You know the bit about the tree falling in the forest? The whole thing about if nobody hears it, does it make a sound? (No, I don't mean the one about it hitting a mime.)
Well, how about if a Brown athlete has a superb career and nobody is there to see it? Do the championships matter any less? Are the hours of practice any less validated?
Clearly, the answer to both is no. Any athlete at a school like Brown competes for all those clichéd reasons we're sick of hearing athletes talk about - it's for the love of the game, it's from an inner drive to win, etc.
I'm not referring to the generally poor fan turnout at most athletics contests - that's a topic for another day. I'm referring in particular to a trio of athletes who've had fantastic careers that you haven't seen because they've participated in "fringe" sports, or at least sports that are not spectator-friendly.
Fencer Ruth Schneider '06, diver Jessica Larson '06 and skier Kelly O'Hear '07 were the three most dominant athletes for Brown this winter other than Ivy League women's basketball Player of the Year Sarah Hayes '06. (I'm excluding Brittany Grovey '06 because track and field is a year-round sport.) Chances are you've heard more about Hayes - not that she doesn't deserve the publicity - than the other three combined.
Not that it's your fault you haven't: The swimming and diving teams' meets aren't exactly hot sports fan destinations, the fencing team had three home meets over the course of Schneider's four seasons and the skiing team... well, we won't have a mountain on campus until our superb saleswoman of a president dupes some gullible alum into donating the money to create one. It also doesn't help that there are 37 total varsity sports to keep track of at Brown, four behind Harvard for the largest program in the nation.
But you should know about these three.
Schneider is one of the best epeeists - a fencer who uses the epee, one of three weapons used in competition - in the country. Her collegiate career ended on a bit of a down note, at least for her, when she came in 24th at the NCAA Championship. However, she did become Brown's first All-Ivy fencer by going 13-5 in the team's inaugural Ivy League season, and she took fifth at the NCAA Northeast Regional. She has finished as high as fifth in the national competition, earning second-team All-American status as a sophomore.
Larson dominated the Ivy League this winter, going undefeated in both the one- and three-meter dives during the duel-meet season. She set a new school record in the three-meter dive in the final league meet against Yale, smashing the old mark with a score of 308.69. She won the one-meter at the Ivy Championships and placed fourth in the three-meter, later taking second and 13th in the respective events at the NCAA Zone A Championship.
O'Hear came into her own this season, helping her team to overcome injuries and departures to finish fifth at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association National Championships. She is a force in the giant slalom event, sometimes coasting to victories in her first run without even pushing herself. At nationals, she came in sixth in that event despite a poor first run, earning All-American status. She was dominant during the season, helping to hold the team together while her teammates got used to having to step up and place well.
And all three can handle themselves in the classroom, as well. Along with Hayes and Grovey, Schneider, Larson and O'Hear were Brown's five female athletes named to the Winter Academic All-Ivy Team.
So to those three, and any other athletes who've been on College Hill without getting the headlines they deserved, I'll raise a glass to you - if Spats ever opens.
More smartiesThe five Brown male student-athletes honored by the Ivy League were Breck Bailey '06 of the men's squash team, wrestler Shawn Kitchner '07, Marcus Becker '07 of the men's basketball team, shot-putter Jake Golenor '06 and fencer Jeremy Adler '06. These five, along with the quintet of aforementioned women, qualified by being either starters or key reserves on an officially recognized varsity team and keeping a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above.
There was no comment from the Ivy League on whether having pluses and minuses would have affected its decision.
Get well, JakeSpeaking of Golenor, we close this week with a heartfelt get well to "Big Jake." The 2006 Indoor Heptagonal Champion in the shot put has been in the hospital with ulcerative colitis, or ulcers in his large intestine, and has lost a total of 30 pounds in the past month, ending his outdoor season before it began. Golenor, who has been a captain since his junior year, has won an outdoor Heptagonal Championship in the discus.
I met Jake my first weekend on campus, remembering him as "the huge kid who was trying to pick up chicks by playing guitar." Anyone who has hung out with Jake for more than 15 minutes has his giant smile burnt into their memory - just check out his head shot on Brownbears.com if you don't believe me. The kid is basically a giant teddy bear.
Best wishes for a quick and full recovery, Jake.
Herald Sports Editor Chris Hatfield '06 may be the only all-field, no-hit first baseman in intramural softball history, but you don't know that because you haven't seen him play.
