Chris Sailer

Question: "Chris, what are your other interests besides field hockey?"

Answer: "Lacrosse."

Question: "And besides lacrosse?"

Answer: "Field hockey."

Don't talk to Chris Sailer, not if you want to learn the truth about her. The co-captain of the field hockey team isn't shy--it's just that she'd rather talk about other people.

Talk to her coaches, teammates and friends, instead. They'll paint a different picture of the 20-year-old senior who describes herself as "a very typical person."

Actually, Sailer is right--if she means typical in the sense of balanced. Somehow, the two-sport star (she's all-New England in lacrosse) has been able to perform the difficult balancing act of academics and athletics without sacrificing her sanity. And according to her teammates, that's not so typical.

Everybody, except Chris, in fact, agrees about Chris.

Goalie and roommate Betty Ippolito: "Chris is devoted to athletics but she also has other interests in life. She gives them equal devotion, and balances them amazingly."

Relaxed Competition

"Co-captain Elaine Kellogg: "She manages to mix competitiveness with relaxedness. She's a very competitive person but at the same time she's very friendly so she makes you fell at ease."

Coach Edie MacAusland: "Chris is special because she's interested in a lot of different things. Hockey is really important to her, but she gets excited about her courses. Not to say that she's a big intellectual, but anything she does, she does well. That's why it's fun to coach her, because I know there's more to her than hockey."

Some athletes play sports because they have nothing else to do; some because it's all they've ever done. Sailer plays sports for the same reason she does anything--because she enjoys it.

"There have been times when I think this isn't what I should be doing, I should be using my time for something else," she says. "In the end, however, I stick with it, out of habit partly, but I really like the people and the competition."

The enjoyment shows, both on and off the field--in her face while she plays, and in her voice when she talks about her sports. But when you try to talk about her accomplishments, she clams up.

Luckily, the record book speaks clearly: six varsity letters before this year, All-Ivy honors in hockey and lacrosse, as well as all-New England in the latter.

Speak Softly...

"Chris controls the play as the leader of the defense and initiates the attack," MacAusland says. "Obviously, she has an excellent stick and she's strong."

"Her quality of play, physically and mentally, is one of the best on the team," adds Kellogg. "She's a real inspiration for everyone else."

And finally, the ultimate compliment from Ippolito: "When Chris plays well, we play well."

As captain, Sailer has to do more than play well on the field. "I bring a lot of things to Edie's attention that might otherwise go unsaid, I'm sort of an intermediary," the Psychology major says. "I don't think my basic personality is to lead."

Others do. "Chris is the best captain I've ever played under," Ippolito says. "She's inspiring and totally dedicated to the team. She'll tell you when you've had a bad game, but she's also the first to come up and hug you when you've had a good one."

"I think she's a leader--not in a flashy sort of way, but she's not afraid to be goofy or spirited either," MacAusland says. "Off the field she's very fair, and she's a very good spokeswoman for the team."

Because Chris Sailer boosts her team better than she boosts herself, don't believe her when she says she's only interested in field hockey and lacrosse. Instead, believe what the people who know her best say--and that's not typical.