Tim Judge

Last night’s victory over York in Capitol Athletic Conference (CAC) semifinals speaks volumes about this year’s Cardinal hoops team. Despite loosing to York in their own house earlier in the year, the Cards rebounded in convincing fashion exhibiting a composure and tenacity not commonly found at the college level.

“We’ve lost a couple games we should have won, but that helps us to stay focused. It reminds us that we still need to come out and play hard every game” said senior shooting guard Tim Judge, who perhaps best personifies the dedication and selfless play Mike Lonergan has preached to his squad. In fact, for the past four years Tim has been a consistent source of quiet leadership for his teammates. Not only is he a threat offensively–off the dribble and from the floor–he’s also Catholic’s most dominating defender, consistently matching up with opponents’ top scorers.

But aside from his athleticism, more importantly, he’s a model of hard work and experience for his teammates. “He brings a lot of maturity to the team. As a senior, he’s been in a lot of different situations,” said roommate and fellow senior Andy Rice. “He leads by example.”

And his younger teammates thrive off of that example. “He’s not a big talker,” said freshman forward Will Morely. “He’s just always going hard. When we all see that, we feed off of it.”

If Catholic comes away with another CAC title and penetrates deep into the NCAA tournament, it won’t be because of one elite player who carries them. It will be because of players like Judge. Players who work hard, come through in the clutch and play defense. Players who, as he put it, “just care about winning.”

Rebekah Dunbar

Setting a personal record is difficult. Setting a ten second personal record in the short 800 meter event is almost unheard of. Junior Rebekah Dunbar walked away from the Mason Dixon Indoor Track Championship in Newport, Va. having achieved this feat.

Running the half-mile leg of the Distance Medley Relay, Dunbar lowered her college best from 2:48 to 2:38, helping the group to a surprisingly strong second place finish. Women’s coach Joe Fisher does not hesitate to praise the determination she displayed in this competition. He explains, “I saw a person giving beyond what she had, beyond what appeared to be. Rebekah is always like that when she runs. She’s a very tough girl. She’s very consistent no matter what the conditions.” In what has been her best college season to date, this was proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Slowed by tonsillitis (SP?) in the early weeks of January, Dunbar continued with interval training and managed to find a renewed enthusiasm. Of her swift progress she explains, “I knew I was getting better; instead of agonizing over my next race, I couldn’t wait for it.” Beyond the 800, the progression of her 1500 meter performances in the past three meets attests to this, dropping from 5:49 to 5:36 and finishing in 8th place with a 5:27 this past weekend.

While Dunbar has the strong support of her teammates, her biggest fans are half a world away. Though she was born and raised in Albany, New York, her father’s military duty has recently led the rest of her family to New Zeeland. Yet they are no less in touch with her success and Dunbar’s eleven year old brother has even begun following in his sister’s footsteps this year. She considers herself a source of advice and friendly competition for the new runner in the family.

Of the lessons she has learned this season, Dunbar considers the value of hard work at the top of the list. Dunbar states her philosophy with confidence and certainty, “I just have to push myself farther than the week before.” After a season like this, it’s clear that there are no limits in sight.

——-[if space is needed, cut sent. Directly following coach’s quote first. I.E. ‘in what has been…’

Nalls Scores Two Goals

The men’s lacrosse team was defeated at home by Saint Mary’s College last Tuesday. This first meet of the season and the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) opener for both teams ended with a final score of 16-4.

Freshman attack Jaime Lynch scored a goal in the first quarter. Junior midfielder Jimmy Nalls scored two goals for the Cardinals, one in the second quarter and one in the fourth quarter. Sophomore attack Matt Lambert scored in the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Welsh was credited with two assists. Throughout the game, sophomore Rob Jablonski tended goal for the Cardinals.

According to junior defender Paul Swartz, the first quarter was a let down for the team. The Cardinals fell behind 8-1, and they had only two shots on the goal compared to St. Mary’s thirteen. After this slow start, Catholic played an 8-3 game and had more shots on goal than their opponent. Swartz said, “We definitely played better as the game progressed. With the exception of the first quarter, we were happy with our performance.”

