Success isn’t just found on the playing field for the NIU field hockey players.

The Huskies had their best season ever since NIU coach Lauri Bell took over the helm three years ago. The Huskies finished their season last fall with an overall 15-3-1 mark and even found themselves nationally ranked during the year, finishing the 1988 campaign No. 19. But their good fortune didn’t end there.

Off the field, four players were named to the 1988 National Academic Squad, and 11 members of the team belonged on the NIU Honor Roll. To achieve recognition on the academic squad, a player must hold a 3.51 GPA or better, while a player must have at least a 3.0 GPA to be named on the honor roll.

“We had four people on the (academic squad) list, which was the most of any in the country,” Bell said. “And we’re talking about schools like Brown, Wake Forest and Duke.”

Sophomores Jenny McCreary, Amy Lynn and Cecile Benitez and junior Jady Psek comprise the elite status group. McCreary was also awarded Academic Excellence for her 3.90 GPA, which she has since raised to 3.93.

With NIU’s academics near perfect, the Huskies continue to strive towards higher aspirations in field hockey action. In fact, Bell would like to see her squad in the top 10 next season, although she admits “that’s a bold statement to make.”

If the Huskies are to break into the top 10 next fall, they just might be on the right track. In an 18-team indoor tournament held last weekend at the United States Field Hockey Association Indoor National Championship, NIU took first place, defeating the Red Rose Club, which had never previously lost an indoor tourney.

Bell described Red Rose as a “seasoned” team made up of field hockey coaches from the East Coast. Earlier in the tournament, the Huskies lost 7-3 to Red Rose in pool play.

“Red Rose is a very strong team,” Bell said. “It is kind of an unheard of thing to beat them.”

Although Bell is losing three key players next year, including goalie Colleen Preston and scoring sensation Anne Marie Roozendall, Bell doesn’t see any problems. Preston, an All-America player, was voted NIU’s Best Defensive Player. Included in the captain’s honors was setting the school record for the most shutouts with nine.

The All-American Roozendall is leaving DeKalb to go back to the Netherlands, her native country. The freshman broke all the scoring records for NIU, which included scoring the most points in a single season (52).

“The kids learned a lot from playing with Anne Marie,” Bell said.”

Roozendall is returning home because her country will not recognize the education she would receive here. But Roozendall received the okay from her parents to attend NIU for one year.

“I’m really going to miss it,” Roozendall said. “It is different in the Netherlands. The teams aren’t as close there—you just play together and that’s it.”

Ann Zalewski, a third All-America, is graduating, and Bell said the squad will miss this versatile athlete.