The perfect student-athlete

Are you like me and lost faith in the world? I mean, if the reports are true and Nick and Jessica can't make it, what hope is there for the rest of us? Personally, my life is turned upside down at the news.

For a lot of people, the only bigger joke than the term "celebrity marriage" is "student-athlete." You probably have the cynical (yet occasionally correct) visions of finely tuned athletes sleeping through the few classes they attend in between Mitch-a-palooza-type keggers and games. But like the way in which Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Felipe reaffirm the sanctity of marriage between silver screen stars, St. John's senior midfielder Matt Groenwald upholds the immaculate image of a student-athlete that the NCAA advertises.

Groenwald is an All-American and an Academic All-American. Last season he was selected as the top scholar-athlete in Division I men's soccer. He got his degree in biology in three and a half years and is currently pursuing his master's in that area. His credentials appear as if he's too good to be true -- more Eddie Haskell than Eddie Pope.

"He wants to do all of the things right - he wants to excel and he wants the team to excel," head coach Dave Masur says. "He wants to be a good leader and mentor and be involved with things so that he can make a difference, and I think that's one of the things that separates Matt."

But don't think of Groenwald as some prissy nerd who carries Shout Wipes on him to get the grass stains out of his uniform. The skillful midfielder is as fiery and competitive as they come. In fact, when it comes to soccer, he's more passionate than he is sensible.

As a freshman in 2001, he played through a sports hernia (tears in the lower abdominal muscles) - the same injury Donovan McNabb is currently receiving so much credit for playing through. After redshirting the following season to repair the injury, things were going well for him in 2003 until he pulled his hamstring late in the year. That pull turned into a full-blown tear the day before the NCAA Tournament started.

He saw no action as the Red Storm defeated UConn and UC Santa Barbara, but returned to the field when St. John's was in dire straights against Creighton: down 2-0 and a man due to a red card. Groenwald played 15 minutes in which time the Red Storm scored two goals and sent the game into overtime where they eventually prevailed. If you have a difficult time imagining what trying to play with a torn hamstring is like, just remember the visual of Cubs shortstop Nomar Garciaparra dropping onto the field after two steps out of the batter's box like he had been shot in the leg with a shotgun.

Earlier this season against UConn, Groenwald again refused to succumb to physical limitations. He broke his nose in the team's walk-through the morning of the game, but came back eight hours later to play against the Huskies despite headaches and bleeding throughout the day.

"It hurt a legitimate amount during the day and even before the game, but by the time the game started the adrenaline of playing in an atmosphere like that, the amount of preparation that went into getting ready for that game helped me forget whatever pain I was feeling," Groenwald says.

"A lot of it [playing through injuries] just comes down to the mentality that a player has going into a big performance and that your mind can trick your body into doing things it doesn't think it can do," Groenwald adds.

"Matt is a resourceful player and someone who wants to get the job done at any task," Masur says. "He's very dedicated to doing everything at 100 percent. It takes a lot of focus and discipline to overcome a lot of these obstacles."

Like many players who are sidelined by injuries, Groenwald has a deeper appreciation not only for soccer but, more simply, for the opportunity to be compete.

"It was probably the toughest thing mentally I've ever had to deal with," he says of missing the entire 2002 season. "I learned to appreciate how lucky I was to say I was a student-athlete and play at the Division I level at a program that puts so much time and energy in pursuing a goal together."

It's the pursuit of goals that lead him to St. John's in the first place. One of the main things he sought in a soccer program was an environment in which he could grow and improve as a player, and that's what attracted him to Masur and the Red Storm program.

"I saw in the program a coaching staff that was going to teach me the most on how to become a better soccer player," Groenwald says. "I liked the professionalism and organization that the program is run with and the amount of respect and feedback that is given to the players by the coaches.

"Coach Masur teaches his players not only to be really good soccer players but good professionals in whatever career path they chose. That was the part that really excited me in the recruiting process."

He's already solidified himself as one of the top players in the country, so what keeps him excited now is the competition of every game. The intense preparation for games leads to the anticipation of being able to play - almost like taking a test when you know you've done all of the studying.

"It's very easy to get excited and ready to play when you put in a lot of time and energy into that game," he says. "I think that as a team we get pretty excited and up to play because we put so much time and preparation in during the weeks and days leading up to games."

Groenwald's success on the field and in the classroom brings to mind the accolades of another recent St. John's grad: 2003 Hermann Trophy winner Chris Wingert. Groenwald admits that Wingert is a friend and a mentor, and that he has tried to model his career after Wingert.

"I learned a lot from him - not only how to be a great leader and soccer player, but also to be a great person and a great human being," he says of his former teammate. "I really owe a lot of my success on the team and in the classroom to Chris."

With a good, smart kid like Matt Groenwald carrying the banner for the NCAA student-athlete, it makes you forget all about the Paris and Paris breakup, doesn't it? Take a deep breath, all is right with the world.

Adam Zundell works for the University of Maryland. He can be reached at azundell@yahoo.com.