Female Rookie of the Year: Christine Nairn
By Andy Elder
aelder@bluewhiteonline.com
The list of season accomplishments reads like one accumulated by a seasoned senior, not a callow freshman:
◆ M.A.C. Hermann Trophy watch list
◆ Unanimous All-Big Ten First Team
◆ Team-leading 10 assists
◆ 24 total points, third-best on the team
◆ 7 goals, third-best on the team As if those facts weren’t enough to convince you that Penn State women’s soccer central midfielder Christine Nairn had done enough to earn BWI’s Female Rookie of the Year award, then consider these:
◆ Big Ten All-Freshman Team
◆ Big Ten Freshman of the Year
◆ TopDrawerSoccer.com National Rookie of the Year
Convinced now?
OK, good, but there’s a final twist to the story of Nairn’s freshman season. The freshman from Bowie, Md., achieved all of t h a t d e s p i t e n o t p l a y i n g a t f u l l strength until late September, six weeks into an 11-week regular season.
“Before her freshman year, she came down with mono (mononucleosis). She came to us this fall with a full-blown case of mono. We had to manage her schedule quite a bit,” head coach Erica Walsh said.
“She didn’t hit her form until toward the end of September. October was very good for her.” For most freshmen, training, sitting, watching, learning is part of the collegiate learning curve. Nairn wasn’t just any freshman. She had burst onto the national scene at age 9 when she began training with the Maryland State Region I Olympic Development Program travel team.
From there she was a member of the U.S. U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-20 teams, earned a call-up and playing time on the U.S. Women’s National Team, was a four-time Parade All- American, a three-time All-State selection, NSCAA/Adidas All-American from 2005-08, the Gatorade Maryland State Player of the Year from 2005-07 and NSCAA/Adidas All-South Region selection from 2005-07. So, Nairn was used to playing and contributing for as long as she could remember.
“I was pretty upset going into my first season. I come down with mono and there’s nothing I could do. I was frustrated I couldn’t get out there (on the field). I was so ready,” she said. “I think it was my body’s way of telling me it was over used and needed a break. It was one of the better things to happen to me. I had been going for a year straight pretty much. I’m kind of glad.”
Once Nairn’s body had the chance to rest, heal and recover, she integrated smoothly into the starting lineup. “She was very well respected and accepted within the team. It’s challenging for a freshman to come in and impact as much as Christine did. It’s pretty rare at this level,” Walsh said.
“She did a nice job of coming in and managing that.” With Nairn and Penn State at full strength, the Nittany Lions rebounded from a 2-4 start to rattle off a 10-1-2 mark after Sept. 13, clinch their 12th straight Big Ten title and move on to the NCAA tournament. Nairn, quite literally, was at the center of that success.
“In theory, in our system, she’ll get more touches on the ball than any position on the field, as an attacking center midfielder. One of the things Christine does really well, some try to over touch the ball, really skilled playe r s l i m i t t o u c h e s ; t h a t ’ s w h a t Christine does,” Walsh said. “We want our midfielders to be really simple on it. We like her to be on the ball as much as possible. She’s the quarterback of the team.”
Until Penn State preseason camp starts on Aug. 3, Nairn will be quarterbacking the U.S. National U-20 Team in the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany. Once back in Happy Valley, Nairn and her Nittany Lion teammates will be working to earn their 13th consecutive Big Ten title and erase memories of a shocking 6-2 NCAA second-round loss to Virginia.
“We really haven’t talked about it a whole bunch, about the Virginia game last fall. It was so overwhelming and shocking,” Nairn said. “It will definitely add fuel to our fire remembering how we felt after that game. We have something to prove at the national level.”