University of Minnesota Athletics
And Then There Were Seven...Minnesota's Softball Seniors
5/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Those were the words senior Veronica Roberts used to describe her first meeting with fellow classmates Angie Recknor and Allie Fisk. It seemed like an immediate connection. A few days later, Shelly Nichols arrived.
And then there were four.
Recknor, Fisk, Nichols and Roberts were immediately thrown into the mix together. Recknor and Fisk had already played on a summer team together, and since they lived so close to each other, they began to hang out during the summer before their freshman year. Nichols and Roberts needed a little help getting settled before school started, so Recknor and Fisk were there to be their hosts.
"I remember staying at Angie's house. The first night she showed me all her trophies and all the softball videos she had," Nichols described.
Evidently, it is very important to prove to your peers that you belong. One afternoon during the week before the fall of their freshmen year, the four of them decided to head out to a local high school field to get in a little practice. Recknor and Nichols describe the eagerness of the group to demonstrate their skills.
"We all immediately went to the positions that we played in high school like they were ours," Recknor said. "It was really funny because we were all trying to show off to each other. We were diving like crazy and throwing the ball as hard as we could."
"It was like `battle of the bands' out there," Nichols said. We just killed each other! I pulled my shoulder out of my socket because I was trying to hit the ball so hard." "I was thinking, `This is what Division I college athletics is all about.'"
It is easy to see that the four of them were drawn together by the same desire.to play softball at the collegiate level. And play it well.
There were other incoming freshmen that year, but in the case of many teams, players come and go. Recknor, Fisk, Nichols and Roberts stayed with the team all four years.
Cut to sophomore year. Anne Thul joined the team in the fall as a transfer from Arizona State. Her entrance into the program was eased by a previous connection to Fisk and Recknor from a summer ball team. It seemed only natural for Thul to be there.
"I didn't feel like a newcomer. I just felt a part of the team," Thul said. "I kind of jumped in without skipping a beat."
Although it felt normal to be a part of the team, the first day was rough. "My first meeting with the whole team was `Let's run 15 80s' (15 80- yard sprints with each sprint being under 15 seconds). I made it through all of them with having two sprints over 15 seconds," Thul described. "I could barely walk. I went home and drank a gallon of water, had 15 cookies and thought to myself, `What have I gotten into?'"
And then there were five.
Jordanne Nygren had already been on the team for two years before she joined the class of 2003. She moved home after her sophomore year, but later returned to join the Golden Gophers during the spring of what would have been her junior year. She redshirted and got tossed in with Recknor, Fisk, Thul, Nichols and Roberts. She always seemed to get along well with the teammates a year younger than her and she didn't feel it was a big deal to be a part of their group. She was already rooming with Recknor, so their strong connection had already been made.
"I had no worries about fitting into the group," Nygren said. "They would either love me or not, either embrace me or not."
And then there were six.
Enter myself, Andrea Smith. I transferred to Minnesota after two years out east. Instead of playing, I decided to manage the team. I soon learned, however, I wanted to be a part of the team as a player. This year, I was given that opportunity. Although I have another year left of eligibility, I have decided to leave Minnesota softball with this group. I have a connection that reaches further back than anyone else on the team. Recknor and I have been very good friends since the seventh grade. So, I have decided to end my softball career with the person with which it began. All of a sudden, I go from junior to senior.
And then there were seven.
Seven seniors. That's a lot of seniors. Each one has a story to tell and each one brings to the team some part of themselves.
Allie Fisk came to the `U' from Orono, Minn., for an experience. She played hockey, softball and tennis (she was very quick to mention) in high school. She chose softball because she just could not imagine not playing softball in college.
"I was given a great opportunity, so I decided to take advantage of it," Fisk said.
Fisk started out as a quiet member, but then exploded into a wise- cracking funny girl.
"Allie is like the quiet comic relief," Nichols said. "She is so realistic with her humor. She just has this sarcastic tone."
Fisk brings the team a sense of perspective, and she uses humor as way to relax people into not taking things so seriously.
Veronica Roberts is from San Diego, Calif., and has lived and breathed softball all her life. She has always pushed herself to do her best. She expects herself to succeed. She expects nothing less. Minnesota became her choice because she fit in well and thought highly of the team.
"I really liked everyone," Roberts stated. "We all got along pretty well from the beginning. I felt comfortable coming here."
