CASE ATHLETICS IN THE NEWS...
November 3, 2009
YOUNG SQUAD LOOKS TO BLOSSOM ON THE MATS...
CLEVELAND, OH - New wrestlers come and go through the Case Western Reserve University wrestling program every four years. However one thing has remained constant for the program for nearly a half-century - the guidance of 48th-year head coach Bob Del Rosa.
This year will be largely about new and young wrestlers for the Spartans as the squad features just four upperclassmen.
“Right now we have a very young team, but hopefully some of the young guys will gel and get a little better,” said Del Rosa (pictured below). “We will only be starting one senior on our team and the rest will be freshman, sophomores, and a couple of juniors.”
One reason for having such a young team is the strong senior class the Spartans graduated last season. That class was led by 149-lb Drew Gardella, who became the eighth All-American in Case Western Reserve wrestling history by finishing sixth at the National Championships.
“Our graduating class was very strong,” said Del Rosa. “When you lose 3 or 4 starters it’s tough to replace them. These are guys that started for us for four years, which means you lose a significant part of your lineup and we have to replace them with some young people.”
By no means is the cupboard bare this year at Horsburgh Gymnasium. The wrestler who replaces Gardella at the 149-lb weight class, sophomore Issac Dukes (Ravenna, OH-pictured below), is in position to take over as the team’s top wrestler. As a freshman, Dukes earned UAA Rookie of the Year honors and qualified for the National Championship in the 157-lb class. Dukes drew the defending national champion, Aaron Wernimont [Wartburg], in the first round and took the match to the wire in a 7-6 loss. Wernimont went undefeated on the season and would repeat as national champion.
“I think Issac will be our top guy,” said Del Rosa. “I think this year going from where he wrestled at 157lbs down to 149lbs that he should be a dominant force in that weight class.”
Other top returning wrestlers should include sophomore Kyle Weaver (Delaware, OH), who is expected to wrestle at 157-lbs and junior Clay Criss (Beloit, OH-pictured below), who could grapple at 165-lbs.
The Spartans have a couple of intriguing non-freshman newcomers in senior Jonathan Stone (Cleveland, OH) and sophomore Dale English (Middleburg Heights., OH). Stone is a 125-lb senior, who is new to the Spartans program after a strong high school career at University School. English will wrestle heavyweight during the second semester after completing his second season as a defensive lineman for the Case Western Reserve football team. English currently has 14 career sacks and was named first-team All-University Athletic Association last season. Senior Jacob Kornblatt (Madison, WI) also returns to the team after missing last season while studying abroad in Brazil.
“Jonathan is a very talented wrestler and I’m excited to see him at one of the tournaments to see how he can do,” said Del Rosa. If Dale shows on the mat what he does on the football field, he is going to be a very, very good wrestler for us.”
Peter Heggs (Shaker Heights, OH) and Evan McDowell (Bellaire, TX) should be among the top freshman on the squad.
Leadership can be a problem for some teams this young. Coach Del Rosa is not worried about that with this team. 
“I have never really said anybody is a captain or not, I’ve always depended on my seniors and juniors to take charge and lead the team,” said Del Rosa. “Right now I have a senior (Kornblatt-pictured on page one) that is stepping up as a leader and a sophomore (Dukes) who is showing teammates how and what to do and encouraging some of our young wrestlers.
The grappling season starts this weekend as the Spartans partake in the Messiah College Tournament. The most important matches for the season don’t come until February with the UAA Championships and Midwest Regional. Coach Del Rosa is well aware of this and will spend the early season building his team to peak late in the year.
“Early in the year we will probably have to forfeit some weight classes until we can find out what weight they can make, but second semester we should be a pretty good wrestling team,” explained Del Rosa.
“You try to get your guys as much exposure to college wrestling as possible, especially if they are freshman, sophomores, or juniors,” Del Rosa continued. At the same time Coach (Chris) Nader, Coach (Russ) Tischer, and myself start looking at it and say ‘hey, this kid is going to be real good.’ We're excited to figure that out as we go along and see how our wrestlers do at the tournaments. We should have five, maybe six, wrestlers who are capable of becoming All-UAA and if you can have that many it pretty much guarantees you a conference championship.”
ABOUT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY … Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
October 29, 2009
CROSS COUNTRY'S CABRERA COMMUTES TO CASE...
CLEVELAND, OH - Case Western Reserve University sophomore runner Natalia Cabrera (Shaker Heights, OH) is a rarity on a campus which features students from all 50 states and nearly 100 countries – she’s an undergraduate commuter.
In the world of college athletics, where student-athletes have on-campus time requirements far greater than the average student, commuters are almost non-existent.
