Double trouble
Lynn Wloszek
Janel received letters from many Division II and III schools, but she wanted to play for a Division I school. More importantly, she wanted to play alongside her sister.
They began playing on their middle school team in Shoreham, N.Y. After seventh grade, they were asked to tryout for the varsity high school team.
“The decision was pretty easy for me to come to CMU because I didn’t want to have to call Jeanette up and ask how she did in her game,” Janel said. “I would never have been able to see her play if we didn’t play on the same team.”
Janel liked Head Coach Cristy Freese’s straightforward honesty, pertaining to her role as a goalie in her freshman year.
“Cristy was very clear about where I would be at coming into the program,” Janel said. “She didn’t beat around the bush about that kind of stuff.”
Jeanette felt the same way her sister did about coming to CMU, although she was heavily recruited by Kent State and Northeastern.
“It just made the transition to college life so much easier having Janel with me,” Jeanette said. “Our parents like to come watch us play, and now they only have to make one trip.”
When Freese recruited the two, she made sure she recruited them individually.
“When Cristy called, she would always make separate phone calls,” Jeanette said.
The two live together along with teammates senior Maria Neiswender and sophomore Kristy Reed.
“I don’t know what it is like to live without my sister,” Janel said. “We have never really been apart, and it’s always good to have family around.”
Neiswender gets the chance to see how the twins are off of the field as well.
“I get to see how much different they are, but how much they are alike too,” Neiswender said. “For example, they both have different views about how games and practices went.”
She is quick to notice the twins’ bond.
“They get along well off the field,” she said. “They are sisters, they take care of each other.”
Even though the two have played together for more than nine years, they take two different things from field hockey. Jeanette takes the relationships and Janel takes the lessons. Both have to do with people.
Playing for the Chippewas has given Janel opportunities for growth.
“I have had so many chances to learn so many invaluable lessons,” Janel said. “I have been able to learn how to deal with so many different types of people.”
On the field, the two see each other as vital pieces of the team. Although the twins characterize each other differently, both agree that the other is a priceless commodity to the team.
“Jeanette makes everyone on the team look better no matter what,” Janel said. “She can take ugly plays and turn them into good plays, like chasing down a bad pass and turning it into a good play. She makes the whole team look better.”
Neiswender said the twins have a good work ethic.
“The twins are both very focused and hardworking,” she said. “Jeanette is our spark plug — when we slow down, she’s the one to make the play to get us going again. Janel is the enforcer. She is vocal on the field and knows what needs to be done and makes sure it gets done.”
Jeanette sees her sister’s quickness as a key point to her success in the cage.
“Janel didn’t get recruited real hard by Division I schools because a lot of them said she was too small,” Jeanette said. “What she lacks in size, she makes up in quickness. She is the quickest keeper I have seen. Our high school coach always said that it was the little ones you had to worry about.”
With only eight regular season games remaining, the Speros have started to reflect on the effect that CMU has had on their lives.
“When we came here, Cristy always told us to leave our sibling problems in the locker room,” Janel said. “We have never been able to bicker at each other and that has taught me a lot of patience and to look past the small, unimportant things.”
Freese feels that the twins have done an exceptional job keeping their sibling lives at home.
“These two deserve a lot of credit because they are in a situation that no one else has,” Freese said. “Both of them are team players through and through.”
Jeanette would like all of her teammates to realize their potential.
“I want the younger players to know that they should work as hard as they can because they can be as good as any team in the nation,” she said. “They shouldn’t take one minute for granted because its all over with so fast.”
Both Janel and Jeanette have had their part in the Chippewas history. Janel has started 60 games from 1999 through this season, and is fourth on CMU’s all- time shutout list with 11. Jeanette has played in 65 games since her freshman year (1999) through this season, and has 11 assists in her career.
Next season, Freese will look to replace the Speros with players who have already had some experience with the Chippewas.
“It will be very hard to replace those two,” Freese said. “The keeper and the back positions are two of the most important on the field. We will have a hole in our defense next year.”
When the Speros leave after this season, the vacancies will be more than positions to fill.
