Ten standout student-athletes from Occidental’s Class of 2023 discuss the challenges and rewards of sticking with their sport through the pandemic
23岁的爵士亨利第一次参加了有组织的足球比赛 等他能走路的时候. “我来自一个足球大家庭, 我父母马上把我安排进了当地的游艺队,亨利解释道。, 来自拉古纳尼古尔的城市与环境政策专业. “从那以后，我再也没有停止过.”
It would take a pandemic to interrupt Henry’s game—and for him and hundreds of other student-athletes at Occidental, COVID-19就是这样做的. Because soccer is a fall sport at the College, Henry missed only one season of play. 但是对于春季运动队来说——棒球, 垒球, 高尔夫球, 长曲棍球, 网球, 田径, and water polo—Division III competition ground to a halt in mid-March 2020, 抹去了近两年的活动.
作为2023届的毕业生, we asked 10 outstanding Tigers to reflect on their experiences as student-athletes—the interruption of the pandemic, 对返回行动的期待, 以及他们在过去四年中所经历的欢腾.
In March 2020, COVID-19 shut down the spring sports season at the College. 你当时的反应是什么?
Tye Hernandez ’23 (田径), an economics/politics double major from Brea: I was really shocked and disappointed to have my season and first-year experience on campus cut short. I vividly remember having a track meet over spring break at Whittier College and getting the unfortunate news that our season was canceled a few days later.
来自圣地亚哥的生物化学专业学生乔纳森·马歇尔(棒球): I felt a plethora of emotions—mainly sadness for our seniors who had an abrupt end to their careers, and anger because I felt like I was just finding my stride on the field and I wanted to continue to develop as a player.
Because of delays, the De Mandel Aquatics Center didn’t open before COVID shut down the campus. 你当时是什么感觉?
23岁的香奈儿·吴(游泳和潜水)，檀香山心理学专业的学生: It was frustrating to hear that we could not train or compete in the new pool. 泰勒池(我们叫它泰勒池, Taylor Pond) made it difficult for the entire team to practice together, 因此，团队急于在新水池中进行突破.
23岁的Kayla Lin(水球)，来自帕洛阿尔托的生物学专业学生: 我们最后一场比赛是在雷德兰兹打的, where we weren’t even allowed to shake hands before or after the game but still played full contact. It was emotional because we were hearing about schools shutting down and we knew that we were probably next.
Thomas Hoffman ’23 (swimming and diving), a philosophy major from Camarillo 我记得当时我很沮丧. 我们都很兴奋能利用这个新空间, and I was looking forward to having more lanes for practice and seeing what positive impacts the new pool would have on the team. Once we got sent home, I became unsure if and when I would get the chance to swim in it.
Keegan Klein ’23 (water polo), a biochemistry major from Bellevue, Wash.: I personally took the shutdown as another challenge because it tested my relationship with the sport due to a lot of pool closures and so much separation from my teammates.
在那遥远的一年里，你做了什么来保持比赛状态?
凯尔·多萨23岁(篮球)，来自查茨沃斯的运动机能学专业学生: 在洛杉矶，一切都被关闭了. I would go to a local park and shoot on the outdoor courts; my mom would rebound for me so I could get more reps in. 我哥哥和我在车库里放了一些重物, 所以我每周都举重以保持体力.
Sarah Fleming ’23 (网球), a media arts and culture major from Grand Junction, 科罗拉多州.: 2020年秋季学期, 当课程在网上时, 考特尼·萨克顿，23岁, 露西·史蒂文森23岁, 和我一起住在韦尔的一个网球俱乐部附近, 科罗拉多州. It was surprisingly cheap because it was the off-season and not many people were 旅行. We could stick to ourselves, do online classes in the condo, and go on hikes outside. Courtney, who also is on the 网球 team, and I were able to practice together at the courts.
滑雪者把我们赶出去后，我们决定跟着“淡季”走.” For the spring 2021 semester, we found an extended rental in Hilton Head, S.C. Courtney and I practiced at Van Der Meer Tennis Academy the whole semester. 和我的媒体艺术和文化专业一致, 我在学院做过媒体实习, 拍摄照片并协助营销. 作为回报，他们慷慨地允许我免费在那里练习.
