The men's tennis team recently completed an arduous two weeks of competition against teams from all over the nation. For the first week, the team traveled to Portland, Ore. to compete in conference matches. The second week, they flew to South Carolina to compete against schools on the East Coast. “The trip was pretty intense," said first-year Adriel Borshansky. “It was a pretty solid two weeks of matches." The tennis team played well throughout the break, winning 11 out of 13 conference matches, and five out of seven matches on the east coast. Many Whitman players were recognized for their outstanding performances: Senior Justin Hayashi was named the Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, sophomore Etienne Moshevich entered into a super tiebreaker with the University of Chicago's top player, and Hayashi and junior Dan Wilson were undefeated in doubles. Talent showed itself throughout the Whitman line-up. “I think the biggest surprise was seeing Adriel [Borshansky], who's playing number six singles for us this year, come into his own," said junior Thomas Roston. “One of the fortunate things we have on our team is that it's pretty deep."

Ask a typical Whitman student how they spent spring break, and you will probably get the same answers: traveling, relaxing, partying, working, and maybe a little bit of studying. In most cases, training with professional sports teams, especially ones outside of the country, is rarely mentioned. Men's soccer standouts Brett Axelrod and Stephen Phillips, both seniors, spent their break doing just that. Axelrod and Phillips practiced with professional and semi-professional English soccer teams for two weeks over break. Men's head soccer coach, Mike Washington, a native of England and former soccer player, made the trip possible with the help of a friend and former teammate. “What they had was an invitation to go over and—I wouldn't say ‘try out'—but to go over and participate in two weeks of training," said Washington. “They were just hoping to get seen. And if nothing more, just gain some more experience, you know, from different coaches, different training, different settings, to see where their level of playing was compared with other players of their age." Since the system of cultivating young soccer talent differs so greatly between the United States and England, Axelrod and Phillips were in a unique situation because of their age. Conversations with English players helped Phillips and Axelrod realize why soccer in England has a much deeper, more developed tradition than in the states. Most players in Europe start out at a young age—as early as nine years old—and participate on elite club teams, often signing professional contracts in their late teens. For Americans, such a progression is rare.

Each week the sports staff will pick one Whitman athlete that performed exceptionally in the previous weekend's games. The distinction will be judged both on the individual's performance and their impact on the team. Over spring break senior pitcher Pete Stadmeyer pitched arguably the best game a Whitman pitcher has pitched over the last few years. Stadmeyer led the Missionaries to their first conference win on Monday, March 23 with a two hit shutout of fourth place Pacific University. Stadmeyer pitched 91 pitches overall, 68 of which were for strikes, fanning 10 batters while surrendering only one walk in the 10-0 victory. Stadmeyer has anchored the Whitman pitching staff for the last few years and has the team out of the conference cellar for the first time this season.

“Hadley, say something about how all your wildest dreams came true," said sophomore Elise Otto, looking over at her teammate. Junior Hadley DeBree just smiled. “It's true," she said. With a 12-2 Northwest Conference record, a strong and healthy team and a good chance to exact revenge on their only two conference losses this weekend, the women's tennis team has a lot to be excited about. In addition to team success, DeBree's wildest dreams this season came in the form of the bronzed, 6'1" Spaniard with biceps the size of cocker spaniels and a wild mane of perpetually-flowing black hair: Rafael Nadal. Squeezed in between their various California matches during the first week of spring break, the lady Missionaries made the trek over to Indian Wells, California for a day of watching the number one men's player, Nadal, and most every other top tennis player at the biggest event in tennis after the four grand slams. “There were so many sexy tennis players," said first-year Zoe Kunkel-Patterson. The rest of the team rolled their eyes at this comment, but they weren't disagreeing. The trip to Indian Wells, though, was about much more than ogling the biggest names in tennis.