Rookie Athletes Shine in Ober

SPORTS

December 10, 2021 Established 1874

Students Represent International Teams, Reflect on DIII Experience

First-year and women’s soccer player Adriana Morales poses with the Puerto Rican flag. Courtesy of Amanda Phillips

River Schiff

Senior Staff Writer

Division III sports have the impression of being an option for students who are not looking to go into sports professionally. However, three Oberlin athletes have had the opportunity to prove their high level of play while representing their countries over time.

Women’s soccer player and first-year Adriana Morales returned last month from Puerto Rico, where she trained with the national team after years of never being selected.

“I had been in a goalkeepers program that attracts people to the national team to train with them,” Morales said. “I had been called up to the U-15 back in the day and didn’t make it, and I fell off the radar. Same thing for U-17, and then again for U-20 and finally made it.”

Morales’ hard work paid off. Not only was she able to train with the national team but she also got to see some playing time in their friendlies — exhibition matches — against Guyana.

“It was very shocking but felt good,” she said. “I was kind of emotional the first time I put on the uniform; it made it kind of real. It was just a wild thought that I was on the big stage.”

Puerto Rico’s men’s and women’s teams have never made the FIFA World Cup, but through her work ethic, Morales is hoping to be a part of the change.

“Team Puerto Rico is working towards the World Cup qualifiers,” she said. “There’ll be another camp during the spring semester, which will hopefully lead to qualifying for the Cup. We have a bit of a tough bracket, but I hope to be a part of that qualifier team.”

Morales maintains that, despite the amazing opportunities she has experienced outside of college sports, she’s glad to be a Division III athlete in a community as academically centered as Oberlin.

“When I was in Puerto Rico, there was no time for schoolwork. It was just soccer all of the time,” she said. “I wanted DIII because I wanted to be a student first, with coaches taking into account your studies and prioritizing it. We were doing something all of the time on the national team. I still stand by my decision to go to a Division III school, but it was amazing to have a soccer-centered experience on the national team.”

Audrey Koren, second-year on the women’s lacrosse team, visited Israel as part of the Lacrosse Birthright program, a branch of the more wellknown Birthright program. Lacrosse Birthright provides opportunities for Jewish athletes all around the world to visit their ancestral homeland and connect with their Jewish roots and, of course, play lacrosse

For Koren, being able to not only connect with her roots but to also forge friendships with like-minded people made the trip special.

“It was something I didn’t expect to do, not being very in touch with my [Jewish identity],” she said. “Going there and meeting Jewish people like me made me more proud to be a part of that community.”

It also gave Koren an insight into Israel itself and Israel’s lacrosse community.

“Within Israel lacrosse, there were a few Muslim people, but everyone was able to come together through sport, [which] was really something special to see,” she said. “Nobody cared what religion you were from, what language you spoke — any of that. We all just were there for the love of lacrosse, regardless of background.”

Although there were many prominent discrepancies between the skill levels of the athletes, they were all able to come together through their common love of the sport, ultimately forging amazing friendships.

“At the time, the Israel national team had two players who lived there who we trained with,” Koren said. “It was an amazing experience playing and training with athletes of such a high level, including a variety of Division I and Division III NCAA athletes. We were also able to form connections with the girls who we were coaching, and even play a few games with the locals.”

Volume 151, Number 8

Maker’s Market Allows Athletes to Exhibit Art

Tables at the Winter Maker’s Market display student art for sale.

Zoë Martin del Campo

Contributing Sports Editor Courtesy of Mads Olsen

On Dec. 5, the Science Center walkway was flooded with students as they browsed prints, jewelry, and other handmade goods at the Winter Maker’s Market. The event was an opportunity for student-artists to sell their work to the Oberlin community and for buyers to support their peers. Among those selling their work were a few student-athletes, including third-year and women’s tennis player Dina Nouaime, who was selling hand-painted bags. Art has always played an important role in Nouaime’s life.

“My parents would take me to art classes and art lessons,” she said. “I was always that kid that would doodle in class. A lot of my friends at Oberlin are also artists, and one of my friends was one of the people who helped revive Maker’s Market this summer, so a lot of my friends partook in it then. I unfortunately couldn’t make the summer Maker’s Market, but when I heard that it was happening again this semester, I knew that I wanted to participate.”

Third-year Maya Das O’Toole, a member of Oberlin’s trans-inclusive women’s rugby team, the Rhinos, knew that she wanted to be involved in the art scene but did not plan on selling art in college until her positive experience with the Maker’s Market over the summer semester.

“I’ve been doing art since high school, but I never really had the urge to sell my work,” she said. “But there’s such a good artistic community at Oberlin, and Maker’s Market went so well over the summer and was such a good space that I decided to participate again this semester.”

At a place like Oberlin, it is normal to see people with a wide range of interests, and student-athletes are no different. For Nouaime, both athletics and art have served as outlets to offset the stress of academics.

“Both [art and tennis] are pretty good outlets in terms of reinvigorating myself and destressing after class,” she said. “I’ve also been able to meet a lot of new people through the athletic and art community as well, which has been nice.”

Das O’Toole added that there are a lot of people who do art alongside athletics, as she was one of three people on her team who participated in Maker’s Market.

“Three people on our team sold stuff at Maker’s Market, so there’s definitely a lot of people who do art that are also on the team,” she said. “One of my good friends on the team is also a Studio Art major like I am, so there’s a lot of people on the team with similar interests so our interests in art and athletics definitely intersect.”

Third-year and field hockey player Post went to the Marker’s Market to support their friends and see everyone’s work.

“I loved getting to see all my friends be celebrated for such wonderful talent!” they wrote in an email to the