蓝莓视频鈥檚 annual Winter Weekend is a great time to do two things 鈥 reminisce and compete.
Naturally, the College recognizes some of its greatest student-athletes during the Hall of Fame ceremony, but this February, the 1989 women鈥檚 soccer team was also honored for winning the first and only Ohio Athletic Conference championship in program history.
鈥淚 was only a small [part] of it, but the humility that these players have and the character they possess is just unbelievable,鈥 said former coach Toni Roesch, who returned to Marietta for the celebration. 鈥淭hey bought into winning. To have the work ethic and to buy in and to have the pride that 鈥榃e are Marietta.鈥 These kids wanted to win.鈥
Both the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 basketball teams won their respective games over Ohio Northern, but the competition in the alumni games was equally impressive.
The weekend kicked off with a History of Women鈥檚 Sports with former coaches and players speaking to about 50 people.
Pictured left to right
Douglas G. Huffman '92 鈥 Baseball
鈥淲hen [Coach Brian Brewer] told me they were putting me in the Hall of Fame, my first words were, 鈥楢re you kidding me?鈥 He said, 鈥榊eah, I鈥檓 kidding you, Doug.鈥 It went on for a little bit, and I didn鈥檛 know if I could believe him. 鈥 Then he had a moment where he got real sincere and said, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 being honest.鈥欌
Amanda M. Carraher 鈥09 鈥 Basketball/Tennis
鈥淏eing here taught me what it meant to work really hard. I didn鈥檛 really have much of an offseason, so I think that extra time that was put into being in the library and being in the weight room pushed me the extra limit.鈥
Alan P. Varrasso 鈥96 鈥 Football
鈥淭here were a lot of blue-collar kids that played on [the 1995 team], and there was a coach [Gene Epley] who was extremely inspirational. The way we played was much different than the other OAC schools. We played with a chip on our shoulders.鈥
Jennifer R. Tinkler 鈥97 鈥 Softball
鈥淏eing part of the first women鈥檚 team to move on to the [NCAA] regional tournament was probably my best moment here.鈥
Michael R. Eisenberg 鈥09 鈥 Baseball
鈥淓very day, I knew I was in the right place because there are a lot of colleges you can go to as an athlete where [athletics] is the last priority. 鈥 To come somewhere that took baseball seriously was one of the best decisions I could have made.鈥
> The 1989 Women's Soccer Team (in attendance):
Leah Gruczkowski Holland 鈥93
Traci Hart 鈥92
Jennifer Hamilton Rothbauer 鈥92
Jill Karlak Miles 鈥93
Carolyn Farry Melchionna 鈥91
Karen Nelson 鈥90
Kerry Gilligan O鈥橠onnell 鈥90
Coach Toni Roesch (not pictured)