亨利: 经常跑步. My family lived in an apartment complex at the beginning of the pandemic so I would run the stairs of the building. I would also go to the top of the parking garage and pass the ball around with my brother, 因为那里不会有汽车. 我也喜欢一大早在外面跑步. 这确实很艰难，但我成功了.
随着疫情的缓解, I was able to live on campus and train with my teammates who were living in the area. 很高兴见到这些家伙，和他们一起训练. After we got the confirmation that we would have a season, training was all that was on our minds.
疫情过后重返游戏是什么感觉?
马歇尔: 那是一种奇妙的感觉. I felt like during the pandemic I had developed into a better player and I was excited to put on the orange and black again and get back onto the field with my friends. 这有点奇怪, missing a lot of the familiar faces and essentially two freshman classes, 大一和大二的时候(他们第一次在赛场上), 但是回到我的家乡和我的朋友们在一起是很有趣的.
Dosa医生: 起初，这很奇怪. 我一生中大部分时间都在打篮球, 所以我不习惯长时间的打扰. I then felt excited and grateful to be back practicing and seeing my teammates.
埃尔南德斯: There was an added layer of gratitude and excitement to finally compete again. 和我的朋友们在一起的感觉真好. It made training easier and enabled all the moments spent with your team eating, 旅行, 一起举起.
来自伊利诺伊州格伦维尤(Glenview)的23岁学生卡拉·贝卡斯(Cara Bekas)主修运动机能学.: 这确实很奇怪. I went from being a first-year who had never started and played maybe five games to being a junior and starting every game of the season. It was a really big adjustment trying to fit into the role I had back on campus compared to when I had left.
亨利: 球队中有一半是新人，从未在大学里打过球, and my classmates and I went from being first-years to juniors so quickly. 这带来了很多期望. A lot more leadership and responsibility was expected from the upperclassmen, 但是很多人站出来了. We had a great group of senior leaders that helped cultivate a strong team culture.
那个赛季有很多不同的事情, 还有:COVID恐慌, 每周一次的测试, 客场比赛时不能使用更衣室. 这与covid之前和我的大四赛季有很多不同, but being on the field and having a season again was one of the best feelings ever. 它也确实帮助我重新回到学校.
弗莱明: It was tough at first, because so many of us hadn’t played organized 网球 for over a year. 用赌注来玩真正的比赛是不一样的! 回到队友身边感觉很棒, 虽然一半的队员(所有的低年级学生)对我来说都是新面孔. We did a lot of team bonding early on to get to know each other quickly.
回到赛场，回到新的泳池，感觉如何?
Hoffman: 一开始回来很奇怪. 休息了这么长时间，又回到了新地方, 一个新团队, 当然是一种调整. 然而, 我的队友们帮助我顺利过渡, and helped me to get my bearings quickly as we geared up for the season. 对我们所有人来说，这个赛季充满了挑战. 结果并不像我们所希望的那样, but I think coming back after the pandemic and competing is an accomplishment itself.
克莱因: Coming back to play in the new pool with everyone I knew was one of the best choices I have ever made because it relit a new sense of competition in me. It was definitely interesting getting back into it with all the new guidelines that were being put up, and I definitely struggled with finding that sports-academic balance in my life but eventually got back into the swing of things.
Ng: I was excited to return to Oxy at the start of my junior year because I had not seen the campus or my teammates for 1½ years, 所以我准备和他们一起在我们的新泳池开始一个新赛季. 团队中有一半是新人, so it was especially fun to take on a leadership position and guide them through challenges in and out of the pool. I was also nervous to return to competition because I didn’t consistently train during the lockdown, so I had no idea if I could live up to the expectations I had set for my return to swimming.
林: 我觉得自己像一匹咬着嚼子的马. 我很兴奋，准备回到水里, 特别是因为水球, 成为一项体育运动, 有很多限制吗. Not being able to be physically active in the way that I have for more than over half my life, 成为水, 它让我更加珍惜我所拥有的. The pool was amazing; it was exciting to be able to use that facility. 我们几乎去了家里所有的男子团体比赛, 站在看台上, 观看比赛, 就像, “OK, 什么时候轮到我?”
Is there a game or moment that stands out in your Oxy athletics experience?
马歇尔: 我印象最深刻的一款游戏是Whittier大学的一年级游戏. That was the game where I recorded my first collegiate hit, a double down the line. 我记得看到我的父母在看台上站起来欢呼, 我的队友在教练席上为我加油.