Roberts is also very meticulous about doing things right. She plans everything out to make sure she doesn't miss anything, and that spills over to the team.
"Veronica helps us to keep things on track," Nygren said. "She makes sure we get things done."
In case the team gets too far off track, Roberts is there to pull everyone back.
Anne Thul transferred to Minnesota from Arizona State, partly because she didn't feel like she got respect from the Sun Devil program. She is from St. Francis, Minn., and she went to Arizona State in order to find out if she could make it in a part of the country that has been considered the epitome of college softball. She wanted to see if she could achieve what she thought was her dream at the time. Here at Minnesota, she fits in well, and she also makes sure that everyone is treated as a true member of the team. She has always had an open-door policy that makes it possible for anyone to be a part of any sort of function in or outside of softball. She doesn't like it when people aren't treated fairly.
"When you're disrespecting somebody, she'll let you know it," Nichols said. "She just keeps people in check."
Thul is constantly looking out for everyone on the team, and always tries to keep the team's best interest as a whole in mind.
Shelly Nichols was looking for a new experience. She made her decision to come to Minnesota from Austin, Texas to find a new outlook on life. She also brought some of her own outlook with her. Nichols is not a worrier. She is the calming presence that doesn't allow for panic.
As Nygren said, "Shelly could have a 15-page paper due tomorrow that she hasn't started on and will just say, `Well I guess I better get started.' Nothing to her is a worry."
Nichols is a rock. She doesn't waiver one way or the other in any situation. She is constantly thinking strategy.
"I am always learning from Shelly," Thul said. "She is always thinking the game. She is very good at bringing up certain situations for people to think about."
Nichols is consistent in a way that she gets people to believe that there is always a solution, and that nothing is impossible.
Jordanne Nygren hails from Farmington, N.M. She has an unbelievable presence both on and off the field. She is the type of person to actually come out and say what everyone is thinking. She enjoys being the center of attention and has the power to entertain. The story goes that when Nygren opened her collegiate career with home runs in her first two at bats, she was caught dancing on the Jumbotron at the Metrodome. As her teammates looked on, they saw Nygren off by herself, down the line, enjoying every piece of her new career. Don't be fooled, Nygren knew she was good, but she didn't understand it.
Her coach, Julie Standering described Nygren's demeanor after her second home run. "As she rounded third, I saw her shoulders come up with her arms out and she said `Are you kidding me? Is this real? This is easy!'"
That is how Nygren is. She can marvel at her own ability, but at the same time she can truly appreciate how gifted she is. Her teammates look at her and aspire to be great.
Minnetonka, Minn., native Angie Recknor was a Golden Gopher in her heart from the very beginning of her softball days. I have known her since she started pitching, and I have never known anyone who went after their dream the way Recknor did. In junior high, Recknor went and pitched with the high school pitcher practically every day at 6 a.m. For a 13-year- old, that takes dedication. She has always aspired to be the best, and she knew she had to work for it. Recknor is also a very outgoing person, who is never afraid to speak her mind. She is very realistic.
"Angie is like the logical one," Nygren said. "She is always there to make sure that things make sense."
Recknor helps people to understand things on a simple level so that people don't make things too complicated.
How would I, Andrea Smith, be described? It is hard to say. I am from Golden Valley, Minn., spent two years playing at Rhode Island and came into this program having an idea of what college softball was about. However, I was so blown away with how much I didn't know that I stayed pretty quiet. I have always tried to encourage everyone as best I could. I feel as though I have brought dedication and hard work, but I am not sure how much of a lasting impression I have made. However, the impression that has been bestowed upon me from only one year of experience playing at Minnesota will last me a lifetime.
As we focus on our seniors, we are given a chance to look back at some people and reflect on where they came from and who they are. Each member of the 2003 senior class has brought a piece of themselves and shared it with the Minnesota softball community. Each senior is different in her own way, and somehow the different personalities have been able to gel and work together with each other. When things get too serious, Fisk is there to provide some relief, and when things seem out of whack, Roberts is able to pull it together. Thul is there to help keep team unity, to make sure everyone is included. When it is time to talk softball, and focus in on the fundamentals, Nichols is the one. Nygren is always there for inspiration. At the times when the team needs to step back, and think things through, Recknor will have the answer. And me? Well, I will always be there for support.
Written by Softball Student-Athlete and Media Relations Student Assistant Andrea Smith. (Comments are welcomed at kurtt003@umn.edu) "I didn't know what they looked like, but I knew it was them."
