Despite losing season, players come together

Angela Zielinski talks to the Advocate

By R. C. HALSEY

Despite a disappointing season, Mt. Hood Community College women’s basketball player Angela Zielinski remains positive about the 2005-2006 season and looks forward to next year.

Zielinski, 19, was born and raised in the Northwest. She started playing basketball in the third grade with her sister, who is a year older.

“I always thought it was fun and I’ve always been competitive,’ said Zielinski.

Zielinski graduated from Gladstone High School and earned all-league honorable mention her senior year when she played on varsity. She played on the junior varsity team as a freshman and played on both as a sophomore. She didn’t play her junior year.

After graduating, the 5’ 6” guard went to Western Oregon University for a year. She is now in her first year at MHCC.

“I didn’t really like Western, so I came here. I wanted to play basketball,” said Zielinski.
Zielinski’s father works for the college and she gets her tuition paid for through him. She said she likes MHCC more than WOU and plans to be enrolled next year.

Zielinski is an education major and said she wants to teach health or physical education. “I’ll probably go back to Western and finish out because that’s the best teaching school,” she said.

When on the court, she plays aggressively and makes opponents work for everything. Her aggressive play leads to more fouls. She is one of the team leaders in assists and steals.

The Saints final league record of 1-13 hasn’t gotten Zielinski down too much.
“I wish we would have won more, but it was still a lot of fun. I learned a lot and I really enjoyed the coaches and the girls,” she said.

Throughout all the tough losses, Zielinski remained steady.

“As the season went on we always just kept getting better. In the second half of the season we were just always almost there and then we finally got there and got our first win [Linn-Benton]. We were always almost there so it was still kind of encouraging,” she said.

Zielinski keeps busy when she’s not playing basketball or going to classes by helping out elementary and junior high basketball teams. She helps coach four teams, grades fifth through eighth.

Asked what kind of music she listens to, there was no hesitation before Zielinski answered, “country.” Her favorite country group is Rascal Flatts.

Zielinski’s nickname is Peaches. “I bruise really easy. My legs and my knees are always really bruised up so they say I bruise like a peach. That’s where that nickname came from,” she said.

Over the course of the season, Zielinski has gotten close with her teammates.

“I like them a lot. We’re like family, I love it. We’re all really close and we’ve all been through so much together. I’m going to miss them. I don’t know what I’m going to do without them for the rest of the year. Hopefully we’ll stay close.”