Shaner's speed, leadership carry both women's lacrosse and women's soccer

Under senior Julie Shaner's picture in the 2001 Nassau Herald sits a quote that describes the whole athletic career of the captain of the women's soccer and lacrosse team.

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

Despite her small stature, no one has ever questioned the fight in Shaner, who grittily led the lacrosse team to the national finals last year and quarterbacked to the soccer team to back-to-back NCAA appearances.

Monday night the scrappy player added one more award to her trophy case when she was named the Daily Princetonian's 2001 Female Athlete of the Year.

"Being able to excel at two sports at this level is rare," head women's soccer coach Julie Shackford said. "I can't think of a better role model for all athletes at Princeton than Julie."

While Shaner was never the leading scorer on either the soccer or lacrosse teams, she excelled as a playmaker throughout her four years.

On the soccer field, the senior starred at center midfielder, focusing mainly on pushing the ball from the defense to the offense. However, when it looked like the offense was going to need more support this season, Shaner continued her strong play on defense while also trying to get into the attack more often. Under Shaner's leadership, the Tigers finished with a 13-4 record — the best since 1981.

"It was a really special moment for me when we finally clinched a tie for the Ivy League against Penn at home," Shaner said. "We're right on the verge of having a team that's really special."

Even though Shaner earned second team All-Ivy honors twice and first team honors once on the soccer field, the turf just a little farther south of Lourie-Love Field at 1952 Stadium was were she truly excelled.

On the artificial turf, Shaner's prime physical ability makes itself apparent. For 60 minutes each game, the two-year team captain of the team displayed her prowess as one of Princeton's fastest athletes, hustling for ground balls and sprinting away from defenders to start fast breaks for the offense.

"Speed is my biggest asset," Shaner said. "I can use it to get ground balls and start plays.

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"Since there is so much space to run on a lacrosse field that you don't have in the middle of a soccer field I really think my speed shows more in lacrosse."

In lacrosse, the senior has already picked up All-America honors for the past two years, becoming only the 13th Tiger in history to be given this honor.

While Shaner might have been unable to transfer her soccer skills to the lacrosse field and vice versa, the leadership that Shaner brought to each of the squads as a captain was a key element in the success of the two teams.

"Julie isn't the cheerleader of the team, but she definitely leads by example," Shackford said. "Every day she goes out and works hard and that rubs off on the younger players.

"But whenever she did open up her mouth at team meetings everyone listened."

That leadership was taught to the senior when she was a freshman by Brent McCallister '98 and Melissa Cully '98 — lacrosse's two captains in the 12-5 campaign that ended in a quarterfinal loss to Virginia.

"Freshman year they taught me what captains and leaders are supposed to be and ever since then I've strived for that.

"I try to inspire people by never giving up. I also try to support people not only as a role model, but also as a friend."

After her collegiate career is over, Shaner will not be moving far from Princeton as she will stay in the area next year to complete her work with the teacher preparation program. After completing that, the psychology major wants to work with children.

"I'm definitely going to take some time off and put my shoes in the closet for a little bit," Shaner said. "My body's going to need the rest."

But before that happens, Shaner is going to make one more run for one honor that has eluded her throughout her career — an NCAA lacrosse title.

"I won't be satisfied if this season doesn't end on a high note," Shaner said. "We now really know how to play Maryland and I think we can make it all the way back to the top again."