Daily Forty-Niner, Jan. 21, 2020

weekly print edition

DAILY FORTY-NINER EST p 1949

Vol. LXXI, Issue 17

www.daily49er.com

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

PAS DE DEUX

Inside the

Niner

PAGES 6 & 7

NEWS The search for a CSU chancellor continues

SPORTS Returning champs, new talent

PAGE 3

PAGE 10

2

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | STAFF@DAILY49ER.COM ON THE COVER

Dance major Vanessa Cruz poses with her mobility aid, Pluto, in the one of the CSULB dance studios.

Photo by PAULA KILEY

Daily Forty-Niner 1250 Bellflower Blvd., LA4-203 Long Beach, CA, 90840

Editor’s Note: Spring forward

Editorial Office Phone (562) 985-8000

Business Office Phone (562) 985-1740

Austin Brumblay

Rachel Barnes

Editor in Chief eic@daily49er.com

New year, new decade, new semester…

Managing Editor managing@daily49er.com

Aubrey Balster

Multimedia Managing Editor multimedia@daily49er.com

New Daily Forty-Niner?

A lot is changing in 2020, but not much is changing for Long Beach State’s daily news source. We’re still posting as frequently and searching for the stories that exemplify CSULB, whether they are heartwarming, serious or important. And we’re hoping to be reliable. As we’ve said before, it’s all for you, our readers.

Last semester, there were a lot of ups (We celebrated 70 years as a campus paper!) and some downs (Remember the shooting threat? That was terrifying for us as students and journalists), but it’s time to close off last semester and look at what’s to come.

It’s hard to say what the paper will look like. News can’t isn’t always foreseen and can never be predicted perfectly. One can only hope that spring will be full of positive stories. But the world isn’t without its flaws, and there are significant issues to be covered. Whatever the semester may bring, we hope to be there to clear the air, explain what we discover and give our student body the most up-to-date information they deserve to know.

Good luck and have a prosperous spring 2020, Daily Forty-Niner staff

News Editor Madalyn Amato news@daily49er.com News Editor Ramon Alvarado news@daily49er.com Arts & Life Editor Paula Kiley arts@daily49er.com Opinions Editor Perry Continente opinions@daily49er.com Sports Editor Mark Lindahl sports@daily49er.com Design Editor Alejandro Vazquez design@daily49er.com Advertising Manager Steven Zuniga advertising@daily49er.com Business Manager Alma Macias business@daily49er.com Special Projects Editor Hannah Getahun Photo Editor Ryan Guitare Social Media Editor Brenna Enos Podcast Editor Manuel Valladares Podcast Editor Julia Terbeche Webmaster Samantha Hangsan Arts and Life Assistant Paris Barraza Assistant Sports Editor Manuel Valladares Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Social Media Editor

Ralston Dacanay Cristal Gomez

Distribution Manager Rachel Barnes Distribution Assistant Alejandro Vazquez Design Adviser Gary Metzker

Shark Bites

By Alejandro Vazquez Shark Bites is a CSULB inspired crossword puzzle that contains clues from the recent news stories published by the Daily Forty-Niner. Tag us @daily49er with a picture of your completed crossword for a chance to win a prize!

Down 1. Timothy White retired from this position last October.

2. Yuri _____ dresses up as a superhero and visits local children at hospitals.

3. For this upcoming semester, students will be unable to drive on Earl _____ Drive due to construction.

5.Recently, Vanessa Cruz worked on a contemporary ____ as one of her projects.

6. CSULB student Josh Haber started this app to help students with food insecurity.

8. The position that Mason Briggs plays on the men’s volleyball team.

9. The name of Vanessa Cruz’s purple walker.

Across 4. Fanny Runheim is an international runner from Örebro, _____.

7. Men’s ______ team started this semester, winning its first game against USC. 10. The town volleyball middle blocker Simone Andersen is from.

Content Adviser Barbara Kinglsey-Wilson Advertising and Business Jennifer Newton Adviser Letters to Editor editor@daily49er.com Corrections correction@daily49er.com Story Ideas tips@daily49er.com Job Inquiries jobs@daily49er.com

Letters Policy: All letters and emails must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Daily Forty-Niner reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.

Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters and cartoons in the issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinons of the Daily FortyNiner are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members. All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily Forty-Niner.

