Full Great Women Great Danes Interview Transcript
UAlbany's Great Women Great Danes is a series that will be published during Women's History Month. The series will feature Great Danes, past and present, and celebrate the women of UAlbany.
Q: The three of you have been together for at least the last couple of seasons, but what has it been like being a relatively large class when it comes to women’s golf teams?
Malene Clausen: *laughs*
Mariel Tee: I think it was fun. I think it was really fun.
Katelin Richards: I think it is fun having more …
Clausen: I came … at my last school, we were in total four seniors so I was used to having people my age. And then coming in here, it was just not an easy transition because I struggled a lot transferring … transferring is not fun. But I think having [people] in your class makes the college experience as an athlete a little easier because they're in the same stage as you. We're graduating, we're all going through the same thing … like what's going to happen next year, so we can relate to each other and ask each other [questions].
Mariel Tee: Yeah. I think because being a senior has a lot of responsibilities and its own burdens but having more people, you can delegate those responsibilities a lot easier.
Q: Speaking of those responsibilities, you guys didn't have any seniors on the team last year so as juniors, you had to step up and take that leadership role last year in addition to this year. What has it been like being in that position?
Richards: I think it was overwhelming at the beginning, and we had a lot of new people come in - three out of the four were new - so there was a lot of new questions and how things were done. Once we got to know everybody, it went really seamlessly.
Clausen: And I think it's also important to mention that we are only seven people and everyone has a say. Just because we’re seniors doesn't mean that we are the ones saying this is how it's going to be and that's how it rolls - everyone has something to say in the group.
Tee: But I think that's also what made it overwhelming with four new people coming in. There were just so many new ideas but we still, as the oldest ones, we wanted to maintain the team culture that was taught to us by our seniors. So, I think that's what … that was the biggest challenge of basically balancing the old and new culture.
Q: Through the fall the three of you led in each event that you competed in. Just putting this out there since I am not sure if you know – Malene and Mariel shared first for each of the five events, the three of you were the top three team finishers in over half of the fall competitions, and in every event of the fall, at least two of you were in the top three. There’s not a lot of times you're going to find this kind of success in the senior class - where everyone's contributing this consistently. What does it feel like sharing that spotlight as an entire class?
Richards: I never really looked at it that way, to be honest.
Clausen: *laughs* Neither did I … I didn't even know the numbers.
Richards: I think we all share the same goal, though, of wanting to do well … and being there for each other as a teammate and putting the best score each of us can possibly put together FOR each other.
Clausen: Yeah. I think it's also expected in some way that we need to go out there and that our scores should count because we're the seniors. So again, back to leadership - we should be the one leading the team. I think it just goes with that.
Tee: Yeah, and it's also as seniors, we do have the most tournament experience. So, as seniors, we will carry that burden because - well, not really that burden, but that responsibility of performing in these tournaments because we know how these tournaments work and it gives a chance to our underclassmen to play their own game and explore it themselves as a player without that extra pressure. We can handle that [pressure] because we're seniors.
Q: What are you guys looking forward to this spring?
Richards: To win a MAAC championship and a ring … I'm serious.
Tee: Just one final shot and just embracing all these opportunities. College golf, college athletics is a once-in-a-lifetime experience - once it's done, it's done. We're just here to maximize it and have fun with it.
Clausen: I think, for each tournament go out there and just have fun and enjoy it. I think we've come to a stage where we should just enjoy it as much as possible without having to worry.
Q: And finally, what will you guys bring with you after graduation?
Clausen: *laughs*
Tee: I think just learning to rely and trust on others. I came into college playing golf and it's a very individualistic sport so I didn't really know how to work with a team. Throughout my four years, I learned how to trust in others and know that they're always going to have my back. Even on the days when I'm feeling down, I know that they're there for me and I think that's something I'll always remember and cherish.
Clausen: I think it has also taught us how to manage time with our schedules. That's definitely something I'll take with me. In some ways, I feel like we're busy, but then in other ways I don't think we're busy … but comparing us to others, I can see that we have way more going on and [I know] it's possible to manage this if you actually have a schedule. And, I [will remember] all the good memories we've had all as a team.
Richards: I think I would also say time management as well because juggling a lot of things and being two seasons, it's tough to go and do homework and miss a lot of school. Also, interacting with others and your teammates and facing tough times as a team - it's something that I will definitely take with me going forward.
Q: Do you guys have any specific memories that you want to share?
Richards: Of our four years or … ?
Tee: Depends, do you want a funny one or … ?
*pause*
Tee: I think it's [hard] because every year was just so different. It's hard to choose just one.
Clausen: Do we have anything silly?
Richards: Our freshman year with COVID … I never thought life would return to normal. And I couldn't believe that's what college was like. We spit into like a test tube every morning by 6 am and I just thought there's no way life will ever go … like this cannot be my college experience. And, then it changed. Sophomore year was so different and then junior year was different, then senior year …
Tee: We're just learning every year. I remember the first time Malene came in, along with the new class with Lucia [Esteban] and Prime [Thantita Aungsuseewong]. There's just this new change of three new people with all their own personalities. Prior to that, we had our seniors who … we had that one team for two years and even with Claudia [Blöchliger] coming in, it was just one new person. Having three new people … it was just a whole culture shock in our own way. A culture shock for them and a culture shock for us, too. But, then I remember the times when we thought how are we ever going to make this team work? Now, here we are in our senior year being commended by schools left and right about how our team is just so close. As a senior, I'm so proud to say is that in our team, you can put any two people together and we're going to be fine. There are no specific clicks between us. We're not just a team, we're a family and it's the best thing ever.
Richards: Yeah
Tee: So, I don't think there's really one memory specifically …
Richards: I think also [with] our whole team being international … as someone that is American and I was the only American last year, I think it’s … to learn about so many different cultures and have everyone … for me, it’s such a different perspective on life. Everyone does things slightly different and I just like never thought that would vary from person to person with different cultures and being somewhere different.
Clausen: I have [a memory] but it's not from here. It was at my old school … the feeling of winning your first college tournament is something totally different. Then us as a team winning last semester was also something that we got to share with each other. That's definitely one of the better memories I have during my college career.
Tee: That is true. Experiencing that first win we had as a team …
Richards: That's a very good one. That is a good one … that's the best one.
Tee: I know me and Kate just looked at each other and – you, Malene, had your college team win, *Clausen laughs* but me and Kate, we personally never had that team win, so we had never really felt that.
Richards: We didn’t know what to do with ourselves.
Tee: We didn't know what to do with ourselves! We just looked at each other and we were tearing up and we were like …
Richards: Couldn’t believe it.
Tee: Just seeing it together as a team - it was just … it was awesome! And then to win second place in the next tournament after that … I know we have we went through tough times as a team just trying to perform our best and to have it two consecutive times after that … That was amazing!
Q: Is there anything that you guys would like to add?
Tee: Like I said, college golf, college athletics … it’s a once in a lifetime experience. For all the good and bad things, I don't think I'll ever change it. I don't regret doing this, ever. This is an amazing experience.
Richards: Yeah, I think it's really impacted like who you are and it kind of … you grow up with your sport when you come to college and then by the time that we're about to leave, we've changed so much, grown up so much, and along with like our sport, we’ve improved. It's been fun.
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