DOM PATACSIL ran the fastest time of his career to capture the individual title at the 2017 North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championship, finished second—by one second— in NCAA DIII Cross Country Great Lakes Regional, and earned All-America honors with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
ONE FOR MOM AND DAD
Spase Dorsuleski ’18 got a text message from his parents before every soccer game.
Good luck! Play your best! Score a goal for us!
So after the Little Giants beat DePauw in Greencastle in a game that clinched the team’s spot in the conference tournament—a game in which Spase scored his first goal of the season— he ran straight to the stands.
He wrapped his arms around his mom, her sweatshirt clinched in his fists, and just cried.
“They kept asking, ‘Why are you crying?’ Spase laughs. “But it was emotional, and I felt like I needed to give a lot more credit to my parents. They always support me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Spase’s parents moved from Macedonia to Crown Point, IN, the year before he was born, bringing the country’s—and his father’s—love of soccer with them.
“My dad used to play in over-30 leagues,” Spase says. “And before I started walking, he’d take me to the fields and have me there watching the game.”
By the time he was a teenager, Dorsuleski was practicing with his dad’s over-30 league team.
“It really developed my skills, and it helped me mature quicker. A lot of times, when you play with guys the same age, they tend to get a little frustrated and emotional. When you play with older guys, they are more cool and collected. They’re more mature about the game because they know what to expect.”
Dorsuleski also credits his maturity, both on the soccer field and off, to a secret he began only sharing with people over the past two years.
“I’m a black belt in karate, and when people find out, they’re shocked.”
“It’s more than fighting and doing form. It’s building character, establishing leadership and discipline. You see the potential you have, and you strive to reach it. Once you do, you want to exceed it. That’s what I want to keep doing in life.” –Christina Egbert
SPASE DORSULESKI ’18, STOJAN KRSTESKI ’19, and COREY SIMS ’19 were named to the 2017 All-North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Team. Dorsuleski was also named NCAC Defensive Player of the Year by the conference coaches, and Wabash Head Coach Chris Keller was selected NCAC Coach of the Year.