Cabrera enjoys being able combine the excitement and challenges of life as a student-athlete with the familiarity and comforts of home life.
“I don’t feel I miss out on the social stuff so much,” said Cabrera. “It’s nice to get away sometimes, go home and have my own room. To be with my family and a home cooked meal is definitely a plus.”
A big reason Cabrera doesn’t feel like she’s missing out is the cross-country team, which is known for being a tight-knit group of friends.
“At the beginning of my freshman year, I thought my social life would be horrible because you meet all your friends in the dorms,” explained Cabrera. “But as it turns out, I have friends on the cross country team I’m close with.”
“I think I would still be struggling to make friends if I weren’t on the team,” Cabrera continued. “I have a hard time deciding that I’m going to go out and do something social unless I have a support and (my cross country teammates) are that support more or less because everyone is so friendly. You were almost automatically friends with everyone coming in.”
Cabrera has an additional opportunity to meet friends as a member of an on-campus swing dancing club.
“(Swing dancing) is something different from running, less physical and more emotionally fun,” said Cabrera. “You have to be so dedicated and work so much for (running) that it becomes sort of a chore sometimes and swing dancing can be more of a release. I got involved because my older brother, who also goes to Case, wanted to me to so I could practice with him. He would bring me to some of the lessons even when I was still in high school. I’m still really bad, but it’s really enjoyable. ”
Family is something special to every Case Western Reserve student but for students like Cabrera who still live with family, their presence is felt on a daily basis.
“I’m really close to my family, so I’m really glad for whatever time I can spend with them,” said Cabrera. “I have to think about things like ‘oh I haven’t spent time with my little brother in awhile.’ He misses me, so I will go home and just hang out with him and it’s something I really enjoy.”
With an older brother who also attends Case Western Reserve and a father who conducted research at University Hospital and taught as an associate professor at Case Western Reserve until he passed away in February, family was heavily involved in Cabrera’s choice to come to University Circle.
“Since I was eight years old, my parents told me I was going to go to Case because dad worked here,” explained Cabrera. “It turned out Case was a great school so it worked out for the best.”
Losing her father, who she was extremely close to, has been tough on Cabrera these past months. The two would regularly meet for lunch when she was on campus. He was also the reason she took up running.
“It definitely started with my dad,” said Cabrera. “I played soccer from (ages) eight to 14, and because of soccer I had some endurance built up. My dad was really into soccer and running. So sometimes we would get up at six in the morning and run a mile. I don’t really know why but he enjoyed it and liked how I would get him up to go running. Then when I tore my meniscus playing soccer, I stopped that and decided that running could be more of my focus.”
At Case, Cabrera has been a top runner on a team which has been nationally-ranked in the top 15 throughout her two seasons. The team finished 16th at the NCAA Division III National Championship last season while Cabrera finished 222nd overall. Cabrera hopes the team, currently ranked No. 11 in Division III, can make it back to this year’s National Championships hosted locally by Baldwin-Wallace College. As far as long-term goals, she has her sights set high.
“I didn’t do so well at nationals last year, but it was an experience just to be there,” said Cabrera. My goal is to eventually become an All-American [top-35 at Nationals] in my college career.”
Before the Spartans can attempt to qualify for Nationals, they first must race in the biggest meet of the season thus far - The 2009 University Athletic Association Championships. This year, Case Western Reserve gets to defend its 2008 title as host of the meet at its home course, Squire Valleevue Farm. Cabrera expects to have a great race on the home track and hopes to improve by staying with current All-American junior Justine Jeroski (Murrysville, PA) as long as possible.
“I would like to set a PR [personal record] at the conference meet because it’s our home course and even though it’s a hard course, I feel like we have enough of a really strong base to do our best at this race,” said Cabrera. “I’m hoping I can run with Justine as long as possible, maybe for three miles. I made it 2.5 with her in the last race. She is really great to run with and she pulls me forward. It looks like the conference is going to be difficult to win this year because I think Washington U is really good and a couple others have stepped it up since last year. It’s not going to be easy.”
Want more cross country? CLICK HERE to listen to a podcast with juniors Andrea Fischione and Tim Smith, who talk about this weeken'd UAA Cross Country Championships in Cleveland.
ABOUT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY … Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
October 27, 2009
SWIMMING & DIVING TEAM SEASON STARTS FRIDAY IN NEW YORK...
CLEVELAND, OH - The Case Western Reserve University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will begin their 2009-2010 season this weekend when they travel to the University of Rochester. Both teams have balanced lineups as Head Coach Chris Conlon expects seniors all the way down to freshmen to contribute to the teams’ success.
“We are looking for strong performances from our junior class this season on the women’s side,” said Conlon. “They have been working really hard since the end of last season.”