Lynch said, “St. Mary’s is a strong team. We have a young team and are looking to move forward from this loss.”

Sophomore midfielder Kevin Coyle said, “We came out flat, but we picked up our game.”

Coach Brooks Singer said, “We played a close game with the exception of the first ten minutes. St. Mary’s is ranked in the top 25 in the country, and our game Tuesday was a big improvement over our game against them last year. We have a lot of success to look forward to this season.”

The men’s lacrosse team was defeated at home by Saint Mary’s College last Tuesday. This first meet of the season and the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) opener for both teams ended with a final score of 16-4.

Freshman attack Jaime Lynch scored a goal in the first quarter. Junior midfielder Jimmy Nalls scored two goals for the Cardinals, one in the second quarter and one in the fourth quarter. Sophomore attack Matt Lambert scored in the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Welsh was credited with two assists. Throughout the game, sophomore Rob Jablonski tended goal for the Cardinals.

According to junior defender Paul Swartz, the first quarter was a let down for the team. The Cardinals fell behind 8-1, and they had only two shots on the goal compared to St. Mary’s thirteen. After this slow start, Catholic played an 8-3 game and had more shots on goal than their opponent. Swartz said, “We definitely played better as the game progressed. With the exception of the first quarter, we were happy with our performance.”

Lynch said, “St. Mary’s is a strong team. We have a young team and are looking to move forward from this loss.”

Sophomore midfielder Kevin Coyle said, “We came out flat, but we picked up our game.”

Coach Brooks Singer said, “We played a close game with the exception of the first ten minutes. St. Mary’s is ranked in the top 25 in the country, and our game Tuesday was a big improvement over our game against them last year. We have a lot of success to look forward to this season.”

Women's Basketball

On Tuesday, the Lady Cards visited the Lady Eagles of Mary Washington College in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Tournament. The number five Cardinals finished the regular season with a CAC record of 5-9 as it placed them against the number four Eagles.

In the first half, Mary Washington had a seven point lead, only to be extinguished by the Cardinals’ red hot offense, which resulted in a 23-23 tie at halftime. In the second half, the Eagles tried to get away with another seven point lead; Catholic hung on, yet fell short 53-56.

The Cards ended their season on a high note from starting the year being ranked #3 in the Atlantic Region to finishing two games better than last year. Coach Kathy Kilty said, “The season was successful even though we didn’t end as we would have liked. We are only losing [senior point guard] Beth Brennan, and all five starters return. We need to continue to improve during the off-season, and get stronger. The players are willing to work at it. They were upset about the loss, but they and the coaching staff were pleased with the effort.”

Quinn Sets New School Record at Meet

The men’s and women’s indoor track teams traveled together this past Sunday to the Mason-Dixon 23rd Annual Indoor Track Championships, held at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. The Cardinal men placed third in a field of six teams, while the Femme Cardinals placed fifth out of six.

The men, although finishing third, had a number of stand-out performances. Senior thrower Matt Quinn garnered first place in the weight throw with a distance of 51’11.5”, which set a meet record. Quinn also placed second in the shot-put with a throw of 49’9”. Junior thrower Josh Foreso placed third in the shot-put with a throw of 43’10”. Foreso also finished third in the weight throw with a toss of 46’8”.

In the pole vault, freshman Jared Benoit, sophomore Kevin Hare, and senior Sean Mullin placed second, third, and fourth, respectively, with jumps of 12’6”. In the high jump, junior John Clark jumped a height of 6’4” to win second place. Freshman Pete Clark earned sixth place.

Coach Jerry McGee said that “the team performed very well. We were in second place up until the end of the meet. Our highlight athletes of the meet were Matt Quinn and John Clark.” Other stellar performances came from sophomore Denis Campbell and junior Joe Kennedy. Campbell placed third in the 400-meter race and fifth in the 200 meters. Kennedy finished in fourth in the 55-meter hurdles; he placed fifth in the 400 meters.

