CLUB SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ISSUE NO. 92 A UREC PUBLICATION
04 Alpine Ski 06 Cycling 08 Equestrian 10 Fencing 12 Lacrosse Wom 14 Rugby Women 16 Snowboarding 18 Tennis 20 Ultimate Men’ 22 Executive Corn 2
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
January 26th Edition of Club Sports Illustrated Designed by Jarod York UREC Publicity Programmer Edited by Caroline Baird Articles by App State Students
men’s n’s g
’s ner Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
3
You Ski, We Ski, We all Ski to Ski By Claire Biaggi | Club Sports Representative Alpine Ski
I
t is officially competition season for the Alpine Ski Team. We competed in Slalom and Giant Slalom at Sugar Mountain on January 14th and 15th, and then on January 20th and 21st. we raced against eight other schools at Beech Mountain. For both competitions, the Men’s team placed third, and the Women’s team placed fourth in the conference. This means that we are on our way to be able to go to regionals. We’ve had a bunch of new racers joins our team, and they are doing fantastic, especially since most of them have never competed before college. We do have a couple of freshmen that have raced for the Sugar and Beech Race teams. They have been so enthusiastic about everything and these past two weekends have been incredibly enjoyable. We had a couple of guys make it into the top ten, and then a few made it into the top twenty, and we also had a few girls make it into the top 20. This is fantastic because this means that the team is only going to get better and we will be able to qualify for regionals. We have only three more weeks of competitions before regionals, and all of the races are away. Our next race is this upcoming weekend, January 27th and 28th at Massanutten in Virginia. We are all excited to bond as a team and kick some butt at the competition. We are also thrilled to see all the other teams and the friends we’ve made through racing.
4
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
Ty Humphries
Ty Humphries
Ty Humphries
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
5
A New Semester By Lauren Brackett | Secretary Fencing
Lauren Brackett
6
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
FEATURED STORY W
inter break was a busy time for the fencing team! Whether we were celebrating birthdays or shredding the slopes during App Ski Mountain’s student discount night, our members enjoyed some much-needed downtime after a hectic fall semester. Over the break, our President, junior epeeist Maria Cilenti, celebrated her 21st birthday with friends in New Jersey, her home state. January birthdays were also celebrated by Hunter Lee, a junior epeeist and Club Council Rep, and Ian Brundige, one of our sophomore sabrists. Our Vice President, senior sabrist Suryaveer Singh, enjoyed time with family on a trip to Key West and is ready to make the most of his last semester with our team. Earlier this month, senior sabrist Alex O’Neill’s photos of his ice climbing adventures were featured in Rock and Ice Magazine. Congratulations on this accomplishment, Alex! All of the officers can agree that we are excited to welcome new members to our team this semester. As the club continues to grow, we are hoping to expand our equipment
Chase Costner
collection with the help of more fundraisers throughout the semester. The officers have set high financial goals for our team in order to purchase new weapons and supplies for the electric strips, two things that are very important as our club expands. After a disappointing fall-out last semester, we are excited about the possibility of hosting our own tournament in the coming months! Be on the lookout for dates and more information as the semester continues. The spring semester is traditionally our heavier competition season, and we are already looking forward to March, when we will be competing at the SIFA Championships hosted by UNC Greensboro. Last February, a few of our teammates traveled to Nashville to compete at Vanderbilt University for the first time in App Fencing history. Despite the long drive, we had an amazing time exploring downtown Nashville and we are hoping to return this semester for round two! Check out our website to view the current tournament schedule, team pictures, and Maria Cilenti fun facts about our club.
