A Semester in the Spotlight
The best answers from this fall's athletes
August 22 Casey Dobyns Football
We heard a rumor that you’re a model. Is that true? Yes, I am a high fashion model. Just like everyone else has a summer job, I do that.
What kind of modeling? So far, I’ve done a lot of editorials and shows. I’m up for a couple of campaigns in the spring — Benetton, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lacoste. It’s a big culture shock. It’s a lot different from being on campus. The schedule is different; it’s not exactly your nine to five. It was my first time this summer — I was away doing an internship and working in Milan. … You meet a lot of interesting people, a lot of people I wouldn’t necessarily get to meet in football, but it gives me an opportunity to explore a different side of life.
Full Spotlight on Casey Dobyns
September 2 Kiersten McKoy Volleyball
Do you go to the Georgetown basketball games? I go to the games all the time. I have a few friends on the basketball team, we hang out a lot. They’re a bunch of goofballs. I got a call from Jessie Sapp once and he just goes, “Hey, are you in your room?” and I said, “Yeah, why?” and he’s like, “Just wondering.” He hangs up, then knocks on my door and opens full blast fire on me with his water gun. And then, DaJuan [Summers] and Vernon [Macklin] come in and it’s the three of them shooting at me in the middle of my room. They’re really sneaky. You gotta watch out for them.
Full Spotlight on Kiersten McKoy
September 9 Kit Niesen Volleyball
When did you first start playing volleyball? I first started when I was 14. It was ninth grade. I walked into biology class and my teacher said, “Hey, you’re tall. Why don’t you come play volleyball?”
Did you fall in love with it right away? As a tall kid they put you as middle, which is probably the worst position in the world. So it took a while, but after the first couple of seasons I definitely enjoyed it a lot more.
September 16 Ben Bordoley Club Judo
How far are you from becoming a black belt? I promote really slowly because I don’t have a lot of time to go to competitions. Once you get above a certain level, the requirements for promotion get harder: You have to demonstrate that you know all the moves and names for things in Japanese and you have to take short written tests. … you also have to have a certain number of points that you get in competitions. But the competitions are on weekends, which is when it’s homework time and time for my friends. So I don’t have very many points, but I could have gotten a black belt sometime early this year if I had been doing it rigorously.
Full Spotlight on Ben Bordoley
September 23 Alex Gargano Women’s Soccer
Do you ever do something fun with your roommates that other people might not do? Monday, we all religiously come into our living room and put on “Gossip Girl,” and we eat our Sweetgreen all together and just veg out. That’s our Monday night ritual.
Full Spotlight on Alex Gargano
September 30 Ryan Goldstein Club Tennis
What’s something we don’t know about you that would surprise people? I’m a pretty good juggler. I guess it’s from all those hours spent on the court with all the tennis balls. Sometimes I juggle three rackets, but I know one of these days I’m going to regret it when one hits me in the face.
Full Spotlight on Ryan Goldstein
October 7 Ben Slingerland Men’s Soccer
Has anyone on the team played a prank on you? There’s always funny stories, but last spring, I was one of three players who finished the best in [a competition created by the coaches], where there’s a points system and coaches release a table at the end of the week. It was [sophomore midfielder] Rob Burnett, myself and [senior midfielder] Sean Bellomy who were the top three guys. Coach Samols was keeping track of the points, and us both being Boston guys, the guys thought we were cheaters and that Coach Samols was rigging the system. So we got these really nice Georgetown shirts as a prize, and only me, Sean and Rob got them. And I had the shirt for about a week but I noticed that it went missing. And eventually it got out that someone on the team took it from me. It’s still an ongoing mystery ... I’ve been looking for it everywhere but I still can’t find it.
Full Spotlight on Ben Slingerland
October 21 Ashton Hospodar Field Hockey
Tell us something interesting about your hometown (St. Davids, Pa.): The movie “Grease” is based off my high school, Radnor High. The director of “Grease” went to my high school.
Full Spotlight on Ashton Hospodar
October 25 Chelsea Curtis Women’s Golf
Is there a team joker? That’s probably me. You don’t want to be caught sleeping in the van when I’m around. One of our freshmen, she’s definitely asleep as soon as the keys turn. So we like to mess with her a little bit. We like to draw on her. One time, when a girl fell asleep with her hand open, we put a little brownie there and took a picture.
Full Spotlight on Chelsea Curtis
November 4 Marco Teixidor Sailing
McCain or Obama? Well, actually I can’t vote because I’m Puerto Rican so, I would say Obama if I could vote.
Full Spotlight on Marco Teixidor
November 11 Kristen Pratt Swimming
Tell us something about the coaches we normally wouldn’t know: One of my favorite catchphrases of the team that [Head Coach Steven Cartwright] says is “Light it up.” … It’s one of his favorite sayings. Another thing about Steve, you will most probably always find him in Yates or in the swimming office. I think he actually lives in his office in McDonough — he’s always there. Sometimes, we get e-mails from him at 5 in the morning so I think he must live there, honestly.
Full Spotlight on Kristen Pratt
November 25 Dave Griffin Club Boxing
What song would you pick as your entrance? I don’t know. I was thinking about that the other day. Obviously rap would be great to get you pumped up; “Rocky” would be too cheesy, so you don’t want Rocky. But then we were all talking about if a guy came out to something really cheesy like Britney Spears and got beaten by him, how’d you feel about that? So I haven’t decided yet, but come out in the spring and you’ll find out.
Full Spotlight on Dave Griffin
— Kevin Wessel, Fiore Mastroianni and Molly Jones contributed to Spotlight. To suggest a Spotlight, contact Sports Editor Ryan Travers at sports@thehoya.com