Odd Injuries Plague Benedictine Fall Sports Written by: Courtney Edmonds The football team and women's soccer team have something unfortunate in common. Both have experienced suspicious oddities on their teams this season. Although injury can be a frustrating obstacle for any coach, BC has adjusted well to the unwarranted challenge. Junior John Weitlich started at quarterback for the Ravens in 2006. During two-adays this past pre-season, Weitlich tweaked his hamstring. Despite his will to endure the pain, Weitlich's injury forced him to watch his team from the sidelines. The Ravens turned to Soph. Ryan Kelly to lead the team onto victory in 2007. Against Avila, Kelly proved that he was a capable QB and led the team to their first victory. Kelly's opportunity at quarterback was cut short after he was "rolled up on" by a Baker defender two weeks ago. At the start of the fourth quarter, Kelly and his hurt ankle were replaced by Soph. Nick Kammerer. Less than a minute later, after one snap of the football, Kammerer went down with a high ankle sprain. With that, quarterback coach Fran Johnson, turned to a healing Weitlich and asked him if he could take the field for the Ravens. "The other coaches said they've never seen anything like it," said Johnson. "The experience was gut-wrenching, I had no fourth guy in case John went down. I started looking for receivers who might know the plays well enough to play quarterback." "It was unfortunate that Nick only had one play", said Johnson. Johnson has been giving freshmen more varsity reps in practice in case the bad luck continues. Johnson isn't the only coach on campus looking to his under-classman to fill varsity positions. As we cross campus we find that the oddity has showed its ugly face on other BC sports teams. For the women's soccer team, the bad luck began in pre-season when sophomore Kim Minnick, one of the team's right backs, heard her foot make a popping noise while chasing a loose ball before practice. Minnick would later find out that she had broken a bone in her foot. Lincoln Roblee, the head coach, turned to sophomore Emily Wright to fill Minnick's shoes in the position of right back. After four well-played games, Wright fell to the ground after a defender ran her over from behind. The diagnosis was a sprained MCL. Freshman Hilary Dreyer was the next to step up for the Lady Ravens. After an all-star assist in the first half, Dreyer went in for a tackle and collided with a Hannibal LaGrange defender. Through the hard plastic of her shin-guard, Dreyer took a blow that would land her on the sideline for the rest of the season. An X-RAY after the game showed a clean break to the tibia. "It's been quite bizarre, there's only been one serious injury in the past two seasons, and now this," said Roblee. One might contribute this unfortunate turn of events to bad luck, but suspicions arise when you note that all three of the injuries happened to the team's right back players. Is there actually something to it? Is there something about these positions that make their players more prone to injury? Freshman Lauren Heinisch moved from her mid-fielder position to fill the suspicious spot. Roblee refers to Heinisch as the team's chameleon because of her
Odd Injuries Plague Benedictine Fall Sports Written by: Courtney Edmonds athletic versatility. In her first game as right back, Heinisch earned an assist and contributed to a win over Hannibal LaGrange. "If Heinisch gets hurt we may not even play with a right back," said Roblee sarcastically. According to Roblee, there are 11 positions on the field, and there's nothing unique to the right back position that would result in all the injuries the Ravens have had this year. There seems to be no explanation as to why certain teams and certain positions have been so badly plagued with injury. This uncertainty has BC coaches on their toes. As injured players go down, new players must be prepared to step in and take action. So far, BC has adjusted well and has managed to win despite adversity. The women's soccer team just played its first HAAC Conference game this past weekend against Mid-America Nazarene. BC won 3-0. The BC football team shut out Culver Stockton 41-0. All injuries aside, the BC Ravens have proven that they will fight against all odds to be at the top of their Conference this year.
