By wpengine September 28, 2001
“She’s got a foot in everything.” “Everything runs smoother when she is around.” Those are two of many complements handed to Cornell field hockey’s senior co-captain and second team regional All-American Ashleigh Snelson. Her head coach Michelle Tambroni believes her to be one of the “best Ivy League players.” “She knows everything about the other coaches and their teams,” she exclaimed. Tambroni knows this because coming out of high school the Mountaintop, Penn. native was one of the top Ivy League recruits, with Cornell and Harvard avidly competing for her. “It was so exciting to get her over Harvard,” Tambroni said. And Snelson’s abilities brought immediate impacts to the team. Playing in 13 games and starting in six of them her freshman year, she had two assists. She won the Class of ’91 cup, given every year to the most promising rookie. Snelson scored her first goal her sophomore year and tied her former assist total of four points while playing in and starting in all 17 games. But her presence in the offense grew dramatically as she notched 40 shots during the 1999 campaign. It wasn’t until her junior yearthough, that Snelson would become one of the elite players in the Ivies. She blew up for six goals and three assists — a total of 15 points. Four goals came in league play including one against both 1999 Ivy league champion Brown and eventual 2000 champion Princeton Tigers. For her offensive accomplishments, she won the 2000 All-Ivy most valuable player award for offense. “She scored the winner against Lehigh,” assistant coach Lisa Kadien said citing one of Snelson’s memorable plays. “She has a big presence on the field.” Snelson needs just nine points to move in to the top 10 all-time scoring list at Cornell. Her career has been slowed at times by a variety of injuries, most recently coming on Saturday against Ivy-rival Yale when she suffered a deep gash on her knee. However, the chance of her missing her second start in three years isn’t likely. Her coaches say that she has never backed down and always fights through the pain. “She has been on-and-off with injuries, but she’ll play through anything,” Tambroni said. Though the gash might have done some muscle damage, Tambroni believes she’ll back in 10 days, but thinks, knowing Snelson, that she’ll be back for today’s game against Columbia. Not limiting her leadership to the Schoellkopf turf, Snelson is also a true campus leader. She is a member of the Red Key Society, a Cornell Tradition Fellow, and is part of the exclusive Quill and Dagger society. She also plans on graduating a semester early in December. Snelson stands out for her vocal style of play and her powerful shot. She will be an integral part of Tambroni’s 1-3-2-3-1 offense, which puts a great deal of pressure on the forwards to perform — Pressure the senior willingly accepts. Snelson is a model Cornell athlete, both for her achievements on and off the field, and for the past four years has been the stand out field hockey star for the Red.Archived article by Josh Vlasto
By wpengine September 28, 2001
Walk along a sidewalk on a hot September afternoon and in a couple of minutes, you’ll feel tired. You’ll feel unbearably sweaty, and you’ll be bored out of your mind. But swing by Schoellkopf Field and you’ll be energized. You’ll be compelled to be a real Cornell fan. The reason? The Cornell sprint football team practices right around the corner. Optimism permeates every crevice, every corner and every player on this storied squad. Five championships, two undefeated seasons and one of the best coaches in the entire league have made this team one of the more successful stories around campus. And now, in spite of losing four key players on one of the league’s best defenses ever, its starting five offensive linemen and its top three quarterbacks from a year ago, optimism prevails. “We’re really a young team, and it will be a struggle. But our goal is to win the league,” noted head coach Terry Cullen without hesitation. The quarterback position remains, as it has for the past two seasons, the biggest question mark for the Red, although indications from its first game (a 19-17 loss to powerhouse Penn) show otherwise. Cullen likes to use a two-quarterback rotation and has three men to do the job. Junior Charlie Tam will be the starter and is an option quarterback in the mold of Michael Vick. Tam started at tailback last year, gaining 124 yards on 52 carries. Senior tri-captain Sunil Gupta, preferring the Dan Marino style of quarterbacking, backs up Tam and will see time at wideout, his natural position.Gupta hasn’t played the position since his high school years. “But I prefer the ‘Q’,” Gupta confidently stated. Junior rookie Richard Loomis is the third-stringer on the team. The offensive backfield will feature sophomore Dean Coccaro, junior tailback Guillermo Younger and senior fullback Brian Allen. The three combined for 110 yards behind Tam last season. With the use of a two-quarterback system, these four will be called into action often, used as runners and blockers. To establish its running game, the Red will need a strong performance from its offensive line. Freshmen Philippe Marguet, Mackenzie Cook and Michael Schreck, sophomore Ian Calhoun, junior Michael Shapiro, and senior Nate Negrin will all get playing time. Gupta remains the go-to-guy in the receiving corps, although much experience returns from last season. Sophomore tight end Michael Ormsby was the team’s leading scorer last year, catching three touchdowns. His 5′ 11″ frame should give him an advantage over most cornerbacks. With Tam at quarterback, Ormsby will be a key blocker and will have big shoes to fill in this regard, with the departure of Sam Walcott ’01. “I like both receiving and blocking,” Ormsby said. “I’ll do anything to help this team win.” Sophomore Henry Kim holds the surest pair of hands on the team and looks to improve on his solid 26-reception season. Seniors Chris Hood and Scott Buszko will prove to be more-than-capable backups. In spite of losing a number of exceptional players on defense, Cullen still has high expectations. Having gained a great deal of experience, the line will be able to pressure the quarterback. The secondary is seasoned enough to prevent big plays — which occasionally hurt the Red last year. The defensive line represents the strength of the team as all four starters return to wreak havoc on opposing trenchmen. Seniors Miky Kuo and Phil Rosenman and juniors Jay Sackett and Scott McQuade are the starters. “All outstanding players,” Cullen assured. Last season was no exception as Jon Krautmann ’01 and Pat Arangio ’01 played admirably. But the crew returns senior tri-captain Martin Vogel at middle linebacker while three juniors — Parsa Kiai, Kent Ferguson, and Eric Eisenhart will man the outsides. Having lost big-time players in Bo Sangosanya ’01 and Imad Baggar ’01, the secondary looks to a pair of backs with great potential. Junior Adam Romeiser proved himself a year ago by leading the team with four interceptions. Opposite him stands tri-captain Angelo Palmieri, a senior known for his big hits. Seniors Andrew Barbato and Alex Gitomer, junior Jimmy You, and sophomore Timothy LaFrance will all see time in the defensive backfield.Archived article by Sumeet Sarin