Dosa医生: 在我的第一年，我们在毕业之夜主场打波莫纳-皮策队. 进入游戏, the Sagehens were undefeated in conference play and we ended up winning in front of a packed, 支持的人群. I made some key shots in the game and provided valuable minutes as a first-year.
埃尔南德斯: 在我大三的决赛中, 我参加了几场比赛, 但我的400栏决赛是特别的. 这次比赛八名选手中有五名服用了奥施康定. Our team dominated this event, and everyone finished with a personal best. Crossing the finish line and sweeping the podium alongside my teammates was a moment I will never forget.
亨利: 我将永远记得我的第一次首发和进球. For the team, though, I think about beating Pomona 2-1 for our 首页coming match in 2021. 这是我们球队最好的表现之一，球迷们都很兴奋.
在2022年秋天，我们经历了一个惊人的季节. We made it to the conference final for only the second time in program history. 在那场比赛之前，对波莫纳的半决赛是疯狂的. 差不多有3个,700人出席, 在主场观众面前获胜进入决赛是令人兴奋的. I remember getting food with some of my teammates at a local restaurant afterward and having the workers there congratulating us and saying they had gone to the game.
贝卡: The most memorable one was when I scored my first collegiate goal as a first-year. 我们在雷德兰兹打了一场夜场，我打了个空位球. Second to that would probably be my first collegiate start against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in our season and home opener in 2022.
弗莱明: When Andei Fukushige ’23 and I won the doubles consolation finals at the Fall 2022 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Western Championships, 那真是一个有趣的时刻. We had a tough draw in the main bracket and barely lost in a tiebreaker. 我为我们在后场平局中赢得的四场比赛感到骄傲. Andei transferred to Oxy as a junior, so we had only played one season together. Eventually we started to figure each other out and I realized at this ITA we could be a really powerful team.
Ng: A particular moment that stands out for me happened at our conference championship meet during my first year. The last event of the meet was the women’s 400 freestyle relay and I was the anchor of our A team, 这让我很焦虑. I was getting in my head too much, worrying about who was ahead and who was behind me when I swam. 但有一次我从街区向上看, 我看见池塘的另一边有一股橙色的波浪, 喊着我们的名字，做着经典的奥施康定欢呼. The support I felt from my teammates was indescribable and it is still one of my favorite memories.
克莱因: One game that stands out to me was when our team beat Redlands for the first time in almost 50 years last year and we had a huge home crowd to help cheer us on.
林: 我参加了游泳队和跳水队在我的大三和大四, 在两个季节的重叠期, we had our senior swim meet and a water polo double-header on the same day. 所以基本上, 我参加了游泳比赛, 做过两次高级演讲, 开车去南加州大学, 对阵南加州大学和CMS背靠背, 然后和团队一起回家了. Playing against USC was incredible because not only were they the NCAA Division I reigning champions but they also had two Olympians competing on their team. 他们打出了首发阵容, 并没有给我们任何低于他们最好的, 这是值得尊敬的. I also won a couple of 1-on-1 match-ups, which was quite a confidence boost. It was definitely an experience and one that I am very proud that I was able to do and accomplish fully.
Hoffman: Our senior meet against Chapman is my favorite moment of my swimming and diving career. The team performed well and everyone supported each other throughout the meet, 使它成为一个非常特殊的环境. 我们男队最终击败了查普曼，这是锦上添花, 最后的结果还有待决定. 那次比赛是我参加过的最有趣的比赛.
你还有什么要补充的吗?
林: I love my team; we’ve been through a lot over the last couple years. We face the constant hardships of our sport that require a lot physically and mentally, 还要面对外部因素，并能够共同应对. They are probably one of my biggest support systems and I couldn’t imagine myself where I am today if it wasn’t for being on this team. 我的教练, 球员们, 这项运动对我产生了重大影响, 我的身份, and how I can carry myself through the world and for that I am eternally grateful.
亨利: It might sound clichéd, but the moments outside of the game are just as memorable. The funny moments in practice, lift, and the team dinners have always been super special to me. 当我在找大学的时候, 我真的很想踢足球, 接受良好的教育, 来洛杉矶, 奥施康定给了我这一切. 脚趾向下，砰砰!