Junior Matt McHugh ran the 1500 meter race in a time of 4:16 to finish sixth in the conference. Freshman Mike Audette ran the 1500 as well, finishing in a time of 4:22. McHugh also ran the 400-meter relay, along with Campbell, Kennedy, and junior Dave Wong; the team finished in third by 1/100th of a second.

The men’s distance medley relay was run by McHugh, junior Mike Clarke, freshman Matt Plecnik, and Audette. They took fourth place.

Although the women’s team did not do as well as they had hoped, Coach Joe Fisher was happy with his team’s performance. “I was pretty pleased,” he said. “We wanted to do better, but you always want to do better. Considering the depth of our team, I think that we did well.”

Senior captain Nicky Bhalla placed second in the 1500-meter event with a time of 5:00.4. She also earned fourth place in the 800 meters.

“Nicky Bhalla was our high points’ scorer; however, just about everyone on the team scored points, and I was pleased,” said Fisher. “It was truly a team effort.”

The distance medley relay team, consisting of Bhalla, freshman Patty Mallan, junior Rebekah Dunbar, and senior co-captain Sarah Vagley finished second overall. The mile relay, which earned fourth place, consisted of sophomore Jennifer Alvarez, and freshmen Rebecca Freyvogel, Anne Milazzo, and Lisa Silvonek.

Baseball Opens Season With Loss to St. Mary's

The Cardinal baseball team opened their spring season with their first loss to St. Mary’s College of Maryland on Talbot Field Tuesday. Catholic suffered an 8-2 loss. Sophomore starting pitcher Adam Weiss started the game and gave up two runs and six hits before fellow sophomore pitcher Doug Sherry took over and finished out the game. Sherry gave up six more runs.

Sophomore infielder Mike DeNicola said, “We were a little rusty on Tuesday, but I am sure that the whole team will soon play up to potential.”

Weiss said, “The whole team thinks that we have a really good shot at winning the conference this year. We have a younger team with a lot of sophomores and juniors, but once we get it all together we will be great. I think we had the first game jitters, but once our hitting (especially) kicks in we will play extremely well.”

The team is looking forward to their annual trip to Florida over spring break. In Cocoa Beach, the Cards will prepare to compete against some of the nation’s finest Division III teams in a tough conference.

DeNicola said, “Even though the weather is not going to be that great this weekend we should do pretty well at our home games. At our trip to Florida we should win the majority of our games as well, and that way we will come back with a very strong record.”

Head coach Ross Natoli is in his 14th season at Catholic and has built the Cardinals into one of the most respected and competitive Division III programs in the East according to the CUA baseball home page. Natoli stated, “A student-athlete’s primary objective must be the pursuit of excellence in the classroom. However, it requires a special commitment to be athletically competitive and academically successful.” According to the web page, the Cardinals’ on-field personality reflects Natoli’s own philosophy that perseverance, team unity, and commitment form the foundation for success.

At home this weekend, the Cards take on Messiah tomorrow and St. Michael’s on Sunday. Both games will be played at 12:00 p.m.

The Bleacher Beat

This column is dedicated to those of you who are too intelligent to ever spend ten hours at an indoor track meet. Read on for a ‘day in the life…’

5:50 a.m. My alarm sounds. Immediately, the thoughts come crushing down on my mind: Why do I torture myself like this? Why can’t I just play badminton? I must get up.

6:23 a.m. I arrive at DuFour. I climb onto the bus and fall into the closest available seat.

9:34 a.m. I’m jolted awake as the bus pulls into the campus of Christopher Newport University. All 28 of us athletes and coaches step onto the pavement and enter The Freeman Center. I muse on the irony associated with the Center’s name, considering I’ll be spending the ENTIRE DAY inside.

10:15 a.m. I am now sitting on an uncomfortable bleacher seat, and have been for the past half hour. I have also been reading the same page of my book for the past half hour.

10:53 a.m. I make my seventh trip to the bathroom.

