Portal:1998 Spring Women/Intro

Fourth in the Nation, losing to Navy

VIC TISE

You know that pic might be from the Final 4 playoffs at Penn State in the Spring of 98, where we did play Navy. I’ll check with CDR (R) Ashley (McCrea) Sullivan (USNA-00) for clarity. Before the Final 4 trip, Paula Kelly (as a 3 degree) came to my office and said she heard that I was a Rugby Coach and if I would like to go to the Final 4 as the Team OIC. Evidently, the OIC the team had was a female Air Force Major and her husband had had a heart attack and she could not make the trip. Of course, I wanted to be the OIC and go to the Final 4. Here is why I am pretty sure it was Spring of 98 - Shalanda Baker went to Russia to play for the Eagles that Spring and did not go to the Final 4 with us. Had she gone to the Final 4 with us, the results would have been way different.

Another antidote - BG Lorenz (GeeLow) the Commandant came to me as the new OIC and said, “LTC Tise, there are girls on this team on academic probation, honor probation and disciplinary probation - fix this.” He directed the disciplinary probation Cadet would be on room confinement throughout the trip to Penn State - she could only go to the practices, matches and team dinners. Then he said all Cadets and OIC will travel in uniforms.

After our match at Navy during the fall of 99, we went to the Air Force vs Navy football game, which was played at Landover, MD - Washington Redskins Stadium that year. So I am pretty sure it was in the Fall of 99. Me, Gary Middlestad and Mitch Reed were the coaching staff. I retired from the Army at AFA in Feb 2000. I stayed coaching as an Assistant Coach ( Backs coach) for Alan through the Fall season of 01.

Because of the football game there were no vans to rent from Washington National airport, so Paula Kelly helped to find a Bus Service from Dulles airport that came to pick us up at Washington National and took us to Annapolis. The bus service was cheap and very reliable throughout the weekend.