Softball Season Preview | Fires threatened Penn captain's home, family

Fire has a dual nature for Christina Khosravi.

Internally, it has driven her to three seasons of near-perfect softball. The seasoned veteran and senior captain was crowned 2006 Ivy League Player of the Year and has not missed one varsity game.

Outside, however, fire has proven to be much more serious than a game.

In Oct. 2007, over 500,000 acres and 1,500 homes in Santa Barbara County, Calif. were destroyed in a series of wildfires that raged for a full 19 days. One of these homes belonged to the Khosravi family.

Early one morning, during those 19 days, firefighters entered Khosravi's San Diego home and informed her family that they had two minutes to evacuate the residence.

Grabbing nothing but passports, photo albums and a few important documents, the Khosravis fled their house and drove to a relative's residence 15 minutes away.

"My parents didn't tell me at the time because they didn't want to worry me," said Khosravi, who was at Penn at the time of the fires. "I got texts from my friends back home wanting to know if my house was okay."

The next morning, Khosravi's father returned with a police escort back to the site of their home. Nothing remained but the chimney and ashes.

"It was hard for me to comprehend what actually happened because it was 3,000 miles away," Khosravi said. "The emotional impact was huge because I couldn't see it with my own eyes."

While her family members - all of whom escaped the fires safely - were coping with the devastating loss and making temporary housing arrangements in San Diego, Khosravi continued her playing routine back in Philadelphia.

"She never missed a practice ever," Penn softball coach Leslie King said.

"Softball was a great way for me to release a little bit of what I was feeling," Khosravi said.

"To also have two hours in the day where I didn't have to worry about anything, to know I could go take grounders and hit balls and focus on the game . I felt calmer about myself."

Khosravi, a senior co-captain, has been an instrumental player throughout the Penn softball team's steady ascent, leading the squad to its first winning season in 26 years last year.

"The aura of the team has completely changed," Khosravi said. "We expect to win."

Both King and her players emphasize that Khosravi is the indispensable leader of this young squad.

But even leaders need a hand sometimes.

With this in mind, one of Khosravi's former teammates and close friends chose to act. Cynthia Wright got together about thirty of Khosravi's friends and asked for donations to buy a plane ticket to San Diego.

"They were able to put together two or three plane tickets' worth for a flight back home," Khosravi said.

The family is currently living in an apartment not far from where her house once stood, and rebuilding plans have been approved.

As for Khosravi, she can only return the dedication that her teammates have shown her through her performance on the field.

"The girls on the team and my close friends and the coaches were really the people that kept me grounded and spoke sense to me," she said.

"They made me feel like I was going to be okay."

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