Virginia Wesleyan College

In this issue :

 

Student succeeds in sports and studies, despite physical handicap

It would be story enough that 21-year-old Susan Robertson is one of the best tennis players on the team at Virginia Wesleyan College, but add to the facts that she doesn't have fully developed fingers and toes, and it becomes a remarkable story.

At first glance, Robertson, a rising senior from Sandston, VA, majoring in communications, looks like everybody else. But a closer look reveals that has what she calls "a disfigurement of the digits."

Robertson has only one normal thumb, and her other fingers vary in length. Some end at the knuckles, while others are shorter. Before she was born, amniotic bands entangled her hand and feet, preventing proper development.

When Robertson was born, her feet and hands were fisted and webbed together. From the time she was born until she was a year old, she went through eight different surgeries on her fingers and toes to separate and correct her fingers and toes. When her thumb was separated from her palm, doctors grafted skin from her thigh to cover the muscle. More, less intense surgeries followed when she was older.

"My first memory is of a plastic surgeon cutting the top of my thumb off with surgical scissors," Robertson said. "I was always in soft casts. I had one cast from my feet to my knees and another from my fingers to my elbows."

Robertson's parents were told that she would never walk normally because she was born without big toes, which meant she had no balance points on her feet.

"The doctors told my parents that they should consider putting me in a wheelchair or on a pair of crutches," Robertson said. "But my primary plastic surgeon said, 'give her a chance and let's see what she does.' In fact, I was an early walker, and shocked them all."

Once Robertson was liberated from her casts, she became extremely active, participating in several sports and excelling in figure skating. An ice and roller skater for 14 years, she has skated in almost every state. When she was 15, she was ranked second in the nation in both roller- and ice-skating. At 17, she was ranked third among amateur ice skaters.

"In ice skating there are 10 different levels, with 10 being pro. I was an 8," Robertson said. "It took me a lot of places. I even got to roller-skate at the same rink with gold medallist Tara Lipiniski before she broke into the amateur ice-skating scene."

Robertson began playing tennis in high school and now plays on the women's varsity team at Virginia Wesleyan College. She holds the best record in VWC history at #3 singles with 14-3.

"Susan has an absolute love for the game," VWC assistant women tennis coach Jeff Bowers said. "She hits the ball harder than anyone on the team." This season is Robertson's third season playing for the Blue Marlins.

Robertson also works on the student newspaper, The Marlin Chronicle, and on the student literary magazine, The Abstract. She aspires to work in media law or possibly as a newspaper reporter.

Robertson does not see herself as having a disability. She acts and lives everyday as a normal college student. "I don't have special needs. I could have a handicap sticker on my car, but I don't need it."

Renn moves to athletic development position

Joanne Renn has resigned as head women's basketball coach to accept a new challenge as the college's new, full-time athletic development director.

Renn has been part of the women's basketball staff for nine years, the first three as an assistant coach and the last six as head coach. She and her assistant coaches were successful this year in attracting the 2004 and 2005 NCAA III women's Final Four to Virginia Wesleyan. It's that type of event and recognition that Renn hopes to consistently attract to the college.

"We have fantastic athletic facilities here," said Renn. "The Jane P. Batten Student Center has forever changed the atmosphere of this campus and we are one of the few Division III schools in the nation to have a lighted soccer and lacrosse stadium. It's that kind of advantage that we hope to use in bringing more events to our campus."

Renn's recent efforts also landed Virginia Wesleyan a prestigious NCAA Minority Internship Grant, one of only 12 awarded throughout the country.

Dunmyer hired as women's basketball coach

After a year of coaching at the Division I level, preceded by two years in Division II, Stephany Dunmyer is ready to take on the diverse challenges of Division III. Her fledgling coaching career will continue at Virginia Wesleyan as the head women's basketball coach.

Dunmyer spent last season as an assistant coach at Division I's Indiana State University, where she was the junior college recruiting coordinator. Prior to that she was an assistant at Division II's Ashland University in Ohio, where she handled a variety of tasks ranging from recruiting to on-court coaching.

She received her bachelor of arts degree in 2000 from Kenyon College in Ohio, graduating Cum Laude with Highest Honors in Psychology, and her master of education in sport education in 2002 from Ashland University.

Graf hired to fill women's basketball and marketing positions

Virginia Wesleyan added its newest member of the 2003-04 intercollegiate athletic staff with the hiring of Allison Graf as the assistant women's basketball coach and marketing intern.

A 2003 graduate of Mount Union College in Alliance, OH, Graf earned a bachelor's degree in sport management, with a marketing concentration. She has prepared sponsorship proposals, conducted risk analyses and organized campus events while at Mount Union and as an intern for Youngstown State University.

While Graf will play an important role in VWC's marketing efforts for the NCAA Final Four events in 2004 and 2005, her primary duties will be on the basketball court, assisting head coach Stephany Dunmyer.

All-American lacrosse honors for Parris

A stellar season for the Virginia Wesleyan College women's lacrosse team was capped with an All-American award for the Marlins' Megan Parris.

A sophomore attacker from Pittsburgh, PA, Parris was named second team Division III All-America by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association and US Lacrosse. She is only the second woman in the six-year history of the women's lacrosse program at VWC to earn All-American honors.

Parris scored a career-best 65 goals and 88 points this season, placing her third among VWC's all-time leaders in goals and points. Virginia Wesleyan completed the 2003 season with an 11-5 record, the best in school history. The Marlins, under the direction of first-year head mentor Kim-Michael Mertes, set or tied 26 individual and/or team records.

Parris enjoyed a standout season, earning first-team All-South Atlantic Region and first-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference honors. She led the conference in goals per game, points per game and game-winning goals, and ranked third in shots per game. On the national level, Parris ranked ninth in goals per game and 13th in points per game.

Tomasheski honored as the 2003 "Doc" Jopson Award winner

Virginia Wesleyan College experienced another first in athletics this year when John Tomasheski was named as the recipient of the 2003 "Doc" Jopson Award, which honors the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's top male student athlete.

Tomasheski is the first Virginia Wesleyan student athlete to receive the Jopson Award, which is named after Bridgewater College professor and long-time track and field coach Harry "Doc" Jopson.

Tomasheski of Somerdale, NJ, made history this season for VWC when he became the all-time leader in singles victories in 36 years of men's tennis competition. A four-year leader for the Marlins, Tomasheski closed his career with a 62-21 singles record, highlighted by a 30-9 record at the No. 1 position. He helped Virginia Wesleyan to a 9-6 record, its best showing since 1999.

A May graduate summa cum laude in biology, Tomasheski ranked first in the senior class and won the 2003 Biology Award as the top student in that academic area. Tomasheski will continue his education in the fall at the School of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Record seven Marlins earn national academic honor in field hockey

Virginia Wesleyan College's field hockey team complemented a competitive 2002 season on the field with an outstanding effort in the classrooms.

A record seven Marlins have been named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III National Academic squad. This is the highest total in the 12-year history of the VWC program, topping the previous high of three sets in 2001.

Juniors Jaclyn Bailey and Jana Popeleski and sophomore Alexis Byrd received the prestigious honor for the second consecutive year. Receiving the NFHCA honor for the first time are four first-year student-athletes in Laura Chapman), Molly Deaton, Kristen Jehl and Erin Short.

The field hockey team recorded a 3.234 team grade-point average in the fall semester, to rank No. 1 among all of the college's intercollegiate sports programs. Twelve of 19 Marlin field hockey players posted a grade point average of 3.0 or better.

VWC has received 17 national all-academic awards in field hockey in the past 12 years. This year's total of seven was second highest among all schools in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.