CUA: A Place Filled with the Spirit of God

During the month of August 2001, I came to CUA for Orientation and to begin my college career. I came to CUA not knowing what to expect of the place or the people who I would meet. One thing that I knew I wanted to accomplish was to become closer to God. The ability to live right next to such a magnificent church has had a profound influence on me. I attended the preppy, all boys Roman Catholic high school on Long Island known as Chaminade High School. Here, I was a regular at receiving communion before every lunch period and was actively involved in The Catholic League of New York. At CUA, I now attend mass 4-5 times a week and have found the opportunity that I desired which was to continue this journey of developing my faith. The Knights of Columbus has welcomed me to its ranks and I am a regular at the Campus Ministry events.
As a result of the events of September 11th, I have looked at life from a different perspective. A realization of how fragile and precious life truly is has come upon me. The attacks have been especially meaningful for me because my family has direct involvement with the clean up operations at Ground Zero. The "Tully" name has been mentioned in news sources ranging from Asia to Hawaii. My father's primary firm (Tully Construction Co., Inc.), a heavy construction contractor specializing in the major projects of the New York construction industry since the 1920's and experienced in doing emergency contracts, has the largest quadrant encompassing nearly half the site.

From discussion with only a few of the hundreds of Tully employees at the site, I have truly been given a sense of what a terrible tragedy this event is. We built the viewing platforms that you now need tickets to see the World Trade Center site. I feel that all members of the CUA community should take a trip to Ground Zero and pay your respect to our departed fellow human beings. A few moments can put an end to your life on earth. As clearly indicated, I have been touched by the event and my relationship with God has become even more strong. I urge all CUA students to take advantage of the opportunities for developing one's faith that we are fortunate to have here at The Catholic University of America.

Swimming Topples Goucher, Salisbury In Dual Meets

Both swimming teams came up big this weekend, sweeping a pair of dual meets. The Cards hosted Goucher College on Saturday. The men topped the Gophers 116-64, while the women triumphed by a score of 123-79. The women beat Salisbury on Sunday 116-87, and the men knocked off the Sea Gulls, winning 104-89.

“I was very pleased with the teams’ performances over the weekend,” said head coach Tom Calomeris. He was especially satisfied with the women’s victory over Salisbury, which was revenge for last year’s upset.

Against Goucher, the men were led by freshman Jim Horstmann, who captured both his individual races. Junior Paul Ojeda, sophomore Sean Aken, junior Tony Longo, and sophomore Jonathan Kania all captured races for the men.

The women’s team was led by juniors Maureen Horstmann and Kelly Anne Creazzo, along with freshman Kathy Jenko, who each won multiple races.

Both teams took care of business Sunday against Salisbury. Creazzo captured five individual races. Jenko, along with freshmen Jeannie Graham and Carly Plantulli and senior Elizabeth Renken all captured races as well.

Ojeda, along with freshmen Tim Creazzo, Jim Haggerty and William Giannobile, each swam very well for the men.

The weekend sweep puts the Cards in good position. The women’s record is 7-1, while the men stand at 4-3. “This weekend puts us in good position for the CAC’s,” said Calomeris.

Before the Capital Athletic Conference championships on Feb. 8-10, the Cardinals will battle Marymount tonight at 7 p.m.

Game of the Week

After traveling to Goucher tomorrow afternoon, the men’s basketball team will return home Wednesday night to host the Spartans of York College (Pa.) at 8 p.m. York is CUA’s chief obstacle in their quest for the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) title. Catholic captured the first meeting of the season Nov. 28 at York, defeating the Spartans 72-69 in a tight battle. Catholic won the 2000-01 season series, 2-1, and leads the all-time series 26-10.

York, who plays two more games before meeting the Cardinals, currently has a record of 14-3, including 6-1 in the CAC. They feature four players who average double figures in points. Junior Andy O’Brien is the Spartan sharpshooter, averaging 20.5 points per game. Senior John Ely, who averages 17.0 points per game, has shot almost 50 percent from three-point range this season. Freshman Jason Hunt averages 11.2 points, while sophomore Steve Schmehl averages 10.4 per game.

The defense has been one story of CUA’s success this season. Coach Mike Lonergan runs several defensive sets to frustrate the opposition, primarily alternating between a 2-3 and a 1-3-1 zone defense. His defense has held the opposition to a measly shooting rate of 36.7 percent. Junior forward Matt Hilleary has dominated the inside against opponents, recording 48 blocks this season, an average of nearly three per game.

Junior guard Kevin Wise has led the Catholic scoring attack in recent games. Wise notched a career-high 25 points Jan. 14 at Johns Hopkins. He followed on Jan. 16 with 17 points at Mary Washington. Wednesday night, he dropped 21 points on St. Mary’s College (Md.). Hilleary is the leading scorer for the Cards, averaging 16.4 points per game.

York will undoubtedly be looking to avenge their early season loss to the Cards, the only CAC defeat suffered by the Spartans. Catholic also knocked out York in the semifinals of the 2001 CAC tournament.

