Class of 2001

Another year has passed, and one more class of Penn athletes now makes the shift from the fields of college sports to the grand courts of the "Real World." As these seniors make their final farewells, they take with them a sea of memories of their days as Quakers. From chest bumps with 300-pounders to an unfortunate encounter with a sacred bat to the joy of capturing an Ivy League title, the athletes of the Class of 2001 can all look back on special moments in their years wearing the Red and Blue. In their own words, eight of Penn's finest graduating athletes describe their fondest memories as Quakers... memories that will forever stay in their hearts.

JASON FEINBERG Football

It would be impossible to pinpoint my best memory from Penn football. I will never forget such moments as watching thousands of students tear down the goal posts and throw them in the river after winning the 199' Ivy League title or winning the championship at Cornell this year after three amazing 1'-point comeback wins.

There are also individual moments I will never forget, like becoming the all-time leading scorer at Penn; becoming the most prolific kicker in Ivy League history; and surviving the "chest bumps" with 6''", 300-pound Jeff Hatch after every kick I made.

However, what meant the most to me was the indescribable bond formed with the guys whom I came in with four years ago. We live together, work-out together, eat together... we do everything together.

I will never forget the intense moments we went through together that no one got to see: The 7 a.m. workouts in the middle of winter and the nervous/excited feeling in the locker room before the game followed by the goose bumps I got every time I ran out of the tunnel, just to name a few.

Above all else, the opportunity to succeed with my best friends is indescribable. Thanks to all my teammates and best friends for making all the memories possible.

DIANA CARAMANICO Basketball

After four years on the women's basketball team at Penn, it is hard for me to pick my favorite moment. I would have to say that it occurred sometime this year.

This moment is not an actual moment, but a perceptual one. It is the "moment" at which our team went from a dismal 1-5 to 22-5 and Ivy League Champs.

It might seem that I am cheating to pick a span of about three months as my moment. However, those three months are a crazy blur of an instant in my memory when our potential became reality, our goals were met and exceeded and our team became a close-knit, high-performance machine.

I am disappointed to be graduating because I feel like I just got here, but I realize that I am truly blessed -- it is much better to feel that my stay was too short rather than too long.

Thanks to my parents, family, friends, teammates, coaches, our fans, the DP and the Palestra for making my stay seem entirely too short.

GEOFF OWENS Basketball

My best Penn sports moment came in March of 1999, when we took our first Ivy championship.

I was a junior, and it would be safe to say that my first two years were not all that I had hoped for. We struggled with inexperience my freshman year, and then I missed my sophomore year with a supposed heart condition, which turned out to be nothing.

In 1999, we were cruising toward an apparent Ivy title when two things got in our way: a perfect Princeton second half at the Palestra, which dropped us out of first place, and a hard Dartmouth baseline that broke my jaw. People have always said that I was tough or had a high threshold for pain, but let me tell you a secret: I really don't -- that hurt more than anything.

But that was not the main concern; the problem was beating Princeton for that title. We all believed that we were the better team, but there was a concern that we still might not be able to win after the way we had lost the first one.

In the first half of the second one, we played about as well as we had all year -- but the fact that Princeton was still close did nothing to ease our fears. Things finally started coming together in the second half, and we went out to a large lead with lots of time left.

We knew what everyone in the crowd was thinking, and no one was thinking about it harder than us. We kept the pressure on them this time instead of letting up. It soon became apparent that we weren't giving this one up, and the Penn fans rushed Jadwin to help us cut down the nets.

Taking my first Ivy title -- and celebrating with all the students on enemy ground -- is by far my best sports memory at Penn.

NICK BARNHORST Baseball

On a brisk Tuesday in 1998, LaSalle's Explorer Field played host to a bit of memory-making for me. I was scheduled to pitch in middle relief that day, but had "duties" generally reserved for freshman pitchers.

On this particular day, I was hitting ground balls to the left side of the infield. As a young doe-eyed ignoramus at my first away game, I unwisely and unknowingly chose as my bat one clearly marked with a "9" on the bottom. Anyone who knows anything about Penn baseball (except this particular schmuck) knows that these bats belong to No. 9, Coach Seddon.

As I hit line drive after line drive over the shortstop's head, I became increasingly agitated. Finally, after a big whiff, I snapped -- and so did the bat.

I smashed Coach Seddon's favorite fungo into the earth, splintering it into a hundred pieces. Needless to say, I never stepped on the mound that day.

This memorable moment and other bonehead antics helped earn me the Irv award for 199', an honor I shall cherish as long as I live.

MIKE FICKELL Wrestling

Picking my most memorable athletic moment at Penn is a difficult one, but I would have to say that becoming an All-American at the NCAA Championships sticks out as the most special.

My last match at NCAAs and of my college career is one I'll never forget. After losing in the semi-finals and again in the consolation semi-finals, I was faced with losing my last three matches of my career.

After falling behind 11-8 in the match for fifth place with only 30 seconds left, I scored an escape and a takedown as the buzzer rang, sending it into overtime. Thirty seconds into overtime I earned another takedown and won the last match of my career, coming from behind for a 13-11 victory.

I threw off my headgear and raised my arms in the air as I looked up at all of my family cheering amongst the crowd of over 10,000 fans.

KELLI TOLAND Soccer

One of my favorite moments came in November 1999, the night we got invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Penn history. The whole team and our coaches were at my house, where I lived with four other soccer players. We were waiting for our sports communication person to call with the news. A friend of ours and former soccer player came over from her house across the street -- she had her sister on the phone.

Her sister was on the Internet and saw our name picked right before the phone rang. The minute it was confirmed that we did in fact make the postseason tournament, all hell broke loose.

I remember everyone just hugging whoever was next to them. People were calling their parents, running into the street screaming -- it was chaotic and absolutely incredible. Of course we went out after to celebrate. It was a great moment for me and my teammates and for the Penn women's soccer program.

CHRIS MAY Baseball

As a member of the Penn baseball team, there have been many memorable moments, but one of the one that really stands out is our first game on Murphy Field last season.

We hosted St. Joseph's in our first game after the spring trip and were behind by five runs after seven innings with darkness setting in pretty quickly. We rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning, tying the game at 12 and leaving the bases loaded for Glen Ambrosius.

Glen then singled to left to bring in Oliver Hahl in almost total darkness, and the umpire called the game to give us our first win at the Murph in our first game there.

At the time it was a huge win for the team, and the rally that put us in position to win was one I'll not soon forget.

AMY WEINSTEIN Lacrosse

Being the only senior on this year's women's lacrosse team and having played for three different coaches in four years, I definitely have many memories of my lacrosse career at Penn (some better than others).

The one that sticks out in my mind the most was our Ivy opener against No. 10 Yale in 2000, our second game under new coach Karin Brower. Although we ended up losing, 9-', we hadn't come that close to beating a top-caliber team in years.

The game marked the beginning of a new era of lacrosse at Penn, and we all knew that we were at the start of something special.

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