Senior revels in field hockey's Division I status

For senior back Tania Hults, a dream has come true. It's only appropriate she leads the field hockey team in her fifth and final academic year at IU.\nHults spent four years on the club team petitioning and arguing on committees only to see two other club sports reach varsity status. Women's water polo was promoted to varsity status her junior year after the Student Recreational Sports Center was constructed, and women's crew jumped to varsity last year. \nBut last spring, field hockey left the back burner, and the athletics department named Amy Robertson head coach. Hults realized she could finally be a Division I field hockey player.\nHults survived the long battle, and she couldn't be happier, she said. She had never imagined the difficulty involved with getting a team to be promoted to the varsity level.\n"I find it an honor being the team leader for this great bunch of girls," Hults said. "In some ways, it's hard showing seniority, because in a sense we're all freshmen, but I've always dreamed of playing Division I, so this is a dream come true."\nHults sacrificed her time and energy for the team, and her teammates rewarded her by naming her a team captain. Leading scorer and junior forward Brooke Magers played one year of club field hockey with Hults and recognized Hult's transformation.\n"Basically everyone views her as a natural leader," Magers said. "She's definitely helped bring the team together in terms of spirit and the emotional side of field hockey, so she's been a great person to turn to for strength when we've been losing games."\nIn Robertson's first year of coaching, she appreciates having Hults on the team to help ease Robertson's transition from an assistant coach at Wake Forest to the head coach of IU. Because of her senior leadership, Hults is similar to having another coach on the field, Robertson said. Hults is always positive and wants to know how to improve.\nAlthough Robertson has known Hults for a brief time compared to some of the other players, he recognized her talent instantly.\n"Tania is very passionate about field hockey and respectful to her teammates," Robertson said. "But at the same time on the field, she has a lot of pride invested in this first-year program since this is her only year."\nNot only is Hults a major defensive presence against the opponents' leading attackers, but she also has contributed six of her team's 34 shots, adding another dimension to her already solid game.\nFor the Hoosiers to be successful in the future, Robertson said she needs to fill a huge void after this season.\n"Tania is the anchor of our defense," Robertson said. "She's the one who gives us experience back there and always gets the ball out when it's in a dangerous area because she's a fighter. I'm looking to recruit some players with experience in that position because it will be hard to replace her"