sports Football: Lions on a losing streak after winning their first game After triumphing over the St. Louis Rams in week one, the Lions have been in somewhat of a slump, losing the last three games against the San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings. This next week of season play is a bye for Detroit so the team can hopefully recover and regroup to be victorious as the season progresses.
Detroit Lions caught in a slump By Paul McKeeby The Saint Reporter The Detroit Lions started their season with a win against the St. Louis Rams, however, they’ve been going downhill since then, standing with a record of 1-3. Their play the past two weeks leaves much to be desired. The past two losses came against two teams that did not make the playoffs last season, the Tennessee Titans and their division rivals, The Minnesota Vikings. The lineup is having trouble living up to the success of last season. Matt Stafford, who some consider the next elite quarterback, has struggled to regain his elite status from last year and has thrown more interceptions than touch downs. Stafford cannot seem to pass to anyone on the offense with the exception of wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Many analysts around the league believe that lack of work in the off-season is what is contributing to this downfall. The Lions are lacking in their defense this year as well. Their special teams have allowed four kick and punt returns for touchdowns, which does not count the two defensive touchdowns against the Lions. The Lion’s superstar kicker Jason Hanson is about the only player the Lions can applaud on their special teams. Negative comments are swirling around Lions fans and the phrase “Same old Lions” can be seen on many Facebook posts. For the hopeful Lions fans out there, there is still time to get back in the game. The Lions still have the best quarterback and wide receiver combination in the league. They have Jason Hanson as well as one of the best defensive lines in the league. They just need to know how to work these strengths for their success as a team. The Lions have bye this week and that will give the team time to regroup, refocus, and get healthier. The Lions have a challenging two weeks ahead. After their bye week they will play the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears. These two games will show if the Lions have what it takes to shake off this terrible start and get their heads in the game. The Lions are certainly not dead, but they are very close to being outcast in the eyes of NFL fans once again. Do the Lions have what it takes to get themselves out of this slump?
Cross Country teams are staying ahead By Brian Kalchik The Saint Reporter The women’s and men’s cross country teams have not had a meet since we last came out, but they have stayed busy nonetheless, preparing to attain the success they have achieved this far in the season. In their first meets at the Knight Invitational, the men’s team finished fourth out of 19, while the women’s team finished fourth out of 22. The next meet, The National Catholic Invitational, saw the men’s team finish third out of 34 teams, and first out of 21 non-Division one teams. The women’s team finished 13th out of 34 teams, and fifth out of 21 non Division One teams. The women’s team is now ranked ninth in the NAIA coaches’ poll, while the men’s team is also ranked ninth in the NAIA coaches’ poll. Ken Foley from the men’s team and Rachael Steil from the women’s team have earned the WHAC runner of the week awards. Head Coach Mike Wojciakowski is extremely pleased with the efforts of both teams at this point in the season, “We are in the middle of a down stretch as far as racing goes but a new phase of our training cycle has started. The women are at the highest they have been ever ranked and the men have now been in the poll for 119 consecutive weeks,” said Wojciakowski. The upcoming meets for both teams includes the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships on October 5 and the Bethel College Invitational on October 12.
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THE SAINT | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012
Grand Rapids: Griffins pre-season starts Saturday, October 6
Baseball: Tigers named Division Champs on Monday night
Hockey fans are getting excited as the Griffins play their first pre-season game against the Lake Erie Monsters on October 6. The Griffins had a rough 2011-2012 season, ending with a record 33-32. They unfortunately did not qualify for the playoffs. Stay tuned to see if they have what it takes to rise above and win this season.
The Detroit Tigers have had one heck of a season but after playing hard against the Kansas City Royals, Detroit won the final game of the series 6-3 on Monday night. This brought their overall record this season to 87-73. Look for the Tigers in the playoffs as they compete for a spot in the 2013 World Series.
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WHAT TO WATCH
>>CROSS COUNTRY
The Aquinas College men’s and women’s cross country teams are both off to fabulous starts in their seasons. Both teams have had individual runners ranked in the top ten at both meets this far. Runners to watch are junior Grant Gunneson and Rachael Steil and senior Alina Dhaseleer.