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
7
Cycling Conquers Collegiate Cyclocro Nationals By Annie Pharr | President Cycling
F
or many athletes, the cold winter is the time of year to recover and relax, getting ready for next year’s season. This is when athletes hunker down and reminisce on the season highlights, and plan how they will train for the future. For collegiate cyclocross racers however, all their training efforts are aimed at hitting their peak fitness in January, just in time for collegiate cyclocross nationals. The App State Cycling team is lucky to be able to attend three national events a year, one for each collegiate season. The cyclocross season is unique because its national competitions happen over winter break. This year, nationals took place all the 8
way out in Reno, Nevada. This chilly site held up to the cyclocross traditions of cold, icy, muddy racing conditions. The team sent two riders out to represent our school after they spent all season training and qualifying. Garrett Clark and Wheeler Davis flew out with their bikes the Tuesday before the race to pre ride the course and get settled. One feature unique to the course was the creek ditch, where riders had to either hop their bike over or dismount and jump. Other technical challenges included the slippery switchbacks, and even stairs to navigate. The club race started at 8:30am Wednesday morning, and all the eligible club men from schools around the country lined up to have their chance at glory. It was a tough battle lasting nearly an hour long, with Clark coming in 21st and Davis finishing 27th. Following the race, there was a day of rest between the events and the flight home, which the two decided
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
to spend driving out to Lake Tahoe. The pictures included in this article are from that beautiful sightseeing opportunity instead of the actual race, mainly because it was impossible to be racing and taking pictures during the race simultaneously. Cyclocross is an especially demanding discipline due to the harsh weather conditions and challenging technical abilities needed to navigate the tough courses. We are proud of our nationals racers for leaving it all out on the course and representing App State well. The team is now looking forward to having a successful final season this year as we prepare for road racing to start in February.
oss
Wheeler Davis
Garrett Clark
Garrett Clark
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
9
Annon Blue
10
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
Looking Forward to Spring By Michaela Herberg | Club Sports Representative Equestrian
W
inter break brought some much needed rest and relaxation not only for our team members, but also the hard working lesson horses we ride. Our members range from all over North Carolina to New Hampshire and onwards. The team was able to keep in touch through our social media pages, like Instagram and Facebook, by our various members posting their pony adventures from their home barns. This is a great opportunity for the members of the team to show off their own horses and also the experiences they have away from the equestrian team. We are looking forward to our upcoming semester and coming back together to learn and grow through our various lesson programs. Mimosa Hills Farm, located in Morganton, NC has already started lessons last week, while Foothills Equestrian in
Taylorsville, NC has picked up lessons this week. The team is excited to be back together, and we have many exciting events planned for the coming semester. Last year, we were able to bring our “Selfie with Chester� event back to campus with great success. We hope to organize this event once more and bring a couple miniature horses to campus for pictures and love. Other events we hope to take place in, besides our regularly scheduled horse shows, are regionals and then nationals. Riders of all disciplines will soon find out if their point values are high enough to compete in these events. Taking place in the Winter Club Sports Expo is another goal of the team and a contact booth will be set up to explain who we are and what we do. As a team we hope to not hear the question, we have an equestrian team? And instead hope to hear, I’ve heard about the team and I would love to learn more. Team building events will also be in the works for this coming semester, along with fundraisers at local business such as Comeback Shack and even Chipotle. All in all, the team is back together and looking forward to taking on the new semester together. Included are some pictures of our lovely Western team members riding together before and over break.
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
11
Emma Bouma
Sam Yantz
Winter is Here By Emma Bouma | President Lacrosse Women’s
Sam Yantz
12
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
I
nterest meeting went so well, we have so much interest from all of our current players and new players. Interviewing a few players to get a sense of how much we miss our sport and where their heads are at, everyone has had an eventful winter break. Senior VP Margaret: “I miss lacrosse a butt-load”. Freshman attack, Kaitlyn said “I am super excited to get into this semester I am really looking forward to get a higher up position next year, also I stay awake at night thinking about scoring goals”. Junior Social Chair, Maddie: “If it was on a scale from 1-10, I miss it 9 ¾. I miss my fellow witches. Our amazing officers have set up a great schedule for this semester. We are so excited to start playing again, see each other again. This semester we are so excited especially for the UNCW tournament where we will get an Airbnb beach house with our team. Though we are open and so ready to start, the semester is played with a heavy heart as our beloved seniors Margaret, Daisha, Taylor, Hunter and Stephanie get ready to enter the adult world.
SPRING 2018 SCHEDULE February 4 @ Wake Forest vs. Wake and Lynchburg February 11 @ Elon vs. Elon and NC State March 24-25 Home Tournament Mountaineer Meltdown 2k18 April 7-8 @ UNCW April 14 @ Furman
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
13
AHO Hits the Ground Running, Literally.