Those were the words senior Veronica Roberts used to describe her first meeting with fellow classmates Angie Recknor and Allie Fisk. It seemed like an immediate connection. A few days later, Shelly Nichols arrived.
And then there were four.
Recknor, Fisk, Nichols and Roberts were immediately thrown into the mix together. Recknor and Fisk had already played on a summer team together, and since they lived so close to each other, they began to hang out during the summer before their freshman year. Nichols and Roberts needed a little help getting settled before school started, so Recknor and Fisk were there to be their hosts.
"I remember staying at Angie's house. The first night she showed me all her trophies and all the softball videos she had," Nichols described.
Evidently, it is very important to prove to your peers that you belong. One afternoon during the week before the fall of their freshmen year, the four of them decided to head out to a local high school field to get in a little practice. Recknor and Nichols describe the eagerness of the group to demonstrate their skills.
"We all immediately went to the positions that we played in high school like they were ours," Recknor said. "It was really funny because we were all trying to show off to each other. We were diving like crazy and throwing the ball as hard as we could."
"It was like `battle of the bands' out there," Nichols said. We just killed each other! I pulled my shoulder out of my socket because I was trying to hit the ball so hard." "I was thinking, `This is what Division I college athletics is all about.'"
It is easy to see that the four of them were drawn together by the same desire.to play softball at the collegiate level. And play it well.
There were other incoming freshmen that year, but in the case of many teams, players come and go. Recknor, Fisk, Nichols and Roberts stayed with the team all four years.
Cut to sophomore year. Anne Thul joined the team in the fall as a transfer from Arizona State. Her entrance into the program was eased by a previous connection to Fisk and Recknor from a summer ball team. It seemed only natural for Thul to be there.
"I didn't feel like a newcomer. I just felt a part of the team," Thul said. "I kind of jumped in without skipping a beat."
Although it felt normal to be a part of the team, the first day was rough. "My first meeting with the whole team was `Let's run 15 80s' (15 80- yard sprints with each sprint being under 15 seconds). I made it through all of them with having two sprints over 15 seconds," Thul described. "I could barely walk. I went home and drank a gallon of water, had 15 cookies and thought to myself, `What have I gotten into?'"
And then there were five.
Jordanne Nygren had already been on the team for two years before she joined the class of 2003. She moved home after her sophomore year, but later returned to join the Golden Gophers during the spring of what would have been her junior year. She redshirted and got tossed in with Recknor, Fisk, Thul, Nichols and Roberts. She always seemed to get along well with the teammates a year younger than her and she didn't feel it was a big deal to be a part of their group. She was already rooming with Recknor, so their strong connection had already been made.
"I had no worries about fitting into the group," Nygren said. "They would either love me or not, either embrace me or not."
And then there were six.
Enter myself, Andrea Smith. I transferred to Minnesota after two years out east. Instead of playing, I decided to manage the team. I soon learned, however, I wanted to be a part of the team as a player. This year, I was given that opportunity. Although I have another year left of eligibility, I have decided to leave Minnesota softball with this group. I have a connection that reaches further back than anyone else on the team. Recknor and I have been very good friends since the seventh grade. So, I have decided to end my softball career with the person with which it began. All of a sudden, I go from junior to senior.
And then there were seven.
Seven seniors. That's a lot of seniors. Each one has a story to tell and each one brings to the team some part of themselves.
Allie Fisk came to the `U' from Orono, Minn., for an experience. She played hockey, softball and tennis (she was very quick to mention) in high school. She chose softball because she just could not imagine not playing softball in college.
"I was given a great opportunity, so I decided to take advantage of it," Fisk said.
Fisk started out as a quiet member, but then exploded into a wise- cracking funny girl.
"Allie is like the quiet comic relief," Nichols said. "She is so realistic with her humor. She just has this sarcastic tone."
Fisk brings the team a sense of perspective, and she uses humor as way to relax people into not taking things so seriously.
Veronica Roberts is from San Diego, Calif., and has lived and breathed softball all her life. She has always pushed herself to do her best. She expects herself to succeed. She expects nothing less. Minnesota became her choice because she fit in well and thought highly of the team.
"I really liked everyone," Roberts stated. "We all got along pretty well from the beginning. I felt comfortable coming here."
