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By Rich Scherr
The Retriever
U. of Maryland, Baltimore County
From the Atlantic Ocean, across the
plains of Kansasto the sun and surf of
the Pacific, Phillip Noll saw it all, but in
a perspective like none other.
Last summer, Noll, a mechanical en-
gineering junior, and partners Nick
Gounaris and Chris Benisch invested
$1000 and many blisters to see America
by bicycle.
The trio departed from the beaches of
Ocean City, Maryland, biking 3500
miles through 11 states on a central
route through the U.S. Upon arriving in
Santa Clara, California 10 weeks later,
they had completed a journey which
each will remember for the rest of his
life.
"The people we came across and the
ordeals we went through . . . this was a
once in a lifetime experience," Noll said.
The three friends, who biked an aver-
age of 70 miles in eight hours each day,
survived with only the bare necessities.
"Everybodycarried their own clothes,
and we each carried a sleeping bag,"
Noll said. "Nick took the tent, Chris
took the stove and cooking supplies, and
I took the tools and bathroom supplies."
The trio survived on tuna fish and
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"We'd meet people in supermarkets
and start telling them what we were
doing. A lot of times they'd invite us
Eve
I 3500 miles to see Pacific e"g
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back to their homes to spend the night," broke the treeline (10,500 feet above sea
Noll said. level), there was no place to go to the By S
The bikers camped out in nearly 30 bathroom," Noll said. "We had a rough The R
homes during their journey, having to time." U. of C
pay for hotel rooms only twice. The group reached the pinnacle in Seni'
Fifteen days into the trip, Nick Estes Park, Colorado, where they dent D
crashed in Wilmington, Ohio. The in- climbed the second highest paved road Mt. EvE
jured cyclist returned to Maryland to in the U.S.-elevation 12,200 feet. er been
recover. "That was the hardest day of my life The
"During the time when Nick was physically. It was a six-and-a-half mile
gone, there were a lot of hard times for climb straight up and we climbed an ha vTb
Chris and I," Noll said. "It's very tough elevation of 5000 feet in 30 miles," Noll betw
said. "When we finally reached the top. Novem
the feeling was just incredible." "Thi
The cyclists reached speeds of 60 mph hardes
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The two remaining friends pushed a hang
each other on for three weeks until Nick as they dropped 4000 feet in a span of 15 The
rejoined them in northwestern Kansas. miles. tion's
The most grueling, but also most re- "I thought in the beginning that to budge
warding, part of the trip, Noll said, was make it there (California) you would the pe
covering the Rocky Mountains. have to be some great athlete, but in transl
"People told us to drink a lot of water actuality it's just a matter of pacing and s
in those high elevations, but once we yourself to your own ability," Noll said. Dinna
As e
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Walk-on reporter scores scoop on women's basketball
I1
By Chris Sigley
Northern Star
Northern Illinois U.
They say practice makes perfect.
But no one ever said how long it would
take.
Obviously it would take more than
the four-day workout I had with the
Northern Illinois U. women's basket-
ball team as an undercover reporter.
I had had my share of fundamental
passing and shooting skills and had
played in high school and junior college,
but to try out as a 5' 9" walk-on forward
at Division I level definitely turned
some heads.
The coaches, aware of my staged try-
out, warned me about the "heat" I might
take for missing pre-season workouts.
Nothing was easy. There were many
times during the drills when I wanted to
tell everyone that I was a reporter-my
excuse for messing
up. But I didn't.
When they ran, I
ran. When they got a
water-break, I got a
water-break-at
times I felt I needed
twice as many. s
Practices became
easier as I learned
the routine and Chris Sigley
started to fit in.
Between drills and running sessions,
the two-hour-and-40-minute practices
taught me that these girls were disci-
plined. And dedicated.
I only heard the coach raise her voice
once, and we all paid for it by running a
Suicide.
You start from one endline of the gym
and run to the free-throw line and back;
then you sprint to half-court and back;
then you push to three-fourths of the
court and back; then you give your all to
the other endline and back.
It's not too bad, unless you're being
timed. The coach decided we didn't run
fast enough, so we ran another.
On the third day, I asked one of the
players, "So when does your team's sea-
son start?"
She looked at me funny and said,
"What do you mean 'your' team? It's
OUR team." I just smiled and took my
turn for the next drill.
The final practice day came.
My aching body would be happy to be
finished, butI was going to miss my new
friends.
I was afraid of the girls' raction
when I had to tell them I was a reporter.
I thought they might accuse me of being
a spy.
After their initial shock, their mouths
widened into smiles and each one shook
my hand or gave a high-five.
Mission accomplished.
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