Freshman sensations are merely raising expectations

The class of 2000 is filling the void left by the class of 1995, but the expectations of matching its feats can be a burden. In the early fall of 1991, a bunch of confident and talented freshmen walked out onto Franklin Field and beat the returning varsity players in an intra-varsity women's field hockey scrimmage. Those freshmen then led a march to the worst season in Penn's field hockey history. They proved that the rebuilding year was worth it, however, by rebounding from a fifth-place finish and capturing Ivy League titles the next two years. "We didn't feel comfortable as freshmen, because I don't think the upperclassmen were as devoted as we were," then-senior Amy Pine told The Daily Pennsylvanian in 1994. There are no reports of freshmen beating upperclassmen in scrimmages this year, but that does not lessen the tremendous influence the freshmen have had on their teams. And it is that influence which makes the future filled with raised expectations for Penn's athletic teams. Mediocrity was expected and acceptable from many of this year's teams, but that will not be the case in upcoming years. Teams that are on the upswing will be predicted to move to the elite ranks, and those that finished near the bottom are expected to snap out of rebuilding processes. The result of an athlete's early success would seem to be a mixed blessing, because while experience gained and starting spots earned are lasting benefits, success also destroys the patience that should be accorded to athletes making the adjustment to college. "People call college the next level of play, but it is way beyond that," Quakers men's soccer coach George O'Neill said. "It is a high-level conference of play. This year the Ivy Group was the second-toughest conference. Once you get through the freshmen year, you look back and say, 'How did I get through this?' The expectations are going to be raised." "It is a long process. Success is a journey," Penn men's cross country and track coach Charlie Powell said. "You have got to look long term because college is so different from high school in terms of the length of races." The pressure to perform in the future is fueled not only by the class of 2000's success, but also by Quakers from the past. Each subsequent class is silently asked to match the titles compiled by the freshmen who entered in 1991. Their newly minted ghosts hang around the gyms and fields next to the banners that bear their title years. There are few ghosts bigger than that of five-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week winner Jerome Allen and fellow freshmen starter LaShawn Trice, who were the dynamite freshmen in 1991-92. Their first season, like that of 1997, saw mixed results but flashes of brilliance as they paced themselves to second in the Ivies. By the time they were seniors, three classmates had joined them in the starting lineup, and Penn was winning its way towards an undefeated Ivy season and a third straight Ivy title. Asked to carry on Penn's basketball dominance in the '90s, Geoff Owens and Michael Jordan say that expectations they have for themselves dwarf those that anyone else has for them. "I think one of the keys is consistency, as we move from freshmen year to sophomore year and past that," Owens said. "I think we've all shown in one game or more what we can do. In a couple games I played real well and in the next game went out and played like crap." "I think you have to play to your own expectations," Jordan said. Expectations have been raised, but to hear the men and women of the class of 2000 tell it, they either: A) long ago set their own measuring stick, or B) don't really care what people outside of their teammates expect them to accomplish. It is tempting to make conjecture about the possible accomplishments that lie ahead of these dynamic freshmen, but maybe it is best left to the athletes themselves. Most are reserved when asked and say that they only hope to keep improving, but give credit to men's soccer which openly thinks it is Ivy League title material next year after winning five of six to close out this fall's season. The athletes swear that internal drive to succeed is all they need, but if self-doubt ever creeps in, there are a bunch of pre-frosh who will be more than happy to become the Savior of the Week starting next fall. Women's soccer coach Patrick Baker reports that 142 girls applied to Penn hoping to make the women's soccer cut next fall. "If there are freshmen that come along that are better than me that's fine, because it will help the team," softball player Suzanne Arbogast said. "It may happen, but there is great room from improvement when you get to college because of weightlifting and conditioning programs. It is more difficult to perform well in college than in high school." Will these freshmen be carrying the brunt of the athletic burden for the rest of the decade? It has been argued that Ivy League recruiting is cyclical, with players choosing between academically equivalent schools based on the potential to fill a void and earn a starting role. The 1991 freshmen made their mark, left in 1995 and made room for rebuilding time that led to the landing of a bumper crop of talent in the class of 2000. There will be future talents, but what cross-country runner is honestly going to come to a school which has enough quality freshmen to fill a varsity team? Rarely is the success of a team dependent on a single person or a single class, but as older classes graduate, the current freshmen will need to prove themselves capable leaders and mentors for Penn athletics to flourish. Using recent history as guide, there is no definitive pattern that describes the eventual career of standout freshmen or the teams they play for. Whatever the result, they provided a wide-ranging grouping of interesting successes and stories this year that sparked interest in an otherwise monotonous year of mediocrity for Penn sports.

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