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[ Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2000 ]
Lions take moves to dance floor
By Jeff Rice
Collegian Staff Writer
They push themselves to their mental and physical limits day after day during grueling practices.
They compete at the highest level of college competition in their respective sports — lacrosse, soccer, and track and field — and they are on their feet for most of the day anyway, so dancing for 48 straight hours should be a piece of cake, right?
Well, maybe not.
Eight Penn State athletes were among the 680 dancers in this past weekend's Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon. Like all of the other Thon participants, they were expected to stay on their feet for two days, but most of them felt as athletes they would have at least a slight advantage on their fellow dancers.
"Athletes have more stamina," said Penn State sophomore lacrosse player Stacey Saggese. "We're more physically and mentally tested, and we'll be able to come through in the wee hours of the morning."
Of course, this was at 10:30 p.m. Friday, just three hours after the dancing kicked off.
"I'll probably be hurting on Sunday," Saggese admitted.
"But with athletes, our bodies can bounce back."
Saggese's lacrosse teammate, junior Jamie Shalbrack, agreed with her sentiments.
"When you undergo strenuous practices, you get a higher pain threshold.
"You don't feel it as early (as other dancers)."
PHOTO: Cara Herter/Collegian
The Penn State men’s lacrosse team does its best impression of the Backstreet Boys to keep spirits high early Sunday morning at Thon.
A committee captain, Shalbrack's responsibilities this year extended beyond just dancing the night away.
"I really took it upon myself to try and get more student-athletes involved," she said.
But as for practice on Monday, the lacrosse team is in season, as is the women's track and field and team, and dancing athletes went back to work yesterday, much to the chagrin of Lady Lions goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk, who knew that an intrasquad scrimmage awaited her last night.
"Our coach (Pat Farmer) is big on doing things in addition to soccer, not instead of," Oleksiuk said.
"Division I athletes have a different mentality, and most of getting through the dancing is mental."
Still, staying on your feet for that long is hard on anyone.
"I lifted weights yesterday, and had a long run," women's soccer player Samantha Abelson said. "So I kind of started out a little sore."
Overall, though, the athletes agreed the short-term sensations of fatigue and drowsiness were a small price to pay for the worthy objective at hand.
"Not only is Thon for a great cause, it shows a lot of Penn State pride," sophomore women's track runner Katy Bradley said.
Bradley, who was dancing for the second time, said her experience in track and field was a great advantage to her during last year's Thon.
"Your body can handle more, and you are also a lot more determined," Bradley said. And she added that, just like the year before, she planned on attending yesterday's practice.
Unlike many of the dancers on Sunday morning, Bradley was fairly coherent.
"Awesome," she said, when asked how she felt.
Judging by the enthusiasm in her voice, it didn't appear as though that Monday practice would be much of a problem.