11:27 a.m. I eat my sixth bagel of the day.

Noon. The running events begin as I turn over the second page of my book.

12:20 p.m. I fill my water bottle up for the eleventh time and go to the bathroom again. Then it’s back to the bleachers.

1:40 p.m. I cheer on some teammates; eat an Ironman bar; try to get comfortable on the bleachers; ditch the book; pick up a magazine.

2:13 p.m. Bathroom.

2:47 p.m. I decide to take a nap and subsequently squeeze myself in between two bleacher rows.

3:16 p.m. It’s no use sleeping- I have to go to the bathroom.

4:01 p.m. I leave the bleacher scene and start to warm up for my race. I come back to finish stretching and put on my spikes.

4:34 p.m. Bathroom.

4:55 p.m. The gun goes off and the relay is in motion.

5:03 p.m. Eleven hours and forty-seven minutes later, I’m running.

Basketball Slams York, Heads to Champs

The Catholic University men’s basketball team, coming off a highly successful 1999-2000 season, had high hopes for this year’s squad. The Cardinals finished last season by advancing to the Elite Eight of the Division III tournament, winning their third straight Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) regular season championship while posting a 24-5 record.

Entering the 2000-2001 season with high expectations, the Cards started their CAC schedule with a 1-2 record. Since then, the Cards have been on a hot streak, winning 13 of the last 14 CAC match-ups, heading into last night’s CAC semifinal against York College (Pa.). The Spartans trounced Catholic on Nov. 29 at DuFour, in the worst effort of the CUA season. Not only was revenge motivation for the Cards, but the winner would advance to the CAC championship game.

The Spartans, a hot perimeter shooting team, started off the game by sinking several shots to jump to an early lead. York clung to an 11-10 lead about ten minutes into the game, but senior guard Pat Maloney reeled off the next nine points for Catholic, putting the Cards ahead to stay en route to a 82-65 victory. The win upped the Cardinals record to 21-5, advancing them to the conference championship game tomorrow. Catholic, ranked 15th in the nation by D3hoops.com, will host Marymount University in the title game, tentatively scheduled for 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. Marymount defeated St. Mary’s yesterday in the other semifinal game by a score of 57-49.

“We knew if we came in and played hard, we could win,” said sophomore forward Matt Hilleary, who led the Cards with 16 points. “I thought we played a great game,” added head coach Mike Lonergan. “I was probably more nervous about this game than any other I’ve coached.”

The Cards were led by the dominating play of Hilleary, who had 16 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks. Senior guard Tim Judge added 14 points and four rebounds, while Maloney chalked up 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists. With 10:06 remaining in the first half, Maloney scored a basket to notch point 1,501 for his career. After his effort yesterday, Maloney has 1,507 points for his career, putting him number eight on the all-time CUA scoring list.

Catholic led York, 35-26 at the break, but the Cards opened the second half with a 12-4 run to extend their lead to 49-33. CUA never looked back, continuing to put up points with their big men Hilleary and freshman forward Will Morley. Catholic’s strong defense caused York to throw up wild shots; the Spartans shot a dismal 30 percent from the field for the game.

Last Saturday, Catholic hosted St. Mary’s College in the de facto CAC regular season championship game. St. Mary’s defeated CUA on Jan. 24, so revenge was again at stake Saturday. On the line was the regular season conference crown, granting the winner the number one seed in the conference tournament. In front of a wild crowd on Senior Day, the Cards won a thriller, outlasting the Seahawks 66-64.

St. Mary’s started out the game quickly, overpowering the Cardinals with their speed and agility. However, Catholic took the lead for good with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. With one minute remaining in the game, Catholic held a one point lead, but a block by Hilleary gave CUA the ball. Maloney missed a lay-up, but Judge rebounded and immediately called a time-out with ten seconds remaining. After the time-out, the Seahawks fouled Maloney to stop the clock. Maloney made one of his two free throws, giving CUA a two point lead. With five seconds left in the game, Seahawks guard Matt Conklin drove to the lane and threw a lay-up, but the ball bounced off the rim and fell under the basket to Judge as time expired, sealing the conference title for CUA.

