BEHREND BEACON
lApril 30, 2010
Sp
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
(ALL SI ORIES PRINTED WITII AUTHOR, THEIR STAFF TITLE AT THE TIME AT WHICH THE ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED, AND DATE THE ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE BEHREND BEACON.) -V
•
MEN'S SOCCER
Kiefer suffers career
threatening injury
When freshman Kory Kiefer looks at the soc
cer field, he can't remember the last game he
played.
In the second half of a game against La Roche
College in mid-October, Kiefer jumped into the
air to attempt a header. On the way up he had a
head-to-head collision with La Roche's Maranol
Azavedo.
Kiefer's temple took the full blow.
"I was knocked out before I even hit the
ground," Kiefer said. "1 couldn't remember any
thing. I didn't know the date, who I was or where
I was."
Behrend athletic trainers rushed to Kiefer as
he lay motionless and began to check his condi
tion.
"Teammates and the athletic trainer had to tell
me how they even tested me," Kiefer said. "I was
told the left side of my body was unresponsive,
practically paralyzed. My pupils wouldn't dilate
or anything."
The severity of the injury progressed and
Kiefer remained unresponsive. An ambulance
was called to be take him to Erie's Hamot Hos
pital.
Kiefer said, "the worst part began," when he
was placed on a stretcher with a neck brace.
At Hamot Hospital, doctors diagnosed Kiefer's
injury as a severe concussion. After being told
his short term memory, may or may not come
back, he was advised to go home for a week to
let his head heal.
While at home, Kiefer and his family looked
to seek further opinions on his injury and con
sulted with a top doctor at UPMC. They found
Dr. Mark R. Lovell, an internationally recog
nized sports concussion expert and founding di
rector of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion
Program. Lovell is also the doctor of the Pitts
burgh Penguins and Steelers athletes.
At the hospital, Dr. Lovell gave Kiefer the typ
ical tests for a concussion injury. One of which
was a half-hour computer memorization test.
"I had to retake the computer concussion test,
like the one I took in ninth grade of high school,"
Kiefer said. "While taking the test I was getting
sick and could barely read any longer. The room
was spinning. I just wanted to lie down."
Another test given to Kiefer was a balance
test. His objective: to sit on a pillow and to keep
his balance for 30 seconds.
"I could only keep my balance for three sec
onds." Kiefer said. "My mom told me I was
swaying back and forth and couldn't hold myself
up."
Kiefer and his family received the news that
BEHREND BEACON YEAR IN REVIEW
A look back at the stories that define the 2009-2010 academieyear at Penn State Behrend
RACHELLE THOMPSON
11,1,, editor
November 13, 2009
Shawn Annarelli / The Behrend Beam
Anna Zelina is a hunter by day
a figure skater by night.
his soccer career was possibly over. Dr. Lovell
considered his concussion to be so severe that it
was one of the worst they had ever seen.
"When Dr. Lovell told my parents and I about
the results, he said my memorization test was
not even close to the one I took four years ago,"
Kiefer said. "His prognosis of everything was
that they didn't know when my short term mem
ory will come back or if it ever will. He told me
that soccer and any type of physical activity are
all out of the question, for a long time."
Kiefer was sent home for another week by Dr.
Lovell to continue resting. While at home he was
to work on school work and try to relax as much
as possible.
"Behrend professors have been really nice
about it and understanding," Kiefer said. "I am
just on a time schedule and it is a day-by-day
process."
As the Behrend men's soccer team plays out
the rest of the season, Kiefer still attends the
games when he can.
"Right after my injury I wasn't even allowed
out of my bed," Kiefer said. "I could eat, sleep
and drink, and that was all. I'm glad I'm pro
gressing enough to watch the guys play. I may
not be able to be on the field, but at least I can
still cheer them on."
Jon Klein / The Behrend Beacon
Freshman Kory Kiefer receives major concussion
after colliding with opponent from La Roche.
It is uncommon for a teenage
girl to clinch a .36 caliber Rem
ington Rifle and hunt white-tail
deer. Later that day, the same
young lady is a beauty queen
landing axles and flying camels
on ice.
Freshman Anna Zelina can
fire her rifle accurately for 300
yards, and she can stick a dou
ble lutz. You might call her a bit
out of the ordinary, but she just
says, "I'm a tomboy at heart."
Waking up to her father's
voice at four in the morning on
the first day of deer season,
Anna has a 20-hour day ahead
of her, from hunting bucks to
pursuing perfection as a figure
skater.
She and her father Francis
Zelina will pick their post by
6:30a.m. at their favorite region
to hunt, Allegheny National
Forest.
"Anna broke new ground in
the family," her father says.
She is the first woman in her
family to fully embrace the
hunting experience, a Zelina
tradition for generations.
"It is something special my
dad and I have," Anna says,
"because he doesn't have a son
to hunt with."
