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24 HAWKEYES TO WATCH
She actually did a lot of recruiting on her own, said UI head coach Tracey Griesbaum. She really sought the University of Iowa out and our program. Her recruiting paid off. McGraw arrived on campus in 2009 as one of three goalkeepers on the roster, and she quickly moved up the depth chart. She made her first appearance as a Hawkeye in the second game of the season against No. 4 North Carolina and had her first career start at No. 17 Massachusetts. She went on to start 16 games during her true freshman season, ranking fifth in the Big Ten with 67 saves and third with two shutouts. It was a surprise, said Griesbaum of McGraw playing from day one. Its one of those things where youre really happy it worked out the way it did. We thought shed come in pretty raw, and she did, but she really took a step forward each and every day her freshman year. It was pretty early on that we knew she earned the position and has really had it ever since. During her sophomore season, McGraw tallied three shutouts and 73 saves, but the team struggled, going 3-14 and 0-6 in the Big Ten. After the season, the team went to work, vowing to not let the 2010 season repeat itself. Our whole team has been working hard since the end of last season, almost the day after the season ended, because we werent going to have another season like we did last year, said McGraw. That hard work started paying dividends early for McGraw. This past summer, she was named to the USA U21 Junior National and 2011 Midwest Junior High Performance Squads. She earned additional recognition, being selected as the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the USA Junior High Performance National Championship. There were a lot of parts of my game that we knew I needed to improve, and weve been working on it and working on it, said McGraw. You have a few spring games, but you dont really get to see actual improvement until you go to a tournament like I went to. Having the results I had there, playing well, making a lot of saves, helping keep our team in a lot of games was enough to me. That (the award) was more of an `icing on the cake type of thing. McGraw has carried that success into the early portion of this season. The Hawkeyes have posted a 7-1 record overall, while McGraw has 28 saves, one shutout and a 1.34 goals against average. Griesbaum has looked to McGraw to fill more of a leadership position with the 2011 Hawkeyes. She is one of three team captains along with senior Becca Spengler and junior Jessica Barnett. Mertys leadership qualities are phenomenal, said Griesbaum. Her

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Q&A with Brooke Eilers

Brooke Eilers is a senior on the University of Iowa womens cross country team. She finished fourth overall and the Hawkeyes won the team title at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational on Sept. 24 in Chicago. Iowa competed in the Wisconsin adidas Invitational yesterday near Madison.

teammates look to her to understand what is going on and what the play needs at that time. She gives a lot of confidence to her teammates. Shes very demanding, but they know at the end of the day, she has their back. She has an innate ability to lead, where she means business, but she also has that soft side to her at the appropriate times. Shes getting it done, and is really stepping it up. The UI field hockey and goalkeeping tradition lured McGraw to the University of Iowa, now shes doing her part to carry it on. I know its there, but I dont try and think about it that much, said McGraw. I am trying to be the best athlete I can be personally. If I uphold that tradition, that is a goal of mine, and thats what I want to do, but it isnt a daunting thing for me. Weve had phenomenal goalkeepers -- Olympians, World Cup athletes, All-American, multi-year All-Americans and National Team players, said Griesbaum. Shes going in the right direction. Shes on the way to being a very, very good goalkeeper at Iowa, and thats saying a lot. McGraw is majoring in finance in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business. She hopes to work in the business sector of the Peace Corps upon graduation.

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As a senior, what have you done differently to be more of a leader on the team? All the seniors are trying to set a good example, and not just in terms of how we work out and how we run, but more so were just trying to be friends first and teammates second. What specific goals do you have for yourself in your final year as a Hawkeye? I would like (our team) to place the highest Iowa has ever placed at nationals. I think we got 11th once, so I would like to place above that. (Editors note: The Hawkeye women finished eighth at the NCAA Championship in 1982 and 10th in 2007.) You saw a lot of success both in the Big Ten and NCAA Championships during last years track season. How do those race strategies translate over to the cross country season? They gave me a huge confidence boost. Running is so mental and knowing I could perform at that level just gave me a huge confidence boost. Do you plan on pursuing either track or cross country in the future? What other plans do you have for after graduation? After graduation, my major requires grad school for speech pathology. In terms of running, I havent really thought much about it, but I guess Ill just see where it takes me and go from there. What is the most important thing for you to do in training to make sure you peak at the right time of the season? I think a lot of it is trusting in coachs plans. Its easy for us to get anxious about workouts, but we need to just trust what (head coach) Layne (Anderson) has laid out for us, and not try to feel too good too early in the season. Reflecting on your career here, how does the 2011 team compare to past seasons? I think this years team has more potential than we have ever had. We have so much experience and incoming talent, I think weve all had success and that just creates a more confident atmosphere, which has translated into workouts, so it should be fun to see how we race. What has it been like managing the high expectations for the cross country team this fall? I wouldnt really say theyre high expectations, I think weve approached it more as a challenge. Until we race, we wont really be able to see if we can overcome this challenge, so it will be fun to see what we can do. In the past, your team has put an emphasis on running as a pack. Is that pack mentality still a priority this year, or has the focus shifted? Its definitely still a priority this year. There have been four of us who have been training together in workouts and finishing within a few steps, so I think thats going to carry over into races. What are you most looking forward to after you graduate? The new season of life. I like changes and Im excited for a change. What would you consider the defining moment of your racing career, either in college or before? Qualifying for nationals (in the 5,000-meter run and placing 22nd in 16:25.62) last spring was great. Ive dealt with a lot of injuries, so being able to make it to NCAAs after those was definitely an accumulation of all the hard work. It was awesome to be able to go with (fellow UI senior) Betsy Flood; were really close, so it was awesome to be able to do that with her. Youre known for running, but do you have any other hidden talents? If so, what are they and how did you come to learn you were good at them? I like water sports. I grew up on a lake, so it was something that was always part of our lives. Its definitely something I enjoy doing. Not many people understand the life of a distance runner. In what ways does your life differ from the average studentathlete at the UI? I know every sport has a mental aspect to it, but I think from experience with other sports, running is just so much to do with what you think. Going into the race with a positive attitude will definitely affect how you race.

24 HAWKEYES TO WATCH: KATHLEEN MERTY MCGRAW

By JAMES ALLAN
The winning tradition of the University of Iowa field hockey program lured Kathleen Merty McGraw to Iowa City. Well, sort of. McGraw, nicknamed Merty when her two older sisters -toddlers at the time -- couldnt pronounce the name Alexander Bessmertnykh, a Russian minister of foreign affairs that her father jokingly called her on the day she was born, started playing field hockey as a freshman at Saint Francis High School. She was the new kid wanting to be involved to make friends. She fell in love with the game. I had never seen it before, said McGraw, a native of Atherton, Calif., who has been Iowas starting goalkeeper for three seasons. I kind of just tried playing it and fell in love with it.

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Shes very demanding, but they know at the end of the day, she has their back. She has an innate ability to lead, where she means business, but she also has that soft side to her at the appropriate times. Shes getting it done, and is really stepping it up.
TRACY GRIESBAUM, IOWA FIELD HOCKEY HEAD COACH

During her sophomore season, McGraw began thinking about the prospects of playing collegiately. With her lack of experience, she didnt get the exposure to be recruited by the big time schools, so she took the matter into her own hands. The plan for my life was to play collegiate softball, said McGraw, who has started 38 consecutive games for Iowa. Around the end of my sophomore year of field hockey I started to get a little more serious about it. When I realized I wanted to play in college, I knew I was going to have to make it happen. I looked up that year who the top teams (in the country) were and Iowa was in the top five. I thought, `maybe Ill check that out, I guess it is the closest to home besides the California schools.