D.J. Palomares: What was the last movie you saw?
Lauren Krupsky: “I Love You, Man.” It was pretty hilarious. Stephanie Budde and I quote it a lot during practice now. That’s how you know its good, because we can quote it back and forth to each other.

DP: Do you have any phobias?
LK: I don’t really have any phobias. But I don’t like feet. They kind of gross me out. Especially people with a long second toe, it really bugs me.

DP: Do you have anything that you do for luck before matches?
LK: I wear the same hairstyle until we lose. Right now, we are with a poof in the front and a bun in the back. It is the one we won with last.

DP: If you weren’t playing volleyball, what other sports would you like good at to play?
LK: I was a thrower in high school and I won state in that. So I guess throw discus … I would do that, but I also like swimming.

DP: What is your favorite snack?
LK: That’s a tough one. I like a lot of foods, but I guess I would go with pretzels. I like those a lot.

DP: What do you like to do when you go home?
LK: I like spending time with my family but, more than anything, I like sleeping in my big queen-sized bed. It’s super comfortable.

DP: What do you do on long road trips to pass the time?
LK: I sit in the back with Stephanie Budde and we sing songs or watch movies. I can’t really do homework on the bus because I get motion sickness.

DP: What type of songs do you two sing?
LK: It depends. Sometimes, we sing Disney songs and, sometimes, we make up raps.

Matt Valinski: What are your plans after graduation?
Molly Gerst: Well, I won’t graduate until next fall, so I’ll start doing my student-teaching with my major of elementary education. I’ll do my pre-teaching next fall so, after that, hopefully (I will) get a job. I would love to teach where I’m from in Forest Hills, which is in Grand Rapids. I have just always loved being there and would love going back.

MV: What is the last movie you saw?
MG: Beauty and the Beast on the bus. It was good, a real good flashback to my childhood.

MV: What do you like doing outside of soccer?
MG: I really like to read and hang out with my friends. We don’t get that much free time, so just relaxing a lot.

MV: What is your favorite book?
MG: “The Shack.” It is kind like a Christian-type book.

MV: Do you have a favorite class or subject here?
MG: I’ve always been really into English. I hate math and science and stuff. I was in journalism all throughout high school, so I really enjoy writing and (going to) my English classes.

MV: What do you do when you go home?
MG: I actually have my parents come up here a lot because we don’t get to go home too much. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving and my first Christmas break; just going home to hang out with my family because, normally, I have to work out all the time. It will be nice to finally get back to my family and just visit home a lot more on the weekends, when I have time.

Tim Ottusch: What has been your favorite class taken at CMU?

Sam Williams: PES 320 (Foundations of Sports Management). It was Dr. Vincent Mumford’s class. We got to put on a Breast Cancer walk-a-thon and that was really rewarding to see so many come out and support such a righteous cause. Breast cancer is really prevalent in our society, so I really enjoyed that.

TO: How is Mount Pleasant during the summers?

SW: It’s beautiful, but there’s not a lot of people here. It’s pretty boring. But we stay pretty busy with class and football, so it’s not that bad.

TO: Who are your best friends on the team?

SW: My best friend on the team is Jean Pitts. He fell to injury, he can’t play anymore. Frank Zombo is really one of my best friends. Really, our whole defensive line. I got a lot of great friends on the team. But definitely, Jean and Frank are two of my best friends.

TO: What do you guys usually do outside of football?

SW: We really just get together like Monday nights. We usually get together and watch Monday Night Football and cook and just hang out. We get pretty competitive playing hockey. We play NHL ‘09, we get together and do that. We just enjoy each other’s company.

TO: What is your pre-game routine?

SW: I just listen to music and visualize myself making plays. I’m pretty calm right before the games and then, right before we get out, I try to get myself going. (I) Go out there and run around a little bit. Just get ready to play.

TO: What do you think of the student section being recently announced the “Maroon Platoon?”

SW: I love it. We’ve played at a lot of different places and I think we have the best student section in the country. I can remember a few years ago in ‘07 when we played NIU and they had the ball on our goal line against our student section. We couldn’t even think ourselves, it was crazy. We have one of thee best student sections.