Junior’s Kelsey Zeller (distance - Cincinnati, OH), Amanda Timson (distance- Livonia, MI), Ellen Crummy (backstroke - Butler, PA), Emma Call (IM - Baltimore, MD) and returning school record holder, Roxanne Leyshon (breaststroke - Cambridge, OH), will lead the young women’s squad.
Sophomore’s Stephanie Campbell (fly - Highland Heights, OH) and Jessica Nuhfer (sprints - Warren, PA) have also made huge strides in just one year.
“It is a neat time for Case Western Reserve swimming in that I look down my roster and see all underclassmen,” Conlon said. “That can only mean good things to come.”
Speaking of youth, Coach Conlon is excited about his freshman class. Brittany Sussman (middle distance - Englewood, OH) will help the Spartans immediately and the team also has a great freshmen diver in Amanda Caddell (Carlisle, MA).
“The fact that we have incoming freshmen (both women and men) that not only have diving experience, but have full eleven dive lists, is really exciting to me because that means they will be consistently scoring for us in dual meets and at our conference meet,” Conlon explained.
On the men’s side, the Spartans have three divers, which include two newcomers who have full lists, including returning sophomore Steve Leusch (Carmel, IN). They will all score in the Top 8 at conference meet, which will be a big advantage for the team.
“The men’s team is very balanced as well,” Conlon said. “We have both strength and depth in sprints and distances. We have predominately been strong in the strokes and we have become stronger in the freestyle events.”
Case Western Reserve returns a strong senior class on the men’s side. The Spartans return three senior All-UAA selections from a year ago in Drew Swartz (BK/IM - San Diego, CA), Dan Wolak (sprint FR - La Grange Park, IL) and Kevin Alland (FR - Buffalo Grove, IL).
Junior Robby Browning (FL/BK - Grosse Pointe, MI) is also a returning all-conference performer. Coach Conlon has high expectations for juniors Peter Fino (BR - Sterling Heights, MI) and Steven Jacobs (BR/IM - Tallmadge, OH) as well.
Michael Lin (FR - Buffalo, NY) will lead the sophomore class. Lin swam the second fastest 200-freestyle in school history last season and will be joined by classmates Sam Geiger (distance - Westlake, OH) and Patrick Flanagan (sprints - Strongsville, OH).
The Spartans will also look to two freshman distance swimmers for help this season – Chris Emr (Rockville, MD) and Erik Larsen (Roseville, CA).
“They can both do a variety of events and I expect to make an immediate impact in both the conference and at the national level,” Conlon said.
Conlon also expects big things out of rookies Adam Kozak (sprints - Aurora, IL), Ryan Kowalski (diver - Wind Lake, WI) and Syed Zulqadar (diver - Mount Prospect, IL).
The 2010 men’s and women’s University Athletic Association championships will be held February 17-20 at Emory University in Atlanta.
“(The UAA) is the fastest conference in the nation from top to bottom on both the men’s and women’s side,” Conlon said. “Our approach is a little different this year. We are not going to look ahead. We are going to just put our heads down and go to work. We are going to get better week in and week out and be competitive.”
Case Western Reserve only has three home meets this season; the Veale Classic November 13-14 and dual meets against Carnegie Mellon on January 9 and Baldwin Wallace College January 15. The meet against Baldwin Wallace will be senior night.
“(The B-W meet) will be a great time for us to honor our seniors and all the great things they have done during their careers here,” Conlon said. “We have three (seniors) on women’s side and seven on the men’s side.”
ABOUT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY … Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
October 22, 2009
SOO HOO FIGHTS FOR ONE LAST SEASON ON SOCCER FIELD...
CLEVELAND, OH - The senior season is a special time for any student-athlete as four years of hard work and dedication culminate in a final season on the field. For women’s soccer midfielder Jen Soo Hoo (Berkeley Heights, NJ), her senior season was abruptly put on hold in early June. Soo Hoo tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral meniscus in a co-ed soccer game.
“It was really simple, I was just changing directions and it snapped,” said Soo Hoo about suffering the injury. “I didn’t think anything was wrong at first because I was able to limp off and it didn’t really hurt. After I found out, I was really upset at first but I always assumed I’d try to come back and play.”
For many athletes, a medical red-shirt would be the course of action, and their senior season would just be put on hold a year. For Soo Hoo, who is already in her first year of medical school at Case Western Reserve concurrently with her senior year, the academic requirements would have been too much.
There was a period where I debated between red-shirting and playing next year or coming back for this season,” explained Soo Hoo. “Med school wise though, I knew my only chance of playing was probably this year.”
There was only one option left for Soo Hoo – fight as hard as she could to make it back to the soccer team by the end of the season.
