The best teams in any sport usually manage to strike that delicate balance between young, unproven talent and tested veterans who provide the squad’s backbone and channel the collective effort in the direction it must go in order to yield success.

Some of Harvard’s toughest losses of the offseason were brought about by the departures of senior Monica Montijo, sophomore Ashley Augustine and junior Bre Cooley, leaving little depth to counter the infusion of youth.

“Although I understand and respect their decisions, they’re missed,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard says. “Their spirit is missed more than anything.”

In fact, only one senior will don the Crimson uniform this season looking to galvanize the team’s efforts to reclaim Ivy supremacy.

Although the challenge of balancing Harvard’s youth with experience is great, no one is better fit to rise to the challenge than tri-captain Tiffany Whitton, who just a year ago turned in the finest offensive display in Crimson history.

The Team Player

It didn’t always appear as if Whitton would be the sole senior on the squad. Just last season Montijo departed, paring the fourth-year count down to one.

“It’s been challenging,” Whitton says. “My class has been very interesting. I’ve seen five people come and go in my class.”

But despite the ever-changing chemistry and the disappearance of her classmates, Whitton has developed a level of comfort with her position few have shared.

“Senior is kind of just like a label,” Whitton says. “It’s a little bit different in that sense. On the field there’s no difference.”

Though it is just a label to her, the position of sole senior tri-captain carries with it additional responsibilities and burdens disproportionately placed on her shoulders.

“Tiffany more than anything sets a tone,” Allard says. “Tiffany sets a tone of ‘We’re going to be competitive, we’re going to come out here and do our best, I’m going to step up and do things when the team needs me to come through.’”

The Ivy title has always been more important to her than her personal accomplishments.

“She is a genuine person who often puts the team’s needs ahead of her own, and people will remember that,” says former tri-captain Mairead McKendry ’01.

And that is something McKendry has known from the outset. Though Whitton’s talent has certainly improved with age and practice, that character has been with her for some time.