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NEWS 3

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | NEWS@DAILY49ER.COM

CSU

The California State University Board of Trustees meets at the Office of the Chancellor Aug. 30, 2019. In October 2018 Chancellor Timothy White announced his retirement. The Board of Trustees has started the process to find Whites replacement.

CSU chancellor selection still under consideration As the selection of a new chancellor for the CSU system draws near, faculty, staff and students of the 23 campuses have all offered their input on what the new chancellor should focus on.

By Rachel Barnes Managing Editor @ rachlbarnes

A

fter Chancellor Timothy White announced his retirement last October, the California State University Board of Trustees launched the process of finding his replacement. The trustees organized six open forums for students and faculty in the CSU system to give input on issues that are important to the universities.

Students from Long Beach State’s Associated Students Inc. voiced their concerns at the third open forum held in Long Beach at the CSU Office of the Chancellor Nov. 20.

“One of the things that I want in a chancellor is to be able to accept that this institution is for students of California and to strive to make graduation initiatives which are diverse and keep the struggles of an average student at the forefront of their minds,” said ASI President Lizbeth Velasquez.

Other members of ASI added that they would like the new chancellor to focus on diversity in all aspects including accommodations for students with disabilities and those who are housing and food insecure.

Heather Schmoll, ASI’s commissioner of disability affairs said that she would like to see a chancellor who is interested in creating a more accessible system.

“As a student with a disability myself I think that often times we’re not only left out of larger policy conversations but our needs aren’t really thought about,” Schmoll said.

President Jane Close Conoley released a statement after White’s announcement praising his character and highlighting his accomplishments as chancellor.

“Dr. White guided the system through the unprecedented fiscal challenges of the Great Recession to the present, when the CSU is on a unique path of accomplishment,” she wrote.

Other attendees echoed similar statements as well as hopes for a focus on finances and diversity.

At the last meeting at California State University, Fresno on Dec. 5 attorney Joel Montanez Murillo expressed his desire to see the new chancellor be a person of color. He gave Fresno State’s President Joseph Castro as an example.

“It is imperative that we have a person, like Dr. White, like Dr. Castro, like Trustee Morales, serve us that have the greatest need,” Montanez Murillo said.

CSULB ASI senator at large Jireh Deng echoed this at the Long Beach meeting and said that students are more motivated when their teachers look like them.

“

We believe that the new chancellor needs to be someone who understands that this system is willing to make choices that are not always the most favored politically, but are for the benefit of students.

”

— Lizbeth Velasquez ASI President

Castro was optimistic that whoever is chosen, they would be able to bring change to the CSU system to benefit all campuses.

“This is an opportunity to build an even bolder future,” he said.

Another common theme that ran through many of the meetings was students’ hopes for someone who strives to make the best decisions for the community.

“The next chancellor shouldn’t only focus on academic needs of students, but what students need for academic success,” said Aaron Aragon, director of legislative affairs for ASI at CSU Bakersfield.

The candidates for chancellor are being kept confidential until the Board of Trustees come to a decision. The board is hoping to appoint a new chancellor by summer 2020.

Velasquez said she hopes for a chancellor who is proactive in their policies rather than reactive to a divisive society.

“We believe that the new chancellor needs to be someone who understands that this system is willing to make choices that are not always the most favored politically, but are for the benefit of students,” Velasquez said.

The next CSU Board of Trustees meeting will be held Jan. 28 and Jan. 29 at the Office of the Chancellor in Long Beach.

4 NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | NEWS@DAILY49ER.COM

Solving hunger, one click at a time Inspired by the high percentage of CSU students that are food insecure, CSULB student launches an app to combat student hunger.

By Alejandro Vazquez & Hannah Getahun Staff Writers

T

he idea for the PeriDeals app began when Josh Haber discovered two glaring statistics.

According to the USDA, 30-40% of food is wasted in the United States. According to a California State University study of student’s basic needs, “41.6% of CSU students reported food insecurity.”

PeriDeals, an app that notifies students of grocery deals on meat and dairy within three miles of Long Beach State, was created to alleviate the gap between food insecurity and food waste.

“It just kind of fits together you know,” said Haber, a sixth-year community health major. “Let’s connect students with these deals. The more we dug into it, the more we learned,

the more it seemed like a good idea.”

Haber collaborated with app developers, the Basic Needs program, the Beach Pantry and old friends like Armando Gutierrez, an exercise kinesiology major at Harbor College who knew Haber in high school. Gutierrez joined the project after expressing an interest in the issue of student hunger in the Los Angeles Community College District.

