Indiana University Athletics
Preseason Diary - Ali Brown
8/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 21, 2006
Throughout the 2006 preseason, IUHOOSIERS.com will be taking an insider's look at the women's soccer team. Each day from Aug. 8-23, a different member of the team will be keeping a diary of the day's events. The entry for Monday, Aug. 21 is by senior Ali Brown:
Greetings sports fans,
The sweet sound of my phone alarm clock rang loudly in my ear at 5:40 a.m. Monday to begin what was to arguably be the longest day of pre-season thus far.
After weighing in on the trusty Toledo, the team happily embarked on what we believed to be our second-to-last morning conditioning session of the pre-season. Andy seemed to be on his game this morning and we knew that we were in for a real treat.
Six 600s and a couple of up-tempo laps later, we thought we were done and ready to move on with the day, but Mr. Campbell had one more trick up his sleeve. In order to once again test our mental toughness, we were to run a mile around the track as hard as our tired legs could carry us. My good friend Beverly Markwort took off like a bat out of Hades and never looked back. I see you Sparky, and the whole team commends you on a job well done.
The morning practice session was short and sweet so our legs could recover from the morning running session. Ian decided to challenge both our technical and mental capacity with a series of three-person drills, and who better to demonstrate these qualities than Kristin Radcliffe, Becky Prokopiak and Kathryn Zachman. After a brilliant demo we were able to perform the drills flawlessly before moving onto a little game of possession to end practice.
After treatment and lunch we went to our academic meeting, where the highlight for me was when we received our new IU student athlete handbook and planner. Now normally this is not something to write home about, but this year they included a campus map and legend, a full calendar for each month, and many helpful citation tips to avoid the illegal act of plagiarism.
After the surprisingly short meeting, it was off to Mr. Campbell's weight room for a nice afternoon lift. Megan Reinhardt taught me how to use the stretching machine and I took full advantage of this fine piece of equipment after I had finished my 200 ab exercises.
Finally, it was time for our last event of the day, our evening practice. It went relatively well and we ended with 11-v-11, which apparently we looked a little rusty at, because the coaches put their heads together and graciously agreed to give us Tuesday morning off!
We were all elated, but especially Radcliffe, who had been talking about the Tuesday morning conditioning session since last Friday. Alright, well it's time for me to go to bed and sleep in for the first time in awhile. Until next time, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
