GOLDEN (MEDAL) ARM

Jenna Marston

US’09

Baseball has shaped Jenna Marston’s (US’09) life. She played in Venezuela for Team USA in the 2010 Women’s Baseball World Cup, traveled to Japan in 2014 to play again for Team USA, and earned a gold medal in Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Raised in St. Louis and now living in Springfield, Missouri, Marston first encountered baseball as a young girl observing her father, Bill Marston (US’75, C’80), coach the sport at Principia. “My family instilled a love of the game. I started playing tee ball at age four.” Her family attended her Little League games, where she competed with her brother Chris Marston (US’06), now a baseball coach at Principia himself. 

At Principia Upper School, Marston played softball, basketball, and baseball. She remembers College coach Ken Leavoy (C’75) telling her softball team, “You can have fun-fun, but you can also make hard work fun.” He shared Principia athlete Melanie (Fisher) Duffy’s (US’99) successes with that approach, which inspired and shaped Marston’s mindset throughout her baseball career.

In 2010, Marston advanced through open tryouts for the women’s Team USA and made the final cut. The team traveled to Venezuela to compete shortly after she joined and meshed quickly. She still cherishes her friendships with team members to this day.

In Venezuela—Marston’s first time competing internationally—nearly 17,000 fans attended the game, a turnout she had never seen playing women’s baseball in the U.S. “Venezuelan fans expressed such excitement to see the game.”

In 2015, Marston participated in the Pan Am Games in Canada and won gold. Her own former coach Ken Leavoy was on staff for the Canadian women’s softball team, who also won gold. In mutual Principian support, they cheered each other on. “Winning a gold medal was awesome! Hearing the national anthem with ‘USA’ across your chest is a great feeling,” Marston shared.

Marston offers young athletes this advice: “Do whatever it takes. If you feel like giving up, aren’t sure it’s worth it, or have to do tough things, remember ... it’s absolutely worth it to go abroad and play the game you love.”

Glancing at her gold medal now, Marston knows she did not earn it alone. Everything her parents did for her, how her brother challenged and supported her, and the encouragement from her Principia coaches—Coach Leavoy, Coach Larry Frank (US’81), and her dad—all led to that singular accomplishment. “Winning the gold and becoming the woman I am today was a team effort.”

TAKING A EURO-STEP

TreVaughn Goodman

C’20

TreVaughn Goodman (C’20) has played basketball most of his life: first in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was raised, then at Principia College, and now internationally, in Spain. 

A love of the game runs in his family. Goodman’s mother won state championships, broke records, and played on a full-ride scholarship at Alabama A&M. When Goodman was six, his mom nudged him, “Let’s go to the court and shoot.”

While he valued his mom as his inspiration and his rock, his inner competitive drive pushed him to excel beyond even what she had achieved. Today, he knows she’s proud of him for persisting, but “She never knew that my internal fire came from trying to be even better than her,” he admits.

After some challenging early years, attending Principia College was a bit of a culture shock. Goodman gives head coach Todd Zimmerman (C’11) a lot of credit for helping him adjust. “[Zimmerman] met a rowdy, arrogant eighteen-year-old who just wanted to play basketball.”

Even when Goodman started arguments with teammates, Zimmerman believed in him, reminding him, “Your identity is more than basketball.” Zimmerman ensured Goodman left a positive legacy at Principia—not only on the court, but as a person. “Todd catapulted me forward. When he retired, we gave him a players’ tribute. I still talk with him today.”

Goodman also played rugby at Principia for two years, coached by Ward Patterson (C’82). Patterson helped him see people for who they are on the inside. “Without Ward and Todd sticking beside me, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

For the past six years playing basketball in Montenegro, Serbia, and Spain, Goodman has continued to mature. He learned Spanish while playing on the tight-knit team Cabezuelo CB (Club Baloncesto) Socuéllamos. Teammate Diego Serrano became TreVaughn’s best friend, and Serrano’s family took him in. Goodman celebrated Spanish holidays with Serrano’s family who referred to him as “hijo,” son. Most recently, he played for Estudiantes Cartagena in Spain. 

When he’s not training or competing during the eight-to-ten-month basketball season in Europe, Goodman appreciates the gifts of being a global athlete: other countries’ slower pace and lifestyle, their languages, food, and social experiences. “You don’t know who you truly are until you step out of your boundaries and evolve.” 

Today, Goodman advises young athletes considering global careers: “Stay in your lane; there’s no traffic there. It’s just you versus you, getting one percent better each day. Beware of comparison culture. Compete with yourself, and what’s meant for you will unfold.”

SWISS ARMY MAN

Robert Baker 

C’78

During Robert Baker’s (C’78) freshman year at Principia College, he learned and excelled in what became his favorite decathlon event—the javelin. “When you get the aerodynamic flight pattern right, it takes off like a plane!” At 6’1”, powerful and strong from weightlifting, and well-practiced in throws, hurdles, and more, Baker wanted to compete in every decathlon event: nine throwing, running, and jumping events, plus hurdles. 

The summer after his freshman year, Baker returned home to Amarillo, Texas to expand his decathlon skills. On his college breaks going forward, Baker lived with a Principia alumni family in California where he was able to practice six days a week.

After graduating from the College, Baker trained year-round for six years in Santa Barbara, California. He did three decathlons a year in the U.S. and competed almost every weekend in the winter against international teams. He came in eighth at the Olympic decathlon trials.

