April 20, 2006

By Ken McDowell Sports Editor of the South Platte Sentinel Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainswomen basketball Coach Wendy Hirschfeld has nearly completed her recruiting for the 2006-07 season. Along the way two sophomores have signed to play at four year colleges, including Crystal Wipf of Brighton and Trissilyn Clayton of Chicago, Ill. Wipf has signed to play at Western State College in Gunnison and Clayton will attend the University of Minnesota at Crookston. Both are Division II schools.

Wipf played two years for the Plainswomen and noted that one of the reasons why she chose Western State is because the school is close to her grandparents' home. "I also liked the campus and the class sizes are comparable to NJC's," she added. Wipf also cited that her experiences at NJC have been positive, both on and off the basketball court. "I have worked harder on my defense playing here and it has also helped me to push ahead as well as learning more about teamwork," she said. "Crystal always has a positive attitude," Hirschfeld said. "She has a big heart and she plays hard all of the time. She really enjoys the game and brings her positive attitude to practice every day." Clayton played at NJC during her sophomore season after attending Casper, Wyo., College as a freshman. She is confident that she will fit in well with the basketball program at Minnesota.

"I can definitely go in and play right away, and that is a big thing for me," she said, "as well as being a part of a winning program." Clayton pointed out that playing just one year at NJC has helped her grow as a person as well as a basketball player. "Coach Hirschfeld has taught me a lot on and off the court," she said. "I struggled a lot with my shot selection early in the year, but I improved with that.

"Being so far away from home and away from my family I also learned a lot off the court. NJC has been my family the past year and it has been a great experience for me."

Hirschfeld also had high praise for Clayton's accomplishments at NJC. "It's strange that Trissilyn is already graduating because it seems like she is a freshman since she has only been here one year," she said. "Trissilyn has been a very positive addition to NJC and our basketball program. I have really enjoyed coaching her and getting to know her as a person." "She has done a lot of great things here and she is a great person. I wish she could have been here for two years but now she has the opportunity to go on."

Hirschfeld has already signed nine players for the upcoming season, including 5-8 guard Sarah Conner of Guernsey, Wyo.; 5-7 guard Jennifer Garner of Guernsey; 5-11 forward Justeen Koehler of Goodland, Kan.; 6-3 forward Sharna Frazier of Denver; 5-8 point guard Taija Bennett of Aurora; 5-8 forward Kayla Morris, a sophomore transfer from Rangeview who attended the University of St. Mary's last year; shooting guard Haley Adragma of Widefield; 5-11 shooting guard Kristen Forbes of Australia, and 5-5 guard Chevon Stafford of Montbello.

"I think we had a very good recruiting year," Hirschfeld said. "Last year was one of the slowest teams we have had since I've been here, so we were looking for more speed and athleticism. "Coach Sybrant and I think we have that in these girls, and hopefully they will come in and bring those qualities to practice every day and games as well."

Plainswomen Add Players for Next Years Team

The new players also bring a great deal of versatility to the program, according to Hirschfeld. "Those types of players fit in well into our system," she said, "because they can push the ball and score from the paint as well as from the perimeter."

Another part of the versatility is that four of the players are left-handed shooters in Koehler, Bennett, Adragna and Forbes. "We'll find out how having four lefties will benefit us," Hirschfeld said. "Most teams are used to playing defense against right-handed shooters, and they over play the right side just because it's instinct. "So that will be something different for us and we'll see how it works out."

Obviously, Conner and Garner are very familiar with each other since they were teammates on the Guernsey team.

In fact, both have played together every since kindergarten. "They play so well together and it's amazing how they read each other," Hirschfeld said. "They are both just tremendous athletes." Another eye opener about Conner and Garner is that were heavily recruited by Sheridan, Wyo., College, Western Nebraska Community College and Casper, NJC's closest rivals. But to the delight of Hirschfeld, the duo chose NJC.

"It's great to finally have that happen to me," Hirschfeld said. "I've been on the other end of that, so it does feel good. "There was obviously something they liked about NJC more than their visits to the other schools, and that is something we need to be very proud of here."