Feb. 12, 2015
Less than a month before the season opener, the Vanderbilt lacrosse team’s mental and physical toughness was tested.
Several officers and staff non-commissioned officers from the Vanderbilt University NROTC unit surprised the team with a mini-boot camp on Jan. 9 at the multi-purpose indoor facility. Led by Staff Sgt. Rene Camarillo and Capt. David Wood, the Commodores were put through grueling drills for more than two hours. The team had to work together to finish tasks that pushed the limits both mentally and physically.
“Having worked with the ROTC Marine Corps and Staff Sgt. (Camarillo) and Capt. Wood, they just crushed our kids and put them through the toughest workout,” head coach Cathy Swezey said. “But they also communicated about what integrity means, mental toughness and teamwork. Our kids are exhausted but we’ll refer back to this when we are playing late in May and we’ll say to ourselves, ‘Look what we accomplished early that made us tougher now.'”