By Aliza AppelbaumThe Summer NorthwesternThe Northwestern women’s lacrosse team wants you to know that footwear is no longer an issue.Two years ago, some team members caused quite a stir when they wore flip-flops to the White House to be honored by President George W. Bush. But when the team went for the second time on Monday, June 18, everyone was wearing acceptable footwear.”We all made sure we were wearing more conservative shoes this time around,” said Hilary Alley, a Weinberg senior and lacrosse team member.Alley, who went to the White House both in 2005 and last week, said President George W. Bush showed there were no hard feelings by joking about the flip-flop incident.”It was really funny because he made a joke of the whole situation,” Alley said. “We all appreciated it, how he could make light of everything.”Last Monday’s event on the White House’s South Lawn honored all 28 NCAA championship teams from 2006-07 in a wide range of sports, including bowling, cross country, field hockey, gymnastics, tennis and volleyball. Bush’s remarks at the ceremony clocked in at a tidy eight minutes, but he still found time to comment on the flip-flop fracas.”I might as well go on the record, all right — I was disappointed in the footwear,” Bush said to an applauding audience, according to reports by the Associated Press and Northwestern NewsCenter. “It’s just too conventional, especially on a hot day, ” he joked.Lacrosse captain Kelly Amonte said the team really enjoyed meeting the president and attending the event as a celebration of their winning season.”It was even better than the last time we went,” Amonte said. “The president was just really great, really funny.”Amonte said she credits the team members for their successful year, finishing with a record of 21-1. “Every season is different, but this year was really special,” she said. “We were just very comfortable in our role as number one, everyone was very motivated, and the girls handled everything with such poise.”Amonte said she hopes this is the ceremony they remember, and not the criticism of the past.”This is something the girls can really be proud of,” Amonte said. “It was a really great experience, and obviously we hope this continues.”As a satisfying conclusion to a successful season, the team was nominated for an ESPY award on Wednesday. The awards, which will air July 15 from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, are determined by online voters and given for excellence in sports performance. The show will be co-hosted by late night personality Jimmy Kimmel and Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, who is nominated for three ESPY Awards.This is the second time NU has been nominated for an ESPY award. In 1996, former football coach Gary Barnett won the Best Coach ESPY Award for taking the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl.The three-time national champion NU women’s lacrosse team has been nominated for Best Women’s Collegiate Team, according to the ESPY Web site. They are up against Tennessee basketball, Arizona softball, Nebraska volleyball, North Carolina soccer and Wisconsin hockey.”We’re really excited,” Alley said. “We’re just trying to get the word out so people will vote for us.” Vote for the NU women’s lacrosse team at http://espn.go.com/espy2007/index.html.The Associated Press and Northwestern NewsCenter contributed to this report.
Reach Aliza Appelbaum at [email protected].
