WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the Point Loma Nazarene women’s soccer team won the Division II national championship last December, they made university history.
On the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, they quite literally had front-row seats to the global kind.
As Vice President Kamala Harris made her first public comments since the bombshell news that President Joe Biden would not seek re-election, the probable Democratic nominee addressed NCAA winners in all three divisions.
In the sea of champions — more than 1,000 athletes according to estimates — sat the Sea Lions, who acted early to snag seats at the very front.
“Somebody in our group said, this is one of those moments where I’ll remember where I was when it happened,” Point Loma coach Kristi Kiely said. “To be there with (Harris) in that moment is something you’ll never forget.”
Some 2,274 miles away on the opposite coast, Point Loma’s standard setters soaked up a unique slice of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
They sat on land George Washington purchased from a tobacco planter in the late-1700s. It was the site of Richard Nixon leaving the White House aboard Marine One after resigning the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal, along with the frivolity of the annual egg-rolling contest.
The lawn, wet from early-morning drizzle, featured a kaleidoscope of colors and experiences, as well as a shared sense of being the best at what they do.
Grand Canyon’s men’s golf team and Misericorida baseball team raised cellphones to document the moment next to those who played lacrosse at Notre Dame and men’s volleyball at USC.
All of it was encircled by an international media throng, there as much to capture Harris’ words on her launching pad of a rushed campaign trail.
“I know it was not easy to make it to this moment,” Harris told the crowd. “Each of you has faced challenges and obstacles, and you have endured. You have fought back and fought through. By doing so, you demonstrated that true greatness requires more than skill. It requires grit and determination.”
And a bit of common sense-shucking courage.
A volleyball court, cornhole stations and other activities were set up for teams before the event. The Sea Lions played volleyball against the men’s swimming and diving team from Arizona State and the men’s soccer team at Clemson.
They also played against the UCLA men, the Division I national champions.
In volleyball.
“I think we’re a little bit out of our league,” said PLNU’s Emma Thrapp, a Temecula native who scored the title-cinching goal against Washburn. “… We’ve all gone through the run. Everyone here knows how hard it is. I think there’s a mutual respect.”
Most of Point Loma’s traveling part flew east from San Diego on Saturday morning, though Bethany Arabe came from a wholly different direction.
The Sea Lions’ forward woke up Sunday in Vienna, Austria, where she and her family were in the middle of a long European vacation.
Miss this? Not a chance.
“Within the last few days, with the flights and the (computer) outage, there are a lot of things that were up in the air,” she said. “But I’m really glad that it all worked out.”
Defender Naomi Ellis and her teammates learned about Biden’s decision not to run Sunday. They were getting lunch near a metro stop when phones started buzzing.
“It’s just so incredible that we’re here during such a huge time,” the Granite Hills High School graduate said. “I know (the Biden news) was building for a little bit. To be here when it happens, what are the chances?
“It’s incredible on so many fronts, especially during an election year and with this whole situation … unreal. “
The contrasts were stark.
Point Loma was celebrated at a White House in flux during one of the most topsy-turvy times in the iconic building’s modern history.
The event came shortly after an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, tightening security. Biden is recovering from COVID-19 in Delaware. A historic election looms.
Acknowledging a country’s champions offered a brief moment to punch the pause button.
The Sea Lions were given a quick tour of the White House, stopping at the Roosevelt Room along with the Green, Red and Blue rooms.
“All the colored rooms,” Kiely joked.
It allowed the Point Loma coach to leverage one of the most passive-aggressive sales pitches imaginable.
“We were recruiting this weekend and I had to say, ‘Sorry we won’t be at all of your games, but our team’s going to the White House,” she said.
University president Bob Brower, who will retire Aug. 15 after 27 years leading the campus, framed the accomplishment.
“When we started in the NCAA, we had people say, ‘You guys will never win again,’” said Brower, who added that every team made the regional playoffs for the first time in program history.
“Pretty special.”
As teams began to depart the South Lawn, a band fittingly played “We Are the Champions.”
Historic champions in more ways than one, at that.
Union-Tribune sports editor Ryan Finley contributed to this column.
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