UNLV SOFTBALL ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Julie Crandall (1995-98), UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame '10, Current Executive Director of Student Success and Enrollment at Union Institute & University
 
The thought of moving to a city with a bustling tourist scene and great outdoor weather for playing the game she loved was enough to make Vegas a hot commodity for San Jose native Julie Crandall. This priceless combination persuaded her to the point that she chose UNLV over other programs that recruited her coming out of high school.
 
"I had never actually been to Las Vegas before, until I took my recruiting trip to UNLV and I was just kind of blown away," said Crandall. "At the time, in my opinion, it was what I would call the height of Las Vegas Casinos. The Luxor had just opened, there were just all these amazing hotels and I was just blown away by the town itself. It also helped that it was a top-5 program that had been to the regionals – there were no super regionals at the time –   the year before and just missed out on going to the College World Series. It was just a perfect storm of the experience of being in Las Vegas and I loved it. I had made recruiting visits to Nebraska and a few other places, where they showed me all of these indoor facilities. When I got to UNLV, I said 'do you have an indoor facility?' And they kind of laughed and told me, 'What do we need an indoor facility for? The weather's perfect here.' That was another huge selling point for me, growing up where I wasn't used to living any sort of this weather, and I was looking forward to doing so."
 
Another attraction that stood out was the chance to be at the center of attention alongside Runnin' Rebel basketball at the time.
 
"The men's basketball program was still the top dog, but aside from golf we were the best team on campus. That was a really fun experience to be a part of. At the time the field was in the middle of campus, so it was a cool experience to get a lot of fans who were just walking by come watch us. The band even used to practice in the outfield and we'd take turns trying to hit home runs over the fence and see how close we could get to the band members. It was fun and a really nice experience."
 
While she'd join a program that had played in the regionals during each of the five years leading up to her arrival, with two College World Series appearances, Crandall still came to campus in 1995 unaware of what to expect at the next level. The only active freshman on the roster, she didn't let her inexperience get in the way when she was thrust into the starting catcher role. With some help from her more experienced teammates and a former player, she went on to earn All-American honors that year, forming a Rebel quintet of All-Americans with Cindy Parus, Sara Mallet, Kim Rondina and Amie Stewart.
 
"At the time, being 18 years old, I think ignorance was bliss. I had played a lot of competitive softball, but I didn't know that they were as good as they were and I didn't know how good I was. In a way, I think that helped because I wasn't overwhelmed or awestruck. This translated to being a catcher when I had to step in right away, be a leader and be very communicative. I stepped in for Heather [Siegel], who was two years older than me, who ended up redshirting. She had been the starting catcher and I took her spot, but she couldn't have been more gracious and wonderful. She could've gone about it two ways, either become really angry about the situation or very team-oriented. She guided me and helped me develop into a leader. Cindy [Parus], Sara [Mallett], Kim [Rondina] and Amie [Stewart], they all really helped develop my leadership skills and make me feel comfortable as a freshman starting at catcher for UNLV. I'd say Holly Chadwick was also a big help. I actually never played with Holly, but I would consider her one of my best friends as well just because she had been around the program. Even though she was done with her career, she sort of took me under her wing and helped me out."
 
The Rebels went on to match the program best in wins with a 49-14 record in her first year and returned to the Women's College World Series, where they posted their best-ever finish after placing third overall. She points to going through this experience with her teammates and coaches as her favorite memory, although at the time she was more focused on playing rather than the spotlight.
 
"I'd say for me it was the College World Series my freshman year. We went to the WCWS. What is interesting about that is I don't think I understood what a big deal it was at the time. If I could go back I would savor every moment more than I actually did when we got there. Now softball is on TV, it's popular and widespread. At the time, we made the semifinals and that game was on TV. It was a huge deal that we were on ESPN in the semi-final game in 1995. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, not only to be a part of that team, but also be a part of it with those people. We had a really special team with special coaches and a special mix of individuals who are still some of the best friends I've made today."
 
It was playing with a group of talented players that she credits for relieving some of the pressure and allowing her to focus on doing all she could to help the team find success.
 
