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Thursday, November 10, 2011
Sports
theonlinebeacon.com
Senior Jennifer Wehner named to All-American Basketball team By Brendan Foley Sports Editor
Senior Jennifer Wehner has been named to the Division III All-American team. This is the first time in women’s basketball history an athlete from the College has been named to the preseason All-American team. Only two other players from Massachusetts were named to the team. They were Nicole Wurdeman of Babson and Caroline Stedman of Amherst. All-Americans are selected by members of the national media. All-Americans are selected from a variety of sports across the country, including hockey, wrestling and even swimming and diving. In last season alone, Wehner managed to rack up 477 points in 815 minutes of play. Athletic Director Scott Nichols considers Wehner’s achievement indicative of the College’s growing strength as a whole. He said, “We’ve had some tremondous athletes. We continue to attract strong student-athletes to our school.” Wehner has been a fixture of
the athletics program ever since she first set foot on campus. She has served as the women’s soccer team’s goaltender and put up impressive stats in that position. As a freshman, she appeared in 21 games and the following year Wehner played in every single one of the Traiblazers basketball games, 29 in total. Wehner attributes the nod towards the Trailblazers receiving more attention after making it to the NCAA tournament last year and making a strong run for the MASCAC title. Wehner has also received numerous commendations from the conference, including recently being named the MASCAC Player of the Year. Wehner has also been named the MASCAC Player of the Week multiple times in her career with the College. Last year also marked another milestone for Wehner. She became only the fourth player in college history to reach 1000 points in her career. She was the first to ever reach that marker in her junior year. The year before that, Wehner also achieved 284 rebounds
through the season. Despite her strong career, the announcement blindsided Wehner. “I was kind of shocked,” she said. “I was caught off guard.” Wehner also had nothing but positive things to say about her fellow All-Americans, having played against them before. “To be even close to the same page as them is indescribable,” she said. Wehner hopes that this achievement will improve her play in her senior year at the College. “I’d like to be more of a teamoriented player,” she said. “I can score a lot because of my height, but I would like to be more of a role player.” Wehner is a native of Cooperstown, N.Y., where she realized from an early age that she was interested in playing sports. When asked just how she keeps her head above all the pressures coming down on top of her, Wehner responded, “I take my own time and just breathe. I like to be alone and just breathe. She concluded, “I like to know that whatever is going to happen at least I will play hard.”
Photo by Cara Sheedy/Beacon Staff
Wehner is the first MCLA athlete to be named All-American.
Athletic Trainers strive to keep student-athletes on their feet By Kaitland Hager Sports Writer
Wandering through the Amsler Campus Center, any student might stumble upon a room in the basement brimming with activity. On an average day, any number of student-athletes can be seen drifting in and out, as if the room has a revolving door.
This is the Athletic Training room, home to certified trainers and students on their way to becoming athletic trainers. This is the Athletic Training room, home to certified trainers and students on their way to becoming athletic trainers. Head Trainer Matthew Boillat leads the team of trainers and physical therapists who work to improve the physical health of all student athletes. Boillat and his team, Assistant Athletic Trainer Amanda Beckwith and Physical Therapist Nancy Bullet, work diligently to prevent, evaluate and rehabilitate athletes, from minor injuries like a bone bruise to the
more serious issues such as concussions and ACL tearing. “We oversee varsity athletes,” Boillat said. “We provide home game and practice coverage as well.” As head trainer, Boillat is also in charge of evaluating injuries, rehabilitating injuries and the safety of student-athletes. Boillat got his start locally. A resident of North Adams, he attended Drury High School. His sophomore year, the one year he played football, he tore musculature in his knee. Drury had no athletic trainer at the time and Boillat bounced between doctors. “It was a frustrating and tiring experience for myself and my parents,” Boillat said. It was then he decided he wanted kids in his situation to have a better experience. He did his undergraduate work at Quinnipiac, graduated with a degree in Sports Medicine in 2003 and headed to the University of San Jose. He received his Masters in Kinesiology and started his career as an athletic trainer at a public high school where he was in charge of almost 2,000 athletes. After that, he worked with a program that implemented a Pilates-based physical therapy exercise. Merrimack College was his first job in a college-setting. He worked
Photo by Will Casey/Beacon Staff
The Trainers office in the Campus Center has a constant flow of traffic in and out during the day. as an assistant athletic trainer for two and a half years until a job opened up at MCLA. Looking to advance his career, Boillat took the job as Head Trainer at the College and has enjoyed every moment of it. “I get to come back to my community and my family and give back to them,” Boillat said. “For
some people, it’s hard to get back home. I’m blessed to do this.” Amanda Beckwith, head volleyball coach and assistant athletic trainer, came back as well. While a freshman at Clark University, Beckwith suffered a bad ankle injury three days into the season. She spent weeks in and out of athletic training, getting acquainted
with the different aspects that came with training. Beckwith wouldn’t be able to pursue athletic training as a major at Clark however, and later found herself at MCLA. She majored in biology, with a concentration in sports medicine. TRAINERS continued on pg. 12