Almost 18 months have passed since construction and improvement work began on the old Sherwood Athletic Center. To Athletic Director Dean Snider, the new and improved center has a lot to show off.

Amid steady rain and with a potential national bid up for grabs, Captain Brett Axelrod marshaled his defense from between the goal posts and urged his offense on in what would prove to be one of the most exciting games on campus this school year. The game was against a Whitworth side that held a slight lead over Whitman in the conference, boasting a record of 8-2-2 to Whitman's 7-2-3. The winner would pretty much be guaranteed the top spot in the Northwest Conference (NWC) and get an automatic bid to the national tournament. However, a win for either team was not in the cards. Over 500 fans were in attendance on Nov. 1 as Whitman and Whitworth played to a 0-0 tie after two overtimes. The two overtime periods were 15 minutes each and, since there are no shootouts in conference play, when neither team had scored after these additional 30 minutes, the referees called the game. Defense dominated on both sides with the rain severely hampering any kind of meaningful offensive drives.

For many senior athletes, the end of 16 years of school sports is fast approaching. So what comes next? Few Whitman athletes plan to pursue a professional sports career, but many will continue their sport after college. “I plan on keeping swimming in my life, and possibly competing in triathlons where, of course, swimming is a part," said varsity swimmer Vanessa Johnson. “I want to continue to play and be involved in tennis for as long as I can," said tennis player Katie Oost.

After a year of competing, the Whitman athletic department enters the summer with two vacancies to fill. Baseball head coach Casey Powell and assistant athletic trainer David Howell will both move on to other programs next year. Powell, Whitman's baseball coach for the past seven seasons and the 1996 NWC Player of the year at Linfield, will transition into an assistant coach position for the Division I Seattle University Redhawks Baseball team under head coach Donny Harrel. Seattle University hasn't played varsity baseball since the mid-1980s and not at the Division I level since 1980. The 2009-10 school year will be their first season back. Powell and Harrel worked together before when Harrel was the head coach of the semi-pro Bend Elks in 2000 and 2001 and Powell was his assistant coach. Powell listed a chance to work with Harrel again as one of the major reasons he took the job at Seattle University. “We have a great relationship off the field, we work well together on the field, our families get a long great, our kids get along great, and our wives get along great. All that, tied in together, made it seem like a perfect opportunity," said Powell.

If one was in search of a dependable, level-headed, dedicated leader, Alisa Larson-Xu would make a superb choice. And though her position as a defensive midfielder may not often generate big numbers on the stat sheet, her unwavering presence has provided a valuable boost for the women's soccer team. Larson-Xu, who transferred from the University of California-Santa Cruz after one year, started 52 games in her three seasons of Whitman soccer. She served as a team captain this year, and in recognition of her strong defensive efforts was tabbed for the All-NWC Second Team. The midfielder tallied three assists, all of which came in Missionary wins. Yet whether or not her contributions have shown up on paper, they certainly have in the eyes of her coach, Scott Shields.

As another year draws to a close, it is important to recognize the indelible effects this senior class has left upon the club sports programs here at Whitman. They have experienced both growth and depletion in the past four years, but each has definitively left a mark on Whitman's athletic harmony. “My freshman year was the first year that all club sports budgets were subsumed under the athletic department," said senior Erin Morris, the student representative for the Club Sports Committee. “Before then, students could go to many offices to ask for money, but this collected all those funds under one body." Morris explained that each year since her arrival at Whitman, club sports have become more cohesive and better organized. The creation of the Club Sports Committee her first year has enabled voices from all over the campus to administer the programs. The committee is made up of representatives from the athletic department, ASWC, student services and the general student body.