John Evans: Other than competing and practicing on the track, what do you like to do on your off-days?
Raeanne Lohner: I am pretty much a normal college student. I like hanging out with people. My other passion is picking up new books from the library about education because I’m going into secondary education.

JE: Is education your major?
RL: English for secondary education, and I kind of divide myself into different realms. I would say that I devote a lot of my time to making sure I can be the best teacher I can be when I get out of here.

JE: Do you have a favorite class or professor here at CMU?
RL: I actually just started taking MLE 381 with Norma Bailey, who is a phenomenal teacher in the education department. I’m really excited because I’m in CMLACMU (Collegiate Middle School Level Association) which is a club for middle school teachers, specifically, and Bailey is the faculty head for the club.

JE: What was a main factor in your decision to come run track for CMU?
RL: I just love the campus, and that was the biggest thing. I think you can get a very good education at a lot of places but, at the end of the day, it’s where you feel most comfortable, and I felt comfortable on the campus and with the team.

JE: So your plans for after graduation are to be a teacher?
RL: Yes, absolutely, I am totally passionate about going into education. I don’t know if I am going to stay in the state, but I am willing to move.

JE: Is there any particular age that you want to teach?
RL: Middle school for sure, like 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th (grade), somewhere in there.
JE: What is your favorite band?
RL: Dave Matthews Band, for sure, they are my favorite, I don’t know what genre you would group them in, but they are my favorite.

JE: What is your favorite T.V. show to watch whenever you get a chance to relax and watch television?
RL: I wake up every morning and watch “The Today Show” while I drink my cup of coffee and eat my breakfast. It’s like the routine and that’s usually the only time I really get to watch T.V. all day.

JE: How would you describe your hometown?
RL: I’m from East Grand Rapids, and it is a really close-knit community, which was a really big change for me because, growing up, I didn’t have dirt roads to run on and I come up here, and it’s like corn fields and dirt roads. East Grand Rapids High School is in the middle of town and everyone lives within a mile-and-a-half of the school so, coming out here, it seems like I’m going into the middle of nowhere.

Jake Lougheed: Do you have any pregame rituals?
Paulina Lee: Not really, nothing quirky at all. My thing is when I am walking over to our games, I listen to my iPod and pump my music. Then, when I get into the locker room, we are dancing and singing and playing lots of loud music. Then, from there, I switch to pretty much focusing and warming up … making sure I am getting low to the ground and getting everything done that I need to be doing.

JL: You mentioned your iPod. What is your number one pump-up song?
PL: I have no idea. I don’t have a specific song. I just play (about) thirty seconds of a bunch of different songs from techno to rap to really girly pop.

JL: Other than field hockey, what do you like to do?
PL: There isn’t very much of it. I like to sleep and eat but, other than that, I am in Alpha Kappa Psi, which I just joined this past spring. So I am pretty involved with that, which really helps with me business-wise with my major.

JL: What are your plans for after you leave CMU?
PL: That’s a good question (laughs). I am not really too sure at this moment. I was going to go into hospitality, and I did my internship this summer up north at Boyne Resort. Now, I am just going to be marketing or advertising so, now, I think it will be cool to do marketing for a big sports brand like Nike, Under Armour or Puma.

JL: With which of those brands do you tie yourself to?
PL: Nike is number one, and number two would be Under Armour. I am mad that we switched our stuff to Adidas because all our stuff this past year was Under Armour, so we can’t wear it anymore.

JL: I know that you haven’t been here very long, being a sophomore, but what has been your favorite class at CMU so far?
PL: I would have to say my TAI 170 (Fundamentals of Interpretative Reading) because I had four other teammates in that class with me, and I met a lot of other people in that class. It gave us a chance to relax and have fun, it was a night class and I got a (University Program course) out of the way, so it was fun.

JL: What are your favorite Web pages and how many times do you get on them on average?
PL: My home page is CNN, because I feel like I live in a bubble in college, and that is my way to see what is going on in the world. Then, there is obviously Facebook, but I am not constantly on Facebook. Honestly, I only turn my computer on a couple days a week. Otherwise, I am just on a computer at the computer lab to print things out.

JL: So you would not consider yourself a “Facebook stalker?”
PL: If I am really bored, then yeah, I will be (laughs). I just get bored with Facebook. I mean, I reply to the wall posts and I add photos if I feel like it but, after that, I’m done.