By Kyle Jorrey(WASHINGTON, D.C. ― July 22, 2024) Members of Cal Lutheran’s national champion women’s soccer and men’s volleyball teams witnessed history this week.
Visiting the White House on Monday for a celebration of the 2023-2024 NCAA champions, the 23 student-athletes and five coaches had a front-row seat to Vice President Kamala Harris’ first public comments since President Joe Biden bowed out of the election the day before.
Harris, a former California attorney general and senator, is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for the nation’s highest office.
“The historical aspect of it … that was pretty cool,” women’s soccer coach Frank Marino said.
Marino and assistant coach Brenton Frame accompanied 17 players from the Regals squad that captured the NCAA Division III crown last December, the first in program history. Those who made the trip were Elena Baltazar, Logan DuFord, Anna Evenson, Madie Fahey, Ally Fisicaro, Ryan Kaneko, Allie Lam, Jalynne Magana, Adriana Maroney, Macey Peery, Eden Quiroz, Darya Rasoli, Ellie Ruhoff, Kelsey Slaugh, Olivia Suarez, Caitlyn Winter and Isabella Veljacic.
Men’s volleyball coach Kevin Judd was joined by assistants Ron Higa and Fred “Chuck” English and six players: Connor Crawford, Ryker Linn, Trent Rigney, Noah Rigo, Jake Tucker and Ben Weber. It would have been seven, but sophomore Braden Swenningsen fell victim to fallout from last week’s massive IT failure as his connecting flight from Atlanta to Washington D.C. was canceled at the last minute.
The Kingsmen won the NCAA Division III championship in April, also a program first.
Despite having to arrange their own travel, the coaches and players found the opportunity too enticing to pass up. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Judd. “To be invited to the White House along with 1,000 other athletes who were the best in their sport this year … I mean, that’s a big deal.”
More than 90 college teams were represented at College Athlete Day, an event that brought together NCAA champions from all three divisions at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While the White House frequently hosts title-winning sports teams, this was only the second time it had honored champions from every division in a single gathering. Last year was the first.
Current NCAA President Charlie Baker, former governor of Massachusetts, is credited with starting the tradition.
“What a great idea to include everyone,” Marino said.
All Eyes on VP
Monday’s event on the White House lawn was livestreamed on YouTube as the nation tuned in to see what Harris would say less than 24 hours after Biden’s decision to drop out of the race just three months ahead of Election Day.
Lynda Teeler, senior vice president of championships for the NCAA, took the podium first.
“There are more than 500,000 student-athletes in more than 1,000 NCAA institutions across the country. Many of (them) started the season with a goal of achieving a national championship,” Teeler said. “You all have done that. You are the best in your sport. You have crossed that finish line. You will forever be NCAA champions.”
Teeler introduced the vice president, who began her prepared remarks by saying President Biden wanted to attend the ceremony but was still recovering from COVID. Harris then turned her comments to the day’s original agenda.
“In America, tens of millions of people play a sport as a child, and the best of the best grow up to become national champions. Here today, we have seven undefeated teams, 11 repeat champions and 20 first-time winners,” Harris said. “Some of you have represented our nation on the international stage, in world cups and world championships. And, later this month, six of you will represent our nation at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.”
Harris then addressed the athletes directly.
“I know it was not easy to make it to this moment. Each of you has faced challenges and obstacles, and you have endured,” Harris said. “You have fought back and fought through. By doing so, you demonstrated that true greatness requires more than skill. It requires grit and determination. You all know what it means to commit and to persevere. And you know what it means to count on teammates.”
Harris concluded, “Congratulations, again, on all you have accomplished, and good luck on all that is to come. Wherever you all go from here, you will always ― and know this ― you will always be champions and we will always be so proud of you.”
Coaches were asked to designate one student-athlete to represent their programs on a large stage behind the vice president. Judd chose Weber, a team captain and star outside hitter. Marino tapped Veljacic, a current MBA student, who was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the 2023 Division III NCAA tournament after scoring the game-winner against Washington University (St. Louis) in the title game, a perfectly placed strike from beyond the penalty area that hit the top crossbar and went in.
Veljacic stood in the third row, just over Harris’ left shoulder, plainly visible to the millions of Americans who tuned in to hear the vice president address the nation about the president’s historic decision to end his reelection campaign.
“I think we were all kind of holding our breath, wondering what is she going to say, ‘is she going to address anything, and she did,” Veljacic said. “Hearing that was crazy.”
Weber, meanwhile, was in the back row three spots from the end. Never one to seek the spotlight, he didn’t mind. He was just relieved that Harris kept her comments brief ― about nine minutes ― as the students on stage had been on their feet for nearly an hour leading up to her appearance.
“She was able to say a lot in that time frame and highlight the work ethic that we put into it. She talked about being a young athlete, being the best of the best; that’s what every college athlete strives for,” Weber said. “You can’t say it any other way. That was our goal from Day 1.”
Veljacic, who earned a communications degree from Cal Lutheran in 2023, said the vice president’s comments resonated strongly with her.
“It really opened my eyes to what a major deal it is to win a national championship. Like she said, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing (and) very few get to say it. It really helped it set in for me,” she said.
Seat of Power
Before the main event, Cal Lutheran students and coaches were surprised with a tour of the first floor of the White House. The teams were led through the Blue, Green and Red rooms, as well as the main dining hall.
Though the volleyball team didn’t have an official tour guide, senior Ryker Linn served as a fine stand-in, Weber said. “Ryker is a history major. So if we had any questions, we just asked him,” he said.
Asked about her favorite part of the tour, Veljacic said there were “so many.”
“Seeing the paintings of all the past presidents and their families, and all the pictures of the presidents with their dogs, the First Dogs, it was incredible,” Veljacic said. “We had no idea we would be getting a tour. We were really surprised.”
After the event, both teams gathered on the White House lawn for a group photo. In it, players and coaches can be seen beaming with pride.
“I guess sometimes I feel like it hasn’t hit me yet. It’s still setting in,” Weber said. “But getting to experience that, getting to be at the White House, to be honored by the vice president. It definitely was like the icing on the cake.”