On a regular outing, the Zeli
nas will patiently wait nearly
eight hours for a deer to linger
into clear shooting range, but
ANNA ZELINA
GOING FOR THE GOLDEN KILL
SHAWN ANNARELLI
managing editor
February 19, 2010
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Morgan Rapo/ The Perspective
The Lady Lions are in first place in the AMCC after beating Medaille in thier home turf with a 3-0 win.
Behrend Lady Lions
defeat Medallle, 3-0
JUMP TO FIRST PLACE IN THE AMCC
The Behrend women's soccer team continued
their seven- game winning streak, defeating the
Medaille Mavericks 3-0 in a vital AMCC
matchup. Lions fresh
man Valerie Wagner scored the first two goals of
the game, assisted by Kourtney Gasparovic.
"I knew this was an important game for my
team and my adrenaline was just rushing
through me," Wagner said. "I was so pumped up
once I got the first goal in the last 10 minutes of
the first half. I wanted to give us another victory."
The last goal of the game was chipped off the
goal post by sophomore Glennis Robash, de
flecting past the Medaille goalkeeper.
Behrend took control early in the game and
would continue to manage the Mavericks' zone
for most of the game.
Behrend had a total of 13 shots on net with
several close saves by Maverick goalie Brittany
Deßole. Medaille only
had five shots on net, two of which came from
game does not come by easy.
"I had one chance to get a
deer this season," Anna said. "I
did not get it, but sticking with
it was worth it."
"We go out there and we
learn about persistence, dedica
tion and hard work," her father
says. "She uses it on the skating
rink, too."
For Anna, hunting and figure
skating is all about precision.
"You have to be completely
focused for both," she says
"Once you lose
it, a deer will
pass by or you
will miss the
most basic
move while
skating "
"My mom told me 'you
are not a quitter.' I had
come a long way, so I
decided I needed to keep
putting my skates back
She's been
there before.
In a competion
at Jamestown
she caught her
blade on the
ice while per
forming a lin
e a r
step-sequence
and face-planted
"The crowd gasped then
went silent," her mother Beth
Zelina said. "She had some
tears, maybe more from shock
than anything, but she was fine.
It was one of the hardest things
I've watched Anna go through."
Anna's tribulations on blades
pale in comparison to her litany
of triumphs.
"I don't know if I have a
RACHELLE THOMPSON
netts editor
October 23, 2009
defining moment skating," she
says. "I guess it was when I
medaled in a competition. I was
like 'holy crap I can actually do
this."
At twelve years old, Anna
competed and placed second in
her first regional contest. It was
in that same year Anna found
herself building unique bonds
with each of her parents. She
gained her junior hunting li
cense with her dad's guidance
and decided to take a serious
Anna Zelina
freshman, kinesiology
about," Anna said
"She was in the dressing
room with me for every compe
tition perfecting my costume
and make-up. She was always
there to get me ready to do my
best."
Her mother was also there to
give Anna the extra nudge she
needed when the going got
tough.
'As I got older I realized how
junior midfielder Chelsea Buzyniski.
Behrend senior goalkeeper Kayla Frost earned
a shut-out win.
"The game went really well," Frost said. "Per
sonally, I think it's the best we have played all
year, which is encouraging because we haven't
hit our peak yet."
In order to clinch their first place rank,
Behrend must continue to win throughout con
ference play, but they are taking it one step at a
time.
"With a conference game left we aren'treallyi
thinking about playoffs too such," Frost-said.,
"We are taking it one game at a time, but we are
continuing to practice hard and maintain our
focus of our goal, which is to get the top spot in
the AMCC."
If Behrend continues their winning streak they
will also be granted home field advantage
throughout the playoffs.
The win put the Lions in first place for AMCC,
wit a conference record of 7-0-1.
The team will travel to Mount Aloysius (0-6) in
conference play, Oct. 24 and have one confer
ence game remaining.
much skating took away from
my social life and other things
like soccer," she said. "My mom
told me 'you are not a quitter.' I
had come a long way, so I de
cided I needed to keep putting
my skates back on."
Her mother, looking out for
Anna's best interests, said, "I
wanted to see her follow
through. I would be disap
pointed if she let go of some
thing she loved, and now she's
still doing it."
Sort of. Anna stopped com
peting a year ago, but she
hasn't left the ice in the least.
journey
into com
petitive
figure
skating
with her
mother's
support
behind the
scenes.
M y
"I'm testing my own limits
and literally being tested,"
Anna said. "I'm also coaching
younger skaters. The other day
it caught me off-guard to hear a
young girl call me Coach."
She's being tested to pass the
two senior levels of figure skat
ing. She has passed and ob
tained her gold medal in one of
the two fields: moves. She is
still trying to capture gold in
the field of freestyle to move up
in status as a skater and coach.
mom did
all of
those little
things
that only
we know
"Passing the senior levels al
lows me to earn more money
and responsibility as a coach,"
Anna said. "Coaching is some
thing I want to do for life as a
part-time career."
She believes she will pass the
second test, but she has more
goals in mind.
"By this time next year, I will
be landing double axles cleanly,
and I will get that buck."
orts
4ifE .