By Katie Sorrell | Rookie Rugby Women’s
T
his past Saturday the AHO Women had their first event of the semester. A rugby clinic was put together by our captains and our coach Christine Newman. Held on Brookshire field, we the clinic served as a skills camp to refresh our technique and get AHO back into the swing of things. As the day went on, our muscles ached and our thirst for water never ceased, but we ended the day with high hopes and a humbled spirit to lead us off into the new season. Arguably, a favorite aspect of the clinic held by majority of the team was our coach, Christine. She previously played rugby at University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) and was an amazing athlete. Christine’s knowledge on and off the field made 14
her stand out to superior teams, and she was looked at multiple times for recruitment by the national USA rugby organization. Sadly, due to a leg injury while playing, she was hindered from being able to participate in the sport she loved. Although physically she can’t be involved in rugby, she shares her skill of the sport verbally and mentally in order to aid AHO as a team, but also for us as individual athletes. Our captains and Christine put together a full day of exercises and fun rugby drills. We began at 10 o’clock sharp with a fitness test involving squats, push ups, sit ups, and sprints, which we will have to reflect on as we improve this semester. After our completion of the test and warm up lap, we began exercises that concentrated on defining our smaller skill sets. Drills that concentrated on our footwork and reaction time were completed, and had the purpose of improving our team offensively in trying to find ways through the defense. After completing those drills we all dispersed for a hopefully healthy
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
lunch break, and came back slightly sore, but ready for more. The afternoon brought more contact drills and scrimaging. By the end of the clinic every AHO was exhausted but left with a feeling of accomplishment and excited for the practices and games to come this spring season. We have a full semester of games starting this Saturday, with a game every weekend until the end of February! This week we are busy recruiting new players to grow our family and bring in new talent. AHO is sprinting into the semester with excitement for the many new learning opportunities ahead of us and we are ready to get back to playing the best sport around with the best people around.
Grayson Arthurs
Grayson Arthurs
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
15
It’s RAAAAACE DAAAY! By Lilana Rangel-Parra | Secretary Snowboarding
Stephanie Shapiro
16
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
Stephanie Shapiro
R
ace season has graced our presence once again, and man does it feel good to be back. As we sit at the top of our course jamming to a pre-race playlist, there comes this rush of adrenaline through the body that makes this weatherdependent sport worth every second of the freezing cold. We crave the snow and the adrenaline. January and February are packed back-to-back with events for USCSA teams on the Ice Coast. Our first two races were home this season, located at Sugar and Beech Mountain here in beautiful North Carolina. Our first race at Sugar flowed super well; we could not have asked for any better. Giant Slalom was the first event, which can look intimidating at first glance. Our returning members gladly helped break down the event to new members, showing them all the necessary skills and tricks
needed. The new riders absolutely killed it! There were some who had never raced before- some who had never even ridden before- and all of them still crushed it. First Race Day of the season: check! Our second race was at Beech, with the first day consisting of Giant Slalom and the second day being Slopestyle. Our first race began at a later time, so we had all morning to hit laps with the crew. It is hard to describe the incredible feeling of bombing mountains with the whole team. I watch all these flashes of yellow and black before me, whipping back and forth, fast, slow, stylish, clean, maybe even a little dirty. It is motivational to say the least to be surrounded by such great riders who make me want to better myself every single day. After riding for a good bit, our Giant Slalom event began. Once again, everyone killed it! We saw huge improvement in just one week from every single rider. The next day was a jampacked fun day in Slopestyle. This event consists of jumps and features to showcase your style and groove as a rider. It is judged on technique, amplitude, creativity, and fluidity.
These days are always relaxed, where we cheer on every rider, “ooooh� at some of the harsher crashes, and attempt a bomb run each chance we get on the park. Our team crushed this event, too. We left the mountain that Sunday content and proud for all that we accomplished this weekend. Being on the team for a second year only solidifies how much love I have for the team. We have a huge group of rad people all passionate about the same thing: snowboarding. We like to spend our winters freezing our butts off. We like to hurl our bodies near huge metal objects. The App State Snowboard Team is just one big goofy, adrenalineseeking team of people all looking to shred the winter days away.
