Nonsensical only because you don't know the rest of the story. Huntemann, you see, is a senior art major and one of a dozen students who had plans to spend part of the Thanksgiving break tourning the Big Apple art scene. Click here for details about Whitman's annual annual art pilgrimage to New York.

Probably so. Lynn, a junior math major at Whitman, just turned 20 in August. In this particular case, however, youth doesn't translate into inexperience.

A native of San Diego, Calif., where volleyball thrives as a sport, Lynn was a four-year member of the boys varsity at Francis Parker High School and a starter at outside hitter for nearly three seasons. He also played with the San Diego Volleyball Club for three years.

His first taste of coaching also came during his high school years. He was the assistant coach of the girls varsity for one season and the team manager for two years.

Even though men's volleyball isn't a varsity sport at Whitman, Lynn has found plenty of opportunity to stay active with his favorite game.

"My freshman year I played a lot of pick-up ball with people here at the college and in the local community," he said. "My sophomore year I wanted to move the men's club program to a more serious level, so we solicited money from the college and started to build. The men's program is on a much stronger foundation this year."

Lynn also got involved with the women's varsity team at Whitman during his sophomore year, serving as the team manager. His role this fall as assistant coach is much more time consuming.

"It takes a lot of time, but it's also a lot of fun," Lynn said. "I meet with our head coach, Dean Snider, every day to plan practices, run practices and talk about the team. It's good to be part of the team."

Dean Snider

Working with Snider, a native of Canada who played collegiately at Trinity Western University, has been a unique learning experience, Lynn said. "Because Dean is from Canada, some of his methods and techniques are different. But there's more to learn than just coaching specific technique. What I'm learning from Dean is how to coach the players, how to keep them motivated and make sure they're having fun."

Snider said his first year at Whitman has been aided greatly by Lynn's contributions as assistant coach.

"David has very good rapport with the team," Snider noted. "The players like him, they respect him and they listen to him. He's a great liaison between myself and the team."

Snider, who coached the previous four seasons at Western Washington University, also said Lynn brings a good deal of volleyball savvy to his assistant's role.

"David is volleyball knowledgeable," Snider said. "I like to argue the game, taking one side or the other, and David can do that. He is a very intelligent sounding board."

Snider also appreciates Lynn's courtside contributions during matches.

"We'll be talking during a game and I'll say something like, `I need to make a sub adjustment. Do you have any ideas?' David responds with a suggestion and the reasoning behind it, and he does it quickly. He's a bright guy, a sharp guy who thinks quickly on his feet."

Apart from playing and coaching, not to mention keeping pace with a demanding academic schedule, Lynn works as a consultant in the campus computer laboratories. He has assisted Computer Services personnel in recent years with design and implementation of Whitman's ever-evolving home page on the World Wide Web.

Last summer, Lynn and four other Whitman students pooled their Internet expertise and formed "Code 5," a web design business that offers a wide variety of services.

All things considered, it sounds like a busy life. But Lynn has grown accustomed to squeezing one more activity onto his fall semester "to-do" list at Whitman.

"Before winter sets in, I'll find time for as many bike rides as I can." ahead.

Crosslin, a strong competitor on the court during her playing days, gears her coaching philosophy toward success. "I believe in high expectations with matching support," she said. "I hold my players to high expectations but I offer a lot of support in return. We practice hard and we play hard."

As a coach, Crosslin concentrates on teamwork, defense, and skill building. She doesn't want to hear the word 'can't.'

Playing good basketball is her team's first priority, but Crosslin understands the larger picture that helps define a student-athlete's education at Whitman. She plans to take full advantage, for example, of the travel opportunities that come with road games. "When we travel, we're there to play basketball but we also need to see and enjoy what's around us."

Crosslin has yet to set any specific goals for the season ahead. "The main thing is that we want to win more games than we lose, and we want to win any game that is close. This will be a playoff contending team, either now or in the near future."

Crosslin also intends to redefine the image of women's basketball at Whitman. "I want to recreate an air of success and accomplishment in the basketball program and then balance that atmosphere with academics," she said.

An abiding affection for the game of basketball and the relationships she builds with players are the most rewarding part of coaching, Crosslin notes. "It was difficult to leave my Magic team in the Seattle area," she said. "It's the players and the game itself that keep me in this -- what it can give you as a player, coach and woman. Women need to learn how to compete in this world."

Would you would like more information
about the women's intercollegiate basketball program at Whitman College?

Or, would you like information about the wide variety
of men's and women's intramural sports programs at Whitman?

In either case, please click here to send an email message
to Cathy Crosslin, women's head basketball coach and director of intramural sports.

Congratulations! Not counting Susan Sakimoto Hubbard, Barbara Cunningham, Jennifer McClure, Katie Rubenser and other past legends from Whitman women's basketball, each of whom receives daily reports via the latest in telepathic communications technology pioneered by Whitman graduates at the Central Intelligence Agency, you are basketball fan number to have accessed this page since Dec. 18, 1995.

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