{"id":35527,"date":"2017-10-31T11:44:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T15:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=35527"},"modified":"2017-11-03T11:58:42","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T15:58:42","slug":"soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Soccer team&#8217;s seniors raise the bar for athletic and academic excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the field, Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s women\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/emuroyals.com\/sports\/wsoc\/index\">soccer team<\/a> sits tied for seventh in the ODAC standings and will enter the postseason tournament seeded eighth. In the classroom, they stand above 3.0 \u2014 their collective grade point average.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For each of the past four years, the team has earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/10\/soccer-women-earn-repeat-academic-award-nscaa\/\">Team Academic Award<\/a>, a recognition not received in the previous 10 years. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That honor is in large part thanks to the team\u2019s 10 seniors. Coach <a href=\"http:\/\/emuroyals.com\/sports\/wsoc\/coaches\/tederickson?view=bio\">Ted Erickson<\/a> describes them as \u201cextremely strong\u201d in the classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The seniors include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachel Breidigan, a nursing major from Douglassville, Pennsylvania; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mary Deskins, special education, Winchester, Virginia; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sierra Martin, biology, Glenwood Springs, Colorado; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bailey McInnis, liberal arts and psychology, Henrico, Virginia; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sara Shenk Moreno, social work, Harrisonburg, Virginia; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Marcy Smucker, biochemistry, Woodward, Pennsylvania; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rachel Sturm, nursing, Denton, Maryland; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hannah Walker, biology and environmental sustainability, Chesapeake, Virginia; <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amanda Williams, biology and environmental sustainability, Millsboro, Delaware; and <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mikaela Zook, physical education, Millersburg, Indiana.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Manage to arrange a time to sit down and talk with those seniors, and you\u2019ll note their excitement at their rigorous coursework at EMU. You also can\u2019t miss their deep appreciation for EMU \u2014 and their team. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Take Sierra Martin, Marcy Smucker and Rachel Sturm, for three.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Three reflect: \u2018Excel with it\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35531\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35531\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35531\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-004-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-004-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-004-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-004-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35531\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left: Senior soccer players Marcy Smucker, Rachel Sturm and Sierra Martin in a lab in the Suter Science Center. Each is majoring in the sciences. (Photo by Andrew Strack)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After graduating with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/nursing\/\">nursing<\/a> degree and psychology minor, Sturm hopes to pursue a doctorate in nursing and work in labor and delivery. She remembers her first experience in that field, the moment the baby was born. \u201cI was holding the woman\u2019s leg and everyone started crying. I started crying. It was just a new experience of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martin, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/biology\/\">biology<\/a> major in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/pphs\/\">pre-professional health services<\/a> program focusing on physical therapy \u2014 with minors in psychology and neuroscience \u2014 also has her sights on a doctorate, in neurological physical therapy working with Parkinson\u2019s patients and victims of strokes and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smucker is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/chemistry\/biochemistry\">biochemistry<\/a> major in the pre-professional health program with a pre-med focus, and neuroscience and Spanish minors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure what I\u2019ll specialize in,\u201d she said. \u201cI just kind of go with it, figure it out when I get there. A lot of different things excite me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They\u2019ve always known that the academic side of his team\u2019s college life was the priority for Erickson, Sturm said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cTed has definitely been supportive,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re a student first, before you\u2019re an athlete. Schoolwork is first, before soccer\u201d \u2014 even if it meant occasionally missing practice to study.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Older players shared their textbooks with first-years, and there was \u201can atmosphere on the team where if you needed help with your studies, you can get that,\u201d Smucker said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That culture taught its own lessons, too, Sturm said \u2014 to be supportive of teammates and to learn from mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35566\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35566\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/10\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/wsoc-v-sweet-briar-324s\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35566\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35566\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-324S-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-324S-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-324S.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35566\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marcy Smucker handles the ball during a game against Sweet Briar. (Photo by Scott Eyre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI\u2019ve realized that the soccer roles that I\u2019ve been in will help me in nursing,\u201d she said. \u201cLike Ted says, when it\u2019s time to be the star, or step into place, or show up on the field, that\u2019s your time to take that experience and excel with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Pathways to EMU<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even though the rest of her Central Pennsylvania family went to EMU\u2019s midwestern sister Goshen College, Smucker \u201cwasn\u2019t sure I could go somewhere that\u2019s flat,\u201d she said; she loves having the option of trail running in the mountains during the off season. But there were other reasons, too, that she chose EMU. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI enjoy EMU\u2019s very worldly citizen drive for its students,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to soak up all that knowledge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martin grew up in Colorado. Like Smucker, she didn\u2019t want to go somewhere flat, but chose EMU because \u201cin two words: I\u2019m Mennonite,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I wanted to play soccer, which I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do at a bigger school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sturm, also a pole vaulter on the track and field team, is from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Before coming to EMU she didn\u2019t know how much she, too, loves the mountains \u2014 or what a Mennonite was.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35567\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35567\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/10\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/wsoc-v-sweet-briar-794s\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35567\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35567\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-794S-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-794S-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-794S.