Ortman looking to star as a senior

Tim Ortman, last year's league MVP, will be a key to the Quakers' success. The numbers are simply astounding. Last year, on his way to setting Penn's sprint football single-season and career rushing marks in just his junior season, Tim Ortman ran for 1,108 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. Here's the kicker -- in sprint football, they only play six games. This means that the senior captain averaged 6.4 yards per carry and 2.3 touchdowns and 184.7 rushing yards per game. Ready for more? When he set the single-season record in 1998, the two-time Quakers captain and two-time Collegiate Sprint Football League rushing champ simply broke his own record -- he led the league with a-then-Penn-record 977 yards in his sophomore season. It doesn't stop there. Ortman also owns the CSFL record for single-game rushing yardage with 262. While that number obviously tops the Penn record books as well, the four names that follow it on that list also have the initials "T.O." Ortman posted these numbers en route to establishing the Penn career rushing mark at 2,452 yards. This avalanche of numbers bodes the question: Where does he go from here? "You always want to do better than you did the previous year," the 1998 CSFL MVP said. "I've already really done everything. What I really want to do is go 6-0 this year." The Quakers went 5-1 in 1998, with their sole loss coming at the hands of the Navy Midshipmen. No Quakers team has ever gone undefeated. Everytime he runs with the ball, Ortman will break his own career rushing record. It would do the senior an injustice to simply call him a workhorse. He is the focal point of the offense and he loves it; however, he's not against a little offensive variety, if it's for the good of the team. "I can't lie, I love getting the ball 30 times a game, although I wouldn't mind if we pass the ball more than I run it this year," Ortman said. "That would set us up against teams like Army and Navy. "They have like 100-150 guys go out for their team so it's hard to win against them if you don't have another threat." A bigger threat to the Quakers was posed by Ortman's '98 flirtation with the "heavyweight" team. Ortman considered trying to make the regular football squad last season but opted against it, and he is unquestionably satisfied with his decision. "I think this is the right place for me," he said. "It doesn't matter if I'm in front of a larger crowd or not. Besides, I'm playing for the fun of the game." Ortman also realizes that playing football with a weight limit provides him opportunities he would probably not see on the big team. "In this league, I can do a little of both," he said. "I can use my speed to get around the corner or I can lower my shoulder and do some bruisin' -- that's really what I like to do." Just ask the guys who practice against him, and they'll concur. "He has a little bit of everything," fellow captain and senior linebacker Dave Klein said. "He's one of the fastest and strongest guys on the team, plus he has good vision. I guess that's what makes him a great runner." OK, so Tim Ortman can run the football, but how has he fared in his second turn as team captain? "He's the most vocal captain this year but he certainly leads by example, in the weight room or whatever he does," Klein said. But his backfield mates surely get tired waiting while touching the pigskin so sporadically, don't they? "No, I like it," senior captain and fullback/noseguard Steve Schickram said. "I wanted to be fullback because I knew how good he was, and I like to hit people, so it's best for the team." Well, then the guy must have an ego the size of Montana, right? Not at all. "He's a good guy, he's really humble," Klein said. "A lot of guys give him crap for all the press he gets, which says stuff like, 'Ortman's the whole lightweight team,' but he takes it really well and doesn't get a big head or anything." Two-thousand four-hundred fifty-two yards and counting, and no swollen ego. And by the way, he's also a member of the Penn wrestling team. Wow.