Outside the lines: Meet senior Melinda Curran
Staff reporter Jacob Lougheed sat down with Melinda Curran, in her fourth season as the goalkeeper for the field hockey team after graduating in three years. She ranks first with 39 saves in Mid-American Conference games in 2009.
Jacob Lougheed: First of all, where are you from? Melinda Curran: I am from a place called Anderson Township, and it is about 10 minutes east of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.
JL: How many years have you been playing field hockey? MC: This is my eighth year playing the game. I started back in my freshman year of high school.
JL: Tell me, what factors intrigued you into starting (to play) field hockey? MC: It was on the list of fall sports and I decided to check into something I was interested in, and I just wound up playing.
JL: That was it? What initially got you interested in the sport? MC: It had hockey in it. Anything with hockey in it interests me.
JL: How many text messages do you send a day? MC: Ummm it depends really. Maybe 10-20.
JL: (Only) 10-20? You aren’t a big texter? MC: Most days, it is like five, but then there are days when there are big long conversations with people.
JL: Can you text without looking or is that not one of your hidden talents? MC: Partially. Most of the time, there are a lot of misspellings, and I am really, really slow.
JL: How often do you check your e-mail? MC: I check my e-mail all the time. I check it at least 20 times a day.
JL: Are you one of those people who are glued to their Blackberry to get e-mails? MC: (laughs) No, not at all.
JL: What is your biggest pet peeve? MC: Honestly, it is people asking me a ton of questions.
JL: So these interviews must be a pain for you then? MC: (laughs) No, that is just me having to think about things, so that is OK (laughs).
JL: Would you consider yourself a morning person or night owl? MC: Morning definitely. I get up really early to do things and that is how I work best.
JL: I know you have played ice hockey as well at the Mount Pleasant I.C.E Arena. In fact, you played a game against me about a year ago. If you weren’t playing field hockey what would be your alternate sport? MC: It would have to be ice hockey for sure. If it had to be something else, I would probably play softball. I played back in high school and we had a few good teams back in high school. I went to a really small school, so it wasn’t like top-notch softball.
JL: You, like most other college athletes, don’t have much of this, but what do you like to do with your rare free time? MC: I watch a lot of other sports. I love to watch football on the weekends, and I love to sleep a lot.
JL: Being from Ohio, are you a Cleveland Browns fan or a Cincinnati Bengals fan? MC: I am a Browns fan.
JL: So it has got to be bad watching them on Sunday’s this season for you hasn’t it? MC: It’s bad. I know it.
JL: Of all the achievements you and your team have accomplished, what would you say was your greatest moment wearing that Chippewas jersey? MC: I would have to say my first shutout last year in the game against Ohio (1-0). It was just a really good felling to finally have that shutout at the collegiate level. I don’t even think that I ever had one in high school.
