When thinking of Spring Break most people would think of a time spent relaxing and catching up on sleep, especially when it comes to the average college student.

The student-athletes of Rockhurst, though, used their time away from campus to compete for the school, representing RU from Orlando, Florida in the East to Palm Springs, California on the West Coast. Here’s a recap of what happened.

Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse

Women’s lacrosse played in colorful Colorado.

“I believe the biggest game for us was UCCS [University of Colorado at Colorado Springs],” said stand-out freshman starter Jaylin Johnson. “It was when we realized that as long as we continued to work together as a team and have each other’s backs we can overcome some
pretty tough teams no matter the team.”

While the Women played games all over the Centennial state during Spring Break, the Men’s lacrosse team started its trip in Utah before concluding play in Colorado.

“I think one of the moments that stuck out to me was the feeling of beating Westminster College for the first time in program history and we had to come back from being down three goals in the last 10 minutes of the game,” said freshman Judge Greenberger of their 16-12
victory against the Griffins in Salt Lake City.

“It was an amazing way to start out the Spring Break trip and left everyone in an amazing mood for the rest of the trip to follow,” he said.

Not only will that team never forget that game but it has gone down in program history as well. The Rockhurst lacrosse men left Colorado with a 7-1 record where they added another win on March 11 at home.

Each of the Hawks teams left their mark in Pueblo, Colorado where both the Men and Women defeated Colorado State University.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis

The Men’s and Women’s tennis team both went to Orlando, Florida, where they had the opportunity to play at the year-and-a-half-old United States Tennis Association National Campus.

With state-of-the-art facilities setting the stage, the teams left Florida winning all eight matches, four apiece.

In a particularly grueling doubles match on the Women’s side, senior Tamara Santos and sophomore Sara Flaxbeard battled Saginaw Valley State University in an hour-and-a-half long fight. As midnight drew near, rain began to fall, prompting a reschedule for the morning.

“In the moment, the rain added extra pressure to hurry and finish the match, especially as I was standing at the baseline getting ready to serve,” Flaxbeard said. “But looking back at it, it was like a scene from a movie: playing doubles under the lights at the biggest tennis complex in the world with the extra element of rain. It was an experience I will always remember,” she said.

Santos and Flaxbeard won the match and their fellow Hawks ran onto the court to celebrate.

On the Men’s side, they added four wins to their record, making them 8-2 on the season. The men dominated in Orlando with only one match that ended in a 5-4 win.

Women’s Golf

The Women’s golf team flew to Palm Springs, California, where they competed in a wonderland of palm trees and rolling greens. During the lady’s offseason in the fall they endured some poor weather, because of this they looked at their Spring Break as an opportunity to enjoy the sights and a relaxing fun way to start off the spring season without too much pressure.

On the last day in California, many of the girls got to play with their own team due to some of the others schools having to rush off to catch flights. Freshman Emily Miles really enjoyed the change in plans.

“I got to play with our captain, Hannah Johnson, and it was a lot of fun,” Miles said. “She was very encouraging and it was more relaxing because it felt more like a team experience.”

Their next tee time is March 26 and 27 for the Rockhurst Invitational.

Softball

Softball’s start was a little rocky when they lost to Washburn University on the road in Topeka, Kansas.

“Very frustrating losses because we were so prepared and did not play together as a team,” said freshman Kiri Evans.

They continued to travel all over the Midwest and got their only win of the break, March 4, against Nebraska-Kearney by the score of 10-3. Although it wasn’t a wining trip for these Hawks, they kept fighting in all of their games; against Northwest Missouri State, they were down 5-1, but they sparked a four-run rally in the sixth inning.