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| Sarah Weesies |
On the top of Calvin's career lists for goals, assists and points—and
leading an MIAA Championship team to the NCAA Division III Tournament
this past season—is a pair of women's soccer players who connect
on and off the field.
Even before their first practice together freshman year, juniors Jill
Capel (Hudsonville, Mich.) and Sarah Weesies (Kalamazoo, Mich.) became
friends. "We met in the apartments the first day we came to school,"
Weesies said. "We were friends right away."
It took a little longer to learn to play together—the whole freshman
year, according to Weesies. But in three years of being teammates, Weesies
and Capel have become the soccer team's dynamic duo, dishing out assists
to each other in synchronized fashion. "We just know when to work
off each other," Capel said. ("We can read each other's eyes
during a play," Weesies added.) "Or we just scream," Capel
continued. Whatever they do, it works.
The duo led the soccer team to a single-season record of 88 goals. Twenty-one
of those goals came from Capel and 20 were Weesies'. Capel added 13 assists
for a team-leading 55 points, while Weesies gave out 12 assists for 52
points.
A forward, Weesies is fifth on all of Calvin's career lists with 56 goals,
34 assists and 146 points. Capel, who plays midfield, stands third on
the career list for goals (60), fourth in assists (36) and third on the
Calvin career list for points (157).
In addition, Capel was named the MIAA's Most Valuable Player, an honor
Weesies received her freshman year. Both athletes earned a spot on the
MIAA first team for the third straight year, and for the first time in
her career, Capel was named to the Division III Great Lakes All-Region
third team. As a team, Calvin posted a 16-3-2 season record, with a 15-1-0
MIAA record; the only conference loss coming in the second Hope game.
The record gave Calvin the MIAA Championship and a bid to the NCAA Division
III Tournament.
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| Jill Capel |
Though Calvin lost the first tournament game on penalty kicks, the loss
only heightened the team's desire to play hard again next year. "We
showed that we can compete at that level and that we had the ability to
come back," Capel said.
"Now that we have a taste of it and made a statement at nationals,
we want to build from that and have the same expectations for next season,"
Weesies added.
Looking toward next season, both have high goals. "We need the same
commitment and hard work through the offseason," Capel said.
With the bulk of the team returning for another season and with the Capel-Weesies
duet, Calvin has reason to expect great things.
It seems the two have commonalities off the field: having similar majors
and living in the same house with another teammate, junior Leah Scholten.
Weesies is pursuing a major in exercise science with hopes of becoming
a strength and conditioning trainer for athletes, while Capel is a K-12
physical education major.
All this time together has produced only one disagreement over the years.
Both wore No. 5 jerseys in high school, but only one of them could be
No. 5 at Calvin. The problem was easily solved, however, when Weesies
graciously took on No. 12, her basketball number from high school. That
willingness to unselfishly give-and-take makes great friends—and
great teammates.
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