Title IX Written by: Courtney Edmonds How are private schools including Benedictine College able to maintain equal sex enrollment when public schools around them are not? They seek out athletes to boost enrollment numbers. Unlike public schools, private schools don’t have to abide by federal government policies like Title IX. In other words, it’s legal for private schools to give more scholarships to men than women. Of the 453 athletes on BC’s campus, 301 are men, and 152 are women. Before 1972, all public funding set aside for athletics went straight into the hands of those programs that had the most fans and made the most money. These programs were predominantly male programs. With no funding, women’s collegiate athletics in America was limited to intramurals and city leagues. Title IX made the awarding of athletic scholarship a civil rights issue. It’s stated in Section 86.37 of the Title IX Policy that a “financial comparison is to be made to determine whether proportionately equal amounts of financial assistance (scholarship aid) are available to men's and women's athletic programs.” Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, intercollegiate athletics in the United States has become an endeavor stretching across gender lines. At Kansas University, extra women’s sports are added to meet equality standards. Because there is no equivalent female sport opposite football, scholarships are given across many sports so that numbers will equal out. At KU, you’ll find a women’s swim team, rowing team, and soccer team, but don’t expect to watch a man in a Jayhawks jersey playing one of these sports. What many may not know is that private schools are not required to follow this standard. Since the federal government does not fund private institutions, they are not bound by precepts such as Title IX. However, it would be false to say that Title IX has not impacted private school sports. Although not directly influenced by the policy, Benedictine College has made adjustments to provide equal opportunities to women in sports. Not much is said about gender inequality around campus, that’s because it’s not an issue here. In fact, BC prides itself on having a 50/50 male-female enrollment ratio, a feat that today, is rarely accomplished in America’s colleges, according to BC Athletic Director, Richard Konzem. There is a trend in American higher education that has left its mark on the college population. Today, 56 percent of college students are women. Konzem, contributes this difference to the rising demand for the service-oriented industry. “People aren’t as selfsufficient as they have been in the past and they require more assistance,” he said. Instead of going to college, men are seeking technical training after high school, which enables them to start a career sooner. A chance to play a sport you love provides additional encouragement for students thinking about college. In fact, some students will accept minimal scholarships just for the opportunity to play on a college team. At a school like Benedictine, where the price of attending exceeds $20,000, a minimal scholarship results in more money for the college. “Athletes drive enrollment in private schools, if Title 9 were applied, our female to male ratio would lose its balance,” Konzem said. “Athletics attracts men who may never attend college otherwise.”
Title IX Written by: Courtney Edmonds With 160 players, football Coach Larry Wilcox boasts the largest team on campus. Compare that with volleyball, a sport with only women participants, and we see that male athletes out-number female athletes, 8:1. A football team requires 11 men for offense and 11 men for defense. That means that Benedictine has over 14 times the players the game requires on its squad. With numbers that high, it’s certain that not all players are going to get playing time in a given year. In fact, some players don’t even see playing time after wearing a Ravens jersey for 4 years. “No one ever told me realistically that I probably wouldn’t get to play” said a former BC football player. “I ended up quitting the team, if I wouldn’t have gotten to keep my scholarship, I would have been out of here faster than I could snap my fingers.” Unfortunately, a lot of athletes who don’t receive the playing time they expect, end up leaving in search of better opportunities, which impacts the colleges retention rate and overall credibility.
Men’s Basketball Mid Season Standings Written by: Courtney Edmonds This year’s basketball season is proving to be a roller coaster ride for BC’s men’s basketball team. The Ravens sit in 5th place in Heart of America Conference with a conference record of 6-5. The team sits 2 games behind the fourth place spot, which is previously held by William Jewell at 8-3. Despite a few slip-ups over break, the men continue to hold a prominent spot among the leagues elite basketball teams. Going into break the Ravens went 2-1 in HAAC play. Their only loss came at the hands of Kansas City rival, William Jewell, whom the Ravens will meet again this Thursday at home. (Scores unavailable at time of press.) On December 27th the Ravens flocked to the Surf City Classic Games in California. The 2-game tournament presented the Ravens with an opportunity to play a few games before Conference play would resume on Jan. 3. The Ravens went 1-1 in the classic. In their first game the Ravens fell 84-71 to NAIA Division 1 powerhouse, Concordia