Seeing injuries differently

Written by: Christian Swanberg
Junior, Lindstrom Minn.
Track and Field

In true fashion of a college student, I am writing this at some absurd hour when I should probably be sleeping. However, unlike most college students I am also an athlete. As a student-athlete it can be a challenge to find enough hours in a day to get everything done. In a previous post, Jessica Churchill, talked about the issue of time and being an athlete; so I will stop here as to not bore you, the reader, with repetitive information.

Seeing that I have not introduced myself my name is Christian Swanberg; I am a track and field athlete of the sprinter variety. With that out of the way, I suppose we could transition to the main thoughts of this blog post. When trying to think of a topic to write about it took me a little while but I finally landed on talking about injuries.

Injuries are, unfortunately, a part of almost every athlete's career. It is hard to escape the undeniable fact that at some point in your career you might become injured. Being injured does not have to be such a depressing topic, it can be a point in your career when you become more motivated. It is important that everyone, not just athletes, takes the time to realize that we have a gift. Injuries can temporarily take away that gift you have been given but in that time you can realize how precious your gift is. The word gift is a bit of a generic term but it could be anything such as being able to: walk, run, throw, swim, etc...

If ever you are feeling down, take some time and think about all the gifts that you have been given. As athletes we should be doing things that will help to build upon the gifts that we have been given. That means working hard during practice; doing all the small things. It also means making good decisions on the weekends, but also being able to have fun from time to time.

We all have gifts and it's important that we can recognize and appreciate not only our own but also our teammates'.

The next start for a Piper pitcher

Written by: Jessalyn Weaver
Senior, Eagan, Minnesota
Softball

This fall, I will be pursuing my Ph.D. in Dr. Reuben Harris’ lab at the University of Minnesota in the biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics program.

The focus of the lab is on beneficial mutation and innate immunity, specifically for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The project that I have been working on and will continue to work on as a graduate student is elucidating the binding characteristics of two proteins involved in the HIV infection and replication.

Vif (Viral infectivity factor) is a protein that is produced by HIV. It functions by binding to APOBEC proteins (proteins produced by human T cells) and degrading them. In the absence of VIF, APOBEC proteins cause hypermutation in the viral DNA, rendering the virus unable to replicate. It will be my goal to more fully understand the binding characteristics of APOBEC and Vif, and ultimately determine a mechanism to prevent Vif from binding to and degrading APOBEC. This research could potentially lead to new ways to treat HIV infection in humans.

I received the Walter A. Kenyon scholarship that I will be putting toward my graduate education, but as a graduate student in the field of biology, my graduate tuition is paid for and I receive a yearly stipend to conduct research. I will also be applying for grants to fund my research.

Being a student-athlete at Hamline has been challenging but at the same time has been a great experience. I am really glad I made the decision to transfer here after my freshman year. There have been several professors at Hamline that have significantly helped me in getting to the point that I am at now. Two of these professors that really stick out are Bonnie Ploger and Irina Makarevitch.

Bonnie was the first biology professor that I had at Hamline and was my advisor my first year here. Her class really reinforced my decision to become a biology major. It was unlike any other class that I had ever taken; it was interesting, fun, and most importantly it taught me the basic skills that are needed to be a good scientist. Bonnie has also provided me with a lot of good advice throughout my first two years and gave me the opportunity to be a teacher’s assistant in the biology department which was a great opportunity.

Irina was my genetics ad biochemistry professors, two of my favorite biology courses that I have taken at Hamline. She really sparked my interest in the area of genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry. Irina advised me throughout my honors project and wrote me several letters of recommendations.

Not only have I enjoyed my academic experience at Hamline but I have also really enjoyed playing softball for Hamline. When I decided to transfer to Hamline I had no expectations for softball at all, I really just hoped that I could make the team. I really wasn’t expecting to come in my first year and be the starting pitcher. I was fortunate that I could join the team and make an impact right off the bat.

I owe a lot of my success on the field to the coaching staff here at Hamline. Coach Jim Rubbelke has a lot of knowledge of the game and has been one of the best and most knowledgeable head coaches I have ever played for.

Coach Jason Iuli joined the coaching staff my junior year at Hamline. Not only did Jason really help my with my pitching but also made practices and games a lot of fun. In addition to getting the opportunity to play under a great coaching staff, I also had the opportunity to play with a great group of girls.

As a biology major and a chemistry minor I have taken several lab courses, and on many occasions games times and lab times conflicted. Being a student-athlete was challenging, but it would have been much more difficult if I wouldn’t have had such great professors who understood my commitment to my sport and such great coaches who understood the importance of academics.


