AN APPRECIATION

Mary Jane Trockenbrod

One in an occasional series.

By Al Mattei
Founder, TopOfTheCircle.com

There's a voice that's not going to be heard during the 2007 lacrosse season at The College of New Jersey.

You might have heard the voice of a woman with sunglasses, proudly wearing blue and gold, and shouting at the top of her lungs, 'T-S-C! T-S-C!'"

The voice begins to Mary Jane Trockenbrod, the mother of Lion legends Tiffany Trockenbrod and Wendy Trockenbrod. But even after these two outstanding athletes graduated from the school, Mary Jane would still come all the way from the Jersey Shore to see the Lions play.

Sometimes, she would be outfitted in a gold lion costume, complete with tail. THe insulation was an asset during the bone-chilling days of November, deep into field hockey season, where the Trockenbrod sisters won four NCAA championships -- two for Wendy (a standout goalie) and Tiffany (one of the top scorers in the history of Division III field hockey).<.P>

And even after the two had long graduated, you could still hear Mary Jane Trockenbrod chanting the letters "T-S-C!" in the stands, years after the school changed its name from Trenton State College to The College of New Jersey.

Mary Jane Trockenbrod was old-school to the last. Like many who have graduated from Hillwood Lakes, she hated the name change when it was made in 1996.

When she died on March 11, a link to the program's past was lost. And some of the fabric, too.

But there will always be The Railbirds, cold November winds, sultry May afternoons, and the occasional ping of a baseball bat behind the south end zone of Lions Stadium.

Those stands, however, will feel a little emptier without her there.