This week, The Tartan sat down with Caitlynn Owens, a first-year master’s student studying biomedical engineering. Owens came to Carnegie Mellon from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she played Division I soccer for four years. As a new member of the Carnegie Mellon women’s soccer team, Owens has made a name for herself.
Since arriving in August, Owens has been named to the first All-Eastern College Athletic Conference team, meaning she is one of the best players in the conference. She has been named to the first All-University Athletic Association team and was one of 50 players in the country named to the second United Soccer Coaches All-American team.
“I was able to go to California with my mom for All-American, which was pretty cool,” she said. Owens talked about the people she met and the trainings she attended at the All-American conference. She discussed how her hard work during practices and motivation to make her last-ever soccer season her best one led to her achievements here.
During Owens’ time with the team, it has been ranked No. 1 in the country. It was “ the first time in program history that we were ranked No. 1 in the nation,” Owens said.
She reflected on the teams’ wins (10-0) against Brandeis and other teams early in the season that led to their ranking, as well as the games that followed. “That No. 1 really put a target on our back. We definitely talked about that, we definitely knew that, but it didn’t stop us from performing the way we did and we still made it to the tournament, which was our goal,” Owens said.
Coming from a D-I team, Owens noted the differences both in athletics and in academics at Carnegie Mellon.
She said that practice schedules here are more tailored to the amount of time she spends in class, while at Milwaukee, she was often forced to choose between the two.
“I didn’t really get as much practice time there. … My classes were important and I couldn’t just skip,” she said, noting that academics have always been a priority for her.
She said professors at her D-I school were more understanding about having to miss class for athletic commitments. Owens thinks that professors at Carnegie Mellon are similarly understanding, “but I don’t think it adds up to the content that I miss, like being in lecture… a lot of master’s classes are group projects, so you’re missing that class time to talk and make progress,” she says.
She noted that, for undergraduate students who have evening classes, the balance is much harder to manage.
The focus on academics is exactly what Owens was looking for; she chose Carnegie Mellon because of its strong master’s program and the opportunity to challenge herself and achieve her goals of working as a biomedical engineer in industry, she said.
“When I committed here, I talked to the coach,” Owens explained.
The coach, Yon Struble, asked of her Milwaukee team, “‘When you get to the hotel, what do you do?’ and I said, ‘We just hang out in the rooms, we all talk.’ He said, ‘Here, everybody breaks out their laptops, everybody starts doing their homework.’ I said, ‘Oh my gosh, that sounds perfect!’”
She said that working together as a team is also a bonding experience, and she likes that her teammates are also focused on academics. She noted that, even though their season is only in the fall, she still spends time with her teammates in the spring.
Owens shared her appreciation for the team and the role it’s played in her master’s studies.
Though adjusting to the rigor of Carnegie Mellon was difficult at first, she said she used soccer as an outlet and a motivation to push through the challenges.
She’s proud of their No. 1 ranking and hopes that it would draw more students to watch her team play. “We’re one of the lucky teams, where our games are on campus,” she said. “If it’s nice out, people should be able to come.” Soccer games are played on the field adjacent to the football field, and are free for students. Owens encouraged students to check out at least one game next fall.
Owens will graduate in August after finishing her research. Though her time here has been short, her hard work has made an incredible impact on the soccer team and athletics as a whole. “I’m satisfied with being at Carnegie Mellon and playing on this team, I really enjoyed it,” Owens said.
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