Aquinas Ultimate Team plays top ranked schools at Purdue
Men’s soccer continues to tear down the competition
COURTESY SAM VAN DEN DRIESSCHE
SARAH BRANZ / THE SAINT
Heads up: Senior midfielder Billy Cremeans jumps and pushes off his opponent for possession of the ball while senior forward Casey Higgason looks on. By John Sainz The Saint Reporter As homecoming festivities wind down and the beer tent is disassembled, no one is more satisfied with the weekend than the men’s soccer team. On Saturday, amidst the homecoming crowd, the men’s squad triumphed to victory in a 2-1 match over the Madonna University Crusaders. Junior midfielders Michael Gagnon and Tyler Fischer put up points for the Saints in Saturday’s game. “Well, I thought we played good defensively most of the game, which is always our first priority in every game we go into, and I definitely think if we posses the ball, take the chances given to us and put the goals away, and play to our full potential, we shouldn’t lose another game this season,” said senior midfielder Heath Somers. Head Coach Joe Veal explained, “It is always good for our guys to win on homecoming, especially against Madonna, who beat us last year, so it was good to win this time. The second half could have gone better, but we got the result we wanted.” Last week the guys dominated Northwestern Ohio in a 3-0 win, and suffered a loss to Cornerstone University in double overtime. “Cornerstone
was a good game that could have gone both ways, we played hard, and it’s just a shame we couldn’t put it away earlier. Both team’s keepers, including our keeper (sophomore) Mike Sweers, played exceptionally well, and are fit to be nominated for players of the week,” said Coach Veal. The team is currently 7-3-1 overall and hold a conference record of 2-1-0 in the WHAC. The boys are confident and optimistic while understanding the challenges that lie ahead. The Saints will travel to Southfield, Michigan, later today to take on the Blue Devils of Lawrence Tech University, who are currently 1-9 overall at 3 p.m. There is a lot of speculation about the Aquinas Men’s soccer team this year, and the Saints are working diligently to strive in the weeks to come. With two out of three conference games in the bag for the Saints, expectations are high for the season, but the guys are staying focused and still practicing their one-game-at-a-time philosophy. With September wrapped up and out of the way, the Saints have roughly one more month of regular season play, with a good chance of extending their season into November.
Women’s golf team holds steady as the end of the season draws near By Laura Rico Staff Writer The Aquinas women’s golf team is getting ready to wrap up their season. This past week included a few bad strokes and unfortunate weather conditions, however, in their third match they brought their game up as the team is currently second out of eight teams. On Friday, Sept. 21, the girls played the first of a two part match in the second Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference Jamboree against Madonna and placed second out of eight with a 327 score. Senior Abby Hagan led the team and tied for second place with a personal score of 80, while freshman Alicia Flood and junior Kristin Raiz both tied for seventh place and had a score of 82. Flood said, “I think that the match went well. We all played very well and came in with good scores. We did lose by a few strokes, but we still have a few tournaments left in the fall season, and I am positive that we can make up for the few lost strokes from Friday.” On Saturday, Sept. 22, the Saints played against Concordia in the second part of the Jamboree and placed third out of eight with a score of 337, combined with the pervious day’s score for a total of 664. Hagan led the team again with a personal score of 83 and a total score Sports Editor Alyssa Frese
of 163. She tied for second once more. Freshmen Morgan Leep had a score of 83 and a total score of 166, Raiz had a score of 84 and a total score of 166, both girls tied for eighth place. Raiz said, “The course was in horrible condition. It was really cold and we experienced an hour of down pour (almost hail). It was a good experience though, as a team we all made some good shots, and we can always do better.” On Thursday, Sept. 27, the Saints hosted the third WHAC Jamboree and placed second out of eight with a score of 320. Hagan led the Saints and ranked in first place with a score of 77. Raiz followed with a score of 80 and came in third in a three way tie. Flood came in with a score of 81 and tied in sixth place. Raiz added, “We are doing great this season thus far…golf being an individual sport, there is always areas to improve on, and we have a solid team.” The women will participate in the fourth and last WHAC Jamboree hosted by Indiana Tech at Coyote Creek Golf Club, today, Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 11 a.m.
