Gaertner returns after year off due to hip injury
By KRISTIAN POPE, The News Journal
DOVER -- Kickers face all kinds of pressure on the football field.
Then there's the type of pressure Delaware State kicker Peter Gaertner encountered over the summer.
He's in the Dominican Republic on an exotic beachfront at sunrise. He's brought an engagement ring -- the one for which he spent months saving -- to ask his longtime girlfriend for her hand in marriage.
Oh, and 19 of her family members just happen to be standing by. This is a family vacation, after all.
The DSU finance and banking major received the "yes" he'd hoped for from Erin Schonewolf, a University of Delaware graduate and daughter of Caesar Rodney High football coach Mike Schonewolf.
"Don't ask me anything else about it," Gaertner said. "I don't want to think about it until the end of the season."
The hard part is over for Gaertner. Now, the native of Berlin can focus on football after missing nearly the entire 2006 season because of a hip flexor strain.
DSU, 8-3 a year ago, opens its season Saturday against Big South champion Coastal Carolina at Alumni Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
If his confidence in asking his girlfriend to get married is any sign, the Hornets should have one of the more reliable kicking units in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, if not all of NCAA Division I-AA.
In 2004, Gaertner made 6-of-11 field goals and 18-of-20 extra points to earn preseason All-MEAC second-team honors the next year. In 2005, he hit 16-of-21 field goals and all 23 extra points. He led the MEAC with a .762 field goal percentage and made second-team All-MEAC. His longest field goal is 46 yards.
But in 2006, he played in only one game (and missed his only field goal) before sustaining a hip flexor strain.
His hip injury was the third injury he's incurred since arriving as a sophomore in 2004. In Gaertner's first season, he missed the first month because of hernia surgery. He also sprained his ankle, but fought through it.
"Bottom line, I didn't want to go out like that," he said of last year. "This school has been very patient with me. You can't control injuries; they happen to everyone. My goal now is to stay healthy."
Gaertner's return is as unexpected as it is crucial to the Hornets' success. With Gaertner performing field goal duties, DSU has two other players -- returning punter Josh Brite and kickoff specialist Riley Flickinger -- who can concentrate on their specialties.
"It's an enormous boost," said special teams coach Derek Hall, who discovered Gaertner at Pima (Ariz.) College. "It allows me to have that third kicker on the team, which is kind of unheard of. We can utilize everyone's talent."
Hall said he had several discussions with Gaertner about returning for this season. Like his decision to get married, Hall said the player thought long and decided wisely.
Gaertner said he's going to wait until October 2008 to get married. He said he hasn't thought about where the wedding will be. Maybe another exotic locale would be in order, his coach said.
"That's a Peter thing to do," Hall said.
Then there's the type of pressure Delaware State kicker Peter Gaertner encountered over the summer.
He's in the Dominican Republic on an exotic beachfront at sunrise. He's brought an engagement ring -- the one for which he spent months saving -- to ask his longtime girlfriend for her hand in marriage.
Oh, and 19 of her family members just happen to be standing by. This is a family vacation, after all.
The DSU finance and banking major received the "yes" he'd hoped for from Erin Schonewolf, a University of Delaware graduate and daughter of Caesar Rodney High football coach Mike Schonewolf.
"Don't ask me anything else about it," Gaertner said. "I don't want to think about it until the end of the season."
The hard part is over for Gaertner. Now, the native of Berlin can focus on football after missing nearly the entire 2006 season because of a hip flexor strain.
DSU, 8-3 a year ago, opens its season Saturday against Big South champion Coastal Carolina at Alumni Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
If his confidence in asking his girlfriend to get married is any sign, the Hornets should have one of the more reliable kicking units in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, if not all of NCAA Division I-AA.
In 2004, Gaertner made 6-of-11 field goals and 18-of-20 extra points to earn preseason All-MEAC second-team honors the next year. In 2005, he hit 16-of-21 field goals and all 23 extra points. He led the MEAC with a .762 field goal percentage and made second-team All-MEAC. His longest field goal is 46 yards.
But in 2006, he played in only one game (and missed his only field goal) before sustaining a hip flexor strain.
His hip injury was the third injury he's incurred since arriving as a sophomore in 2004. In Gaertner's first season, he missed the first month because of hernia surgery. He also sprained his ankle, but fought through it.
"Bottom line, I didn't want to go out like that," he said of last year. "This school has been very patient with me. You can't control injuries; they happen to everyone. My goal now is to stay healthy."
Gaertner's return is as unexpected as it is crucial to the Hornets' success. With Gaertner performing field goal duties, DSU has two other players -- returning punter Josh Brite and kickoff specialist Riley Flickinger -- who can concentrate on their specialties.
"It's an enormous boost," said special teams coach Derek Hall, who discovered Gaertner at Pima (Ariz.) College. "It allows me to have that third kicker on the team, which is kind of unheard of. We can utilize everyone's talent."
Hall said he had several discussions with Gaertner about returning for this season. Like his decision to get married, Hall said the player thought long and decided wisely.
Gaertner said he's going to wait until October 2008 to get married. He said he hasn't thought about where the wedding will be. Maybe another exotic locale would be in order, his coach said.
"That's a Peter thing to do," Hall said.
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