By Jude Harder
UWRF Sports Information

Angie Quance had a very successful high school softball career and hopes to parlay that into the same type of career with the Falcons.

She comes to UW-River Falls from Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, Minn., where she was named to Minnesota's All-State team.

She is one of six freshmen on a 2006 Falcons team with no seniors, which in turn has provided an abundant amount of playing time for the outfielder.

Quance, 5-2, is having a very strong debut season with the Falcons, hitting .325 with 13 hits, 12 runs scored, and sharing the team-lead with six stolen bases. She has not been caught stealing this year. She has played in 24 games and started 17 times, all in left field.

Quance believes that her best assets are her speed and her abilities as a slap hitter from the left side of the plate. Her focus while at the plate is to make contact and drive the ball down.

"It's great that I am a slap hitter because then I am able to utilize my speed for when it really counts."

With her speed she also provides great defense to an already very fast and athletic outfield corps.

Falcon Coach Faye Perkins sums up Quance's best strengths, "Angie is extremely fast in the outfield and is fast enough to surprise the other team at any time with a sneaky bunt."

Much like the attitude of all of the team players, Quance is excited about the present and future of Falcon softball. "We have gained each other's trust and use it when we play. We have come a long way since the beginning of the year and will continue to build upon that."

This year's schedule has provided some tough talent for the Falcons to match up with, including nationally ranked teams. Quance feels that these tough opponents only make the Falcons that much better. Although losses are always tough to take, she feels losses to tough opponents provide the team with a chance to learn from mistakes and provide fuel for future games.

Softball has been an important part of Quance's life since a young age.

"Softball drives me. It is one of my passions that helps me to focus and pursue a goal. I love the energy and thrill that it brings."

Being a freshman, Quance is learning how much dedication it takes to be a student-athlete in college.

"It requires a combination of sacrifice and persistence in order to live a healthy and balanced life. Weekends have to be sacrificed to play games, to do homework and studying, and thinking about how each choice you make can affect the team."

Being a newcomer to the team, Quance is not always the most vocal player, but she does offer a very upbeat and positive attitude for all around her.

"She is very quiet but is an extremely hard worker and an excellent team player," says Perkins.

Quance has also displayed persistence and hard work in the classroom. In high school, she was named to both the All-State and All-Conference Academic teams. She was a member of the National Honor Society and was named to the A Honor Roll all four years at Totino-Grace. She has kept that success up at River Falls, being named to the Honor Roll in her first semester.

"Academically, college is very different than high school. College is more challenging because you have to spend more time studying and preparing for tests."

Quance is undecided on her major thus far and is still trying to figure out what she would like to do for her career.

"Hopefully I will find my career passion soon, but until than I am working on completing my generals and my Spanish minor."

The person Quance admires most is her mom, Sue. "She is a wonderful person with a strong heart that she shares with everyone she meets. My mom has helped me to become the person I am today and I am grateful to have her in my life."

Quance has a large family consisting of two sisters and five brothers.

She loves the Minnesota Twins and her favorite athlete is Twins catcher Joe Mauer.

Quance likes to listen to a wide variety of music and here favorite genre of movies is comedy, especially those starring Adam Sandler.

"You can never go wrong with a movie that has Adam Sandler in it."

As the season rolls along, she realizes that you have to take the good with the bad.

"I have had some great games and some not so great games. However, one thing that is for sure, and that is that I'm never satisfied. I believe that there are always things to improve on, which is why practice is so important."

With her dedication to the team, great work ethic and positive attitude, Quance looks to provide many good things for this year's team and for many years to come.