By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, posted 2/17/09
Germantown Academy senior midfielder Olivia Mann has commuted to play next year
for Columbia University.
Mann, a first-team All-Inter-Ac League selection last season, liked the opportunity of going to school in the Big Apple.
“It was love at first sight, I really liked it,” she said. “I loved the team, I loved the coach (Kerri Whitaker), and I loved New York City .
“It has a cosmopolitan and intellectual feel to it. I am not just going there to grab a degree to get a job, but to learn for the sake of learning. I am a big proponent of that.”
Mann who scored over 50 goals last year for the Patriots and sports a 3.89 GPA, plans to major in history or archeology and minor in a foreign language. She also is anxious to play for a program that continues to be more competitive in the powerful Ivy League despite the fact it is only 12 years old.
“They had a little bit of a tough start, which is to be expected when you enter a league that is no renowned,” Mann said. “But Columbia is definitely on the rise. I haven’t just heard that from thew coaches, I have heard it from the other Ivy League coaches.
“I am excited to go there and I am hoping to make a difference. I think Columbia can only go up.”
