Ashley Kisner Archives - EMU News

Royals Athlete of the Week: Goalie devotes pre-season to student-teacher prep, then sets career saves record

Lauren Jefferson and Elizabeth Nisly — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 18:54:51 +0000

Juggling preparations for a teaching career and setting athletic records might seem a difficult combination. And it is, according to ��ݮ�� senior (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite), who called her unusual pre-season “crazy” and “stressful.”

Kelsey Troyer

But her student-teaching obligations that limited her participation in pre-season practice has in no way delayed the goalie, a four-year member of the Royals’ , from entering EMU’s record books.

In Friday’s 3-1 win over Wesley, she made 11 saves, pushing her career total to 392 and surpassing a 23-year-old mark of 389 held by . For that effort, she was named Royals Athlete of the Week.

Troyer, an , accomplished this despite missing some of the rigorous one-week pre-season practices to attend “Opening School Experience,” a required orientation for student-teachers at their assigned school site.

“Student-teachers participate with their cooperating teacher in setting up the classroom, preparing instructional materials, attending school or division-wide professional development opportunities, going on home visits, and meeting with colleagues,” said education department chair Professor Cathy Smeltzer Erb. “It’s a good time for pre-service teachers to learn more about their site and the profession before the students arrive.”

Athletes=good time managers

Like many student-athletes before her, Troyer has juggled teacher education curricular requirements with the demands of being a collegiate athlete.

“In general, I’ve found that our student-athletes have learned to manage their busy schedules well, and Kelsey is no exception,” said Professor Ron Schultz, coordinator for the PK-6 education program.

He also isn’t surprised by her athletic success. He says Troyer is motivated to achieve at a high level, but “has a fairly laid back approach to life and doesn’t get too ‘worked up’ about anything, a perspective that has clearly served her well both in the goal for the Royals and also in the classroom.”

In the pre-season, Troyer did manage to attend one practice each day. worked with her to make sure she was able to attend as much as possible and to reassure her about the missed time.

And when she was able to be there, she felt good about what she saw and experienced with her teammates.

“We had a lot of good solid practices and team bonding things that I was a part of and they were really good,” she said.

Growth as an athlete

Despite this initial, unique challenge, Kisner says Troyer has shown impressive growth in the position. “Due to injuries, she is our only goalkeeper this season. This puts her in a tough position, because she has to come out every day ready to perform.”

Kisner, in her second season at EMU, says she has enjoyed watching this particular player develop her skills. “In the past two seasons of working with her, it has been fun to watch her settle into the cage and build confidence to support the defense and make big saves. She continues to improve with every game and we’re excited to see what the rest of the season holds.”

Kelsey Troyer, from Lancaster, Pa., has played field hockey since she was in the third grade.

With an expansion of graduate assistantships in EMU’s athletics department, Kisner and the field hockey program have benefited from new assistant coach Anna Cooke, a former goalie herself.

This positive change has moved Troyer to a new level and she appreciates both the knowledge Cooke brings to the position and her flexibility in communicating and adapting to individual athletes.

“Now that the school year’s started, I’m definitely actually into it and it just feels like any other year,” she said, of the awkward start to her season – most likely her final one in a career that spans more than a decade.

Her third-grade teacher was passionate about the sport and ran an after-school club for third through fifth-graders. Troyer watched her older friends get to play and started as soon as she was old enough.

Years later, she says playing field hockey is part of a well-ingrained routine.

“I don’t know what I’d do without it, like it would be just so boring,” she said. “My afternoons would be free! What does that even look like? I just don’t even know.”

The team has jumped to a 6-1 start, the best for the program in a decade, and share a goal of qualifying for the ODAC tournament. Another goal, Troyer says, is to continue to build a cohesive unit with a relatively new group of players, “to have people work together and play together more,” she said.

EMU .

Troyer will begin her student-teaching in the spring, first with third-graders in Harrisonburg and then with fifth-graders in Rockingham County.

But first, it’s field hockey season.

Field hockey team preps ‘Sweet Cases’ for foster children

Christopher Clymer Kurtz — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 21:32:15 +0000

It’s too often a sobering reality: When children move into a foster care home, they have to transport their belongings in trash bags.

Senior Mikayla Martin, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, with a bag she decorated for a field hockey service project.

��ݮ�� freshman player Bri Miller says that although she’s never been in foster care, she is adopted, and so a fundraiser held recently by the team had special meaning for her.

“It kind of hit home,” she said, “just because I realize that not a lot of people pay attention to foster kids in the system. I made this my personal mission.”

Through , a nonprofit organization that helps improve the lives of foster children, the team raised funds to purchase “Sweet Cases.”

Each duffel bag contains a blanket, coloring book, crayons, and hygiene kit. After volunteer groups prepare and decorate the bags, they are returned for distribution to children in foster care.

The team’s goal was to raise enough money for 17 bags — but they ended up with over $1,200, more than enough for 40 bags, which they decorated last week. As for Miller’s efforts? She was responsible for over a third of the team’s take.