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35567\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rachel Sturm in the backfield. (Photo by Scott Eyre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWhen I got the free application, I was like, \u2018Why not? It\u2019s free,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cSo I just did it \u2014 and I got accepted. When I came to visit \u2014 I was like, \u2018Why not? I\u2019ll just come visit\u2019 \u2014 I actually fell in love with the campus. My mom and I weren\u2019t expecting that, because I was already almost committed to a different college, to play soccer there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What really clinched the deal for Sturm was that the soccer coach \u2014 then Sue Kolb \u2014 and the track coach stayed in touch with her. \u201cI really liked the personal relationship they had, and the personal relationship here \u2014 and the culture here, and the cultural diversity,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The unexpected change of plans ended up \u201cchanging my whole path of life,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Devotions and connections<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Among teammates is a strong sense of connection, the three seniors said. Case in point: Before home games, team members take turns providing a devotional, with no coaches present.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35565\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35565\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/10\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/wsoc-v-sweet-briar-741s\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35565\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35565\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-741S-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-741S-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/WSOC-v-Sweet-Briar-741S.jpg 610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35565\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sierra Martin against Sweet Briar. (Photo by Scott Eyre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt\u2019s a good time to bond and get ready and come together,\u201d Sturm said, \u201cand to be there for each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That environment has been growing since the start of their college soccer careers. Preseason practices provided a social home base from the first day of their first semester.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPreseason in general is something that I\u2019ll look back on with a combination of love and hate,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIt\u2019s the mutual suffering that helps bond you.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(\u201cMarcy and I didn\u2019t even think we were going to like each other, when we first met,\u201d Martin added. Smucker\u2019s response? \u201cWe\u2019re roommates now\u201d \u2014 \u201cand have been for three years,\u201d finished Martin.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe\u2019ve become family,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cWe have a good communication base as a team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They notice how much they have changed \u2014 and how much the team experience affects members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smucker said that she didn\u2019t talk much as a freshman, and now counts among her \u201cfondest memories\u201d seeing \u201cthe same thing that happened to me happen to other people, except in their own, very special ways. It\u2019s really fun to see them finally come out of their shells and start to get comfortable with the team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As team relationships developed over the last four years, the team grew to more than 30 players this year, which Martin counts as a success in itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cEven though we won\u2019t be here to reap the benefits of that growth later on, it\u2019s exciting to know that we were instrumental in making that happen,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Nostalgia<\/b><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35532\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35532\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/10\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/20171006-womens-soccer-seniors-014-1000px\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-35532\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35532\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-014-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-014-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-014-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2017\/10\/20171006-Womens-Soccer-Seniors-014-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35532\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marcy Smucker, Rachel Sturm and Sierra Martin pose with a model of the brain in the Suter Science Center. (Photo by Andrew Strack)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the season about to wrap up, the time has come for nostalgia. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe emotional space that I have for soccer hasn\u2019t changed. I still love it and enjoy it as much as I did,\u201d said Sierra Martin. \u201cBut the mental space that I have for it has been forced to decrease and be reallocated to other things that have moved into that space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a sentiment mirrored by Smucker and Sturm. Since childhood, soccer has been a big part of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe have a lot of memories growing up with that, attached to family and everything,\u201d Smucker said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big deal whenever parents come to games. Definitely going to miss that. But it\u2019s also going to be time. I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sturm said that while she\u2019s put herself wholeheartedly into her sports, she is \u201crealizing that the \u2018best you can be\u2019 can be in multiple, different paths.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During their time at EMU, these three and their seven fellow seniors have carried influence on the team, said Erickson. Though the team may be losing its ten seniors this year, their legacy will stick around. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since their first year, he said, when they entered a program that had only seven returning players, they have \u201cpushed through high times and low times. They reawakened an old tradition of academic excellence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThis group has a special place in my heart,\u201d he added. \u201cThey are the reason this program has grown to its current level. Each of these young women will be able to leave knowing that they have left this program in a better place than what they walked into, and we will be able to see their success continue onto their next playing field, their professions and future families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the field, Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team sits tied for seventh in the ODAC standings and will enter the postseason tournament seeded eighth. In the classroom, they stand <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Soccer team&#8217;s seniors raise the bar for athletic and academic excellence<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":35528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5590,14715,17562,356,5600,5733,12579,5603,4513,14139,5720],"tags":[8738],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-35527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology","category-campus-life","category-digest","category-language-and-literature","category-nursing","category-outdoor-track","category-pre-professional-health","category-psychology","category-student-life","category-student-profiles","category-womens-soccer","tag-ted-erickson","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Soccer team&#039;s seniors raise the bar for athletic and academic excellence - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/soccer-teams-10-seniors-raise-bar-athletic-academic-excellence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soccer team&#039;s seniors raise the bar for athletic and academic excellence - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the field, Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team sits tied for seventh in the ODAC standings and will enter the postseason tournament seeded eighth. 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