W. Soccer Will Miss Seniors

To the editors:

It's a curious thing that happens during the course of an athletic season. You come in to preseason all fired up and ready to play, and after four or five days your body is sore and aching and you just can't wait for school to start so there will only be one practice a day. The first part of the semester is then consumed by games and practices and occasionally classes. You can't wait for the end of the season when you know games will only be once a week so you might have some free time. Finally you get to this point you have been thinking about for two months. You're going to practice, playing games on weekends and having enough time to catch up with a few friends during the week. And you think you have it made.

And then the end comes. And it's then you realize that you really want to be back on day one, at preseason, on the line doing sprints, just because it would mean that you could do it all over again. That you could feel that pain in your legs again, that you could rush from class to lunch to make it to practice on time, that you could run around for two hours a day with 28 of your best friends.

For Harvard Women's Soccer, the end is here. We've fought hard, battled every day, been proud of ourselves and what we represent. We've struggled, not always coming out on top, but playing with class and dignity.

For the seniors on the team these emotions are especially resounding. They are undeniably the greatest class that has come through the Harvard Soccer program. They hold three Ivy League titles, have made three NCAA appearances and have had scores of individual accomplishments. They are the class that brought Harvard national attention and that established the program as one of the most competitive in the country.

Fellow teammates and fans know they have been lucky these four years. Never again will we see the catlike quickness of Meredith Bagley, the hard tackles of Brynne Zuccaro, the bullet shot of Naomi Miller, the intensity of Jen Burney, the fancy footwork of Emily Stauffer, the left footed cross of Ashley Marynick, the patented spin-turn of Devon Bingham, the desire and determination of Jaime Chu. They have been our leaders, our teachers, our friends.

So let's all stop and take a minute to say farewell to the Class of 1999. We salute the hard work and effort you have made and the legacy left behind for those who follow. Timmy Wheaton's Crimson Army has never seen anything like you before, and likely never will again. JULIA E. BLAIN '00   Nov. 15, 1998