Sports
August 5, 2011 • Editor, Sam Hunt
Ultimate places at Nationals
a letter from the assistant sports editor Taylor Lamb Sports Columnist
Jessica Ramirez / Staff Photographer on March 11 The official Ultimate team of Georgia College, Disconnected, made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the D-III Nationals and placed seventh after a tough loss to Truman State.
Ultimate team Disconnected travels to Buffalo, N.Y. to play in the 2011 USA Ultimate Division III College Championships and places seventh out of 16 colleges around the nation that competed in the two-day tournament Sam Hunt Senior Reporter
Jessica Ramirez/ Staff Photographer Taylor Minch of Disconnected looks to pass around his Florida Tech opponent.. Disconnected traveled to the nationals after defeating Florida Tech 15-2 in the regionals.
After grabbing five regional wins in April, the Georgia College Ultimate Club team, Disconnected, headed to Buffalo, N.Y., to compete in the United States of America Ultimate Division III College
Championships. From May 21 to May 22, the team competed for a national title in the USAU Championship. After playing a total of six games in the tournament, Disconnected advanced to the quarterfinals and finished in seventh place out of the 16 teams that competed. “It went pretty well,” senior history major and co-captain Peter Crupie said. “We had three games that we lost by one point, you can’t have much better games than that. We had a couple games where we got down, but finishing seventh out of 16 is really good considering all the different leagues we faced. It would have been nice to finish higher but I’m definitely satisfied with a seventh place finish.” The championship tournament began for Disconnected on Saturday, May 21 at 12:30 p.m. when Georgia College faced their first opponent, Connecticut College’s Dasein. In their first game, Disconnected suffered a tough one-point defeat against Connecticut College with the final score at 13-12. After their defeat against Connecticut College, Disconnected played their second game of the day at 3:30p.m. against Missouri S&T’s Miner Threat. Georgia College fought hard against Miner Threat but for the second time in a row lost the game by a single point with the final score at 10-11. After their loss to Missouri S&T, Disconnected played their third and final game of the day at 5 p.m. against Lewis and Clark College’s Bacchus. The Bacchus had also lost their first two games, and as a result the victor of this match-up would be the one to still be in the hunt for the national title while the other went home. Determined not to be sent home early, Georgia College played aggressively against Lewis and Clark and defeated them 15-5 which was their first victory of the tournament and kept them from getting eliminated from nationals. At 8 a.m. on Sunday, Georgia College stepped onto the field and defeated the Swarthmore College Earthworms in the 2A vs. 3D crossover game 15-7, advancing them to the Championship Bracket to the quarterfinals. “We had eight seniors that had played together for four years, we know how each other plays,” Crupie
said. “We work well with each other, and we are such a solid core group playing together for so long, it let us get there and play as good as we did.” Georgia College played their first quarterfinal game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 22 against St. John’s. At the start of the game, St. John’s quickly began taking control of the disc which allowed them to gain a multi-point lead by the end of the first half. Coming into the second half, Disconnected rallied and began to catch up to St. John’s. Over the duration of the second half, Georgia College caught up to St. John’s and the second half ended with the score tied at 13-13. This sent the game into overtime where the first team to score would win. In overtime, St. John’s managed to land a pass in the end zone and win the game 14-13, the third time Georgia College lost a nationals game by a point. Disconnected’s loss against St. John’s took them out of the Championship Bracket and they had to play one last game in order to determine placing in the tournament. After a tough loss on Sunday against Truman State with the final score of 13-9, Georgia College placed seventh overall in the DIII College Open Championships and their season came to an end. “I think the best thing will be for the guys playing next year to know that they saw top caliber teams play,” Crupie said. “They saw the best teams and it showed them how they have to play next year and how a nationals team needs to play. Now that they’ve seen it, they know exactly what it is they need to do and how hard they have to work, practice and push themselves.” Disconnected will begin their 2012 season at the start of January. Although Georgia College will be losing six seniors, one of whom is Crupie, he is confident about the team’s potential for next season. “I’m feeling good about next season. We should have about 12-15 guys for next year who can come out and have good commitment,” Crupie said. “We have a couple guys returning for fifth year who have good leadership and are good players who can help the younger guys out. I’m really looking forward to next season, I think they’re going to do well again.”
