SPORTS
B4/Liberty Champion
April 23, 2013
CROWN continued from B1 Men’s Outstanding Field Performer award. Liberty swept first through fourth places in the pole vault and contributed 29 points to the team score. Redshirt freshman Cody Bingham finished in the top spot, vaulting 16-0.75. Redshirt senior Chris Johnson secured 10 more points for the Flames, winning the triple jump with a distance of 48-4.75. On the track, Isaac Wendland captured his first Big South individual titles, taking first place in both the 800-meter and 1500meter runs and adding 20 points to the Flames tally. Wendland finished the 800 with a time of 1:51.37 and clocked 3:56.78 in the 1500. In the 5,000-meter run, Caleb Edmonds, Josh MacDonald, Jeremie Bourget and David Ricksecker took first, second, third and fifth place, respectively, adding 28 points for the Flames. Edmonds finished the race in 14:26.14. In the 10,000-meter run, the 5K quartet swept the top four spots and contributed 29 additional points. Ricksecker crossed the finish line first, clocking 31:22.29, followed by Edmonds, MacDonald and Bourget. Andre Washington posted 10 tallies for Liberty, claiming a victory in the 400-meter hurdles. “I tried to stay pretty conservative throughout the race, but, once I hit that last stretch, I felt myself speeding up, and I saw myself passing people,” Washington said. “I thought, ‘I got this, I really actually have it this time,’ and that thought, that idea, just carried me throughout the rest of the race.” The senior finished with a personal-best time of 51.95 seconds. “I expected to run around a mid-52-ish, but when I saw 51 (on the board), I mean, the first thought was, ‘Thank you, God,’ that came through my head, and I don’t really remember much after that. I was too excited,” Washington said. He also posted a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.17 seconds. The senior ran in both relays as well, helping Liberty to third
“42” continued from B1 that is as well-done as it is, at times, unsettling to sit through. The culture war was fought both in the public and within the Dodgers organization. Several players ultimately rejected the notion that an African American could play in the majors and made appropriate career moves. Perhaps no one hated Robinson’s presence more than Phillies’ manager Ben Chapman, portrayed by Alan Tudyk. In a scene that just seems to never end, Robinson endures Chapman’s heckling — without a filter and
Kyle Milligan| Liberty Champion
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS — Senior Cody Fridgen pole vaulted his way into second place at the Big South Championship. place in the 4x100-meter relay (41.11 seconds) and fourth in the 4x400-meter relay (3:15.24). Washington was joined by Roderick Spruel, Tarell Williams and ConRoy Smith in the 4x100 and by Kyle Kill, Isaac Wendland and Paul Arslain in the 4x400. The Flames finished with 213 points, defeating Coastal Carolina (131) in the championship. “I figured we should’ve had about a 30-point win, and the team really rallied together and competed well, and 82 points is, like, dominant,” Head Coach Brant Tolsma, who took home both the Men’s and Women’s, Big South Coach of the Year awards, said. After being ahead for most of the competition, the Lady Flames relinquished their lead to Coastal Carolina in the final events of the meet. The teams exchanged the lead several times before Liberty guaranteed its victory in the 5,000-meter run, the second-to-last event. Senior Khristina Kanagy finished the 5K in second place with a time of 17:14.83. Sophomore Jacy Christiansen then sprinted past two runners in the home stretch, crossing the finish line third in 17:26.2. “I just kept working up and trying to get a better and better place, because I knew the team
with increasing vulgarity — for three consecutive at-bats. In an amazing display of restraint amidst a steady barrage of unfathomable hatred, Robinson holds himself together publicly before retreating to the entrance tunnel. In one of the most emotionally moving scenes of the entire film, Robinson flies into a rage before eventually slumping in a heap, in tears. But Rickey, taking Robinson in his arms, explains to “Jack” that he is medicine for America, and the game. The backand-forth between Ford and Boseman throughout the film is rich with feel-
needed points,” Christiansen said. The two All-Big South finishes allowed the Lady Flames to put 14 points on the board, giving them a 10.75-point margin. With the new cushion, Liberty secured the team victory, since Coastal Carolina could not have scored enough points to surpass the Lady Flames in the last event. “I’m just glad that our team was able to pull together and find team unity and get that first place,” Kanagy said. In the final event, the team of Ansley Gebben, Abigail Flower, Brittney Webley and Corinn Bedell scored six more team points in the 4x400, stretching the final margin to 6.75 points (210-203.25). The team earned third place with a time of 3:51.26. “Everybody, all through the day, competed really hard,” Tolsma said. “I kept telling them how close it was and that every point counted, and I was really proud of how they laid it on the line.” The Lady Flames also notched four event victories in the team win. Redshirt senior Christina Mitchell earned two individual titles in her last conference championship. Mitchell scored 4,743 points in the heptathlon for the win. She also added a
Kyle Milligan| Liberty Champion
LEAP — Sophomore Kyle Wheeler finished third in the long jump. gold-medal performance in the ships in her two years. The sophomore also added a javelin, throwing 152-9 for new win in the discus with a 166-11 program and meet records. Sophomore Mychelle throw and a new meet record. Cumings won the Women’s Additionally, she has won the Big South Outstanding Field Big South discus championship Performer award after secur- in both of her years at Liberty. The Flames and Lady Flames ing victories in the shot put will travel to Radford University and discus. Cumings recorded the five lon- to compete in the Highlander gest throws of the competition in Invitational April 26 and 27. the shot put and threw 50-6.75 for the victory. She has brought home shot put titles in all four BROWN is a sports indoor and outdoor champion- reporter.
Screenshot | Warner Bros. Pictures
DODGERS — Chadwick Boseman stars as Jackie Robinson in “42.” good moments like this. of conservative audiences The same can be said is unadulterated by typical for the on screen chemis- Hollywood promiscuity, is try between Boseman and warm and believable withNicole Beharie, who plays out being overly cutesy or the part of Robinson’s wife, cheesy. Rachel. The romance, The film also provides which to the satisfaction more than a few chuckles.
One teammate jokingly suggests to Robinson as they stand before a booing crowd that for the next game, the entire team should wear No. 42 so that the crowd would not be able to tell them apart. The film does suffer from a handful of small continuity problems however. Several times, screenshots taken of particular events appear in color, which seems out of place considering color photography did not exist in the ‘40s. As a writer, I appreciated the character of Wendell Smith. Played by Andre Holland, the black sportswriter who chronicled Robinson’s early career.
While overall, the exchanges between Holland and Boseman do not have the same quality as those between Boseman and Ford, a scene where Smith describes to Robinson how he is not permitted to sit in the press box is particularly impactful. Overall, “42” does more than a good job of telling a great story that anyone — sports enthusiast, or not — will enjoy. To the Liberty community, I would say that the movie is worthy of being seen at Regal Cinemas, rather than in a few months when it eventually arrives at Cinemark. HARVEY is the sports editor.