March 28, 2003

Photo by BLADEN FINCH Sophomore Meghan Pannenbacker uses her defensive skills to force her Frostburg State University opponent out of bounds.

The Lady Marlins started their season Mar. 5 hosting the defending ODAC champions, Randolph-Macon College. “I think that hurt us mentally,” said Women’s Lacrosse Head Coach Kim-Michael Mertes. “It would have been nice to play another team before Macon.” The Lady Marlins lost to the Yellow Jackets 10-8. Freshman Laura Wallace led the team with five goals. Sophomore Megan Parris scored two goals as sophomore Kristin Cabido recorded one. At the time of the game, Wallace had scored the second highest number of goals for a freshman had scored. “Laura Wallace has been practicing well all fall and spring,” said Mertes. “Five goals is a team thing. It is an individual accomplishment though a team effort.”

The Lady Marlins defeated Frostburg State University on Mar. 8, 12-11. With 3:18 left in the game, the Lady Marlins were down by five goals. However, they came back and scored the final six goals of the game to win. Attributing to the win was junior goalie Margie Baker, who set a record 21 saves in the loss to Randolph-Macon. Baker made two crucial saves with 34 seconds left to preserve the win. “She stepped up and worked hard to learn the position,” said junior Anne Marie Nash. “She may be the goalie for the hockey team, but she has never been a lax goalie.”

Following the Frostburg State game, the Lady Marlins had a 10-day hiatus before returning to any game action due to rescheduling. “I think it worked to our benefit,” said Mertes. “We were able to work on the fundamentals that we were lacking.” The Marlins returned to the field on Mar. 15 at Roanoke College. They lost the game Roanoke 12-8. Parris paced the Lady Marlins scoring four goals. Wallace contributed three goals and Nash had one. “Roanoke was a tough game,” said Mertes. “We really wanted to win. We played with intensity, but let down for five minutes and Roanoke took advantage of it.”

The Marlins had a record-setting day when they took on Hollins University Mar. 16. The Lady Marlins defeated Hollins 27-4. The entire team set a new record by scoring 27 goals. That was the most goals scored by the Lady Marlins in one game. Nash, scored a game high 11 goals, and surpassed Meagan DiCave’s previous school record of eight. Wallace, who came close to setting a record earlier in the season, became the all-time first-year scoring leader by scoring seven goals. A number of Lady Marlins contributed to the scoring. They include sophomore Meghan Pannenbacker with three goals and junior Summer Foster with two. Freshman Amy Clark, junior Gayla Dalrymple-Smith, sophomore Jess Williams and Cabido each added one. “I’m very proud,” said Mertes. “Hollins had a pressure defense. I told the team to beat them one-on-one and then go to goal.” The Lady Marlins played Christopher Newport University on Mar. 19. Throughout most of the game, CNU controlled the tempo.

“We were down 8-5 with 3:00 left,” said Mertes. “I called a time-out with 3:00 left. That’s when I told them about the next day’s practice and went over a few things.” Wallace started the comeback by scoring with 2:38 left in the game. Within the final minute of the game, Nash and Parris brought the Lady Marlins closer to CNU. Clark’s goal, assisted by Nash, put the Lady Marlins on top. “Ann Marie had a 1-v-1,” said Mertes. “I was telling her to shoot, but she saw Amy Clark at the top of the cage and Amy put it in. I’m sure the girls were like ‘thank god’ because they were fearing practice the next day.” The Lady Marlins came out on top, with a final box score of 9-8.

The Lady Marlins hosted Lynchburg College on Mar. 22. Wallace scored four goals, including the game winner, to pace the Lady Marlins to their 10-9 overtime win. Parris and Nash each contributed three goals while Baker recorded 19 saves. The Lady Marlins’ next game is on Mar. 29 at 1 p.m. against Guilford College.

The tennis team’s secret weapon

By GAYLA DALRYMPLE-SMITH

Photo by BEN RUEHLMANN Junior Elainie Martin prepares to receive the ball from one of her teammates at practice.

With four out of nine games postponed due to bad weather, the women’s tennis team is anxious as they travel to the 11th ranked Randolph Macon, scheduled for Mar. 26. Expectations are high, after the Lady Marlins win against Shenandoah University 6-3. The Marlins are quickly beginning to show their secret weapon for the season. Kerstin Ringelhan, a junior from Berlin, Germany is showing up more in the news releases and statistics as she has improved her individual record to 1-2 and her doubles record to 2-2 with partner, Jessica Hatch, senior and captain. “There’s been no preseason injuries, so everyone’s healthy and has a really positive outlook, which makes the season look really good,” said Ringelhan.

Not expected to stay past the fall semester, Ringelhan made the decision before she left Germany for the exchange program that she was interested in playing tennis for the Marlins. Influencing her choice to attend for one more semester before leaving to return home, she has found many close friendships, which was one of her goals of participating in the collegiate sport. “I thought that coming to the states would be very hard,” Ringelhan said. “So if I got involved with tennis, it would be easier for me to find friends and meet people than if I just came to go to school.”

Taking interest in the sport at age 14, Ringelhan comes from a family where tennis is a lifestyle. Her parents and 20-year-old brother have played all their lives. “We don’t have athletic teams in school, because that is for our education, not to play sports,” said Ringelhan. “Everyone plays for country clubs and has matches between different clubs and one another.”

Playing for a team for the first time at 16, she has grown up around the sport and finds it hard to not incorporate it in her lifestyle, even when she left to live in a different country for a year. After completing 13 years in grade school and then two years at a university in Germany, Ringelhan decided to take after her brother and complete a year in the United States through the foreign exchange program. “As soon as my brother got back from his year in the States, I left and came here,” she said. “It’s as though we were replacing one another to make it easier for our parents.” After leaving a university made up of over 40,000 students, Wesleyan had what it took to attract Ringelhan: a small environment.

“I thought it would be easier to meet people in a smaller setting, which I saw to be my biggest fear of coming to the States,” Ringelhan said. Ringelhan gave Washington and Lee University’s Lindsey Hagerman, a nationally ranked player, quite a competitive match Mar. 1. Though Ringelhan lost 6-3, 6-0 against Hagerman, she got the conference’s attention. “Considering we played the two top teams, Hollins and Washington and Lee, we have done well,” Ringelhan said. “We can now focus on defending the easier teams and working on our play in preparing to face those two teams again.”

With a ratio of 500 in doubles of 2-2, Hatch and Ringelhan are expected to contribute to a successful season. “We both keep each other up,” said Hatch. “We have different skills that accent one another and help to bring out the best in our time of play. We communicate and get along really well with one another, which really helps when we are playing.” Not only does Ringelhan have a love for the sport of tennis but for athletics in general. “I love to play sports, especially squash and badminton,” she said. “I know that’s bad for my tennis skills, but I don’t care, I love playing them.”

With plenty of support from her family in Germany, Ringelhan keeps in close contact with them by e-mail and instant messenger. “They always look on the Internet to find out how my matches have gone to keep track of me,” she said. With a major in English, she plans on finishing her last year at Wesleyan and graduating in Berlin after she leaves the states in May. “There’s really good jobs for teachers in Germany that pay much better than teacher positions here,” Ringelhan said. “So I plan to stay there after graduation and start looking for a job as an English teacher.” Ringelhan has few regrets. “I just wish I could have traveled and experienced more,” she said. “It’s hard when playing a sport because it takes up so much of your time. I wanted to see more of the States while I had the opportunity of being here.” Look for the results of Ringelhan and the rest of her teammates throughout the season.

Meet the Captains

2003 men’s lacrosse

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