SJU Athletics Photos

PHILADELPHIA (08/13/03) -- Juniors Marisa Barriere and Erin Ryan recorded their thoughts from Philadelphia International Airport as they boarded flight 66 to Oslo, Norway (through London, of course). --------- An early ending to our summers began with a team meeting on August 4. The 22 members of the Saint Joseph's Women's Soccer team (including team manager Michelle Van Wert) traded in our bikinis and sun block for blisters and supersets. Pre-season had arrived!!! We started our training on the grass fields at nearby Merion Mercy Academy (meaning a two mile sprinting race before practice). When we finally completed the never-ending run, the real fun began with the beep-test, 180s, and the SEPCO (aka a lot of running). One benefit from practicing at Merion Mercy was the protein consumed from the army of mosquitoes invading the only air we had to breathe. Needless to say this also meant picking bugs out of our eyes. It was not so much fun as it was not fun! Coach Jessie (Reynolds) was irate after being eliminated from a round robin game while picking a bug out of Kimmy's (Leigh) eye. After being stuck in Ghana for four days I didn't think any of us would be so happy to see Finnesey Field. A weekend without head coach Jessie proved not to be a vacation – after sprinting up Hawk Hill 10 times we were all looking forward to playing a four-goal soccer game when instructed by (assistant coach) Peye (Garcia) to put a goal in each corner of the half. Much to our dismay, the goals were used to mark the circumference which we would sprint nine times! Needless to say the new SJU track team was elated upon Jessie's arrival-until she said the word super-sets. We all cringed in fear hoping we would be able to survive the year. Our final three days were by no means a walk in the park. The combination of intense practices and the anxiety of the upcoming trip, in addition to the sweltering heat, made the trip to Norway seem a lot further away. Monday was campus move-in day. It rained on us as we helped Megan (Schutt) move all of Canada into McShain Hall. We anticipated Tuesday as being the longest day of the week, however, we had a pleasant surprise. NO FITNESS!!!! Dinner at Coach Jessie's was moved to Stef (Luicci), Jess (Daugherty), and Nancy's (Cook) Ashwood apartment due to a block-out in center city Philadelphia. We ate Caesar salad, spaghetti, and Italian sausages, and for dessert we had brownies with ice cream and s'mores. The following morning, today, at 7 am was the Crimson and Gray game followed by sprints. Afterwards we all breathed a sigh of relief because preseason in Philadelphia was finally over and we had nine hours to be at the Fieldhouse before departing for the airport to get on our 9:40 p.m. flight. At 11 a.m. we found out our flight was in fact due to depart at 7 p.m. Even with the time change, we all arrived on time and no one had to run sprints for being late. We look forward to an exciting period of growth and new experiences in Norway and we hope to return refreshed and ready for a successful 2003 season! -- The Hawk women's soccer team