"My first two years, I would say, I was very lucky – even three years if you include Kim Rondina in that mix – to have other stars on the team to the point we could really play off each other. My freshman year I batted sixth, right behind Cyndi [Parus], so a lot of times they would walk her to get to me and I benefited quite a bit from her status. Then, as I progressed, I benefited from my teammates around me and how they approached the game. My approach was always to try to get on base and do whatever I could to help the team."
 
Those roles reversed her final season when she garnered All-American honors once again in 1998. As an experienced veteran on the team, Crandall became the one to divert attention from her teammates, but maintained that team-first mentality in how she approached the game.
 
"By the time it was my senior year, I ended up being the one who got walked most of the time. That year I batted third and I guess I didn't really see the light of day or a pitch since I was the All-American still on the team at that point. But my approach was always to try to put the bat on the ball and do what I could to help the team."
 
That team-oriented mindset even carried over to fielding, where many times throughout her career she found herself in various positions on the field.
 
"I'm not sure many know this, but in my four years at UNLV I started at every position at one point, except pitcher. During my freshman year, I did mostly catching. After that, I ended up being sort of a utility backup for every other position. If Kim [Rondina] got hurt at shortstop, I'd play shortstop. If we needed a center fielder, there I was. If we needed someone at third base, there I was. I asked Coach McDonald on my senior day if I could just pitch one pitch so that I could fulfill the gamut of all positions. She didn't let me and I was a little disappointed, but that just goes back to my approach of wanting to do whatever I could to help the team out."
 
In spite of embracing her role of being a multi-faceted fielder, Crandall did face some obstacles as she branched out from her comfort zone as catcher.
 
"It was frustrating at times, since my brain as a catcher worked and focused on setting batters up with certain pitches, knowing your pitcher and where to throw people. I'm very cerebral in that sense as a catcher. I was blessed also in that they let me call my own pitches, which is something they don't do in the game anymore. I had the opportunity to really work with the pitchers, get on the same page with them to know what really worked and what didn't, and refine our game that way."
 
A member of UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame as an individual and with the entire Rebels' 1995 squad, Crandall's name can still be found in the UNLV all-time record book. She ranks second in walks, third in doubles and is in the top 10 in total bases, runs and hits. But the notoriety that comes from all the accolades and accomplishments, however, pale in comparison to the memories and lifelong bonds she forged with her teammates, coach and support staff.
 

"I had a fabulous experience there. I met some of my best friends - and we're all still friends actually. In fact, we're meeting up later this summer in Lake Tahoe as part of our yearly trip between about seven of us who played together. We've remained very close and in touch, so my experience was great. I couldn't say more about my time at UNLV, the administration was fabulous. I had a really fun time playing for my coach Shan McDonald as well. I'm very grateful to UNLV. I earned a lot of athletic prowess while I was there. I was an All-American twice, Sportswoman of the Year, I'm in the Hall of Fame. But what I'm especially grateful for are the relationships and the connections that I made with people who are not only lifelong friends, but family of UNLV. I know I could go to campus tomorrow and bump into someone there who I know or played with or is still working in the athletic department. It's something that will never go away, so I'm so grateful for that experience. I don't think I would have had that same experience at Nebraska or another school. I was very lucky to have experienced that. The people like the support staff that really helped shaped us were fun, as well as the strength coaches and athletic trainers even. We really had a great group of people who supported everything that we did."
 
Those tight-knit friendships even continued on the softball diamond beyond her collegiate playing days.
 
"Amie Stewart, who is one of my best friends, and I both played in the professional league together on different teams. At that time, I was still playing catcher and she was still a pitcher. I only hit one home run in the professional league and that was off of Amie. At both of our Hall of Fame speeches we each actually referenced that because it was a really funny moment. I give her a rough time about that to this day. I got a lot of base hits in the pros, but my only homer was off Amie, who I probably know better than anybody else even though we only played one full college season together."
 
Additionally, Crandall attributes UNLV for exposing her to a wide array of subjects and helping guide her to an academic-centered career. She currently is the Executive Director of Student Success and Enrollment at an online university called Union Institute.
 