If Catholic holds off the Spartans next week, the Cards will have swept the season series and will hold the tiebreaker in case of a tie with York in the CAC standings. “We control our own destiny,” said Lonergan. “We need to keep improving and stay healthy.”

Ice Hockey Knocks Off Cross-Town Rival GW 6-4

Center Ted Venuti had three goals and an assist as the Catholic University Ice Hockey club topped George Washington University, 6-4, last night at Fort Dupont Arena in Anacostia.

Goaltender Chris Froehlich, a fifth-year architecture student, made 31 saves as the Cardinals improved their record to 5-5 overall (4-4 in league play).

“This is a stereotypical Catholic team,” said team President Eric Dornbusch. “We come out strong in the second semester. We’ve had some injuries and some illness, but our young players have stepped it up.” Captain Matt Kriston sat out the game due to illness, while Assistant Captain Andrew D’Agostino and Freshman Jim Malone were sidelined with injuries.

CUA will take on league-rival American University Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. at Fort Dupont. All 5 of the team’s remaining games are against league opponents.

Center Chris DeMartino opened up the scoring at 1:26 of the first period, while Freshman Quincy Bird, playing in his first game with the team, followed at 3:38 to put CUA up 2-0.

Venuti, a first-year law student, followed with two in a row; the second on a rare penalty shot after GW was called for covering the puck while in the crease. Defenseman Jason Nix put Catholic ahead 5-0 with an unassisted goal at the 14:52 mark of the second period.

GW battled back with goals at the end of the second. It was Venuti, however, who opened the third period by completing his hat trick and putting the nail in the Colonials’ coffin off a feed from Bird.

Tower Staff reporter Caitlin Gremminger contributed to this report.

Indoor Track Dominates Competition At Lebanon Valley Invitational

With the track teams impressive finish last weekend at Lebanon Valley, they hope to continue their winning streak next week at Christopher Newport.

The heavy hitters of the week were none other than weight throwers. Remarkably, Catholic came away from the invitational sweeping not only the men’s 35 lb. weight but also the shot put. The weight throw had CUA’s name all over it when they managed to take the top three slots. Throwing coach, and former cardinal student, Matt Quinn, took first place throwing 15.15 meters. Josh Foreso and Sean Duggan were not far behind Quinn with throws of 14.57 and 12.99 meters, giving them the second and third positions.

Along with the 35 lb. weight throw Duggan, Quinn and Foreso once again took the shot-put category. Sean Duggan, a freshman from Spring Lake, N.J., took first place with the throw of 14.58 meters. “I didn’t do as well as I thought I would, but I am very pleased with my results,” Duggan said this week. Coach Quinn and Foreso took the second and third slots. Duggan said, “This weekend I hope we continue to perform better as a team to maintain our winning status.”

The male weight throwers were not the only ones to have a notable finish. Elizabeth Schreiner grabbed hold of the first place spot in the women’s shot put, throwing an impressive 10.37 meters.

The sprinters and the distance runners kept up pace at Lebanon Valley with Joe Kennedy who took second place in the 55 meter sprint with the time of 8.5 seconds.

Matt McHugh and Donna Flanagan also stole the leading spots in the men’s and women’s 1500 meter. McHugh grabbed the first position with a time of 4:27.8 minutes while Flanagan took hold of the second place slot for the women.

Christina Sochaki won second place in both the women’s 200 meter sprint and the pole vault. Along with Sochaki, Matt Plecnik pole vaulted his way to the number one position for the men by clearing a height of 12 feet.

Mike Audette kept up the end of the distance races by capturing the first place slot in the men’s 3000 meter run. “It was a small meet but it was a lot of fun and it was good training. It was too bad that many of the teams could not make it because of the snow,” Audette said last week.

The team is positive and hopeful that they will continue to do well and break new personal goals and records at next week’s meet.

Fan Interference

Baseball in Washington has a long and storied past. When the Senators moved to Texas in 1971 to become the Rangers, the national pastime lost a foothold in the District. However, with the current mess involving contraction, there exists a possibility that Major League Baseball will return to the area within the next few years.

Despite his many mistakes, Commissioner Bud Selig took a big step in the right direction earlier this month when he left the door open for the relocation of a franchise to the Washington, D.C. area. Contraction will not likely take place in time for the 2002 season, due to a court ruling in Minnesota. However, as part of a realignment strategy, a team could relocate to the Washington/Northern Virginia area as soon as 2003.

The primary obstacle to relocation would be Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Angelos claims that he draws a significant portion of his fan base from the Washington area and a new franchise would adversely affect his team.

Angelos fails to realize, however, that franchises have coexisted in the two cities on several occasions. The Washington Redskins have coexisted with both Baltimore NFL franchises, the Colts and the Ravens. The original Washington baseball franchise was founded in 1901, 52 years before the Orioles began play in Baltimore. When the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles, the management of the Senators was welcoming.

In the wake of Sept. 11, legislators from Virginia have lobbied Major League Baseball to support a new national memorial ballpark near Reagan National Airport and the Pentagon. They ask the commissioner to “boost the country’s morale” by supporting the new ballpark.

Baseball is the national pastime. It’s time to return America’s game to the Capital City.

