BY BLAIR STENZEL

Christine Knauer defines the word impressive. After hearing what she has accomplished and what she has yet to conquer, one cannot help leaving a conversation with Knauer feeling awestruck.

Knauer comes to the Bandits having accumulated impressive numbers and numerous awards throughout her college career at the University of North Carolina. She led the Tar-Heels with 41 runs scored, a .402 on base percentage, and 59 hits in her senior season. Knauer not only left her team in the dust with 42 stolen bases, but the rest of the ACC as well. The 2010 season was the first time Knauer was awarded first team All-ACC Team at short stop, in 2009 she was named top-female Super Ram and Iron Ram for Olympic Sports, and won the Johnny Carroll Hustle Award and Coach's Award. One of her biggest accomplishments came in 2008 when she was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll.

It comes as no surprise that Knauer’s academic career and aspirations off-the-field match that of her on-the-field accomplishments. “It sounds kind of silly, but I want to save the world,” states Knauer. This past spring, she graduated with a degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry and Spanish. The impressive part is her plans for the future, which include two years of grad-school where she will study micro-biology and biophysics, followed by four years of medical school.

“I want to travel somewhere that doesn’t have a lot of medical care or attention offered to them and be able to give them something they’ve never had before,” said Knauer who describes herself as always having been community service oriented. “You see through being an athlete how you can give back, especially through sports and I don’t think there’s really anything more rewarding than that,” she added.

The mentality that Knauer has, giving 110 percent and helping others, definitely shows in her success on the field, “I don’t want to leave the field knowing there was something more I could have done to help my team win,” explains Knauer.

Knauer’s attitude, combined with her exceptional skills as a softball player, is what attracted her to the Chicago Bandits. Knauer signed her rookie contract with the bandits on Friday, June 28, with hopes of doing what she can to help the Bandits improve upon a disappointing 2009 season, that saw the Bandits get bounced from round one of the NPF playoffs.