Trevor Saunders
Position: Defensive back
Class year: 2012
Q: How did you and your teammates prepare for this season, during the offseason?
A: “I trained “my butt off” in this offseason. I had a lot of expectations coming into the season as far as pre season awards. Also knowing I was going to be a captain this season, just forced me to train harder. I feel as though the team did the same thing because when we came in for preseason everyone was well conditioned and ready to go.”
Q. This is the football team’s second year under coach Mark Raymond, how do you feel the program is progressing?
A: “ It is progressing tremendously. Last year we kind of started off slow. We didn’t know the identity of the team, and we really had to get a feel for the coaches. I feel like towards the middle of last season we started understanding his style of play and really bought into what he was giving us. Last season the team was getting to know him [Coach Raymond], but towards the end we started bonding. This season we are picking up right where we left off last season. I personally think the team loves the coach.”
Q: What do you see out of the rookies this year? Any names to be looking for?
A: “I think this is the best rookie class we have had since I came to school. (Chuckling) Besides my class I think this class was the best. This is a great class coming in. We have some talented skill guys and some talented lineman. We have a couple freshmen that are playing now. John Wittig is a receiver and a returner, just an all around athlete. Also we have Freddie Washburn, the backup running back to Marcus Washington, who is coming in and doing some good things. I am really excited to see what the freshman class is going to do once they become upperclassmen.”
Q: Which teammate do you feel will have a “break out” season?
A: “I personally think all of the captains are going to have breakout seasons definitely. Marcus (Washington) is definitely going to have a break out year. He has accepted his role as a running back. I know he trained his “butt off” in the offseason and he is ready to put the offense on his back. Ethan (Sutton) as well had a pretty good year last year, but no one really recognized his talent. This year I think he will really display his talent. I really look forward to those two having really good years.”
Q: With a 5 win and 6 Loss record last season any predictions on an overall record for this season.
A: “Well we are one and one right now so hopefully we finish eight and one, win the league, and go to the playoffs from there. I really feel that with the way our team is playing and with the bond that we have, if we continue to prepare then we won’t lose another game.”
Q: Is there any added pressure to be the defending Liberty League Champions?
A: “ Not at all. I mean I feel that even though we are the league champions, a lot of teams in the league still look down to us, as if we are the old St. Lawrence from previous years. I really don’t feel that we have any added pressure. I do feel that teams are going to try and play us harder because we are the defending league champions and because they feel we don’t deserve to be the league champions. They are going to come at us with everything they have.”
Q: There is a general perception on campus that the football team is cocky. Agree or disagree?
A: “I don’t understand that kind of perception. If anything I feel that the football team has been biting their tongues lately, because we get a lot of criticism and campus always doubts the football team. I don’t see it as us being cocky or anything. If anything, like I said, we have been biting our tongues because the football team has not been so successful in the past. Winning the league last year sends a message to the campus saying, “ We are a legit team, and we have players that are going to go out there and play.” So as far as people saying we are cocky I don’t feel that.”
Q: After losing to Norwich last year, how did it feel to beat them this year?
A: “It felt good. I beat Norwich my sophomore year as well, so I knew it was possible for them to be beat. Last year it wasn’t a good game for us. We had a bunch of things going on. It was the beginning of the season and we didn’t really have an identity as a team. This year I wanted to get a little rebound and do what I know we could have done last year. I was pleased that we beat Norwich and the way we beat them.”
Q: Looking ahead to this weekend’s opponent in Alfred, what does your defense need to do to win the game? Considering last week Alfred managed to have 561 yards in total offense.
A: “We have to play the same kind of defense we did last week. We need to play together, communicate, and have a great scheme. I don’t think we need to do anything special besides continuing to play hard and communicating with one another.”
Q: Prediction for this weekends game?
A: “ I’m not good at predictions, I just know the Saints are going to come out on top.”
Q: Message to the fans and the Student Body?
A: “ Support us. We love this campus and we love the student body as a team. We feel that we deserve the same amount of respect and courtesy that other teams get. I would just encourage people to come out and watch us and support us. We feed off of the energy the fans give us. I think if we could get more fans and support in the crowd, we would play better as a team. Just come and support us and understand we aren’t the same old Saints from the past few years. We have a new team, new system, and we are going to be fine.”
Melanie Solandt
Events: Cross Country: 6k
Track & Field: 1 mile and 2 mile
Class year: 2012
Q: Some would say cross country is an individual sport. Do you agree of disagree and why?
A: “I completely disagree. It is all based on scoring. Basically you have your top five runners and you want to get the lowest score possible. So if you have a runner who places first they score one point, second place two points etc. etc.
Q: Why is it important to have team chemistry on a cross country team?
A: “Teams are dependent on packing, which is how your team places in the race. If you come through as a pack you are going to save points and push the other teams runners into placing lower giving them more points. Being able to finish as a pack will allow us to become one of the better teams in the nation.”
Q: As a captain on the team what are your roles and responsibilities?
A: “ I want to make sure all of the girls are getting all of their training in and doing everything to reach their full potential. Also if they need help with being a college athlete, I can help them there. Whether I am someone to talk to or someone to come to when they are looking for advice. As captains we also plan a lot of team bonding activities.”
Q: Each year you have seemed to do better. What are your personal goals for this year?
A: “I hope to just run through nationals for my team and run as fast as I can. I would love to be as fast as I was before my injuries that I had freshmen and sophomore year.”
Q: Team goals?
A: “ We were ranked number two in the country going into last years season. We won everything up to the regional meet, but didn’t do so well at nationals. This season we are underdogs and ranked twentieth in the country. I think that our entire team wants to prove people wrong and show that even though we don’t have Wendy Pavlus, we can still be a great team. Hopefully within the next two to three weeks we can break into the top ten in the country and slowly get into the top five.”
Q: Was there any offseason training done between you and the team?
A: “Absolutely. This summer we had a running log online. Most of our girls were running around forty to sixty miles a week every week. It was great to keep the miles online, not only so you could keep track of everyone, but it also pushed the girls to go out and run. No one wanted to put a zero on the log.”
Q: How is it working with your coaching staff?
A: “The coaches are great! They know a lot and are very experienced.”
Q: How far does the team run in a typical practice?
A: “It totally depends. We will have two maintenance runs a week, which can range between five and nine miles. Then there are two workout days where we work in intervals and they can add to about eight miles when we do speed intervals. We also have one easy day a week, which for most people is four to six miles. A race day, which is 6K, and a long day which is ten miles and can reach up to fourteen or fifteen.”
Q: Message to the fans and student body?
A: “We would love peoples support. We understand that the meet can be early in the morning and boring for some people, but if you come to a meet it is actually really fun. This year we actually are hosting the regional meet, which is a huge deal. There will be hundreds of runners from all over the region. There will be a lot of fans coming from all over. If there was one meet to go to the regional meet is the one. Fans get really into it cheering on the runners.”
