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May 9
, 2003
‘That’s
Respect’: Mount Holyoke Athletes on Winnings
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Jonee
Billy ’06 |
Communications office
writer/reporter Laura Purdom recently spoke with five Mount Holyoke
scholar-athletes about how they feel about competition, being
strong, and winning. Excerpts from Purdom’s interviews follow:
Jonee Billy ’06, Basketball
How do you feel about winning?
I hate to lose. Regardless. I hate to lose. Nobody wants to lose.
You always want to be the best. If you go out and you play hard
and give it 100 percent and you still lose, it’s like, I
look at it as a challenge, a challenge that I’m willing
to accept: OK, maybe she’s better than me at this point,
but we’re going to play each other at some other point later
on, and then I have the chance again to prove that I’m better.
You say
you have a love-hate relationship with your competitors. What
do you mean by that?
I’ve played against friends, but once I’m on the court
that friendship’s over. You know what I’m saying?
We’re opponents right now, and we’re just going to
battle it out. And, I always want to play against the best. Playing
against somebody better than me naturally is going to motivate
me, because I have to be better than that person. I’m not
even content to be equal. I want to be at a point where it’s
not going to take one person to stop me, it’s going to take
the entire team, they’re going to need more than one person
to be able to stop me.
When you’re
out there, and you get to that point, what are you feeling?
It’s respect. When you’re out there and every time
you touch the ball they have to send two or three people out at
you—that’s respect, that’s definitely respect.
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Shubika
Bilkha ’06 |
Shubika Bilkha
’06, Squash
Is winning important to you?
It’s true people say it’s not just about winning—it’s
about the effort. But, no matter what, people only remember the
wins. For me, yes, hard work and playing well are important, but
nothing compares to what winning holds. When I walk into that
court I know I am there for one reason and one reason only, and
that is to win, and fight for it till the very last ball.
How do you get mentally prepared for a game?
The moment I get too worked up over a game, I know that my performance
will be affected. So I just try to stay calm and relaxed—not
too calm, not too relaxed—just stay focused, think “win,”
and go into that court confidently, looking to play my best and
come out with a win.
For you, what does it mean to be strong?
In life, in general, if you’re not strong, you’ll
be trampled over. You have to be strong, whether it’s in
a match or just in daily life. You have to overcome difficult
situations. I think every person needs that strength to get them
through life, and in squash when you’re 2-0 down, you just
need to be strong and say, Yeah, I can do it! and win 3-2.
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Elizabeth
Youngblood ’05 |
Elizabeth
Youngblood ’05, Swimming
What’s winning all about for you?
Winning’s a great feeling. It’s not the most important
thing. Building as a team and having everyone achieve their best
times is incredibly important. But winning is amazing, especially
when it’s against Smith. We just beat them this year. It
was a great triumph for the seniors because it had been four years
of hard work for them, and that was one of our goals for the year.
Achieving that goal was really awesome, and it really set us up
for a good NEWMAC final championship.
It sounds
like the win over Smith was a highlight of your year.
Yeah—everyone achieved their goals at the same time in like
a couple hours. We took them down. Everyone put everything they
had into that meet. Even if someone had been swimming the event
right before, they were still going to put everything they had
into their next event, even if they might be swimming later again.
People were really getting into it, especially the close [races].
What do you do in a swim meet to keep your focus in a close race?
I’ll focus on what I’m doing, what’s really
important. I just think: Keep it in my lane.
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Lauren
Morlock ’03 and friend |
Lauren Morlock
’03, Equestrian
Do you consider yourself a competitive person?
Every single player on the Mount Holyoke team is competitive.
We’re all competitive by nature, not just in our sports,
but in terms of academics and wanting to succeed. That’s
part of Mount Holyoke.
So, what’s the competition like in intercollegiate riding?
You have riders from all over the country, with men and women
competing equally. From walk-trot all the way up to open, you
have these phenomenal athletes. Within our region alone we compete
against UMass, Smith, Williams, Springfield College, Elms College.
So it’s different from other sports; you’re not just
competing against schools of the same size.
And what’s practice like?
Practices are rigorous. Practices are really hard, and you know
that as soon as you try out for the team. Those Friday practices
are not going to be trail rides in the park! It really pushes
your limits, it tests you. I feel now more than before I started
college, I can get on any horse and I’m confident that I’m
going to be able to ride it.
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Lauren
Weiner ’04
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Lauren Weiner
’04
Field Hockey, Softball
What about
winning. How do you see it?
I love to win. I am the most competitive person that I’ve
ever met—next to my coach. And I’m the hardest person
on myself. I always try to give 110 percent on the field, even
at practice.
If you’re
going to give everything, at the end you’re not going to
have anything left. You’re probably in pain.
Oh yeah. I’m physically in pain. My body hurts. Especially,
playing hockey is physically hard on my body. After games I pretty
much go home and go to sleep. I don’t go out on Saturday
night, and I wouldn’t say that’s the staple for my
teammates, but I’m exhausted. And I’m mentally exhausted,
you know.
OK, I want to talk about strength—what it means to you to
be strong, or agile, or fast.
I think for me it’s sort of a double-edged sword. I’ve
always been, to myself and others, the strong athlete. But at
this point I’m also trying to figure out what else there
is. I’ve never had any issues about being strong; that’s
always what I wanted to be and how I wanted to be defined and
how I wanted people to see me. And now I’m getting to a
point that I want to figure out what else is there.
And what
are you finding out about these other aspects of you?
I’ve coached every summer since my senior year in high school,
and this is the first summer that I’m not coaching. I’m
going to work in a vet hospital. And I have absolutely no experience!
I’ve never questioned my love and my dedication for being
an athlete. I would give anything to put on that jersey and play.
But I do question what I’m going to do afterwards. I value
this time so much, because I know that I’m not going to
go play pro field hockey; I’m not going to go play pro softball.
There isn’t that available for women athletes. So, I cherish
these four years, to be able to play the highest level of hockey
that I can play.
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