Monthly Archives: April 2013

Changing Colors

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When Muhlenberg and Dickinson teams meet on the court or the field, it is usually a battle between the red and white. At tomorrow’s women’s lacrosse game, however, the color scheme will be quite a bit different.

Both Muhlenberg and Dickinson will be donning special pink and teal shirts to raise awareness for breast and ovarian cancer. The team will also be collecting donations for the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at their game as well as at the men’s game later that night.

Senior midfielder Ali Gabriele and her high school teammate, Chloe Golod, who plays for Dickinson, have more in common than just their love of lacrosse – their mothers have both battled cancer.

In the fall, the former teammates discussed the idea of doing something special at this year’s game in honor of their moms.Muhlenberg Women's Lacrosse

“My mom has ovarian cancer and her mom has had breast cancer, so that’s how the whole idea originated,” explained Gabriele.

“We didn’t think we would be able to do shirts and wear them as jerseys, but [athletic director Corey Goff] said we could do it as long as the colors were readable for the refs,” she added. “We got it all approved and ordered the shirts and are wearing them tomorrow as our jerseys.”

Pink is nationally recognized as a symbol of breast cancer, and teal is used to symbolize ovarian cancer.

Gabriele says she has played lacrosse with Golod since they were about 8 years old.

While her friend’s mother battled breast cancer many years ago, Gabriele’s experience with the disease has been more recent.Muhlenberg Women's Lacrosse

Her mother was first diagnosed at the end of her freshman year at Muhlenberg and was re-diagnosed again this fall. She is almost done with her chemo treatments this time around.

“It’s kind of been an ongoing thing since I’ve been in college,” stated Gabriele of her mother’s illness. “It’s tough, but she’s really strong and doesn’t give up. She’s totally a fighter and has that go-getter attitude.”

The lacrosse team, especially the senior class, has been a support system for Gabriele throughout the years.

“They’re my best friends, so I’m always around them and able to talk to them about it.

“We’ve done Relay For Life the past three years, so we’re always doing something to raise money for cancer,” she recalled. “But this year I wanted to do something more related to what I’ve gone through. So organizing this game, especially with one of my best friends from home, was a perfect way to do that.”

Although it’s been harder for her mother to come to games since being diagnosed again, especially with all the cold weather, she has still been able to come to many Ali Gabrielehome games, even if she has to watch them from inside the Life Sports Center.

“She just really wants to be here,” said Gabriele.

And she will be here tomorrow, along with Gabriele’s father, for the game that will honor her battle with cancer and help raise awareness and support for others who are going through the same battle. Golod’s parents will also be in attendance.

As the mothers, who Gabriele says are “pretty good friends,” cheer for their daughters’ teams tomorrow, they will know that this special game was organized by two best friends – although those friends will be rivals for 60 minutes.

“I always really want to win this game against Dickinson because I want to beat her,” said Gabriele. “She’s beaten us the last three years, so I really want to win this year.”

Special Swishes

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Members of the Muhlenberg men’s and women’s basketball teams stepped onto the court last Wednesday as they have hundreds of times in their careers. This time, however, it wasn’t with the goal of defeating an opponent – it was to run a practice for Kate Clawsontheir favorite sport with Special Olympics athletes from the Lehigh Valley.

This is the second year in a row that the team has participated in the event, which is held at Trexler Middle School.

“The Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) wanted to do more stuff with the Special Olympics this year,” said senior Kate Clawson, who is a committee member. “We helped them organize the Lehigh Valley Polar Bear Plunge and wanted to continue our involvement with the organization.”

The Polar Bear Plunge, held in January, benefitted Special Olympics Pennsylvania, and many of the organization’s members participated in it.

Clawson, who interned for Special Olympics in her home state of Connecticut last summer, helped plan the basketball practice, and at the same time, got to be an active participant.

The players started off by leading the Special Olympics athletes through a series of Austin Currywarmups. Once they were ready to go, the athletes participated in a defensive stance drill where they had to smack the floor and get into position before shuffling left and right.

Fullcourt layups (righty and lefty!) were next, followed by three different work stations.

At one station, Clawson, juniors Austin Curry and Kevin Hargrove and sophomore Special OlympicsHannah Rush instructed the athletes on how to defend the dribble. At another, sophomores Abby Stenger and Malique Killing and freshmen Nick Melosky and Ryan Marchetti ran the athletes through series of ballhandling and dribbling drills. At the third station, senior Julie Kelly, sophomores Nicole Pepe and Jesse Lerner and freshman Alec Stavetski helped the players shoot from different spots on the floor.

At the end of the evening, men’s assistant coach Marqus Hunter gave away Muhlenberg bracelets to the athletes who correctly answered various basketball trivia questions. But they didn’t just have to answer the questions correctly, they had to make a shot before receiving their prize!

“The best part is just getting to come hang out with these athletes” added Clawson. “It’s so nice to work with them – they’re just so happy doing the little things. It really makes you appreciate your life and what you have.Special Olympics

“We’re Division III basketball teams so it’s not like we are heroes to everyone, but it’s so cool that they all look up to us so much.”

BaseBald

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There was a buzz around Cedarcreek Field following Muhlenberg’s baseball doubleheader against McDaniel on Saturday.

The buzz had nothing to do with baseball – it was the buzzing of clippers shaving the heads of Muhlenberg players and coaches.

Twenty-three Mules gave up some or all of their hair in support of the Vs. Cancer Foundation.

Founded by Chase Jones, who was diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer as a freshman baseball player at the University of North Carolina, the Vs. Cancer Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving kids’ lives by empowering athletes and communities to fund lifesaving childhood cancer efforts.

Through an online pledge form and e-mails to family, friends and friends of family, Muhlenberg raised nearly $8,000 – more than Division I teams Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee combined.

“I think that’s amazing,” said junior outfielder Tyler Latrenta. “We really rallied behind it.”

The Mules were first approached about the cause in early February. First-year head coach Tod Gross knew about Vs. Cancer from having coached at Davidson College in North Carolina, the state in which the organization is based. Assistant coach Jon Baltz and senior co-captain Tim Velys put in considerable effort as the Mule liaisons with Vs. Cancer.

A portion of the money raised by the Mules went to the Lehigh Valley Health Network to help children battling cancer in Muhlenberg’s neighborhood.

It was not difficult to convince the team members to support children with cancer. Getting their heads shaved … that was a different story for some.

“I heard it from both sides – shave it, don’t shave it,” said Latrenta, who had not gotten a haircut since October and sported nice curly locks beneath his hat until Saturday. “My mom wanted my hair gone, but my baseball team wanted me to keep it. They said it looked too good to chop off.

“I came in freshman year with my hair like this and I promised I’d never have it like that again. So I guess I went back on my promise, but I HAD to do it,” he added. “It was for such a good cause to help out kids who don’t have it as lucky as we have it. It will grow back. It might take a while, but it will grow back.”

In the four days since getting his head shaved, Latrenta has found that it’s easier to get ready in the morning and harder to get noticed by non-teammates.

“I’m not getting many reactions [to the haircut] because most people don’t recognize me!” he joked.

Jones himself made the trip up from Raleigh to help with the postgame trimmings and talk to the team about his history and the mission of the organization he founded, which helped put an extremely positive end to what otherwise would have been an disappointing day.

“To be able to do it as a team on the field, especially after two tough losses, was really rewarding,” said Latrenta. “It was an honor to be a part of it.”

For more information, please visit vs-cancer.org.