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By STEVE SEMBRAT; Times Leader Sports Writer
Saturday, September 06, 1997 Page: 1B
WRIGHT TWP.- Crestwood field hockey coach Elvetta Gemski is not big on
numbers.
Her players, on the other hand, are a different matter.
They are the ones, Gemski said, who made her 300th career victory special.
Not just the ones who carried the Comets to a 6-0 victory over GAR on
Friday, either.
True, that was the victory that raised Gemski’s all-time mark to 300-69-18.
Yet as she looked at the smiling faces, she drifted back and recalled all
her players through the years.
“I’m so appreciative that this year’s group is here for this,” Gemski said
after her players presented her with gifts, flowers and a plaque. “They
represent all the players who have made this program what it is.”
The performance was vintage Big Red Machine, too. Carissa Messimer scored
three goals in a span of just over two minutes. Amy Lesko, Gerianne Kauffman
and Jen Welgosh scored, too, as Crestwood rolled to a 6-0 halftime lead and
then substituted liberally.
“This game was history,” Kauffman said. “Being a senior and being a part of
it was special.”
Kauffman and Ashleigh Snelson, this year’s team captains, also pulled off a
rare feat by managing to slip something past their coach. Gemski knew she was
close to 300, but had no idea her players knew it, too. Kauffman and Snelson
found out, and managed to plan a post-game celebration that Gemski said was a
total surprise to her.
“To play a good game, and to give Mrs. Gemski her 300th win is special,”
Snelson said. “It is something I will remember.”
Evidently, the word got out that Gemski was nearing a milestone. A nice
contingent of her former players and friends of the program turned out for the
occasion. Actually, four former players are coaches in the program: Patsy
Rinehmer and Buffy Jumper are varsity assistants, and Justine Nemshick and Jen
Kahley run the junior high program.
“Mrs. Gemski’s asset is her leadership both on and off the field,” said
Rinehimer, a team captain on Crestwood’s 1988 state championship team. “On the
field, she taught me the meaning of hard work, dedication and the importance
of working as a team. Off the field, she has taught me how to handle myself in
dignified manner and to respect others.”
Even the former players who could not be there in person were there in
spirit.
“I’d like to thank Mrs. G for the lifetime of memories I had playing for
Crestwood,” said Pam Truszkowski, a 1994 Crestwood graduate who now is
starting goalie for Wilkes University. “Being part of the tradition that Mrs.
G helped create was amazing.”
Even those who moved far away were touched by the event.
“Mrs. Gemski was not only a great coach, but also a wonderful person,” said
Jenn Sinco Hammel, a member of the 1988 state championship team who is now a
teacher and housewife living in Connecticut. “To me, she was a teacher of
athletic as well as life experiences.”
And those people who were able to enjoy the moment from both near and far
are what made the 300th victory more than just another win for Gemski, who
started field hockey as a club sport at Crestwood in 1973 and has been the
only head coach in the program’s history.
“People mean everything,” Gemski said. “I hope to keep going for me. I’m
enjoying every minute of it.”-
Times Leader sports correspondent Jess Powley contributed to this story.
GAR0 0- 0
Crestwood6 0- 6
Scoring Summary: First Half- 1.Cre, Amy Lesko 2 (Carissa Messimer) 4:53;
2.Cre, Carissa Messimer 3 (Jen Welgosh) 12:58; 3.Cre, Carissa Messimer 4 (un)
14:40; 4.Cre, Carissa Messimer 5 (Jen Welgosh) 15:04; 5.Cre, Gerianne Kauffman
3 (un) 20:31; 6.Cre, Jen Welgosh 1 (un) 27:15. Second Half- No scoring.
Corners: GAR 1, Cre 14. Shots on goal: GAR 2, Cre 18. Goalie Saves: GAR
(Megan Harris) 12, Cre (Mandi Loefflad, Missy Farrand, Jen Welgosh) 3.
More Field Hockey –
Page 7B