was a good experience.”
One of Manning’s lacrosse players, senior attack Meghan Callahan, also ran her first marathon last week. Callahan trained with the AIDS team, in which participants raise money for the Whitman-Walker Clinic; that money is dispersed to people in D.C. living with AIDS. Each participant raised over $1,700, contributing to the $2.5 million donation overall. “That [AIDS team] was a really exciting experience for me,” said Callahan. “But the marathon itself was unbelievable. I couldn’t even begin to describe it. The people on the sides of the roads made it so much fun.” As for why she decided to run the Marine Corps Marathon in the first place, Callahan stated that “it was a personal goal. I just got the idea to do it and I stuck with it.” When she finished in 5:10, she said it was “a really big relief. The finish was very exciting. It didn’t really hit me right away that I had just run a marathon.” Callahan is already planning on running her second marathon.
Fellow senior Ryan Burke, a biology major, started training for his second marathon this past summer. Because of his schedule, he would do his distance runs in downtown D.C. at midnight most nights. After doing crew his first two years at Catholic, Burke said that he was looking for something else to fill the physical fitness gap in his life. “I got jealous last year when I saw the Washington Post do a big article on the marathon. Everybody made such a big deal out of it. I thought that since I live in D.C., I might as well do it.” He received encouragement from his boss at work, who had also entered the marathon. “She was supposed to run it with me,” said Burke. “But, she got sick right before the marathon, and so I ended up running it alone.” For Burke, the toughest part of the marathon also occurred at mile 24. “At the 14th Street Bridge, near the end of the race, it was a mile and a half on blacktop with the sun beating down and no water stations. That was the stretch where I saw people passing out and puking. I wanted to walk, but I just had to keep going and hope for water soon.” Although Burke is looking forward to his next marathon, he stated that he was glad when he crossed the finish line in 4:22. “I was very proud to get my medal and space blanket. I think anyone would do anything for a space blanket,” said Burke.
Junior Kristin Brady was the youngest member of the CUA community to run the 2000 Marine Corps Marathon, her first race ever. Like Callahan, she also trained with the AIDS team. “It was a personal challenge and a wonderful cause,” she said. “I thought, ‘You know, why not?’ And the training program was wonderful.” Brady was motivated to run the marathon for “a lot of different things. The marathon experience was just amazing,” she stated. “The actual start is the most exhilarating feeling- it’s so powerful. When I crossed the starting line, I was overwhelmed and I almost started to cry. Everybody’s out there screaming your name, even if they don’t know you,” said Burke. She continued by saying that the last three miles were the most difficult. “Everybody’s aching and in pain. It was really important to tell myself to enjoy it because that’s what I trained for,” she said.
After training for months, these six people ran and, more importantly, finished the 25th Marine Corps Marathon despite the heat, cramps, and tortuous pain. By crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles of continuous motion, they proved to themselves and to us their physical and mental strength. To use the words of Gignac, “I’d just like to keep going as long as I can.”

The Bleacher Beat

Why would anybody ever want to run a 26.2 mile race? Sometimes I think 3.1 mile races are barbaric, not to mention 10k races and half marathons and everything in between. But a full-blown marathon? Who would ever want to do something as crazy as that?
This past weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon saw over 25,000 runners descend upon the starting line at the Iwo Jima Marine Corps war memorial. The unexpected warm weather merely added to all the other painful aspects of marathon running. So, the question remains: Where does the attraction lie?
In 490 B.C., a Greek soldier named Pheidippides ran from a battlefield in Marathon to Athens. As legend would have it, he barely delivered his message: “Niki!” (meaning “victory”), before collapsing and dying. When the modern Olympic games were inaugurated in 1896, the legend was brought back to life by a 24 mile race from Marathon Bridge to the Olympic Stadium. Twelve years later, the official distance for the marathon became 26.2 miles.
Now back to the question at hand. Maybe people run marathons to celebrate overcoming a life-threatening disease. For some marathoners, perhaps it all started with a friendly bet between friends.
But then again, maybe people run marathons because they love the sound of 30,000 feet hitting the pavement over and over again, crunching the leaves underneath. Maybe they love the exhilarating atmosphere; maybe they love being surrounded by thousands of other runners, people who have the same goal in mind. Or maybe, just maybe, these marathon runners love the feeling of victory at the finish line. Besides that finish line, there are not many places where you can find such a sweet and pure feeling of personal fulfillment.
So, while Pheidippides was correct in his message- the Greeks had defeated the Persians- he was also announcing his very own triumphant victory.