Roberts is also very meticulous about doing things right. She plans everything out to make sure she doesn't miss anything, and that spills over to the team.
"Veronica helps us to keep things on track," Nygren said. "She makes sure we get things done."
In case the team gets too far off track, Roberts is there to pull everyone back.
Anne Thul transferred to Minnesota from Arizona State, partly because she didn't feel like she got respect from the Sun Devil program. She is from St. Francis, Minn., and she went to Arizona State in order to find out if she could make it in a part of the country that has been considered the epitome of college softball. She wanted to see if she could achieve what she thought was her dream at the time. Here at Minnesota, she fits in well, and she also makes sure that everyone is treated as a true member of the team. She has always had an open-door policy that makes it possible for anyone to be a part of any sort of function in or outside of softball. She doesn't like it when people aren't treated fairly.
"When you're disrespecting somebody, she'll let you know it," Nichols said. "She just keeps people in check."
Thul is constantly looking out for everyone on the team, and always tries to keep the team's best interest as a whole in mind.
Shelly Nichols was looking for a new experience. She made her decision to come to Minnesota from Austin, Texas to find a new outlook on life. She also brought some of her own outlook with her. Nichols is not a worrier. She is the calming presence that doesn't allow for panic.
As Nygren said, "Shelly could have a 15-page paper due tomorrow that she hasn't started on and will just say, `Well I guess I better get started.' Nothing to her is a worry."
Nichols is a rock. She doesn't waiver one way or the other in any situation. She is constantly thinking strategy.
"I am always learning from Shelly," Thul said. "She is always thinking the game. She is very good at bringing up certain situations for people to think about."
Nichols is consistent in a way that she gets people to believe that there is always a solution, and that nothing is impossible.
Jordanne Nygren hails from Farmington, N.M. She has an unbelievable presence both on and off the field. She is the type of person to actually come out and say what everyone is thinking. She enjoys being the center of attention and has the power to entertain. The story goes that when Nygren opened her collegiate career with home runs in her first two at bats, she was caught dancing on the Jumbotron at the Metrodome. As her teammates looked on, they saw Nygren off by herself, down the line, enjoying every piece of her new career. Don't be fooled, Nygren knew she was good, but she didn't understand it.
Her coach, Julie Standering described Nygren's demeanor after her second home run. "As she rounded third, I saw her shoulders come up with her arms out and she said `Are you kidding me? Is this real? This is easy!'"
That is how Nygren is. She can marvel at her own ability, but at the same time she can truly appreciate how gifted she is. Her teammates look at her and aspire to be great.
Minnetonka, Minn., native Angie Recknor was a Golden Gopher in her heart from the very beginning of her softball days. I have known her since she started pitching, and I have never known anyone who went after their dream the way Recknor did. In junior high, Recknor went and pitched with the high school pitcher practically every day at 6 a.m. For a 13-year- old, that takes dedication. She has always aspired to be the best, and she knew she had to work for it. Recknor is also a very outgoing person, who is never afraid to speak her mind. She is very realistic.
"Angie is like the logical one," Nygren said. "She is always there to make sure that things make sense."
Recknor helps people to understand things on a simple level so that people don't make things too complicated.
How would I, Andrea Smith, be described? It is hard to say. I am from Golden Valley, Minn., spent two years playing at Rhode Island and came into this program having an idea of what college softball was about. However, I was so blown away with how much I didn't know that I stayed pretty quiet. I have always tried to encourage everyone as best I could. I feel as though I have brought dedication and hard work, but I am not sure how much of a lasting impression I have made. However, the impression that has been bestowed upon me from only one year of experience playing at Minnesota will last me a lifetime.
As we focus on our seniors, we are given a chance to look back at some people and reflect on where they came from and who they are. Each member of the 2003 senior class has brought a piece of themselves and shared it with the Minnesota softball community. Each senior is different in her own way, and somehow the different personalities have been able to gel and work together with each other. When things get too serious, Fisk is there to provide some relief, and when things seem out of whack, Roberts is able to pull it together. Thul is there to help keep team unity, to make sure everyone is included. When it is time to talk softball, and focus in on the fundamentals, Nichols is the one. Nygren is always there for inspiration. At the times when the team needs to step back, and think things through, Recknor will have the answer. And me? Well, I will always be there for support.
Written by Softball Student-Athlete and Media Relations Student Assistant Andrea Smith. (Comments are welcomed at kurtt003@umn.edu)