Best of :10 Seconds

This week's edition of 10 Seconds is a little bit different than most because there is no specific person that is being talked about this week. What I originally had in mind was to have someone on either the baseball or softball team featured this week, but because of that white stuff called snow, it was unable to happen.

Each week I come up with who I think should be featured based on a variety of factors, one of which is seeing who gives the most effort/hustle on their given team. Since I can't fairly pick one player on either team (since I haven't watched them play yet), I decided that this week's 10 Seconds will be composed of the best answers that have been given so far.

There will only be two more issues of The Clock before the school year is over, in which one will have a baseball player, while the other is a softball player.

With that said, these are some of the best answers to the various questions to date.

1.How long having you been playing your specific sport for?

Evan Gaudette (cross country)- This is actually my first year running cross-country.  I had run distance track for four years in high school, but I always did other sports in the fall such as golf.  It's pretty crazy that my first cross-country season is in college.

Kate Nixon (soccer)- I've been playing since I was about 5. I don't know if I would really call it "soccer" at that age, but it was still a lot of fun.

2. What is the most memorable moment in your career in your specific sport?

Alex Gerhold (wrestling)- Probably when I made the New England's my junior year of high school.  It opened my eyes to see that "maybe I can do this, maybe I can be elite". It was definitely eye-opening.

Amy MacDonald (lacrosse)- The most memorable moment in my lacrosse career was scoring the game winning goal in double overtime on the road last year against a very strong Connecticut College team; definitely something I will always remember.

Aisha Rai Thompson (field hockey)- My most memorable moment was my sophomore year in our semi-final game against UMass Dartmouth. We won in over time, I got a break away and passed up to Jackie Morin who then dodged the goalie and scored sending us to the LEC championship.

3. If I were to look at your iPod/iTunes/etc. what would be the five most played songs?

Dave Walters (hockey)- Oh man, tough question. I like so many different varieties of music; my iPod is all over the place. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by the Darkness is probably up there. "My Kind of Night" by Luke Bryan and "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" by Fergie get a lot of playing time as well. You can't get wrong with some Taylor Swift or Katy Perry either. Embarrassing, I know.

Kelsey Cosby(hockey)- Party for Two - Shania Twain, Holy Grail - Jay z, Justin Timberlake, Lose Yourself - Eminem, I would walk 500 miles -The Proclaimers (team favorite), That's my kind of night -Luke Bryan

Curtis Arsenault (basketball)- I don't have either so I couldn't tell you. I just listen to a lot of country music on Pandora.

4. What was your "Welcome to your sport" moment in your career?

Zach Sarig (hockey)- Getting screamed at when I was 10 years old because I wasn't skating hard enough. I cried hahaha

Nick Morello (lacrosse)- My "welcome to lacrosse" moment was probably my first day of varsity tryouts freshmen year when my coach yelled at me "this isn't youth lacrosse anymore!" This was when I realized I had to take lacrosse more seriously if I wanted to continue playing at a higher level. That one simple line always stuck in my head and kept me driven to always try and be a better player every time I stepped on a lacrosse field.

Gerhold- Our very first meet. We went to Pennsylvania, and I didn't know what elite Division III wrestlers were like. I wrestled an All-American my first varsity match, and I just got worked!

Cosby- 5 A.M. practices in high school every Monday and Thursday.  It was a struggle, but that's what made me realized I must really love hockey.

5. If you could make one rule change to lacrosse, what would it be?

Morello- If I could make one rule change to lacrosse it would be to make diving/flopping a penalty...flopping is for basketball players. 

6. You are known for talking to an opponent while a game is going on so you can get in their head. What are some keys into getting in an opponents head?

MacDonald- You always have to stay classy, but get your point across. If you wanna talk, you have to be able to back it up. There's nothing better than when someone chirps at you and you just smile and laugh when you put it in the back of the net. It's all competition.

7.Being only a freshman, where do you hope to see the basketball team over the next three years?

Arsenault- Honestly, the way I play I know that any game could be the last game of my career if I suffer a bad injury. So in sports, I don't like to think about the future because it may never come. I plan on winning the 2013-2014 LEC championship this year and we will figure out the next three years when that time comes.

8. How tough is it to constantly be on the road for the majority of the matches/meets you guys have this year?

Gerhold- It kinda stinks. It stinks having to get up and travel at 2 or 3 in the morning. But, you know, there is something about that, that I don't mind the bus rides there and back for some reason. They suck, but it is part of the deal, and it is part of the team. For home meets, we would have to unroll the mats, and bring them out, and all of that all the time, and I am not hating on not doing that! There are worse things in the sport then traveling, and I don't mind it.

9. How did the cross-country team come together exactly?

Gaudette- After much talk about adding the team due to interest on campus, this year was finally the year that the program started back up again.  We knew about this in the spring and found a coach, Dave Severance, who was a former runner here at PSU and he got out and did some recruiting and got us some great young talent. Then we also looked to pull in runners who were already here to join the team.  Then, well, that was it. We got our runners and hit the trails and we have not looked back yet.

10. What has lead to your team being so successful since you came to Plymouth?

Thompson- We are a very close program; all of my best friends are on the team. I think our chemistry and closeness really helps us work together on the field. 

Sarig- Its not a team, it's a family. I have never been on such a close team. Everyone buys in to the betterment of the team and that's why we keep moving forward.

11. What did it mean to you to be named captain of your team this season?

Nixon - It meant so much to me! I was out all last season with a torn meniscus, but being named captain showed I was still able to make an impact on the team just in a different way than I was use to.

Gaudette- It was a really great honor to be chosen as captain. We have a really young team so I feel that it's my job to help them get into running (even though this is my first season), but also to get them in the flow of classes and college life in general.  It is a great responsibility, but I am glad that I was chosen.

12. When you come out onto the ice for a home game, what is that feeling like to hear the PSU community going crazy? How much does that get the team going?

Walters- It's a special feeling for sure. The crowd is phenomenal here and the boys get jacked up to play in front of them. They definitely make a huge difference and we're lucky to have that kind of support.

Sarig- Honest to god best fans in the MASCAC. That's why we are so successful at home; our fans TERRIFY other teams. There's no better feeling than coming out of the room and hearing the roar of the crowd when the Savage Center is juiced.

13. Head Coach Ashley Kilstein was named ECAC Coach of the Year last season. What traits does she have that set her apart from other coaches?

Cosby- Coach has the biggest heart.  She wants each of us to succeed and grow as hockey players.  All of us have so much emotion during every game and practice because of her.  She pushes us as much as possible and makes sure we aren't taking hockey for granted.

14. The majority of the people around Plymouth call you Bubbles instead of Amy. Where did the nickname come from?

MacDonald- The nickname Bubbles started from Coach (Head Coach Kristin Tracy), who wanted to give me a nickname when I came to the summer camp right before the start of my freshman year. If you don't know me, I am wicked shy, so it was a joke that I was bubbly and outgoing. It's funny now, because my teammates do not see me as a quiet or shy person. Little did I know that I would never be called Amy throughout my college career. 

15. How tough is it to not have a true home game until mid-April?

Morello- It's not the ideal situation to not play home until April but I have great teammates, coaches, and trainers so a road trip is never a bad thing. Our coaches always tell us that we're "road warriors" and that all the traveling builds character so until we get some turf around here we will have to keep telling ourselves that.