So Soo Hoo did what she could and rehabbed every chance she got. With the start of the season less than three months away, there was no chance she could return from an injury which typical takes six months of recovery time by then. However, if she could get ahead of schedule, a return for University Athletic Association (UAA) play in October was not out of the question.
“I never really thought about not being able to come back this season, I was always like ‘no, you have to come back this season,’” said Soo Hoo. “I wanted to keep pushing it, like when she told me I could run, tomorrow I wanted to sprint. (Case soccer’s head athletic trainer, Erin Lake) was really good about all of it. She knew when to tell me no I couldn’t do that.”
“She has worked very hard over the last few months,” said Lake. “Jen's desire to return to the field was the driving force behind her rehab. Some people need to pushed, but not Jen. There were times I had to slow her down. She managed to make rehab a priority, even with medical school classes.”
“Jen’s dedication to the program and the team in the rehab process has been outstanding,” said third-year Head Coach Tiffany Crooks. “As a first year med student, she could easily have walked away from the season and her teammates to focus on her studies. Rather she has attended nearly all of our practices, attends all the games, and is finding success in med school.”
Last year’s team captain received plenty of encouragement to make it back from teammates and the coaching staff.
“I received a million calls, everyone just wanted to know what happened and they were really sorry,” said Soo Hoo. “Coach (Crooks) tried to call me all the time but I didn’t want to talk to her at first because I didn’t want to cry while talking to her on the phone.”
While Soo Hoo sat and gave encouragement from the bench, her teammates flourished to open the season. The Spartans got off to a 7-3-2 start and were ranked in the Great Lakes Region for the first time since at least 2004. This included a 2-0 start to the conference season, the team’s best start in UAA play since 1993.
“The team was very open with me being apart of everything,” said the senior. “The first UAA win, I was very happy for the team. Obviously, I would have liked to have been a part of that, but I still felt a part of it, sitting and watching.”
Not everything has been smooth sailing for the Spartans this season as several other players have gone down with knee injuries. Already being on the road to recovery, Soo Hoo was able to talk to the other during their time of need.
“I’ve talked to (the injured girls) and everyone reacts to it differently,” said Soo Hoo “It’s nice for them that they have at least another year to play, but it’s obviously devastating.”
All of Soo Hoo’s persistent indeed paid off. In early October, Soo Hoo was cleared to practice and just a week later, she joined the team on a big road trip to St. Louis and Chicago to make her first appearances of the year.
“It’s good to be back out there and just playing,” explained Soo Hoo. “Fitness is huge right now after only practicing a week before going out there.”
While the Spartans dropped both games on the trip to No.9 Washington University and No. 15 University of Chicago, the team was happy to have Soo Hoo back.
“Jen is one of the most gifted players in the UAA, completely healthy she’s is a game changer,” said Crooks. “Even though she is not 100 percent, she can still provide us with limited minutes and impact the outcome of a game. Just seeing her on the field and playing is inspiring. I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of a player.”
Soo Hoo’s knee will prohibit her from playing at the level she was at a season ago as one of the team’s best players. However, she’s going to try to think about her knee as little as possible the rest of the season.
“It was tough, because I remember how I used to play before the surgery and I feel a lot slower and can’t do the same things I used to,” explained Soo Hoo. “I try not to think about it because it’s all mental and I know my doctor wouldn’t have cleared me if I couldn’t go out on the field. It’s a little scary because of how I tore my ACL, just turning.”
The Spartans have four matches left (@ Oberlin - Oct. 24, Carnegie Mellon - Oct. 30, Emory – Nov. 1, Rochester - Nov. 7) in the regular season. That final date against No. 10 University of Rochester is senior night and is expected to be an emotional night as the team graduates four seniors, forward Kaitlyn Yule (Raleigh, NC/Vernon Hills), midfielder Caroline Garber (Cincinnati, OH/Ursuline Academy), defender Katie Fromwiller (Clackamas, OR/Sam Barlow) and Soo Hoo.
“Every senior year we always see the seniors get very emotional,” said Soo Hoo. “This is your last game ever playing soccer in a competitive environment and obviously soccer has been a huge part of our lives so it’s going to be something that we’re all going to miss.”
While that game will be the end of Soo Hoo’s playing career, she will still be at Case Western Reserve another three years for medical school. She already has experience coaching youth soccer as an assistant with former Case player, Madeline VanGunten, and has spoken with Coach Crooks about staying involved with the team in the years to come.
“I talked to Coach Tiff about it and she’s very open to it,” said Soo Hoo about having a future role with the program. “I hope to help out, come to practices and home games at least. I want to help out as much as possible. Coaching is really different than playing…it takes a lot of patience.”
ABOUT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY … Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.