Catholic, who won their fourth straight regular season CAC title, was paced by the double-double of Hilleary, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds. “[St. Mary’s] is a very good team,” he said. “We knew this game would be a battle.” The victory clinched the number one seed in the CAC tourney for the Cards, giving them the inside track to tomorrow’s title game. “We need to respect everyone,” said Lonergan. “We are playing pretty well right now.”

Tuesday, Catholic hosted Gallaudet in the first round of the conference tourney. The Cards came out swinging, opening the game with a 16-0 run. CUA then put on a clinic, routing the Bison by a score of 96-60.

Catholic overmatched the last place Bison, dominating in the paint. Hilleary had his second straight double-double, chalking up 14 points and 11 rebounds. Morley was the leading Cardinal scorer with 19 points. Maloney had 14 points and seven assists, including an 80 percent average from three point land. Avallone tied his career high with ten points, as Catholic shot 59.7 percent from the field.

The win gave the Cards their 20th win of the season, a feat they have accomplished for four straight years. “We accomplished all our season goals with this game,” said Lonergan. Tomorrow, 15th ranked Catholic will host Marymount University for the CAC tournament championship. The Cardinals have defeated the Saints twice this season, but they aren’t taking them for granted this time. “They’re a good team,” said Hilleary. “We have to rebound and play good defense. Then, if we can execute on offense, we can win this game.”

Lonergan also expressed his disappointment with the crowd attendance in previous games. “Our student support is pretty lame for how far we’ve gone this season,” he said. “I’m praying that the students come out Saturday, because our guys deserve the support of their peers.”

Tomorrow’s championship battle has major implications for the post-season fate of the Cards. If CUA defeats Marymount, the preseason favorite to win the CAC, the Cards will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If the Saints upset the Cards, CUA still has a mathematical shot to get an at-large bid, according to D3hoops.com publisher and CUA alum Pat Coleman. “There are eight at-large bids for the entire nation, and three or four of them are probably already spoken for,” said Coleman.

The CAC championship game is tentatively scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off tomorrow at DuFour. Fans can check the Athletics website (http://athletics.cua.edu) for updates on the game time. The Cards will be looking for their first CAC tourney title since 1998 against the Saints, who won the tourney last year. “[Tomorrow night] I want to get up on the ladder, cut the nets down, and hang another banner in the gym,” said Lonergan.

Recent graduates will save with tax cut, but how much?

(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON - After college graduation, many young people face new responsibilities for the first time, like full-time jobs and monthly bill payments, but perhaps the most daunting and unfamiliar obligation comes in April when they file their tax returns.

Despite recent talk in Washington about the president's proposal for a $1.6 trillion tax cut to be phased in over 10 years, discussion about how Bush's plan would affect single college graduates, who are working in their first jobs, has been limited. And an examination of the effect of the Bush tax cut on recent graduates showed that they will save, but according to a tax expert, their savings would be minimal.

"The single people, when compared to married folks with children, receive less of a benefit because they only get the rate cut," said Mark Garay, associate director of the tax policy services group in the Washington office of Deloitte & Touche. "The higher your income, the larger amount your saving is going to be under the Bush plan."

The president has said his plan would provide the highest percentage tax cuts to the lowest income Americans and that no one should have to give the government more than one-third of their earnings. Bush's proposal would simplify the tax rate structure, putting Americans in one of four brackets — 10, 15, 25 or 33 percent — and would replace current rates of 15, 28, 31, 36 and 39.6 percent.

The Bush plan also included proposals that could benefit married couples and wealthier Americans. The plan would double the child tax credit to $1,000 per child, reduce the so-called marriage penalty, eliminate the estate tax and expand charitable deductions for people who do not itemize.

Garay explained that if you are young and single you wouldn't benefit from these initiatives, but like all those who pay taxes, you would have some savings under the Bush plan.