E-mail saint.editors@aquinas.edu
COURTESY SAM VAN DEN DRIESSCHE
Striking a pose: The Aquinas Ultimate team pauses for a photo during the Purdue tournament. By Alyssa Frese Sports Editor The Aquinas College Ultimate club team is looking to step up their game this academic year. After playing top teams at Purdue two weekends ago, the team knows what they are capable of and what they need to do to be successful as they compete in more tournaments and games this year. “The weekend was a terrific learning experience for the entire team. We have a really young team and one of the best ways to gain experience is by attending tournaments hosted at Division I schools such as Purdue,” said senior George Van Den Driessche. “As a team we will need to work on our offense maintaining possession of the disc and defensively that we are able to stand toe to toe with these larger institutions. This will be great for preparing us for other tournaments this season when we travel to Kettering Thunderstorm where we will see teams from Hope, GVSU, CMU, and Northern Michigan.” The experience alone of playing top ranked schools such as Purdue is just as valuable as winning in the eyes of senior Mitch Spelde. “I think just the experience of a tournament was even
more valuable than anything else. Something I like to think about is as hard as losing is, you learn more from it than winning, and we are in a rebuilding mode so we need to learn a lot. However, we are quickly progressing and coming together as a team.” Though the Ultimate team is a club team rather than an official Aquinas team, the level of competition and hunger for success is still desirable. “I think it’s important to remember that we are a club team. The most important thing to everyone on the team is to have fun. That being said we are all competitors who want to win every game we play but more importantly let’s hope we don’t forget to have fun and honor the spirit of the game,” said sophomore Gus Wasinski. The Aquinas Ultimate team‘s final competition will be the local Grand Rapids event called Huckfest. It will be hosted at Douglas Walker Park in Byron Center. The date is yet to be announced. “We would love to see the AQ community show up and cheer us on to victory,” said Van Den Driessche.
Women’s volleyball sets new tone By John Sainz The Saint Reporter With the regular season roughly halfway over with, the Aquinas Women’s volleyball team holds an undesirable record of 4-10. With a losing weekend at the Indiana Wesleyan/Indiana Tech challenge, the Saints put up great competition against Indiana Wesleyan, Indiana Tech, Grace College, as well as Marion University. Though unable to come out on top, the girls played tough, and have made valuable progress, providing good reason for optimism in the coming weeks. The squad has only one returning senior this year, and is led by three captains: senior Jessica Bredeweg, sophomore MacKenzie Kolstad, and junior Amy VonKronenberger. Two head coaches are running the volleyball team for their first year. Betsy Vander Meer and Katie Vander Meer, who both played and studied here at Aquinas, are heading the team. Betsy Vander Meer spent two years as an assistant coach for the Saints. Her daughter Katie Vander Meer is as qualified as they come, turning down a full-ride scholarship to Michigan State University to play for Aquinas, and become the WHAC player of the year in 2010, and has returned as head coach.
Phone (616) 632-2975
Website www.aquinas.edu/thesaint
Coach Katie Vander Meer said, “We were able to play more consistent, and I think this weekend has been a turning point for us to come together as a team and truly understand what we’re capable of.” Vander Meer attributes the teams newfound rhythm to the leadership of the upperclassmen and captains, raving that, “They all do such a great job.” She made mention of Bredeweg’s unprecedented example of leadership that she brings to the team, and considers her a key player in the squad’s ability to work together. The Saints are focused, determined, and are working harder than ever to turn their season around. Today, the team will travel to Cornerstone University to play the Golden Eagles, a well-coached, tough team who currently holds a 12-4 record. The match will begin at 7 p.m. The team is currently 1-3 in the WHAC, but still has seven more conference games on the regular season schedule, meaning that if the girls can pull together, they still have a good shot in competing for the league title.