Athletics News
Five Questions: Nick Llewellyn ´09
Nick Llewellyn ยด09 (Johns Hopkins University Photography)
December 17, 2008
Five Questions: Nick Llewellyn '09
Nick Llewellyn St. Louis, Missouri Anthropology
Q: This has been a great for you offensively. You have netted a team-high 35 goals in your senior season. What has been the key to your success at the offensive end of the pool? NL: I attribute my success at the offensive end of the pool to game awareness, realizing when there are opportunities to capitalize on and finding weaknesses in the defense.
Q: You are the only senior on this club. Do the younger players approach you for advice or do you lead more by example in the pool?
NL: As the only senior and one of the more experienced members of the team, I think that it is only natural that younger players approach me for advice and I offer pointers wherever I see room for improvement. However, I think that most of the leadership is done in the pool during practice, whether it's just giving advice or telling someone when they did something wrong as well as showing them the right way to do things, being physical and focused.
Q: Your teammate Connor Matzinger has a nifty looking behind the back shot. Do you have an approach that you take when you're trying to score?
NL: My approach involves timing and ball control. As an attacker, I have to be able to protect the ball. While I'm looking around to see the other possibilities for passes to my teammates, I scan where the goalie is and aim for that upper corner. I rely on speed but mostly placement in my shots.
Q: Your coach JJ Addison brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the pool. It must be rewarding to play for a guy who is so committed to his sport?
NL: JJ brings tons of energy to practice and games. He gets in with us and does the workouts on occasion and I think that's a big part of why the team has so much respect for him, he is not just yelling from the side. JJ has helped me over the years in building my character and pushed me to perform at a high level both athletically and academically.
Q: What has been the most part of your experience here as a student-athlete?
NL: The best part of my experience as a student athlete has been the close relationships with my teammates that you can only get from playing, traveling, and logging long hard workouts. The level of competitiveness in the games is something I am really gonna miss.
For more information contact: William Tomasian (860) 439-2501; william.tomasian@conncoll.edu