Campus Update

Fall Sports Highlights

Soccer
For the first time in Trinity NCAA history the women’s soccer team finished the season with a winning record! The team posted a 12-5 record overall, 4-2 in regular season conference play. Co-head coaches Jody Bergstrom and Fred Locario coached the team.

Seventeen players participated and all made significant contributions to the team. Team members included seniors Erica Beltran (captain), Ruth Mejia and Daria Zane; juniors Isabel Arevalo, Sylvie Brice, Mina Pleasant-Bey and Marta Quintanilla; sophomores Kristian Bovell and Lilian Herrera (captain); and freshmen Michelle Carter, Alicia Hopkins, Lakeisha Hopkins, Angelica Lara, Arlena Newson, Myrna Salmeron, Meghan Trexler and Rebecca Worsham.

Highlights of the season began early when Trinity hosted a Labor Day Tournament, beating Columbia Union College 4-1 and Montgomery College 5-4 (in overtime) to take second place behind the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. The Tigers then traveled to southern Virginia for a weekend to take on two non-conference opponents, Averett University and Sweet Briar College, and returned with two more strong wins for the team, 5-2 and 7-2 respectively.

In November, Trinity hosted the Atlantic Women’s College Conference (AWCC) Championships. The Tigers beat Wells College 3-2 to advance to the championship game of the AWCC Tournament where the players faced the College of Notre Dame in the championship game and lost 1-4.

As a result of strong play and dedication throughout the season, five Trinity soccer players received AWCC All-Conference honors. First team selections were awarded to Alicia Hopkins, Lakeisha Hopkins and Angelica Lara while Lilian Herrera and Marta Quintanilla received honorable mention recognition.

Field Hockey
The 2002 Trinity College field hockey team had a new head coach, Christy Germani, and many challenges to face. While the season progressed with several disappointing losses, the players never lost their desire to improve and to play with great fervor which resulted in the first conference win in eight years and the first birth into the second round of the AWCC (Atlantic Women’s College Conference) championship in college history. With these milestones achieved, the team is determined to keep breaking records in the years to come.

The season record ended 2-9 overall, but this statistic does not tell the complete story of the many achievements that were made throughout the entire season. Both season wins against Wilson College were exciting games. The first win came in double overtime with Trinity on top 4-3. The second win, which occurred in the first round of the tournament, was the team’s first shutout with a 2-0 win.

In addition to these highlights, four players were given AWCC honorable mention recognition: Teaera Strum ’06, Bonita Winchester-Bey ’05, India Patrick ’05, who lead the conference in defensive saves, and Ashley Booker ’06. Team awards as voted by the team were: Most Valuable Player, Teaera Strum; Most Improved Player, Kelly Powell ’06, and Most Inspirational Award; co-captain Bonita Winchester-Bey.

Crew
Diligence, determination and dedication was the theme of the 2002 fall crew team and the season began with twice as many students coming out for the sport as last year. Sixteen players completed the three-race season. The team was coached by Brad Smith and Shaughna Rowson Giracca ’97.

The first regatta on the Potomac came only three weeks after the first day of practice. Though this 3-mile race was dominated by three or four boats entered by much bigger schools, Trinity held their own, finishing in the middle of the pack and beating some major competition.

Three weeks later, the team faced off at the Occoquan in Northern Virginia, a 2.8 mile race. The eight-person shell (women’s eight) came in a very close sixth out of 20 boats, missing first place by just a few minutes, and well ahead of the last boats. Four of those same rowers had only 12 minutes of rest before they had to head back out, row 30 minutes back up to the race start, and do it all over again for the women’s four. This group took first by more than a minute ahead of any other boat, beating American University, George Mason University, Catholic University and the University of Maryland!

Two weeks later, the team again traveled to the Occoquan to face new teams in a 3.2 mile race. Again, Trinity kept pace with the other teams, finishing 23rd out of 37 boats.

Overall, in a sport where there are few cheering spectators, where the team is truly the first consideration, where you give everything you have for your teammates first and yourself last, where the coach sends them off up the river and has no contact with them until they land back on the dock, these athletes shared a truly unique and character-building experience.

The Trinity College crew team will compete again this spring in three races.

Trinity Coach Named‘Coach-of-the-Year’

Co-head soccer coach Jody Bergstrom was named Coach-of-the-Year by the Atlantic Women’s Colleges Conference (AWCC). The award is given each year following a vote by every coach in the conference. In addition to Trinity, AWCC colleges include: Chatham, Chestnut Hill, Hood, Mary Baldwin, College of Notre Dame, Wilson and Wells.

Bergstrom joined Trinity in 2001 from Pittsburgh where she was the assistant women’s soccer coach for the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. She holds a B.A. in sport management from Ohio Northern University and a M.B.A. from Stetson University.

Bergstrom coaches both soccer and lacrosse, and is Trinity’s associate director of athletics.

Three New Sports Added To Trinity Athletics

In conjunction with the new Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sports, Trinity has added three new sports to its athletic program: softball, swimming and volleyball. Currently, Trinity fields teams in soccer, field hockey, crew, basketball, track, lacrosse and tennis. The three new sports will begin this year.

Softball will be the first new sport to take shape with three exhibition games already scheduled for spring 2003.

“We have a lot of students interested in both softball and volleyball,” said Athletic Director Christy Neff. “We also have many recruits interested in both those sports who have already been accepted to Trinity as well.”

Volleyball will begin this fall with swimming commencing in the winter months. Volleyball will be played in the new Trinity Center for Women and Girls and Sports and swimmers will compete in the new, six-lane, NCAA-sized pool housed in the lower level of the Trinity Center.