Teagle Tales: Stories of the Big Red

For athletes, some of the toughest obstacles can occur outside the lines…or boards. Such was the case when the Cornell women’s hockey team, ranked #1 in the country, had their postseason canceled due to the COVID-19 shutdown. It was in that moment that Micah Zandee-Hart ‘20 and her teammates found themselves leaning on the countless lessons about perspective, leadership, perseverance, and heartbreak hockey has provided them, all of which play a central role in Micah’s Big Red story.

Most of us remember when we fell in love with sports. Perhaps it was the first time your parents took you to a game, or you saw it on TV. Maybe it was a defining aspect of your neighborhood culture and you played to assert yourself as a presence in the local hierarchy. In the case of Cornell senior, Griff Gosnell, he remembers the first time he held a lacrosse stick, but what he didn’t know was WHY he was holding it. This interview was conducted before the spread of COVID-19 required a shutdown of the spring season. While that was a heartbreaking reality for all Big Red athletes, it’s clear nothing will diminish the pivotal role lacrosse played in Griff Gosnell’s Big Red story.

Jon Anderson, class of 1971, was running about Oregon well before Nike made it cool. His parents demanded their children spread their wings and fly beyond Eugene and Jon's legs carried him to Cornell University. There Jon would unite with a young track and cross country coach named Jack Warner, who would help propel Jon into a long journey that included the Olympic games, a Boston Marathon victory, and a successful business career. This is Jon Anderson's Big Red story.