The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/339710
2 0 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U Athletics Seeding success: The Schimmel sisters inspire others As our women's basketball team celebrated Native American night on March 3, an enterprising fan held up a sign reading, "Will you marry me, Jude?" The marriage proposal — directed to player Jude Schimmel — brought plenty of smiles and provides a good indication of just how much fans adore Jude, a senior, and her sister, Shoni, a 2014 graduate. But, the adoration of the Schim- mel sisters is based on much more than their basketball stardom: they are also outstanding role models. "It's neat to see Native Americans come together to see native women like them strive," said Meske Ridge to a newspaper reporter. Ridge rode a bus 700 miles through ice and snow from Okmulgee, Okla., to see the Schimmels play. The Schimmel sisters are Native Americans and members of the Oregon- based Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. In her senior year, Shoni led the Cardinals in scoring with a bold, fast-paced style that helped advance Louisville to the women's f nal four in 2013 and the elite eight in 2014. While basketball is popular on reservations, going to college isn't. Among Native Americans, the high school dropout rate is higher than the national average, and few make it to college. "Now everybody is on the bandwagon," Ridge continued. "It makes them want to play basketball. It makes them want to do good." That "you can do it" message has been magnif ed by the success of the Schimmel sisters. At the March 3 game — Shoni's f nal regular-season home game — over 22,000 fans f lled the stands. And, despite wintry weather, over 1,500 Native Americans traveled from all over the United States to cheer for their native sisters. "Watching the Schimmels, you see that you work hard for what you get," stated Jason Kingbird, a teacher at an all–Native American boarding school in Wahpeton, N.D. Rising tide Fresh off an 11th place f nish at the NCAA swim- ming and diving national championships at the end of March, Louisville Swimming and Diving head coach Arthur Albiero took time out to ref ect on the team's overall success and the indi- vidual greatness of Joao De Lucca in particular. What does Joao's success mean for the UofL swim program? More than anything, De Lucca's success dem- onstrates that the overall structure at UofL is second-to-none. The fact that he was able to win two individual titles this season, in combina- tion with his title in 2013 and Carlos Almeida's title in 2012, certainly elevates UofL within the national swimming world. But it also elevates the "University of Louisville" name globally. Our continued progress in the national rankings (men and women) is a direct outcome of the outstanding support we have from our univer- sity administration (starting with Dr. Ramsey) and athletic administration (starting with Mr. Jurich). What will you remember most about Joao De Lucca? We could always count on him to race his heart out for the team. When thrust into the national spotlight, he was always quick to defer any credit for his performances to the coaching staff, to his teammates and to his university. De Lucca was the epitome of "humble and hungry." As much as swimming is an individual sport, De Lucca was the ultimate "team player." U L _ 2 0 2 0 UL_20 20 6 / 2 3 / 1 4 9 : 2 6 A M 6/23/14 9:26 AM