By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
Senior Garland Cooper has the school and conference single-season and career home run record, holds the school record for RBIs and is the two-time defending Big Ten Player of the Year.
Senior Eileen Canney is second in Northwestern history in wins and one of three players in the team’s history to reach 1,000 strikeouts.
Senior Katie Logan is a speedy leadoff hitter that made first team all-Big Ten last season.
No. 6 NU has many accomplished seniors looking for that elusive conference championship in the Big Ten tournament, which begins today in Columbus, Ohio, with NU (43-10, 15-3 Big Ten) taking on Michigan State (33-25, 7-9).
But one senior has had to work her way into the starting lineup to play with her classmates.
Senior Jessica Miller didn’t start all four years like the rest of the seniors, but she has had a profound effect on the team.
“Jessica Miller for sure is the hardest working person on the team,” Logan said. “She always has great spirits. It’s not (what’s) on the field or in the record books that really matters. Regardless of whether she’s been playing or not these four years, she’s had as big an impact as the rest of us with being part of a team.”
Miller isn’t as visible as her classmates on the field; she earned her first consistent time in the lineup this season. The starting right fielder is hitting .224 with two home runs – including the longest home run in Sharon J. Drysdale Field history – and 10 RBIs.
She has been in and out of the lineup throughout her career, seeing action in 20 games last season, starting eight, and she’s never hit over .200 before this season. Miller started a previous career-high 13 games in 2005 and hit .188 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
But Miller said she still felt a part of the team.
“You are constantly in an atmosphere where everyone wants to push everyone to be their best (and) to reach their potential,” Miller said. “To be in that atmosphere all the time, you always strive to do your best.”
What she adds to the team more than anything is leadership in practice, Miller’s teammates said. Coach Kate Drohan and many players recognize her as the hardest-working player on the team. Cooper said Miller doesn’t let good or bad games affect her. Miller is always working hard to make herself and the team better.
While Miller doesn’t have the most impressive stats, Drohan said her work ethic has spread throughout the team.
“Miller is a leader because she works hard every single day, ” Drohan said. “She’s excited to be out on the field right now and she’s really taking advantage of the opportunity she’s had. She doesn’t cut any corners. She goes full speed all the time.”
Miller said the senior class has set a standard for the team to continue to work hard and raise its standards and expectations.
As the members of the class of 2007 prepare to play their final games for the Wildcats, Cooper said it shouldn’t be all the individual accolades that they should be remembered for, but rather the group’s demeanor off the field.
“I think that we as seniors have a lot of personality,” Cooper said. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that we want to be remembered for that and not necessarily as a great pitcher, a great hitter (or) a great outfielder.
“I think that we’d rather have people say, ‘I wish we had those people on the bus with us right now,’ instead of, ‘I wish she was on the mound right now for us.'”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
