One of the adjustments Maryland fans have had to make moving from the ACC to the Big Ten has been finding ways to adapt to the tradition laden conference. The Terps took one step along that road when they created the Rivalry Game and Trophy for what will now be an annual men’s lacrosse game with Johns Hopkins. Another B1G Tradition – one that started in 1982 for men and 1983 for women, is to have each member institution nominate one male and one female athlete to be chosen as the conference’s Athlete of the Year.
Indiana University has been in the Big Ten for that entire span of over 30 years. The University of Nebraska has been a member since 2011. In that time, those schools have failed to accomplish what one Terrapin athlete has achieved in Maryland’s first year in the conference when the Big Ten announced Wednesday that Taylor Cummings had won its Female Athlete of the Year Award.
But I digress….again
Those of you who read my preview of Maryland’s 2015 field hockey schedule got a peek into my passion for that sport. In writing that story, I left out a Hungerdunger (I left out the main one, too). That is, I omitted possibly the main reason I became a field hockey fan – Katie O’Donnell. O’Donnell was simply a sublime athlete to watch. A newcomer to a field hockey match once asked me during warm-ups to identify O’Donnell. I told him to watch the warm-ups for five minutes and if he still felt he couldn’t identify the best and most skilled player on the field to ask me the question again. He didn’t.
I might not understand all of the work and skills that are needed to excel at every sport I watch or write about but I can say that watching a great athlete provides a certain amount of joy regardless of the sport or the athlete’s gender. I started writing about field hockey because I thought it pitiable to see the meager crowds that saw Katie O’Donnell play field hockey for Maryland. Why choose to deprive yourself of the pleasure of watching a superior athlete perform because you might not understand the sport or because “it’s just a girls sport”?
The purpose of my rant above was to lead to this statement: Maryland fans, you have one more season to take the opportunity to watch Taylor Cummings play lacrosse for Maryland. Don’t blow it. She’s a player who is worth far more than the price of admission. In fact, if I could shame you into coming to see her play, I would.
How much more can I write about Taylor Cummings?
I don’t know if, as a junior, Cummings is already the most decorated athlete in Maryland history but without researching the matter, I still feel confident saying that she is likely the most decorated athlete currently at Maryland and also quite probably the most decorated athlete currently competing in the Big Ten.
Here’s a partial list:
ACC Freshman of the Year (2013)
Two time All-ACC (2013, 2014)
Three time IWLCA All-American (2013, 2014, 2015)
Two time IWLCA Midfielder of the Year (2014, 2015)
All Big Ten (2015)
Big Ten Midfielder of the Year (2015)
Two time NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player (2014, 2015)
Two time Honda Award Winner (2014, 2015)
Two time Tewaaraton Award Winner (2014, 2015)
And now we can add 2015 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year to that list. “I’m incredibly humbled to be the first-ever recipient of this award in Maryland’s inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference,” Cummings said. “There have been so many tremendous female athletes who won this award in the past and I’m honored to be included alongside them. I wouldn’t be here without the support of my coaches and teammates, and I want to thank them for helping me achieve these goals.”
Cummings, who was one of eight current or former Terps recently named as a member of the U.S National Women’s Team, will return for her senior season in 2016 as the Terps will look to win a third straight national title. I know the 2016 season seems a long way off but I urge you to set aside a date to some to see these women – and yes Taylor Cummings in particular – play while you still have the chance. You’ll thank me for it in the end.
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