Feb 21, 2014 |
By Kiara Catanzaro, ’15
All eyes have been on Sochi, Russia, the past two weeks as some of the world’s best athletes compete in the XXII Olympic Winter Games.
As the games prepare to wrap up Sunday, some of St. Bonaventure University’s student-athletes shared what sports they have been following throughout the Olympics, with ice skating Olympians earning high marks.
Joelle Kaczmarek and LeighAnn Stauffer, sophomore lacrosse players, along with Julia Mericle and Maggie Schunk, freshman and sophomore cross country runners, respectively, all agreed that figure skating is their favorite sport to follow for the winter Olympics.
“I like figure skating because I like how unique each routine is,” said Schunk. “I love seeing the different costumes and music. Each performance is different than the next.”
Pat Milkovich, a sophomore golfer, Ryan Zebuth, a junior soccer player, Gregg Byrne, a sophomore swimmer, Nick Konotopskyj, a sophomore cross-country runner, and Tom Styn, a sophomore baseball player, have all been following ice hockey.
“I’m most interested in watching USA men’s hockey because I played hockey for most of my life and grew up in a hockey family that loves the game,” Styn said.
Byrne, a psychology major, said he is following women’s hockey because he went to school with a player from the USA women’s team.
“Although I haven’t actively watched the Winter Olympics, I have been following women’s ice hockey because I went to elementary school with Paige Savage,” he said.
Several SBU athletes can’t get enough of Olympic skiing. Kathryn Winterburn and Matthew Goettler, sophomore and freshman swimmers, respectively, said they find the alpine, cross-country and freestyle skiing events interesting.
“There are different categories of skiing, and I like how each event is different,” Winterburn said.
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. We are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.