A look at high and low average starting salaries for recent, college graduates with different educational backgrounds showed more specifically what those savings would be.

Average starting salaries for 1999-2000 college graduates were likely to fall between $22,000 and $50,000, according to September 2000 information from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a group that publishes quarterly reports about the employment of college graduates. The information, which analyzed students who pursued 70 fields of study, was compiled with survey responses from more than 180 schools across the country.

Under current tax law, young people who earned $20,000 last year would pay $1,883 in taxes. In five years, when the Bush plan — if implemented — was fully phased in for those in this salary range, a worker who earned $20,000 would pay $1,583, for a saving of $300.

At the high end of the average earning spectrum for 1999-2000 college graduates were those who were paid about $50,000, like computer sciences graduates with an average starting salary of $49,055 and petroleum engineers who earned on average $50,367. Someone who made $50,000 last year would pay $8,398 in taxes under current law.

Under the administration's proposal, after the phase-in period is completed, an individual who earned $50,000 would pay $7,633, for a $765 saving over current rates.

In five years, savings for a single individual who earned $30,000 would be $300. Someone with a $40,000 salary would save $465 under the Bush plan.

The numbers indicated some savings for single people in the workforce, but it was less than that saved by their married counterparts and more wealthy individuals, Garay said.

"This helps most Americans," Garay said. "If you pay a tax you get a tax cut. But the people at the high end pay the most taxes and they get the highest tax cut."

Richard Thau, president of the nonpartisan issues advocacy group Third Millennium, said analyzing who saves how much misses the larger issue of whether the country can afford such a massive tax cut. Thau said he had nothing against tax cuts, but he wanted government social service programs to be secured before the Bush administration even considered cutting taxes.

"I ask the larger macroeconomic question," Thau said. "Should we be giving a tax cut before we fix Social Security and Medicare, because the longer term concern is what happens to Generation X if we fail to reform those programs?"

A White House spokeswoman said the president thinks his tax plan is good for the economy and responsible, and he believes that there is ample money set aside to secure Social Security.

But Thau worried that the short-term positive impact on young peoples' pocketbooks would distract them from what he saw as the nation's more pressing needs, like paying down the debt and preparing for looming costs of the baby boomers' retirement.

"They should be the concerns of our generation, because it will be our generation that gets caught with the bill if today's leaders fail to put the issue of aging and debt reduction first or foremost," Thau said.

Notes & Asides

Thundersnow … It Exists

In order to educate our reading public, we would like to teach you about a rare weather phenomenon forecasted for the weekend. Don’t be fooled … at first you may think it’s just normal snow, but then you hear a crackle in the distance…hark it’s THUNDERSNOW (insert scary music here)! True, there has never been a reported case of electrocution by thundersnow, but that doesn’t mean certain precautions should not be taken: bundle up, wear your rubber boots, and skip all remaining classes. Oh, don’t look at us like that, we know you were going to anyway.

Kids vs. Cheerleaders

With 8:37 left in Saturday’s Men’s Basketball game, tensions were running high. Catholic and St. Mary’s were tied at 53 with the regular-season championship on the line. During a time-out, Coach Lonergan’s nieces and nephews and his 23-month-old son ran onto the floor holding up signs that say things like “Go Cardinals” and “Maloney is not Baloney.” When the kids were all-but pushed out of the way by St. Mary’s Cheerleaders, the crowd reacted roughly in the same fashion as if Johnny K’s had run out of beer. We are all about school spirit, but there’s no need for rioting. Besides, as it turns out, we settled the matter on the court by winning the game.

Take Two Weeks Off

Please, we beg of you, seeing as we will be off for the next two weeks due to Spring Break, don’t do anything newsworthy for a while. Sit at home, get some homework done. Your mom will be proud. Then, when we get back, all that pent-up hostility can be taken out while we’re around to report on it. Wishful thinking? Probably. Monday will be 75 days until the seniors graduate, and the ensuing celebration will probably bring about enough debauchery to fill our little column of Asides.

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