out of California, but redeemed themselves in the second game against Husson in a 72-56 victory. Drew Huppe, Jr. led both games in scoring with 24 and 19 points. Dan Van Dyke, Sr. scored 37 points in the tournament and Ronnie Tyson, Sr. put up 26 in two games. Come Jan. 3, the Ravens seemed to have a bit of an edge on the teams they met on the hardwood. Like in the tournament, Huppe and Van Dyke led their team in scoring against the team’s first HAAC rival of 2008. Despite a good effort, Culver Stockton could not keep up with BC’s fast paced play. The two teams fought their way through 2 overtimes, but Benedictine took home the prize, the final score was 86-79. Benedictine recorded another win against Baker University on Jan. 7. The home court advantage proved to be less than sufficient for the Wildcats to claim the victory. The scoreboard read 70-63 at the games end. At 4-1 in the conference, the Ravens returned home for their first home conference game since Dec. 1. Their competition was the 2007 defending national champions, Mid-America Nazarene, a team BC hadn’t beat since 2001. Even without the regular student crowd, the bleachers in Ralph Nolan Gymnasium were filled with fans from both teams, each awaiting the outcome of the game. Despite a 9 point deficit at half time, the Benedictine men rallied together in a comeback effort that resulted in a 74-70 Ravens win. Two days later, on Jan. 12, the Ravens packed up and headed north to Lamoni, IA to take on Graceland University. The game told a far different story than the one told on the previous Thursday. The fans in the stands were few and far between for the Ravens. The Ravens who shot 44 percent from the field, could not stop the hot shooting of the Yellowjackets. On the game, Graceland shot an astounding 65 percent from the field and 80 percent from three point land. Despite a late comeback effort, the Ravens fell hard, losing by 6 points. Whether the blow by Graceland was a shocking one or not, the Ravens have had a hard time recovering. The team has lost 4 of their last 5 games and all but one have come at the hands of teams that sit behind them in the HAAC standings. Although this may be a low point in the season, the Ravens look forward to the games ahead. The first half of conference play had BC on the road 6 games out of 9. The schedule for the second half of the season is much kinder to the Ravens and their
Men’s Basketball Mid Season Standings Written by: Courtney Edmonds fans. What better place to find one’s footing than at home? The Ravens hold the home court advantage for the next 4 games. As of now Evangel, at 9-1 sits at the top of the conference. Close behind is a beat-up Mid-America squad and one game behind them is Central Methodist. Promising for the Ravens is the fact that the second and third place teams in conference have both fallen to BC once this season. The Ravens have yet to play number one ranked Evangel University, but will be given a chance to do so on Feb. 2 at home.
A Raven Football Game: A Battle from Start to Finish Written by: Courtney Edmonds “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.” That’s the last thing in the world the 2008 Benedictine football team wants to hear. For this year’s BC football team, a good game is just not enough. If playoff berths were given to programs that give teams the best ‘run for their money’, BC would be in a different situation today as far as conference rankings go. The fact is, winning does matter, and BC’s squad is frustrated with its tendency to come up ‘just short’. That is exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon when the Ravens faced the Lindenwood Lions of St. Charles, MO. With 34 seconds left in regulation, the Raven’s had four downs to make an 80 yard charge down the field to reclaim the point advantage, but the team’s hopes were dashed when Lindenwood linebacker, Tim Thomas broke through the Raven’s offensive line. The game ended on a fumble by Jr. Quarterback, Ryan Kelly. “We’ve got to finish for once, we haven’t really finished a game in 2 years,” said Sr. offensive lineman, Alex Saporita in the post game team huddle. Head Coach Larry Wilcox followed Saporita’s comment by saying, “we can’t criticize and blame...we’ll get it done…you have to believe.” The Raven’s are more than capable of making big plays on both sides of the ball but on Saturday, Lindenwood had more of them. “We ran a few specialty plays today and we executed them well, but time became our enemy in the end,” said Wilcox. One of those specialty plays came in the second quarter with the Raven’s trailing the Lions 3-14. The snapped football was lateralled by QB Ryan Kelly to Jr. wide receiver Chris Langley, Langley then connected with Sr. WR, Conor Walsh for a 45 yard touchdown completion. Kelly who came off a 274 yard passing effort last week in the win against CulverStockton, connected for 217 yards against the Lions. 145 of those yards came at the hands of Jr. WR, John Weitlich. “We had a lot of big plays today, but we need to capitalize…we forced turnovers and we had the chance to take them out of their game,” said Saporita. “It comes down to the little things, it’s a 60 minute game and all those little mistakes add up.” Byline: On this past Saturday at Larry Wilcox Stadium, the Ravens battled against the Lindenwood Lions from start to finish. At the end of regulation, the final score was 3633 in favor of the Lions.