Charles Nailen/The Hoya  

Sport: Lacrosse

Position: Long Stick Midfield

Hometown: Springfield, Penn.

High School: Springfield High School

School/Year: MSB ’03

Majors: International Business and arketing

Minor: Sociology

High School Highlights: Earned high school All-American honors . Selected as the All-Central League MVP and All-Delaware County in lacrosse as a senior . National Honor Society Spanish Award winner . Played football and basketball at Springfield.

Georgetown Highlights: One of 16 nominated for the Tewaaraton Award . Named ECAC Defensive Player of the Week in game against Duke . An Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason First Team All-American selection . selected as 2003 pre-season ECAC Defensive Player of the Year . Stands 28 groundballs away from being Georgetown’s all-time leader . Two-time ECAC Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-American . Named a USILA First Team All-American in 2002 . Led the team in ground balls, picking up 75 on the season, making him second all time on the Hoyas’ single season list . Earned ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his games against Bucknell and Brown . Third Team All-American as a sophomore and was the ECAC’s Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference performer . Led the team in 2001 with 60 ground balls.

When did you first start playing lacrosse? In seventh grade. I had a couple of buddies playing. I played baseball for a while, too, but I thought lacrosse was more interesting. Football was really my first love, but then for a spring sport, baseball wasn’t really getting it done, so I started playing lacrosse.

What do you consider your greatest non-sports related achievement? I wouldn’t call it an achievement, but the most rewarding thing I do other than lacrosse is volunteering at the Lombardi Cancer Center. We play with the kids there and set up carnivals and that sort of thing. We help these kids who have been through more in five years than most people go through in eighty years. It really, really feels good to do that. We make it a point to get a bunch of the lacrosse guys to go and volunteer there.

Hardest aspect of lacrosse: I would say the mental preparation you need. Lacrosse is pretty much a 12 month a year sport – from the time we get here in August to, hopefully, the National Championship, we practice and prepare. And then there are summer leagues and summer ball. So the hardest part is just to keep focused and keep on top of everything else you do – like school.

Toughest opponent: Syracuse. We play every year and I’ve never been able to win against them. They have some of the toughest players in the league, including the guy who won the Tewaaraton Award [junior attack Michael Powell] last year.

Three magazines on your ideal coffee table: Sports Illustrated, Surfing Magazine and The Economist.

Best road trip you’ve ever taken: This year we went to Notre Dame for the Notre Dame-Boston College football game. We left on Halloween night, technically November first – there were 10 or 11 of us – at four a.m. in a Winnebago with a lot of steam and a lot of stuff to keep us busy along the way – two barrels of it. We got very little sleep in the 3-4 day excursion. It was just a bunch of guys on the team. It was pretty spontaneous, but it was so much fun.

Thing you’ll miss most about Georgetown: I think living with five guys. There’s never a dull moment, whether it be a Saturday morning at 5:30 or a Tuesday night. And we have a dog, Hurley, so there’s always something going on there. I don’t think I’ll get the chance to live with a bunch of guys like that again.

Best concert you’ve ever been to: Barenaked Ladies, on New Year’s Eve 1999. We had a good group of people going. It was an entertaining concert and we had great seats.

Biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome: When I first came here, I was a lot smaller. I’m not one of the strongest players out there, so I’ve had to make it up in skill and speed. When I have to go up against bigger people and guard them, I can’t just run up against them – I have to use more speed.

Favorite pro sports team: Philadelphia Eagles.

First thing you’d do if you won the lottery: I’d buy my parents their dream beach house on the shore, just everything they wanted. And I’d buy my dad a bigger boat.

Worst injury you’ve ever had: I broke my collarbone during my first and only time skiing in my life. I was coming down the hill and trying to avoid crushing a little kid and fell on my shoulder. It was either the kid or me, so I lost.

If you could be great at any sport other than lacrosse, what would you choose and why? Basketball, because basketball players are always considered the best athletes in the world. I’ve always enjoyed it, and it’s a fun sport and a good workout. And I guess if I were really good, I’d be one of the best athletes in the world.

If you could trade places with one person for a day, who would you choose and why? Relevant to the time, I’d trade places with any soldier in Iraq right now. It’s just impossible to know what they must be feeling right now – the emotions and intensity and fear and pride in their country. The experience would just be incredible.

Plans for after graduation: I hope to be employed. Ideally, I’ll start working in New York City in the fall. I’d like a job in sales and trading, financial planning. I’ll probably take the summer off, and maybe play in a professional lacrosse league and take advantage of my last summer as a kid.

One word you’d use to describe yourself: Annoying.

One word your girlfriend would use to describe you: Outgoing.

Person you admire the most: Probably Father Kevin Wildes. He’s the most selfless person I’ve ever met in my life. He’s so generous and giving, and he’s always out there trying to help other people. He’s also very competitive and honest.

Person who knows you the best: Outside of my immediate family, Trevor Walker, one of my roommates and one of the guys on the team. I’ve lived with him since freshman year and I’ve known him since high school. He knows all the idiosyncrasies I have.

One idiosyncrasy you have: My roommate Brant Gresham gives me a hard time because I’m OCD with having the Brita filled at all times. He thinks it’s so funny to always leave it out or not fill it and then laughs when I flip out.

Favorite musical group: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They do punk covers. My roommates hate it and I love it.

Favorite movie: American Psycho.

Biggest sacrifice you’ve had to make for sports: Not going on spring break EVER. (It’s not really the biggest, but it’s the most relevant right now.) Everyone always comes back tanned and talking about where they went.

Three things you always have in your fridge: Raspberry iced tea, milk and pizza. My roommates give me a hard time because I eat the same thing every day. In addition to whatever else I eat, I always have two glasses of milk, two slices of pizza and raspberry iced tea.

Best thing you know how to cook yourself: I enjoy making my mother’s chicken divan. It’s like chicken and broccoli and the sauce is made out of cream of chicken soup and curry and butter. We have a thing at my house that someone has to make dinner once a week, and not just chicken or pasta, but one of our mom’s recipes from home. We try to eat like civilized human beings.

Sports achievement you’re proudest of: I’d say making First Team All-American – it’s the top 10 players in the country, so it was an honor. I was also invited to try out for the American Team – I didn’t make it, but it felt good to try out. I would have been an alternate if it had come up, but it didn’t.

Best professor you’ve had at Georgetown: Dr. [Maryanne] Lachat for her HIV/AIDS class. She’s a really fun lady and her class was an open forum. It was just enjoyable. And she likes to give As.

Favorite place to eat in Georgetown: artin’s Tavern.

Most prized possession: My family.

First you do when you wake up in the morning: Hit the snooze button.

Good luck ritual/superstitions you have: I’m a very superstitious person. I like to do everything in a certain routine. But before a game, I have a mouthpiece-washing ritual. I’ve been doing the same thing since freshman year.

Favorite quote/personal motto: It’s by Frank Sinatra: “What is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught.” It’s from his song, “My Way.”

Worst fear: Probably letting down my family and friends – not living up to the expectations they have for me.

One piece of advice you’d give to an incoming freshman: Don’t take anything for granted. I’ve had some experiences in my life to tell me to live every moment like it could be your last, and not like the cliche. It goes very fast, and you never know if you’ll wake up every day. Enjoy being at Georgetown, especially when you’re on a great lacrosse team with a great coach.

What’s under your bed right now? Rats. Literally.