Fall 2010 - St. Cloud State University

F e a u r e
Sports
By Scott Ed Holte
Felicia Nelson is one of the best hockey
players to skate for St. Cloud State University
in the history of women’s hockey. This
year she ended the regular season as the
leading scorer in all of Division I hockey.
She was also the first player from St. Cloud
ever to be named one of the 10 finalists
for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award,
given anually to one outstanding player in
Women’s Division I hockey.
However, Nelson sees her team’s
accomplishments, not her individual ones,
as the highlight of her athletic career. “We
just made a lot of history and accomplished
things that no team here has ever done,”
Nelson said. The St. Cloud State women’s
hockey team finished the regular season
in third place in the WCHA standings;
this made St. Cloud State the first team
other than the University of Minnesota,
the University of Minnesota–Duluth and
the University of Wisconsin, ever to finish
in the top three. They also swept a series
against Minnesota for the first time in school
history.
Nelson is one of a dozen phenomenal
athletes who are mass communications
majors. The desire to stay involved in
sports after college leads many of St. Cloud
State’s best athletes to pursue careers in
mass communication.
“I knew all along I wanted to work in the
sports industry,” said soccer player Teresa
Gazich. “Sports broadcasting seemed like
a good fit.”
Some athletes discover this fit early in life.
Scott Horvath, who was one of 10 candidates
for Minnesota’s Mr. Football Award, got
into broadcasting early in his high school
career. This experience was influential
in his life, and was part of the reason he
came to St. Cloud. “I was recruited by a
couple other schools, and they didn’t have
the [broadcasting] program that St. Cloud
State did,” explained Horvath.
Pursuing a sports career and a sports
broadcasting career simultaneously is not
an easy task. Being a student athlete
is extremely demanding, especially for
students involved in the media. Many sports
teams train throughout the school year. This
demanding schedule is a common gripe
among student athletes.
“There are so
many good
things to be
involved in,”
said Gazich. “I
already do UTVS
and Husky Mag,
and I feel like I
have no time for
anything else.”
“Yeah, for me
skiing started
on the second
day of school,”
said skier
Corinne Holmes.
“Finding the time
is hard.”
Felicia Nelson,
Captain of Woman’s Hockey Team
When athletes
find the time to
be involved in
student media, they usually find that they
cannot devote the same amount of time to
these projects as other students. “Everyone
else works on their stuff until 4,” said David
Queck, reflecting on his experience with
UTVS.
“I had to get out of there by 1:30, because I
had to go to practice,” he said.
Despite the challenges of balancing school,
and athletics with building a career, athletes
in the mass communications program would
not have it any other way, especially those
trying to break into sports broadcasting.
Baseball player Phil Imholte said simply, “I
can’t see myself doing anything else.”
The traits that drive these students to be
exceptional athletes carry over into
everything else they do. Queck explained,
“We have that drive to succeed, no matter
what we do.”
Mike Doyle, who played hockey for St.
Cloud State from 2002-2005, is now in
the graduate program. “I am driven and
competitive,” he said. “That drive translates
into my professional and academic life.”
Phil Imholte pointed out that perseverance is
another trait that carries over from athletics.
Phil Imholte on first
And track runner Kelsey King argues that
her ability to work on a team is a highly
transferable skill.
These athletes excel not only in sport, but
also in the classroom.
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