Soccer team preps for upcoming season Special to the Colonnade Submitted By Al Weston Now taking the reins for her second season as head coach of the Georgia College soccer program, Hope Clark has a strong core of 13 returning players, including a pair of All-Peach Belt Conference selections, with numerous starts and plenty of experience. Add in a whopping 15 newcomers to the Bobcat roster, and the preseason will be full of healthy competition for nearly every spot on the field. “The style of soccer won’t change
The Short Stop
much,” reveals Clark. “We’re still going to be very possession-oriented and attacking-minded. The new crop of players has helped strengthen us in all aspects. We’ve gotten more athletic and bigger in size as well as number.” A quality group of student-athletes on and off the field, the ability to bring the two groups together, and quickly, will be an important factor of the preseason. “Team chemistry will be key,” said Clark. “We need them to gel and gel quickly as we start out with tough opponents right away.”
SENIORS The leading active scorer for the Bobcats with 13 goals, Megan McAlpin enters her final season off a down year (2 goals) in 2010. McAlpin is a “strong, physical forward” and the team’s hardest worker will look to bring a bit more to the table in her senior campaign. Midfielder Karen Bonilla is a twotime All-PBC selection, and will look to be a bit more of a factor in the scoring game this season. Savvy on the ball with solid distribution skills, Bonilla will be called upon to put more
Upcoming Games Soccer: Sept. 2
6 p.m.
Cross Country: Sept. 2
Bobcat Invitational
Lenoir-Rhyne
points on the board and to have a bigger impact on the offense. Tawny Moffat has been a “stronghold” on the back line for GC, as the former All-PBC selection has started 45 games coming into the season. She is “knowledgeable, strong and a leader on the back line” according to Clark. New to the squad after transferring from the NAIA’s Auburn University Montgomery, Erica Padula has the skill set to make an immediate impact
Soccer page 19
Quote of the Week “I think the best thing will be for the guys next year to know that they saw the top caliber teams. They saw the best teams and it showed them how they have to play next year and how hard they have to work, practice, and push themselves” -Co-Captain of Disconnected, Peter Crupie about competing at the Division III Ultimate Nationals.
A lot happened since the sports staff of the Colonnade left you. The NFL finally got its act together with the players union and as of now there will be a season to watch. Expect some big faces in new towns and no more mindless whining from a former class act, Randy Moss. Atlanta’s suffering a sport loss… well not statistically speaking, but their 27 are suffering the loss of an exciting team. Dirty Dirk finally got his ring, thankfully watching the Big Three fall during their first attempt. Heat fans, do not get to anxious for another run just yet, because the NBA and its union are at each others throats, and as of now trying to negotiate plans for an agreeable season, and besides, we all know the Hawks are going to get past their second round nightmares and win it all… right? Well, we’ll always have the Braves. Yes, a disappointing series against the Giants in last years playoffs, but Lincecum and Brian “The Beard” Wilson DID win the title, and besides last season we led the league in walk off wins with an unlikely cast of injury replacements. I pray you will not give up on the NFL or NBA, but if you do, then just turn on Peachtree TV sometime and watch the Braves and see how Dan Uggla has turned his dreadful season into something of substance; the guy is probably going to finish with 30 plus bombs and around 80 RBI’s. I know he has been a turn off to many loyal Braves fans thus far, but all I know is that we gave him $62 million for a five-year contract at the beginning of January and love him or hate him right now he will be swinging in the ‘A’ for a while. If professional egos and greedy owners really are just ruining sports for you, then maybe just keep your focus on our Bobcats and the raging Thunder Crew. The Georgia College 20112012 athletic teams have a lot of buzz about them, and none of it has to do with complaints. The men’s basketball team scouted hard and succeeded by signing two new 6-foot-10-inch and 6-foot-6 inch players. A familiar face to Centennial is last years’ senior all-star Josh Hurst, who after just graduating has already been asked by Head Coach Terry Sellers to join him on staff as graduate assistant coach. In the other locker room, women’s basketball, the reigning Peach Belt champions, are also recruiting well and looking for a repeat in conference dominance. Baseball is always strong, finishing third in PBC rankings and softball hopes to thrive off their late season beatings against conference favorite Columbus State. Hopefully the men’s club soccer team will continue to lineup competitive schools and with our men’s club Ultimate Team earning a fifth place seed at the Division-III Nationals in Buffalo, N.Y., the beginning of this summer, I would say there is plenty to get excited about.
Notable Stat
74
The number of goals the ultimate frisbee team scored in all their games at the Division-III nationals in Buffalo, New York from May 21-22.