Magnificat High School - Magnifier Yearbook (Rocky River, OH)

Page 65 text:

Their concentration fixed on the finish line ahead of them and not the Avon Lake runner behind them, Beth Crowley ’85 and Joanna Butts ’86 forge on in a meet at LCCC. The Blue Streaks had an excel¬ lent rapport with the Avon Lake team because many Mags runners had friends on the Avon Lake team. Photo by T. Crowley. The game ' s opening tip-off pits Barb Wallen- horst ’84 against Holy Name junior Vicki Bent- kowski as Martha Cutarelli ’84 takes a characteristic tuck in her shorts and pre¬ pares for the jump ball. Martha and Vicki, who were friends, had a few things in common. Because they were both such out¬ standing basketball players, they were named to The Plain Dealer’s Dream Team. Photo by A. Sheridan. In the left back posi¬ tion, Holy Name junior Annette Samame bumps to the front row in a match against Magnificat. Annette was named a conference All-Star. Her twin sister, Bridgette ’85, was co¬ captain of Magnificat’s champion junior varsity volleyball team. Photo by C. Trzcinski. COMPETING AGAINST FRIENDS 61

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An opponent was Friend As I ambled into the gym, I saw her standing with her teammates in the corner. She looked casual even though it was our home court. She hadn’t seen me yet, but I knew that as soon as she did, she would come running over to say hi. As I looked at her, I couldn’t help thinking about what a good friend she was. In grade school we were best friends. We practiced together and constantly challenged each other to contests in order to determine who was the better server or who could make the longer shot. We never dreamed that we would be playing against each other. Yet there we were set to play one of the biggest games of the sea¬ son as opponents. That wasn’t the first time we met in different colored uniforms. Some¬ times she made me nervous. I really wanted to impress her with my skill as a player. When that happened, I usually played my worst games. Sometimes, though, it was just like grade school again. It was a personal challenge to see who was better. When¬ ever I was at the service line, she knew I was aim¬ ing at her. Likewise, when she got the ball on the basketball court, she drove right at me. That was when playing was the most fun and of the best quality. I saw her off the court too. We discussed coaches and our strategies against various teams. We warned each other about players to look out for and officials we didn’t like. Then we talked about more impor¬ tant things like who she was going out with at the time. Well, she’s seen me now. “Hey, how ya doin’? Good luck tonight! (But not too much.)”pi| —Molly McCloskey Comraderie can in¬ crease competition for Ka¬ ren Bito ’86, Molly McClos¬ key ’85, and Joy Gorecki ’84 as well as Leslie Day SJA ’84, who moves toward center for the hit. Many Mags girls had friends on a SJA team. Photo by C. Trzcinski. Unintimidated by St. Joseph Academy senior Leslie Douglas, Sue Trzcinski ’85 hits from the right front position in a match at SJA. Leslie was a friend of Magnificat’s co¬ captain, Barb Wallenhorst ’84. Photo by C. Trzcinski. 60 COMPETING AGAINST FRIENDS

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Under pressure from a St. Joseph defender, Maureen Barrett ’86 passes. The Blue Streaks finished second in the conference behind the Jaguars. Photo by A. Sheridan. As the clock winds down, the Blue Streak bench explodes, while the reality of defeat shows on the faces of Holy Name players. Magnificat won the game, 29-24. Photo by A. Sheridan. Theirs was a season full of antics Life last winter was truly difficult for six sophomores and eight freshmen from Magnifi¬ cat. They roughed the elements almost daily from November to early February to travel to McDonalds for Chicken McNuggets or Burger King for a Whopper or Jax for lollipops. Eventually they wan¬ dered back to the by then empty halls of Magnificat. Certainly these were strange actions for most normal people. But for these fourteen students, it was just an average basket¬ ball practice. Indeed they were a bizarre group. For example, Brenda “No Way” Scullin ’86 had a tendency to walk into brick walls. And Mary Frain ’87 had a weird phobia about turf shoes. After witnessing these actions, one may have questioned the sanity of this group. But a single look at the slightly whacko bunch on the court dispersed any doubts of these players’ skill. All the jokes and all the fooling around left the team with an incredible sense of unity on the court. The players worked together in a way few other teams could. If one of them was trapped, she could count on one of her teammates to be in the right place at the right time to help her out. The team was pri¬ marily all business on the court, although there were some high fives after a particularly fine play. As the team jelled together, play improved enough to post a 12-6 record. The girls played some excellent basketball to finish tied for the ju¬ nior varsity west division conference title with St. Joseph Academy. Al¬ though they ended up losing in the tiebreaker, they played well and had lots of fun. — Molly McCloskey 62 JUNIOR VARSITY BASKETBALL