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Note from the Sports Information Department: The Pipers would like to thank Professor Ploger and Professor Makarevitch for providing some thoughts and background into Jessalyn's academic career:

Professor Ploger: Jessalyn is an outstanding biology student who was recognized by the Biology Department for her academic excellence, research potential and service to the department when we awarded her the Ruth Sullivan Scholarship for the outstanding junior biology student of the year, and again this year when she was awarded a Walter A. Kenyon Award for outstanding senior biology students. When she served as a teaching assistant for me in one of my introductory biology lab sections, Jessalyn was a delight to work with. The students in her lab section appreciated her clear, well-organized talks and kind, friendly help during the labs.

Jessalyn successfully defended an impressive honors thesis this spring based on collaborative research that she conducted with Dr. Reuben Harris in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics at the University of Minnesota. This research will be submitted for publication. She will continue research at the University of Minnesota next fall when she begins the Ph.D. program in the same department.

Professor Makarevitch: Jessalyn Weaver '10, is one of the best biology students. In addition to her major in biology that she completes with Honors, she graduates with Chemistry minor. Jessalyn has an outstanding research record. For over a year, she diligently worked in the University of Minnesota Lab under Dr. Reuben Harris investigating HIV viruses and the mechanism of HIV infection. After graduation, Jessalyn will be writing up her work for a publication and will start working toward her PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics Program at the University of Minnesota.

End-of-year awards...already??

Written by: Stephanie Harris
Sports Information Director

In my role as sports information director at Hamline, I spend most of my time writing about names, numbers, "Ws," and "Ls." Also in my role as sports information director at Hamline, I decided to indulge myself today and take the opportunity to write about what a joy it is to see our athletes' work rewarded as we wind down the academic year.

I have been fortunate enough to work at Hamline for nearly four and a half years now in a couple of different positions - meaning that this year's graduating class is the first group of student-athletes I have known since they arrived for orientation in August of 2006.

Although I saw it coming for weeks as award nominations rolled in, voting took place, and plaques were prepared - it still seemed to come as a shock that today was our year-end awards ceremony.

Our student-athletes started rolling into Sundin Music Hall at 8am for the Honors Day Ceremony, and I found it hard to believe that many of them will be graduating in just a few weeks (May 22, to be exact). I also found it just as hard to believe that many of them will no longer be "first-years" in a few weeks - they have made it through that scary inaugural season with flying colors!

There were athletes who entered Hamline as unrecruited players who just wanted to try out for the chance to play a collegiate sport and there were athletes who had been highly pursued by their coaches. Walking in were athletes with multiple All-American honors and some who had never played a minute in an official varsity game.

All together, however, they are the Pipers - and it was great to have them all in one room to celebrate their seasons.

Hamline honors eight athletes each May with "departmental awards" - a male and female rookie of the year; the male and female senior with the highest GPA; the senior male & female athlete of the year; and the male and female seniors with the top four-year career in athletics, academic, and service.

You can see the list of honorees by reading this story. Watching their surprised faces, hearing the pride in their coaches' voices as they are presented with their award, and hearing the applause of their teammates is the best part of the day.

Every one of these athletes has provided one of those "WOW!" or "Holy cow!" moments for our fans. They are all outstanding people who say "Hi!" to familiar faces in the hallway and they are all great students who truly exemplify the phrase "student-athlete."

I was told by a couple of coaches on stage that while I was taking pictures of our award winners, I had a huge smile on my face like I was on the other side of the camera. And I realized later that there are a couple of reasons for that! 1) I, unlike my colleagues on stage, could hear some of the whispers and comments between athletes in the audience during the "down time" - and we have some pretty funny people! and 2) How can I not smile as I think about some of the hard-fought games/meets/contests in which I have watched them compete, or the great conversations and work interactions I have been privileged to have with them off the field?

As I turned from my seat and scanned the rest of the student-athletes, I couldn't help but smile - at least internally - as I thought of some of the great accomplishments and stories that they have to tell. I think I am very lucky in my job with the Pipers - I get to watch every single sport compete and get to know a little bit about nearly every athlete.

It's always bittersweet to see the seniors move on - there will be holes in line-ups and student work positions to fill, but they are definitely ready to take on the next challenges in their lives!

However, before they leave - we're not quite done with them. The Pipers have a baseball double-header left and at least three track & field meets - so they can't turn the tassel, yet!

Best of luck to our seniors - thanks for a great four years! And good luck to all of our returners in 2010-11 - may this be the greatest year for the Pipers yet!