WB_080918

28 | August 9, 2018 | The wilmette beacon SPORTS
wilmettebeacon.com
Alumni Spotlight
New Trier grad Sennett breaks out at Amherst
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
A year after taking a
backseat to Katherine
Gjertsen in their senior
year at New Trier, Isabelle
Sennett was looking to go
out and make a name for
herself during her freshman
year on Amherst College’s
women’s lacrosse team.
And make a name for
herself she did. Despite
starting in only nine of the
18 games she played in,
Sennett finished second on
the team with 32 goals.
“That was definitely a lot
different,” she said. “I think
in high school Gjertsen
and I played really well together,
and I really like to
set her up and she sort of
had the firepower to get it
in. Once I got to college, I
looked over the team the
year before and tried to
figure out what role I could
play that would be important
to the team in order to
get them farther.
“I spent a lot of time in
the fall sort of getting my
shot down and trying to just
take those risky shots that
are definitely lower percentage,
but someone sort of has
to take those risks in order
to get a team up ahead. So,
I decided to take on that role
and then throughout the season
I really tried to develop
my scoring ability in order
to help that.”
Sennett’s numbers would
have most likely been better
if she hadn’t suffered
a concussion during the
Mammoths’ second game
of their spring break road
trip to Disney’s ESPN
Wide World of sports Complex
in Orlando.
The concussion happened
against Fairleigh
Dickinson-Florham when
Sennett was making a cut
toward the goal when the
player in front of her fell
and the player behind her
pushed her over the fallen
player, causing Sennett to
hit her head on the ground.
Luckily for the Wilmette
native, the team came
back from its trip with a
couple days before classes
resumed, so she was able
recover slowly. The NCAA
has a five day protocol for
concussions. So there is a
day of working out, a day
of starting to do drills, a
day of non-contact practices,
a day of full-contact,
and then a game day. After
missing two home games,
the sophomore was back
on the field against one of
Amherst’s biggest rivals,
Middlebury.
“I definitely was a little
tentative,” she said. “I actually
got hit in the head in
high school. I didn’t end up
getting a concussion, but I
got eight stitches across my
head from a stick check. I
remember from that, me
coming into games and
just being a little bit more
worried around sticks and
a little more worried about
getting hit in the head.
“Overall, it was a scary
experience just because it
was one of my first bigger
injuries. I think that was the
hardest part of all of it was
coming back, the team sort
of molded around me being
gone, and filled all those
spots. So I had to work really
hard in order to prove
myself and get back on the
field.”
The Mammoths finished
17-3 overall, losing just
once in the regular season,
to Middlebury College, and
then dropping a conference
tournament semifinal to
Bowdoin College. The team
earned an at-large bid to
the NCAA Tournament, its
13th bid in school history.
Amherst has had considerable
success in the NCAA
Tournament, making it at
least the quarterfinal round
in nine of the 13 NCAA
Tournaments, including this
season. The team made it
Amherst College’s Isabelle Sennett, a New Trier
graduate, makes a move on an opponent in a game
during the 2018 season. Photo submitted
to the quarterfinals in 2018,
dropping a 13-10 decision
to Gettysburg College, who
would go on to win the
NCAA Division III national
championship.
Despite it only being August,
Sennett and her teammates
have their eyes set on
the 2019 season.
“I think all of us are
prepared to win an NCAA
Championship,” she said.
“We have already started
training. We have all these
accountability groups, so
there’s a bunch of teams
broken up within our team
and we send in pictures of
us working out every day
to hold each other accountable
and make sure we’re
doing what we need to in
the off-season.
“We’re only losing five
seniors, two who had knee
injuries. So we’re only losing
three players who were
even playing last season.
Two of them made some
big contributions, so those
will be big shoes to fill. But
I think our team can handle
that. We have a lot of young
talent coming in. I know
there’s almost like eight
or nine recruits, so I think
we’ll be able to fill that role
and really get ourselves to
be at that next level.”
Trevians 18 finishes fifth at 2018 USA Softball 18A Northern Nationals
SUBMITTED by Trevians 18U
The Trevians 18 fastpitch
softball team went 5-2 in
bracket play, and 6-3 overall,
to capture a tie for fifth
place at the 25-team 2018
USA Softball 18A Northern
Nationals held in Novi,
Mich. July 26-29. The team
lost its first double-elimination
bracket game to eventual
tournament runner-up
Cardinals ’01 from Millington,
Mich., but then
won five consecutive elimination
games before falling
to Turnin 2 of Livonia,
Mich., 7-2. The five consecutive
wins came against
the Great Lakes Sharks,
the Michigan Lookouts,
Gold Glove Midwest, the
St. Louis Stix ’00, and the
Black Widows 2019.
“I am so proud of our
players”, head coach
Al Dolinko said. “They
showed the grit and determination
that was a hallmark
of our year together.
Winning five consecutive
games with our backs to
the wall, plus being forced
to play with no breaks between
the last four games,
was simply amazing.”
The Trevians were led on
the mound by Emily Pater
and Sophie Stark.
There was plenty of offense
too. Bass homered
in consecutive at bats to
get the Trevians past the
Michigan Lookouts. She
led the team with nine RBI
over the nine games. Four
players (Albrecht, Bass,
Hart, and Pater) hit better
than .400 on the weekend
and three others (Aragon,
Franke and Schoeff) were
over .300.
“Maybe the most amazing
thing of all was we that
did what we did without our
best power hitter, Colleen
Palczynski, who was unable
to be there for bracket
play,” Dolinko said.
The Trevians 18 is the
“college showcase” team
in the Trevian Girls Softball
Association (TGSA).
Founded in 1980, TGSA
fields teams at multiple age
levels from 10U-18U and
runs clinics and camps for
girls as young as 5-6. From
10U-16U, the program is
geared towards New Trier
Township residents. The
18U showcase team is open
to all.
“And now we say goodbye
to five seniors, four of
whom are going on to play
in college. But we have a
great core returning and
I’m excited about that.
Still, there’s no rest for the
weary; we got back from
Nationals on Sunday, and
tryouts for next year start
three days later,” he said.
The 2018 Trevians 18 fastpitch team pictured front
row, (left to right): Sophia Stark (Glenbrook South,
Class of 2019); Gabriella Samperi (Hersey, 2018);
Rebecca Richards (Regina Dominican, 2019); Isabella
Albrecht (GBS, 2018); Megan Chin (GBS, 2019); top
row, (left to right): head coach Al Dolinko; Erin Franke
(Northside College Prep, 2019); Ivy Burck (New Trier,
2019); Madeleine Schoeff (Northside, 2019); Emily Pater
(Willows Academy, 2018); Lucy Hart (Evanston, 2019);
Julia Bass (GBS, 2020); Colleen Palczynski (Prospect,
2018); Alyssa Aragon (Niles North, 2018); assistant
coach Dana Dolinko. PHOTO SUBMITTED