Jacob Lauing
jacoblauing.md@gmail.com
It’s time to hang up the jersey, throw on a cap and gown and grab a diploma.
Dec. 8 marks Cal Poly’s mid-year commencement for fall graduates, and the time for 19 Cal Poly athletes to transition into a life without college athletics.
“It’s bittersweet to be leaving,” wrestler and kinesiology senior Jake Tanenbaum said. “It’s been awesome. It’s been a lot of ups and downs since freshman year. It’s really been fun being with this team, having the camaraderie and the friendships that I’m sure will last forever. The life skills and everything you learn with it have been great.”
Tanenbaum won eight of his 22 matches during the 2011-2012 season and placed sixth in the Pac-12 Championships at 133 pounds. As a freshman, he also won a gold medal at the Grand Prix Munich Memorial Tournament in July 2009.
“Just winging it for now until something opens up,” Tanenbaum said. “I worked as an intern last summer at Apple in the wellness department there at a gym. They might have a job opening for me. It’s still kind of in the works.”
All of these Division I athletes are no strangers to hard work, but like Tanenbaum, most of the Fall 2012 grads will be hanging up the uniform and finding a job.
Women’s soccer midfielder and business senior Julie Mckee also plans to move back home to Santa Ana, Calif. and find employment. Mckee’s Cal Poly highlights include starting 13 of 14 games during the 2011 season, and earning All-Big West Conference second team honors in 2009, where she started 19 of 20 games and won the season opening game against Florida International on Sep. 11.
“I’ve loved everything about my time here at Cal Poly,” McKee said. “I’m sad to go, but very grateful that I went to a school that’s so hard to leave.”
Ashlee Burns, a shooting guard on the 2011-12 women’s basketball team and ag business senior, has less-certain plans, as she hopes to find a place in the San Francisco Bay Area and get a job.
Burns sank 40.2 percent of her 3-pointers last season, the second best in that category for the Mustangs.
“Playing basketball here was the best experience I could ask for,” Burns said. “We got to travel all over the U.S. and we went to Costa Rica my last year, which was by far the most memorable time at Cal Poly.”
Although these graduating athletes will no longer be students at Cal Poly, some won’t venture too far from the team they played for only last year.
Former men’s basketball player Jordan Lewis is a student assistant coach for this 2012-13 season, and will continue to hold this position even after the quarter concludes.
“I want to still contribute any way I can,” Lewis said. “I’ll be coaching the rest of the year. I plan on sticking around even after I’m done with class this fall. I’m probably going to find a job and see if I can continue coaching and living here as well. I miss competing with guys but I’m still here for them.”
The biological sciences senior, who made 50 percent of his shots as a senior forward last season, also plans to continue his higher education and apply to dental school next year.
“There isn’t a place like Cal Poly,” Lewis said. “I absolutely love it here. The school, the students, the sports have been huge for me. We really are a family. That’s what I’ll miss the most, the family of a basketball team. I’ve enjoyed it all. It’s a great program.”
The other 15 graduating Mustangs are Ryan Anderson, Caitlin Farley, Wes Feighner, Greg Francis, Vanessa Hancock, Jarred Houston, Cameron Walters, Alex Loeffelman, Maurice McClure, Evan Richter, Patrick Sigler, Ryan Solomon, Amir Tadros and Lindsay Wilson.
“I already miss playing basketball,” Burns said. “The competition is intense and it feels amazing to be surrounded by a great community that supports all the sporting teams. I had a great experience at Cal Poly. I will miss SLO but I am very excited to flip the page and start something new.”