During the height of the Cold War in 1980, the U.S. led a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Baker had made the USA international team. The top three athletes would participate in the Olympics, and the six athletes below them would head to Germany. Unfortunately, both opportunities were canceled due to the boycott. Although disheartening for Baker, he was grateful for his opportunities to train for nearly a decade in California’s top-notch facilities and beautiful environment. 

After returning to the Midwest, Baker’s first coaching job was at Principia Upper School with Bill Simon (US’54). He coached track for 30 years at both the Upper School and College (where his wife, Joy (Clayton) Baker (US’79), still teaches dance), and for eight years at the nearby Mary Institute Country Day School. He also coached a U.S. decathlon team in Canada.

Most important, Baker is grateful he made good friends who were fellow athletes. One close friend he competed against was state track champion Tony Allen-Cooksey, the first African American student to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana. “He visited Principia a lot, sometimes for dances. We even moved to California simultaneously and still remain close.”

When it comes to training, Baker declares: “Follow your dreams. Research and live by the best facility, coach, and practice group. Make sacrifices, stay with a family if necessary, and train to compete. Commit completely to the sport and keep getting better.”

SPIKING IN GERMAN

Christina (Speer) Watzula

US’05, C’09

Raised in San Luis Obispo, California, Christina (Speer) Watzula (US’05, C’09) started playing basketball in fourth grade, joining a volleyball team in middle school. She played both sports at Principia Upper School and College, where her love of volleyball grew. 

Watzula valued how much her coaches and professors took an interest in their students. “I’d wander into their offices and invite them to join me for lunch. And they would!” Watzula’s Principia volleyball coach, Mary Ann Sprague-Denison (C’84), provided her with sports contacts outside of Principia. One St. Louis volleyball coach offered her conditioning training at an open gym, where a European coach there encouraged her to go pro. Until then, Watzula had no idea professional volleyball existed, or that she could play in Europe.

 The next steps of her journey required strong trust in God. At Principia, she had developed and strengthened that trust. Through prayer, she knew the right spot awaited her.

Sprague helped Watzula enroll in tryouts for players seeking volleyball careers in Europe. The tryouts, held in Slovenia, led to an invitation to play in Germany. At age twenty-two, speaking no German, she leaned in and accepted. Soon afterward, a German club signed her and she quickly started learning the language.

Later, Watzula joined another club that reached the final round of the 2014 German Volleyball Cup, attended by 10,000 spectators. A third team she played on participated in the CEV Challenge Cup and traveled to Austria, Switzerland, Israel, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan.

Over her six-year international volleyball career, Watzula has played on teams with players from Serbia, Czechia, Hungary, Australia, Germany, and England. She loved experiencing the diverse cultures. She also enjoyed coaching at beach volleyball camps (including in Türkiye), coaching young players, and doing translation work to help sponsors and teammates with essential paperwork. 

Being a global athlete even connected Watzula with her husband, a friend of her assistant coach back then. Married since 2019, she and her husband live in Dresden, Germany. When she graduated in 2009, Germany was not even on her travel list, but she loves living there now and is fluent in German.

To young athletes, Watzula urges, “Cherish your love of the game and the joy of playing. Very few people in professional volleyball get rich, and it’s not a career that lasts forever, so hang on to that joy of playing. Joy is so important in all you do.”

SCRUM MASTER

Damir Conci 

C’25

During Robert Baker’s (C’78) freshman year at Principia College, he learned and excelled in what became his favorite decathlon event—the javelin. “When you get the aerodynamic flight pattern right, it takes off like a plane!” At 6’1”, powerful and strong from weightlifting, and well-practiced in throws, hurdles, and more, Baker wanted to compete in every decathlon event: nine throwing, running, and jumping events, plus hurdles. 

The summer after his freshman year, Baker returned home to Amarillo, Texas to expand his decathlon skills. On his college breaks going forward, Baker lived with a Principia alumni family in California where he was able to practice six days a week.

After graduating from the College, Baker trained year-round for six years in Santa Barbara, California. He did three decathlons a year in the U.S. and competed almost every weekend in the winter against international teams. He came in eighth at the Olympic decathlon trials.

During the height of the Cold War in 1980, the U.S. led a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Baker had made the USA international team. The top three athletes would participate in the Olympics, and the six athletes below them would head to Germany. Unfortunately, both opportunities were canceled due to the boycott. Although disheartening for Baker, he was grateful for his opportunities to train for nearly a decade in California’s top-notch facilities and beautiful environment. 

After returning to the Midwest, Baker’s first coaching job was at Principia Upper School with Bill Simon (US’54). He coached track for 30 years at both the Upper School and College (where his wife, Joy (Clayton) Baker (US’79), still teaches dance), and for eight years at the nearby Mary Institute Country Day School. He also coached a U.S. decathlon team in Canada.

Most important, Baker is grateful he made good friends who were fellow athletes. One close friend he competed against was state track champion Tony Allen-Cooksey, the first African American student to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana. “He visited Principia a lot, sometimes for dances. We even moved to California simultaneously and still remain close.”

When it comes to training, Baker declares: “Follow your dreams. Research and live by the best facility, coach, and practice group. Make sacrifices, stay with a family if necessary, and train to compete. Commit completely to the sport and keep getting better.”