Football Trounces Hampden-Sydney

The football team traveled to Hampden-Sydney, VA, this past Saturday and came out with a 34-23 victory against the Hampden-Sydney College Tigers. The Cardinals secured their win by scoring 13 unanswered points in the final quarter at Fulton Field. This game was a must-win in order for the Cardinals to stay in the running for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship. The win increased their record to two wins and one loss in the conference and four wins and three losses overall.
On Saturday, the team faced their former offensive coordinator, Marty Favret, for the first time since he left to coach at Hampden-Sydney. “It was very stressful,” said Coach Tom Clark. “It was a much-anticipated game, with Coach Favret and four of my former assistants on the Hampden-Sydney staff. It was a game where they knew us very well and we knew them very well.”
In the first quarter, Catholic took the lead, thanks to sophomore wide receiever Jim Jankiewica’s 39-yard reception from junior quarterback Derek McGee with a little over four minutes to play. This touchdown was the only scoring of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Hampden-Sydney scored two touchdowns to go up by seven points with just under seven minutes to go. With 42 seconds left in the half, the Cardinals tied up the score when McGee ran for a four yard touchdown. Junior runningback Dan Boyle said that during halftime Clark stated, “If we want a chance in the post-season, we have to step it up in the second quarter.”
Hampden-Sydney came out of the half to score nine points with a touchdown and a safety, but Catholic answered back when junior runningback Dan Boyle scored a touchdown from one yard out with 31 seconds left in the third quarter. This touchdown brought the Cardinals within two points of Hampden-Sydney. Sophomore wide receiver Dan Evans said, “We showed a lot of heart on both sides of the ball. When the defense would make a play, the offense would make a play as well.”
The fourth quarter provided many fireworks beginning with another Boyle score, a 15-yard reception from McGee. Boyle said, “We never say die. We have been down a lot but we are able to pull together.” The two point conversion failed, but Catholic regained the lead with 14:50 left in the game. McGee secured the lead with a 16-yard run for a touchdown with a little over two minutes left in the game. McGee finished with 156 yards passing. Boyle led all-rushing with an impressive 190 yards on 33 carries. He attributed his high numbers to the blocking. “The blocking was excellent,” said Boyle, as he gave credit to junior offensive lineman Puri Garzone and senior offensive lineman Tim McCarthy. Jankiewicz led Catholic receiving with 71 yards on three receptions.
The Cardinals will face Emory & Henry University tomorrow in Emory, VA. Clark said, “We’ve had a good week of practice, and we feel that if we reduce our penalties and turnovers, we should win. It’s definitely the biggest game of the year,” he said.

Election 2000

Abortion
-Supports abortion rights.
-Opposes parental consent or notification.
-Supports FDA approval of abortion pill Mifeprex.

Civil Rights
-Supports affirmative action.
-Opposes same-sex marriage for religious reasons.
-Supports allowing homosexuals to openly serve in the military.
-Supports tougher hate crime legislation, including coverage for sexual orientation.

Defense
-Supports continued investments in technology and defense industries.
-Supports an increase in defense spending and "transforming" the military to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Economy/Taxes
-Assumes a 10-year, $4.56 trillion surplus based on Office of Management and Budget estimates.
-Supports setting aside the entire projected Social Security surplus of $2.39 trillion.
-Proposes $480 billion in targeted tax cuts over 10 years, with no change in the overall rate structure.
-Would eliminate the national debt by 2012.

Education
-Opposed to school vouchers for private religious and home schools
-Supports national education standards
-Proposes creation of a National Tuition Savings Program to help families invest their money in special trusts which help pay for their children's tuition at universities outside of their state
-Supports spending $170 billion over 10 years for children in public schools to achieve high standards.

Energy/Environment
-Opposes oil and gas exploration in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.
-Supports the Kyoto global warming agreement.
-Supports spending $2 billion over 10 years to create new parklands and open spaces: $1 billion in tax cuts to landowners who conserve property; $1 billion for cities and states to create local parks.
-Would increase funding for clean water programs, tighten standards, and ensure a more comprehensive watershed approach to improve water quality.

Health Care
-Supports Patients' Bill of Rights legislation that includes the direct access to specialists; the right to use the nearest emergency room; choice of providers; and a patient's right to appeal a health plan decision.

International Policy
-Supports payment of United Nations dues in full.
-Supports the embargo on Cuba.
-Supports continued U.S. participation in NATO-led peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo.
-Supports the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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