Libby Jandl

Duke freshman Libby Jandl had lived up to high expectations when it comes to school and soccer. Her brother, John, a soccer player at DePaul University, and both of her older sisters, Brooke and Katie, are Duke graduates.

In high school, Libby helped the Lady Lancers to a 12-5-1 record in her senior season with 8 shutouts while playing the center back position. She was named to the first team All-State as well as the second team All-America. Jandl was also the female recipient of the Art Newcomer Scholarship Award, the highest honor given to a male and female East student-athlete.

Now a student at Duke University and member of the Blue Devil soccer team, Jandl just hopes to see some time in games in her first season, something she didn’t have to worry about while playing at East.

“As a freshman, I simply just wanted to see a little time on the field,” Jandl said. “I have started the past three games, and in those games, we have had three shutouts and I have scored once.”

Jandl also has to devote time to her top priority: school. Academically, Duke is regarded as a top university in the country, and with that status comes rigorous and time-consuming school work. But Jandl feels that East was a good stepping stone to a school like Duke.

“It is extremely tough [balancing school and soccer], but very manageable as long as you work hard,” Jandl said. “Literally, you cannot waste any time. I feel, however, East prepared me very well for Duke. I think the fact that I played two sports basically year round and was a part of IB has very much helped me be successful this year. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Being a quality team player is also very important to Jandl. Right now, she just hopes to help her team out as much as she can so that the Blue Devils can have a successful run in the NCAA tournament.

The ladies have proven so far this season that they have what it takes to play against the top teams in a tough ACC conference; they tied with fifth-ranked Wake Forest, and were barely edged out 2-1 against top-ranked North Carolina. This Wednesday, the Blue Devils will head into ACC Tournament play in Cary, North Carolina.

Libby has high expectations for the Blue Devils in tournament play. They reached the Elite Eight in the past two seasons and finished their 2008 campaign ranked ninth in the country, so they hope to make it as far as the Final Four.

Brad Crist

Georgetown sophomore and East swimming record holder Brad Crist felt always sees room for improvement both academically and in the pool. Qualifying last year for the Big East Conference meet, he has set some higher goals for himself in his sophomore year.

“The Hoya Swim and Dive team should move up several places in the Big East Conference meet,” Crist said. “I hope to contribute on relays and individual top 8 performances in the 100 breast and 50 free.”

Just a few years ago, Crist was a part of the state winning East swim team, racing against rivals Olathe East and Blue Valley North. Now at Georgetown, he has some new rivals.

“We’re looking forward to racing fast against rivals Seton Hall, UConn and Villanova this season,” Crist said.

Crist must also juggle the academic demands of a top-notch university like Georgetown, with division one swimming.

Though still challenged this year with balancing his academics and swimming, along with social life and campus activities, Crist feels that being in the pool allows him the opportunity to get away from the strain of college.

“I’ve learned to manage my time well, and I still make schoolwork my top priority,” Crist said. “Usually swimming is a stress release, so I try to sublimate any frustration in the classroom into practice.”

Crist is very enthusiastic about the team spirit at Georgetown and the sense of pride to be a student-athlete and represent the blue and gray school colors, something he was familiar with while swimming for columbia blue, black and white.

“I am close to my teammates as if they were brothers and sisters, and we motivate each other in and out of the pool,” Crist said. “The team spirit this year at Georgetown reminds me of swimming at SM East. It helped that we had an amazing coach in Wiley Wright to unify us.”

Garrett Webb

It wasn’t too long ago that East graduate Garrett Webb was sporting a blue- and white-checkered soccer jersey, walking to the midfield arm-in-arm with his teammates before and after each of his games.

Now a senior playing soccer at Drake, Webb has progressively improved on his previous seasons.

Before the season started, Webb was named a preseason third-team All-American by College Soccer News. But Webb’s highest accolade for the season is being named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List, which is considered the highest individual honor in intercollegiate soccer. Past winners include the likes of Kansas City Wizard star Claudio Reyna, former Wizard goalie Tony Meola and defender Alexi Lalas.

Drake head coach Sean Holmes feels that having Webb and fellow Drake teammate Kevin Shrout named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List shows the success and effort of the team as a whole.

“We haven’t had anyone [on the list] in 24 years, and then we get two guys in one year, so its is exciting,” Holmes said. “Its a great honor for them but it also reflects the collective achievement of everyone, we become a better team and a better program and therefore our guys are getting notoriety.

[Webb] brings physical presence, he is pretty big for a soccer player, and he’s very competitive. He’s a very unselfish player, so he does a lot of work for the other guys.”

Webb has had a successful tenure at Drake. In his freshman year, Webb played in all 19 matches, starting in eight. As a sophomore, Webb led the Bulldogs in scoring and was one of two Drake players named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference team. Webb’s junior year was also very successful, averaging 1.16 points per game, a statistic that was ranked sixty-ninth in the NCAA.

“Garrett was a great teammate who put the us in front of ‘I,’ which is very rare with a kid with that talent,” former East soccer coach and current Athletic Director Jim Ricker said. “He was our goal scorer and one of our leaders on and off the field. He had the ability to raise everyone else’s level of play and expectations.”

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