ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
ANYONE WILL TELL YOU Josephine Schaeffer is the greatest female athlete ever at Washington and Lee. Anyone but her, that is.
Josephine Schaeffer has achieved a status at Washington and Lee University normally reserved for world-renowned stars like Elvis, Madonna and Jackie O.
The most well-known and well-thought-of student on the W&L campus is recognized by but one name.
``She's like Cher, just Josephine,'' joked W&L sports information director Brian Logue.
That Schaeffer got to this status is no surprise. She is a track and cross country All-American regarded by her peers and coaches as the top women's athlete in school history. She is the head of the resident assistants in W&L's upper class dormitories. And she is the first-ever female president of Omicron Delta Kappa, the school's prestigious leadership fraternity.
``She's great,'' Generals athletic director Mike Walsh said.
Schaeffer, a senior, fidgets uncomfortably when talking about herself and her achievements and prefers to use the term ``good times'' when talking about her success. To her, running is a way to get outside and have fun. It's not about the medals and record times. It's a way to blow off steam from all her other obligations and relieve a little stress, even if it takes pounding 10 miles of pavement.
One of the school's weekly student newspapers, the Ring-tum Phi, ran a huge headline that read, ``Schaeffer jogs on Maury'' in its April Fool's Day issue. ``Jesus is no longer the only person who can walk on water,'' the story began, referring to the Maury River's current. It later read, ``Schaeffer acknowledged her feat but downplayed it.'' The newspaper's fabricated quote that followed was humorous, yet telling: ```It's really not that big of a deal,' she said. `It just kind of happened.'''
Further down in the story, it called her, ``The W&L Female Athlete of the Decade.''
Schaeffer laughed at the piece, and said she doesn't give much credence or thought to the fact that she just may be the best the Generals have had.
``It's kind of shocking,'' she said. ``I don't see ... I mean, I just love running. When I started in seventh and eighth grade, I barely could make three miles and I would cry and say, `I can't do this!' It's something I've wanted to work hard in.
``As far as seeing myself as the best, I don't look at it that way.''
``She's a very humble person,'' said a friend, W&L senior Robert Turner. ``It usually takes a lot to get out of her whether she won and by how much.''
It's usually safe to assume she won. Schaeffer, a graduate of the Hutchison School in Memphis, Tenn., holds school track records in the 1500, 3000, 5000 and 10,000-meter runs and has won 29 of the 36 cross country races she entered. She was a four-time national cross country qualifier, a three-time All-American and three-time regional champion. During her career at W&L, the Generals women's cross country team won four state and three Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships.
It isn't safe to assume, however, that the victories came easily. While Schaeffer has demonstrated an ability to run never before seen on the Lexington campus, she hasn't gotten by on talent alone. She chose W&L over Vanderbilt, Davidson and Wake Forest, partly because her father, Fred Schaeffer, was an alumnus and basketball player for the Generals. (Records show he scored two points in his career). ``She wouldn't have had any trouble running at any of those [Division I] schools,'' said her cross country coach, Jim Phemister. ``She would have been up there wherever she would have gone.''
She wouldn't have been there without her devotion. Schaeffer's high school friend and current track teammate, Heath Acuff, said, ``Her dedication is phenomenal. She's probably the most hard-working person I know.''
Schaeffer has let that dedication carry her to unparalleled achievements and awards. On March 16 at the W&L Invitational, Schaeffer battled a tough field to finish third overall in a combined men's and women's 10,000-meter run. Her meet record time of 36:45.7 automatically qualified her for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.
At another meet a week later, a group of male runners from a rival school asked if she would pace them.
In the fall of 1994, the dedication kept her going, even when she probably should have stopped. Schaeffer won her first five meets of the cross country season before suffering a stress fracture in her left pelvis area from running. She stayed off it for a while and then began training in a swimming pool. Schaeffer returned for the NCAA Regional meet and made it to the the national championships. Early in that race, the pelvis gave way and Schaeffer finished dead last. But she did finish.
``It got worse and worse until I was kind of shuffling at the end and the emergency cart was following me,'' she said. ``My dad and coach were encouraging me to stop, but by the time I found them I was almost done and I was like, `I can't stop now.'
``I wanted to finish just because there are so many people who would love to go there. That's an accomplishment and I wanted to finish for myself, even though I was last by a long stretch. It was a painful experience, but it was one I'll never forget.''
``It was agonizing to watch her work so hard for no return at all,'' said Phemister, adding that the experience gave him a greater appreciation for Schaeffer's determination. ``The more you get your eyes open, the more you realize she's breathing hard, she's working hard, using everything she has.''
Sometimes her dominance actually has been a negative factor. The first time she lost a collegiate race was the ODAC cross country championships her freshman year. Schaeffer got out to a huge lead and was so far ahead of the pack, she got lost and made a wrong turn.
``She ran an extra half-mile, and still finished a half-lap behind the winner,'' Turner said.
The rest of the pack has been following her ever since.
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ARNE KUHLMANN. Washington and Lee senior Josephineby CNBSchaeffer, a cross country and track star, is regarded as the top
female athlete in the school's history. She has attained All-America
status and has won numerous Old Dominion Athletic Conference
accolades.