Panthers Unleashed: Captain's Corner

It's that time of year again! August is quickly fading away which means September – and fall sports – are about to be in full swing on campus!

With five Panther squads already preparing to play this upcoming weekend, we caught up with a few of the captains in the Fall 2018 version of Captain's Corner. The seven captains we talked to were: Curt Calomeni (football), Lindsay Erl (women's soccer), Nick Rooney (men's soccer), Kaitlyn Raymundo (volleyball), Brady Hoskins (men's water polo), Sayeed Mohammed (men's cross country), and Mia Hernandez (women's cross country).

How did camp go?

CC: Camp went really well. It was a little bit longer but overall it went really well. We got everything we wanted to get done, everyone got a lot better, and we all got faster and stronger.

LE: It went really well. Everyone worked hard over summer and we pushed each other to the limit when it came to fitness tests and through the double days right after. I think it really made our team stronger.

NR: Our camp went great. We had a lot of guys come in that had worked really hard over the summer. I think our confidence is high. We have a lot of new people for the team, and I think one thing we did really well going into camp was being able to connect as a team and I think that proved well on the field during our first weeks.

KR: It went really well! Much better than I think it has been in the past. It was amazing to see the fresh talent.

BH: Camp went really well. A lot of long days in the pool, but I think it went really well. Less injuries than the previous years which is always good.

SM: The first practices have been good. It was honestly pretty intense at first. We went straight into a workout of 1K repeats. At first it was pretty brutal, but it was a good way to snap into it and say this is how it is to be a collegiate athlete. We're putting in work and it was a great way to get the momentum going.

MH: The first few practices went really well. We did start off with a hard workout but it was good to see what kind of shape everyone came in at. It seemed like everyone came in strong and in good shape like they had been training over the summer so it was nice to see that.

What has been your biggest challenge as a captain this year?

CC: Emphasizing that we want to take each week as its own. Don't look to far into the future; we all know that we have a great team, but we just have to focus on each challenge each week.

LE: I wouldn't say there's that many challenges, just juggling the workload with school coming up and making everyone happy on the team.

NR: Just getting those people to combine. We have a lot of new guys but our team has come together really strong. Just as a captain constantly keeping people motivated and finding ways to bring out the best in everyone. Everyone on our team brings a unique talent and trait that helps to create the team as a whole.

KR: So far, it hasn't been too challenging. It's been more about learning the new dynamic of the team and adjusting to that and making sure that I lead the way that this team needs to be led.

BH: Just trying to change the mentality of the team. Trying to get everyone on the same page has been challenging but it's going pretty well.

SM: I haven't run cross country for a while because of an injury, but I would say despite not having the ethos of being the very good senior, I can still provide academic and emotional support for my teammates while I'm recovering and getting better. That's a big thing I want to stress on the freshmen too. Despite being really into the sport, there's a lot more to college.

MH: Making sure that everyone is adjusting well to school and checking in on everyone. Even though we are a small team, we want to make sure that each individual is doing well and having a great start to the year.

What is the main focus of your team this season?

CC: Take each week as its own. Don't get too far ahead of ourselves and don't be thinking too far in advance about games in the future when there's a game this week.

LE: Our main focus is obviously to win the SCIAC Championship, but with bringing in 10 new players our focus is to develop a style of play together and really bond on and off the field and make our team stronger every way that we can. Our phrase this season is "Always forward, forward always", so it doesn't matter what happened yesterday all that matters is what is happening in the moment.

NR: The main focus for this team is not just the SCIAC Championship, but also going on to the NCAA Tournament and ultimately getting a win in the NCAA Championship.

KR: We are all just focused on being on the same page and making sure we have a common goal in the end, which is to win as many games as we can and to go as far as we can this season.

BH: To win. We want to win SCIAC and make it to the NCAA Tournament.

SM: In my opinion, we have a lot of freshmen that are really talented. So just trying to make sure we can keep that momentum going through their four years at Chapman. Making sure they have that balance and set their priorities while also training properly.

MH: To improve place-wise from last year. We have a smaller group of girls, however I think we have a good chance of doing a lot better. We want to place better in conference and I know each girl would like to PR. We would also love to send a few girls to Washington for Regionals.

How does the team's mentality change this week with season starting in just a few days?

CC: The mentality is definitely more excited. In camp you get into a routine, but now you have a light at the end of the week. This is what we are playing for. It's here. All our work is going to pay off on this day.

LE: I think our mentality is more focused. It's a very excited feeling, too, knowing that season is going to be starting soon. I think that even though we haven't spent that many days on the field together, we'll be ready when it starts. We are going to come out strong and we're excited.

NR: I have a good quote for this one. "Don't grow a wishbone where a backbone ought to be." I think it's just coming in strong and having that fire every single day and when we come into games just flipping that switch and being that team that comes out and dominates every single play and possession.

KR: I think we've had to adjust to the fact that we're not just thinking about volleyball anymore. At the same time when we come into the gym, volleyball is the main focus. We have to make sure that when we're in the gym we're focused on the next day and the next goal and the games that we have.

BH: Everything just gets a little more serious because its game time now. We will get to see if all of our preparation and work we've put in thus far is paying off so everyone's more excited and amped up for this weekend.

SM: A lot of the guys are going to realize what position they are actually in. This isn't high school where you run a 5K, in college we run 8K's. They're going to learn how to properly pace themselves for this first race. More importantly, they're going to see where their speed is at and where they can improve upon it.

MH: I know we're going to get really excited and everyone's looking forward to their first race despite all the nerves. We are more focused and show up to practice and do all the right things necessary. Having such a young team there are going to be nerves, but as long as everyone is out there doing their best I see us doing well.

What has been your greatest success as a team so far?

CC: We've installed everything we wanted over camp and we did it as a team. We're all on the same page and we communicate really well with each other. We all made it clear what our goal was this year: to win.

LE: Our greatest success was just starting off the way we did. We switched our formation a bit and so far it's been really successful. Everyone's been giving 100 percent every practice and game so that's been great for our team.

NR: I think our greatest success is our competitiveness. I think every day we step on that field and we have different guys showing that fire. It's not just coming from a couple of people, it's coming from everyone. When someone needs a pick-up at practice, someone's there to lift them up and create that team atmosphere that breeds success.

KR: I think the camaraderie so far has been really good, especially compared to past years. I think we've been really proactive in meeting as a team and doing team bonding events before we get too far into the season. I feel like we have a really great foundation to go off of and hopefully that will reflect in our play on the court this weekend and the rest of the season.

BH: I think our conditioning shape has been a lot better this year. We came to camp in better shape this year so we should be off to a better start.

SM: We cheer each other on no matter what place we're at. It's nice that everyone has that support system. There's a lot of momentum and energy from the younger kids. They're excited and I think that's one of the coolest things. They really just want to race hard and do well.

MH: So far in the short amount of time we've had, we are very close and have bonded really well both in practice and outside of practice. We cheer each other on during workouts and make sure everyone's doing OK with adjusting to school.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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