"My last summer I worked as an academic advising assistant before I went off to get a master's degree. But when I first came to UNLV, I wanted to be a sports broadcaster. I always knew I was going to go into communication and I wanted to be on ESPN. I wanted to be that person, but then my career kind of progressed and transitioned. I realized that I was much more into the theoretical and rhetorical aspects of communication - all of the Plato, Cicero, Aristotle type of communication going back. I learned a lot of that at UNLV and the school gave me the opportunity to take a lot of different classes because communication has a lot of electives. I was able to do those and take some other courses on principles of persuasion and mass media. I took a television production class. I also toyed with doing a minor in coaching, so I took a lot of the coaching classes like athletic training, coaching running and field events, basketball and football which was fun. It gave me two aspects of athletics and academics at the same time. Then, at the time, I thought 'I want to be a college softball coach.' I did that for a year at Auburn, while I got my master's degree, and decided it wasn't for me. Right away I decided that if I wasn't playing softball, I didn't want to be coaching softball. That ended very fast."
 
Drawing from her family's background in the academic realm, she discovered the opportunity to transfer her leadership from softball to a long-term career in higher education field was a better fit than coaching.
 
"I come from a family of educators. My parents are both retired high school teachers. My sister lives internationally in Canada, but she was teaching English. I knew it was an excellent transition if I didn't want to be a coach. While I was playing professionally, that was only four months out of the year and wasn't like baseball where we got a whole bunch of money. We'd play from May to September and I had to find something else to do. I actually got a job teaching a general education class at Hield College. From there I moved around quite a bit teaching at different places. I eventually realized that if I was going to move so much, I couldn't keep leaving jobs and might as well be with a company that's also around the country. That is when I found a job in Reno and got a job with University of Phoenix. From there, I fell in love with a different aspect of higher education, which is enrollment and admissions. I started off as an enrollment counselor and worked my way up to being the director of enrollment. I was there for about seven years before I relocated to Sacramento to work for DeVry University. What I was able to do was translate my competitive nature from sports, which I've always had, into higher education sales and leading teams. I think I'm a natural leader, so I was leading teams of individuals to enroll students in school. Then, I had the opportunity to transition into an academic dean role for a non-profit online school – my current institution. For the first three years here, I was the academic dean for the Sacramento Center. That encompassed anything from oversight of admissions to overseeing faculty development and academic offerings. I was promoted again later to what is now my current role as the Director of Student Success and Enrollment Services. That entails the enrollment process and goes all the way through enrollment, leading the enrollment counselors and academic advisors who work with students from the time they enroll until they graduate. Our sole focus is student retention, graduation, and satisfaction more than anything else. It still allowed me to utilize my competitive nature because everything is driven by data – which in my opinion is related directly to softball – to be successful. In my mind, I get to help people while also serving my competitive nature."
 
Now years removed from her time as a Rebel, five seasons in the Women's Professional Softball League and time touring with the U.S. Olympic Team as an exhibition opponent, she still finds time to make her way back on the field.
 
"I actually still play slow pitch today on about four different teams, including a senior women's team for anybody 40 years or older. The only difference now is I play mostly third base or shortstop. I guess now about 25 years later, I'm still playing the game that I love."
 
Despite returning to her home state for her current job, Crandall still looks forward as a UNLV softball alumna to being part of sharing the program's legacy of success as it competes for conference championships under head coach Kristie Fox.
 
"I've only been able to follow the team a little in recent years. Since I live in Sacramento, I'm not as close to the program as a few of the girls still in Las Vegas who are closer. But I would like to have more engagement and involvement like before. We used to have an alumni game every year and we would all make it a point to come down, meet up with each other, meet the year's current team and play. It would be nice to engage in that way more. We do have a great alumni base if you look at some of the names. Sheree Corniel was on the Puerto Rican Olympic team, Lori Harrigan was on the U.S. Olympic team and Chris Parris-Washington on the Canadian Olympic team. There are a lot of alumnae who are also coaches nowadays. Linda Garza is the head coach at Fresno State and Melissa Inouye is the head coach at Fordham. All of these individuals were brought up and developed by Shan [McDonald]. Look at Lonni Alameda, who was a previous coach at UNLV. She's been at the College World Series at Florida State the past few years. We've got a legacy that I think we need to make sure people know."

-UNLV-