Former DU roommates enjoying Switchbacks reunion

The trails keep merging for Switchbacks midfielders Jordan Schweitzer and Karsten Hanlin.

The two met some six years ago as they prepared to be roommates and teammates at the University of Denver, where they went on to multiple Summit League championships and NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Dallas-born, Washington-state-raised Schweitzer and Hanlin, a local product from Cherry Creek, got a head start on roommate bonding.

“They took me in right when I got to Colorado,” Schweitzer said of the Hanlins. “I stayed with them for about a month before I even moved into the dorms at DU. They’re my Colorado family.”

Schweitzer played that fall, while Hanlin redshirted, and that wasn’t the only difference.

“He’s an early morning guy, let’s put it that way,” Hanlin said. “And I’m not.”

Schweitzer had to study while academics came almost supernaturally for the night owl.

“I think he’s got a photographic memory,” Schweitzer said.

They liked each other enough to continue rooming together over the next three years, eventually joined by another traveler of the increasingly worn DU-to-Switchbacks trail, Taylor Hunter.

Following a senior season where he earned first-team all-Summit League honors a third time, Schweitzer signed a homegrown contract with Seattle Sounders.

Hanlin enjoyed his final year of eligibility with a trip to the 2016 College Cup, NCAA soccer’s final four, while Schweitzer made his pro debut in the United Soccer League.

“Our freshman year, we weren’t happy about it when we were redshirting, and he was getting to play,” Hanlin said. “But then we got an extra year on the end of it, which definitely made up for it.”

Hanlin joined Schweitzer — then with Orlando City B — in USL after signing with Salt Lake’s Real Monarchs in 2017. They followed each other’s progress while playing in different conferences.

When Orlando City B shut down for 2018, Schweitzer found the Switchbacks’ independent status refreshing.

“I wanted to be in an environment where I knew every single day the group we were training with, that if I continue to train well and play well, that I would have a spot, and that I could develop and get minutes,” Schweitzer said.

His offseason signing got one of them back to start 2018.

“We were joking about it, then an opportunity kind of presented itself,” said Hanlin of a reunion.

Making just two appearances through early June, Hanlin and Real Monarchs mutually parted ways, and he quickly signed with the Switchbacks.

Hanlin’s homecoming provided an opportunity to regularly play in front of friends and family again, as he’s started in eight of his nine appearances, playing a couple of different positions and producing a pair of assists.

“With all the injuries, I can put him pretty much anywhere on the field, and he’ll do a good job for us.” Switchbacks coach Steve Trittschuh said. “He’s really helped out.”

Schweitzer hasn’t found fortune in front of goal yet, but he’s been among the most valuable, starting 20 of 21 league matches and joining defenders Jamal Jack and Josh Suggs as the only Switchbacks to play more than 1,800 minutes this season.

“Everything,” Trittschuh answered when asked what Schweitzer has brought. “Defensively, he positions himself well, and he wins balls a lot, but it’s been his circulation, distribution of the ball out of the middle that’s really opened the game for us this year.

“We really haven’t had that in the past with his range of passing and his ability to find those passes.”

Saturday will provide Hanlin and Schweitzer with another throwback to their Denver days.

“It’s great being here, and I love being back in Colorado in general,” said Hanlin.

The duo is expected to start together in the midfield for the 6 p.m. match against a Tulsa side with just 12 points in what’s generally regarded as a must-win.

“I’m enjoying being back in Colorado,” Schweitzer said. “It’s a great group of guys … There’s a lot of quality, and obviously now we’ve got to get some more wins so we can make that playoff hunt.”

It wouldn’t be the first time Schweitzer and Hanlin made a postseason run in the state.

They just don’t live together this time with Schweitzer and Hunter starting the season as roommates — at least officially.

“They all basically live together,” noted captain Suggs.