My good friend Greg Carroll `71 used to love a tough challenge and good story. One legend that no doubt inspired him was the ancient account of the Spartan army who, hopelessly outnumbered by the invading Persians, held them off for three days at the narrow pass at Thermopylae. It's a stirring story of courage against enormous odds. You may be familiar with this narrative from the recent film 300.

Last August, 21 undergraduate women arrived on campus and found a daunting challenge awaiting them. There were seven freshmen, six sophomores, five juniors, and three seniors, all members of the field hockey team -- one of the original intercollegiate sports first played by women at Georgetown.

Daunting indeed. But there is more.

The very young team that returned this year found an aging astro-turf field (Kehoe Field) that dictated that the five home games (out of 17 total contests) would have to be played across town in College Park. The players also had just learned two weeks prior to their first practice that their head coach of seven years had retired and that a new staff awaited them.

At just past the halfway point of the season, these hardy Hoyas are sporting a record of 2-7. Four of those losses were by a single goal - three in overtime. Who knows? A record to-date of 6-3 just might have been possible. Against the teams remaining on our schedule, our past record of success is .245. But from this experience, these courageous young women will learn, grow, and become ever stronger.

Greg Carroll would have loved watching this team battle with all its might. He would have applauded the coaches and players for taking on the challenge of this season. And he especially would have loved to tell everyone about our new head coach. You see, she hails from a small town in central New York state. It's called Marathon.

But that's another story.