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
17
Shane McDonough
T
he App State Club Tennis Team is extremely excited for the spring season to begin. The fall semester was a huge success for us so we are going into this semester with high expectations. Sectionals, our biggest tournament of the year, are in late February so we are itching to get back on the court and start grinding to prepare the best we can. The tournament is held in Auburn, Alabama and if we do well enough we can earn
18
a bid to nationals. The past two years we have come within a match or two from qualifying so we are hoping this is the year we can break through. We have our strongest team to date so we are confident going in that we can contend for a bid. Another strong feat for our club is the fact that we are taking multiple teams to Auburn for the first time. We held a fundraiser at the end of last semester that ended up raising $1,500, which was much more than anticipated. The fundraiser allowed alumni, parents, members, and even those in the Boone community to purchase team apparel and donate to
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
our program. This grew the interest and involvement of those outside our club’s members, which was a goal of ours going into this year. The funds will allow more of our members to participate in tournament and experience the fun and competition that comes with them. We are ecstatic with what the future holds for our club as we continually progress in size, influence, and competitiveness.
Back to the Grind By Kyle Kennedy | President Tennis
Kelly Hargett
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
19
T
he boys are back in town. The Nomads have begun practicing for the heavily anticipated spring semester. We’re hoping to be flowing like a well oiled machine in no time, and with tournaments right around the block we can’t afford not to be at the top of our game. We are like the Cavs, take it easy in the fall (regular season), then flip the switch when it matters (spring semester). Because you know were gunning for our own bid to nationals. There’s no need to be unethical and steal someone else’s bid when you can just earn one for yourself. The Nomads kick off their spring semester with a major key tournament this weekend in the city that never sleeps, Greer, South Carolina. The rankings for it were released today and it is just downright
20
disrespectful to the Nomads. We are seeded 5th, behind Davidson (decent), Clemson (bruh), Tennessee (BrUh), and Emory (BRUH). Like are they just trying to give us more fuel, trust me we got enough. But we’ll take it because we know fuel doesn’t grow on trees and the worst thing to do is get complacent. We will also be competing against High Point, Georgia, Radford, and Charleston. This tournament is a perfect warmup tournament for the spring semester as we can check out those players who have made some strides in the month we had off due to break. The next weekend we have the biggest tournament most of the players on the team have ever been able to go to. The annual Queen City Tune Up in Charlotte. At this tournament will be UNC, Michigan, Massachusetts, UNC Wilmington, Auburn, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, NC State, Georgia Tech, Georgia, and many other solid teams. All the teams I mentioned are nationally ranked, so we’ve got our plate full for competition. But if there’s one thing I know about my gang gang is that nobody can check us on the pitch. I’m excited to keep all my loyal followers updated throughout this spring semester and I hope you all have a great pre Puppy Bowl weekend and then Puppy Bowl weekend! See you in a couple weeks :) blessings, Myles
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
$20 is $20
By Myles Grady | Secretary Ultimate Men’s
Nick Simpson
Nick Simpson
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
21
Executive Corner By Bryce Helms | Executive Officer
T
he spring semester is finally here! As we gear up for the spring semester we have a lot of events to look forward too. The banner committee has set a date on when pictures will be taken to place together the new banner. Community service and fundraising are both beginning to brain storm ideas on what they want their project to be for this semester. Fundraising wants to sell Gatorade’s at events and get more 22
information on stickers. The State Farm Field committee is looking to get the bleachers at the Old Watauga High School grounds moved to State Farm Fields. In the spring semester there are events such as symposium, the banquet, and budget proposal. Each executive has been assigned to a certain task and will begin planning soon! With a little hard work and dedication, together we can achieve great things. All of the executives are excited to get this new semester started and watch each team accomplish great things once again! I hope everyone has a great semester.
Club Sports Illustrated // Issue No. 92
Bryce Helms
Bryce Helms
Issue No. 92 // Club Sports Illustrated
23
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CLUB SPORTS GO TO CLUBSPORTS.APPSTATE.EDU Executive Officers KEVIN MEYER meyerkc@appstate.edu
EMMA BOUMA boumaec@appstate.edu
MIKHALA DOUGHER doughermo@appstate.edu
COURTNEY FORBIS forbiscj@appstate.edu
BRYCE HELMS helmsba@appstate.edu
Coordinators for Sports & Activities JOE CARTER cartercp@appstate.edu
ALEX PURVIS purvista@appstate.edu
ERIN SANDERS sandersec1@appstate.edu
JOHN MARION marionjs@appstate.edu
appstateclubsports
AppStClubSports