Uncharted territory
Freshmen have a hard enough time getting acclimated to the college game, let alone making an impact in their first season.
Many freshmen at CMU, however, have made the transition from a high-school phenom five months ago, to gaining respect from their veteran teammates.
Soccer coach Tony DiTucci has seven freshman on his team and four of them have played major roles this season.
DiTucci is in a situation where he has 11 scholarships available and starts 11 players on the field.
“We hope the players we bring in make an impact right away,” DiTucci said. “We wouldn’t recruit a player if we didn’t think they could make an impact. We don’t typically have a lot of redshirts.”
Field hockey coach Cristy Freese attributes the impact of freshmen to the experience they gain playing year-round in high school.
“Freshmen are coming to us with so much experience now,” she said. “They are learning more on travel teams than on high school teams.”
It takes more than just experience for freshmen to be successful at the collegiate level.
One thing volleyball coach Erik Olson looks for in recruiting is mental toughness. He knows not every freshman is going to be a perfect player right away, but if they stay level-headed, they have a chance to be successful.
“It always helps to have a few seasoned veterans on the team as well,” Olson said. “Freshmen make errors, but I certainly think they can compete.”
Cross country coach Karen Lutzke said female freshmen runners have an easier time making an impact right away than male runners do.
A women’s race is five kilometers and men’s races are eight kilometers, compared to 5k races for both in high school.
“We have to be careful with freshmen to make sure they don’t overtrain,” Lutzke said. “Some runners come from high school programs that were pretty good and know what it takes to be successful.”
But for as many freshmen that are successful, there are always going to be setbacks when they are relied on.
“Once your program is established, you can start developing freshmen,” Olson said. “The talent level is getting better.”