Women’s Basketball Splits Pair of Games

The women’s basketball team split two games at the DuFour Center this week, losing 89-75 to conference power Marymount on Saturday and beating St. Mary’s College (Md.) 65-49 on Wednesday.

Catholic squandered an opportunity to move into third place in the Capital Athletic Conference standings on Saturday, as the Cardinals failed to hold an 11 point first half lead. CUA made five three pointers in the first seven minutes, racing out to an early 23-12 lead. Marymount quickly rallied, as the Cardinals began to have difficulty making their shots. Holding a 44-39 point lead at halftime, the Saints quickly put the game out of reach for Catholic, making 54 percent of their shots in the second half.

Marymount was led by the unexpected offensive power of bench player Jodie Knotts. Knotts, who averages about six points a game, scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds off the bench. Marymount had four other players with at least ten points.

s“We should have attacked more, but their zone prevented us going after the players that had four fouls,” said head coach Maggie Lonergan.”

Catholic was lead by junior guard Carol Schnepp’s 21 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Claire Flatley also had 10 points for the Cardinals, who lost for only the second time at the DuFour Center.

“Carol is an awesome player. She helped keep us in the game,” said Lonergan.

The Cardinals responded to the tough loss very well against St. Mary’s, the last-place team in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). St. Mary’s stayed within striking distance early on, but a 12-2 Catholic run to end the half gave the Cardinals a 33-21 lead. Freshman guard Katie Hazlett played the last 18 minutes of the half, distributing the ball well to her teammates. Hazlett entered the game in place of starting junior guard Amy Tyluki, who had picked up two quick fouls.

“Katie played outstanding in the first half. She came in with confidence, and our offense didn’t skip a beat.” said Lonergan.

The Cardinals maintained their advantage in the second half, holding St. Mary’s to 28 percent shooting, which eliminated any chance of a comeback.

Catholic was lead by Schnepp’s 25, and senior forward Liz Mintzer’s double-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds.

“Carol’s definitely our go-to player. She’s a great free throw shooter, so we can rely on her at the end to make her shots,” said Lonergan. She added, “Liz was sick, so it was great to see her bounce back with the game she had.”

CUA had great production off the bench by Hazlett, sophomore forward Kat McGlynn, and junior forward Jackie Yacenda. McGlynn had eight rebounds in just 15 minutes, and Yacenda made key free throws at the end to hold the lead.

Catholic has now won five of its last seven games, and currently is 9-7, 4-3 in the CAC. The fourth-place Cardinals travel to face fifth-place Goucher on Saturday in what could be a preview of a CAC tournament game. The Cardinals host Western Maryland on Monday at 7 p.m. and conference rival York on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Men’s Hoop Rolls, Wins 999th in History

The men’s basketball team kept on rolling this week, dominating two Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) opponents to bring their record to 16-1, 7-0 in the conference. Wednesday, despite early struggles, the Cards blew past St. Mary’s College (Md.) 88-62. Catholic knocked off Marymount last Saturday, beating their rival 86-67. The win over St. Mary’s, the 16th in a row for the Cards, was win number 999 in the history of the varsity program. Catholic is currently atop Division III polls published by Basketball America and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The Cards got off to a slow start Wednesday night against St. Mary’s. Catholic, which committed 25 turnovers on the night, traded points with the Seahawks for the first 11 minutes. With the score tied at 20 points, Catholic began a 28-2 run, sparked by three-pointer from junior guard Craig Avallone.

“We had a weak start,” said head coach Mike Lonergan. The Cards turned the ball over on several occasions early in the game, allowing the Seahawks to hang around.

However, the hot shooting of the Cards helped take control of the game. Junior guard Kevin Wise was one of five Cardinals in double figures, recording 21 points. Sophomore forward William Morley recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, despite leaving the game early with an injured ankle. Junior forward Matt Hilleary also notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Avallone added 12 points, while sophomore forward Blair Mills continued his strong play with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Saturday afternoon, the Cards passed a big test by dominating CAC power Marymount. CUA knocked off their rivals 86-67, continuing their reign atop the conference standings.

The Cardinals, who never trailed, held the Saints to only four bench points. “Our team defense was great,” said Lonergan. Marymount was held to only a 37.1 shooting percentage.

On the offensive side, Catholic placed six players in double figures. Morley and Avallone led the way with 15 points apiece, while Mills notched 11 points. Freshman guard Bobby Henning, along with Wise and Hilleary, each contributed 10 points.

Catholic returns to action tomorrow night when they travel to Towson, Md. to battle Goucher College at 8 p.m. Morley, despite the injured ankle, is expected to play. “I got treatment today, and it feels good,” he said.

Next Wednesday, CUA returns to the DuFour Center to host York College (Pa.) at 8 p.m.

Definition

The word “Poof” is British slang for “homosexual.” This will come in handy later. [See cartoon on page 6]

Snow Way

You know, getting snow over a weekend is like kissing your sister on Sunday night. Sure, snow is snow, just like getting a piece is getting a piece. Still, after it’s over, you find yourself feeling that pain that when 9 a.m. Monday morning rolls around you’re gonna regret it.

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