Boston College - Sub Turri Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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i5 ' P» F ■ ' KJ ' ' ' — J- « Cr3 Nationals, a lot of attention, and a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. In 1982, after competing two years in a row at the Nationals in Division II, the women moved up to the extremely competitive NCAA Division I, which pits them against such established teams as Harvard, UNH, and UV. The sweet taste of success which both the men and the women have experienced this year has had the careful nurturing of Jack McDonald, head cross-country and track coach, and his assistant women ' s coach, Judi St. Hilaire. McDonald is a semi-deity in and around the track office, with a vinanimous display of admiration for him, exemplified by this runner: He ' s not only a terrific coach, but he ' s everyone ' s best friend as well. Cheryl Panzarella states, Jack helps you to set goals, and even more importantly he works with you to meet those goals. McDonald is greatly attached to nis runners, and obviously shows a great deal of sincere concern. St. Hilaire, a 1982 UVM graduate, has brought tremendous talent with her. She was an eight-time New England and four-time EAIAW Champion. With such dynamic elements — talented, enthusiastic runners as well as coaches — how can BC ' s Cross-Country Teams be anything else but winners? — by Laura Canfield BC ' s Nancy Small looks for the finish line at the UVM Road Race. Kathleen Daley strains to pass runners in the outside lane. SPORTS 191

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Great Strides program was very loosely organized. Parizarella ' s dedication to the team aspect of a dual-emphasis sport and her stress on communication has given the women the necessary unity to confront both success and failure. Panzarella is aware that along with success and wanting to be number one comes the innate danger of a cut-throat attitude. But, the Captain beams, I ' m fortunate enough to have a team that works so well together. They ' re a great bunch of girls! Indeed, runners such as junior Nancy Small and Michele Hallet are both strong contributer ' s to the team ' s cohesiveness and success. Small, a disciplined athlete, began her freshman season ranking seventh, and by the end of the season, had reached the top of the stratum. where she has remained for the past two years. Hallet, called the freshman sensation by one of her teammates, is also an outstanding athlete, a committed runner, and a dedicated teammate. Coach Jack McDonald, reflecting on the women ' s team ' s past four seasons agreed that in 1979 the team was disorganized, but with the help of runners like Panzarella, Small and Hallet, the team started to improve. The 1979 team had only seven or eight runners, but nevertheless, they were off to a good start. That first year the team missed the Division II Nationals by two points, and they were ranked third in the greater Boston area. 1980 brought the team their first true taste of success — a few recruits, an Eastern Division Championship, sixth place in the m 190 SPORTS

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An Athlete To Be Admired On Christmas Day, 1974, when Jeff Keith was twelve years old, he had his left leg amputated to prevent the spread of cancer above his knee. Jeff, from Fairfield, Connecticut, is now a junior majoring in English and an avid athlete. Getting into organized athletics early, Jeff played little league baseball, pee wee basketball, football and hockey. Just six weeks after the operation he started skiing again, a sport he had always enjoyed with his family (he skis on outriggers — one regular ski for his good leg and two mini skis on his poles). At Fairfield Prep Jeff began skiing competitively and placed fourteenth out of 85 competitors m the state championship his junior year. The same year, and again when he was a senior, he entered the New England Handicap Ski Championships and won the slalom and the giant slalom both years. He continued on to the Nationals and finished second over in Winter Park, Colorado. Other team sports that Jeff played in high school were tennis, baseball, and lacrosse, which he immediately preferred to the others. He chose the position of goalie not just because of his slower running pace, but because it, in his words, is a gutsy position. He played on the junior varsity team his freshman year, moved to varsity in his sophomore year, and started for Fairfield his senior year. In choosing a college Jeff wanted a school where he had the opportunity to play lacrosse, and liking BC immediately when he visited, chose BC. In the team tryouts he relied on his skill and determination and made the team. Jeff saw the initial reaction of his teammates as positive, saying, They were psyched for me and very supportative. With a goalie like BC ' s outstanding captain Mike Phillips on the team, nowever, (who Jeff says he ' s learned a lot from) second and third goalies don ' t see much game time; when Jeff did play, he proved himself to be qualified to play for a Division 1 team. Jeff was voted the Most Valuable Player of last year ' s Holy Cross game. He came into the game when Phillips was injured; the score was 9-7 in favor of BC. Jeff had only two goals scored against him and the game ' s final score was Holy Cross 9, BC 11. In April, 1982 he was The Heights ' athlete of the month, and The Boston Globe printed an article on his accomplishments. Jeff has been told on several occasions that when he is wearing sweatpants people forget his prosthesis (artificial leg). He always keeps three prostheses and rotates wearing them because they wear down easily. He breaks an average of one every three weeks during the season. The hydrolic knee, the most vulnerable (and therefore the most breakable part of the leg) is sometimes reparable and sometimes not. Costing at least S2,700 to S3,000 dollars apiece, Jeff jokes about his prostheses: You could buy a car with my three legs! The key to Jeff ' s position as goalie is his mobility, as a goalie ' s first four steps are crucial. Working to improve his mobility and to increase his endurance, he began running during May of his first season on the team and worked up from one painful lap around the track to six miles a day. Jeff currently runs four miles a day about four times a week. His plans for running in the 1983 Boston Marathon may be thwarted not by his artificial leg but by a chipped bone in his foot which occurred when he was horsing around. In fact, most of Jeff ' s inactive stages seem to have nothing to do with his amputation at all; he has been sidelined with broken bones and has needed reconstructive plastic surgery after a cycling accident. Fie was the subject of an 18 minute movie by VIA, the National Handicap Organization. The film is presented to elementary school students as an example of a physically challenged athlete making it in competitive sports. The film ' s purpose is to prevent prejudice against the handicapped, as well as to inspire children. Jeff Keith works out with the lacrosse team in the recreation complex during their pre-season workouts. Jeff is grateful that his operation occurred at a young age because he thinks it is easier to adjust to change as a young person. He lost his self-consciousness about his leg by eighth grade and has developed confidence through sports, especially skiing. Jeff says that like any one, he is depressed on occasion, but never seriously. Now past the average cancer recurrence stages of six-months, eighteen months and five years, he is an optimistic, dedicated competitor. His long range plans include law school and fund raising for the American Cancer Society. His immediate goal, however, is to continue doing as much as he can as well as he can, to show handicapped children all of the activities and opportunities open to them — something Jeff certainly had to discover by trial and error. — by Kelly Short 192 SPORTS