The team solicited donations for the project, and dedicated a game at which people could make pledges of support. The goalie’s parents, for example, donated $5 for every save.

“That was our best game as a team,” Miller said. “We didn’t win, but it was definitely a good game.” The fundraiser aspect, she said, “made it ten times better.”

From left: Field hockey team members Kelsey Troyer, Madeline Mast, Emily Augsburger, Lauren Hartzler, Clover Cooper, Emily Price and Bri Miller decorate bags.

Miller did not expect to attend EMU, yet has found a home here.

“Bri is a great example of a student who unexpectedly finds EMU and then experiences it as ‘home,’” said Coach . “Many student-athletes have no idea of what EMU is like until they come to visit, and then they love it.”

Miller is studying . EMU was “not her top college choice by any means,” she said. It was too far — over three hours — from her Gloucester, Virginia, home, and she doesn’t like cold.

Even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to play field hockey in college, EMU was out to recruit her, and she decided to visit the campus.

“I decided, ‘Let me just visit,’” she said. “You know, how hard can a visit be?”

So, she did: “As soon as I got here — I didn’t even get out of the car yet — I said, ‘This feels like home. I’m coming here,’” she said. “I’d never had that feeling, even with my top three other choices. I talked with the coach, and I was just like, ‘Yep.’ So I committed that day, the first time I was here.”

Royals Athlete of the Week Emily Augsburger balances nursing studies and field hockey

Elizabeth Nisly — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 17:07:57 +0000

��ǰ�� (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite), the final stretch of her final year of field hockey at ��ݮ�� is turning out to be pretty special.

“She is having quite the week!” said Coach Ashley Kisner. “Senior recognition was Saturday and we just got word Wednesday that she has been selected for the NFHCA Division III Senior Game! And Royals Athlete of the Week!”

Preceding all of the off-the-field recognitions, Augsburger had a strong week of play. She assisted on the team’s only goal in their game against Bridgewater and then scored a stroke in Saturday’s senior recognition game against Roanoke.

Emily Augsburger in a Oct. 4 game against Washington and Lee. (Photo by Scott Eyre)

“Emily definitely deserves any recognition and accolades that come her way,” said Kisner. “She has been part of the backbone of this year’s squad. She is so versatile as a player as she plays both offense and defense, but she is a huge offensive threat for us and creates scoring opportunities for the Royals.”

Augsburger, who is known as Augs to those on her team, has had three different head coaches in four years, but has maintained a positive presence in the midst of transition.

“I’ve definitely just tried to bring consistency and a positive attitude,” she said.

That consistency has been aided by felow seniors (Harleysville, Pa./Dock Mennonite Academy) and (Colorado Springs, Colo./Lewis Palmer) , who started with the Royals as freshmen.

“Even when other leadership is changing, the three of us, we’re together,” Augsburger said. “It’s definitely been good.”

She balances field hockey practices and competitions with a busy schedule of nursing courses. During her clinicals, she had to be at the hospital by 5:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. “I guess my mantra coming into this year is that this is the last year I could possibly do this, and I didn’t want to give it up unless I really had to,” she said.

Augsburger also has a role model in Lisa King, a nursing professor at EMU.

Sewanee match, Sept. 2, 2017. (Photo by Scott Eyre)

“Lisa was a nursing major and played field hockey,” Emily said, “and she was like, ‘Emily. I did it, and you can do it. And you will do it.’ … So I knew that someone had done it, and it was possible.”

Other nursing professors have also said they are proud of their athletes in their department. “So there’s people supporting me,” Emily concluded.

In high school, Emily was initially interested in radiology but after a shadowing experience, decided there was not as much patient interaction as she wanted. “I was definitely in it for the people,” she says. “It felt like there was a lot of opportunity with nursing.”

And Emily is in it for the people in all areas of her life. Her favorite part of being on the field hockey team is the team itself.

“I get to play with such fun girls,” Emily said. “I’ve always stuck to the idea that there’s not a type of field hockey player. There’s girls from so many different majors, and so many different types of people.”

She first got into field hockey in sixth grade, when she went to a field hockey camp. Her two older sisters played and several cousins.

Over her years of playing, she has become a real leader on and off the field. “Augs is a leader both spiritually and athletically and has really made this team mesh as EMU field hockey, rather than a collection of athletes from different class years,” said Coach Kisner. “We will miss her very much next year and will need someone to step up to fill her role on the team as a captain and a player.”

Augsburger will miss her team as well. “I think I’ve just been super fortunate to have a team that has been so positive and fun, especially this year,” she said. “And though it’s been tough having three different coaches, I’ve learned something different from each one and I feel like I’ve used that as I’ve played.”

After graduation, Emily plans to work in an area hospital.

“Definitely staying in Harrisonburg, maybe Charlottesville,” Emily said. “Get a job, stay around here. I’m not done with Harrisonburg yet!”

Growth of graduate assistant program highlights EMU’s summer

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 13:27:15 +0000

Summer has brought a number of exciting changes to the ��ݮ�� Athletic Department, including a handful of new faces and even some light construction to open up new office space.