Now Haber, Gutierrez and the other three members of the team go out to grocery stores to find deals, run the social media accounts and pass out flyers to students.

In order to fund the project, the team invests their own money and the few monetary awards from pitch competitions and grants.

It’s a tedious task, but they hope that software integration, in-store inventories and cooperation from the major corporations will help them keep track of the most up-to-date food deals for students.

“The biggest challenge at the same time [is] getting these big grocery

RYAN GUITARE | Daily Forty-Niner

Josh Haber (left), and Armando Gutierrez (right), developers of PeriDeals an app that finds deals on meat and dairy products within three miles of Long Beach State.

corporations to give us the time of day,” Haber said. “We’re still proving ourselves to the stores.”

As students try to balance transportation costs, housing and school fees, food budgets are usually the first to go. Students are more at risk than most people to experience food insecurity. Gutierrez and Haber both said they were fortunate enough to never really go hungry.

“I have a lot of friends struggle with it,” Haber said. “You see it, but you don’t really experience it.”

Haber said the closest he had ever been to experiencing food insecurity was when he weight lifted his sophomore year and didn’t have time to work. His $200 a month fixed budget made him appreciate the grocery store deals.

“That was a really tough time for me,” Haber said. “That was the only time where I wouldn’t even call it food insecurity but I struggled with the budgeting...I was thinking ‘I wish I knew what deals they had right now.’ If they didn’t have a good deal,

I could just go to Ralphs or Vons, but I don’t have time to go to all of them.”

Now, the Basic Needs program offers PeriDeals as a resource for students who come to their offices in search of food options.

“It takes a village to help our students, and [it requires] as many resources as we can provide,” said Kenneth Kelly, director of Basic Needs.

Kelly said that technology like PeriDeals helps to expedite the long, bureaucratic processes students would have to go through to access resources such as housing and food.

Although PeriDeals is in its beginning stages and cannot fully solve the student food insecurity crisis, the team hopes to work on the project well past graduation in order to make the app robust, and their vision a reality.

“A big part of what we’re trying to do is keep that discussion going,” Haber said. “Keep the statistic out there. Make sure people know that this is an important issue.”

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6 ARTS & LIFE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.CO

I PAULA KILEY | Daily Forty-Niner

Dance major Vanessa Cruz poses with tulle in one of the CSULB dance studios, above. Cruz improvises a modern dance in the studio, middle. Cruz does barre work in the CSULB dance studio, right.

nside one of Long B studios, two dance across the floor, twir light streaming in windows. A piano tr over the duo as they with fluid movement into her partner’s str they perform a pas d Leaning against h port, she extends int ing her leg behind h pair move in sync wi long hair sweeps in them as they whirl across the floor in one The music swells into a crescendo. W stop as the two come to an abrupt halt its finale.

Vanessa Cruz and her purple walker, ly named Pluto, have been dance partn entire life. Cruz was born with arthrog characterized by multiple joint contra weakness throughout the body. For Cr that she can’t bend her knees and relies o her stand upright.

Cruz’s interest in dance began in the watching what she describes as a rate performance to Shakira’s “Eyes Like You “I kinda knew at that point I wanted training to be a dancer, especially as a really hard when you’re young because accessibility,” Cruz said.

Nevertheless, she carried on performi for all four years in high school.

Cruz’s dance journey continued in taking a pause when she pursued medic years. But perhaps the biggest detour w vorce during her first year, which prom job to support her mother, her sister an Even so, Cruz had something in her consistently count on.

“I sought out dance,” Cruz said. “It w stress for me.”

Cruz performed with her community c and began to notice her focus shift fro and the periodic table to pep rally danc her jazz dance ensemble. After dispassio

ARTS & LIFE 7

OM | @DAILY49ER | ARTS@DAILY49ER.COM

Raising the barre Second-year dance major Vanessa Cruz hopes to pave the way for future generations of disabled dancers at CSULB and beyond.

Beach State’s dance ers gracefully glide rling into a patch of through the studio rack delicately floats y fill the vast space t. The woman settles rong, steel frame as e deux. her partner for supto an arabesque, lifther with poise. The ith one another. Her nto an arch around e smooth maneuver.

Wheels squeak to a t. The piece reaches

, whom she earnestners throughout her gryposis, a condition actures and muscle ruz, it simply means on leg braces to help

e fourth grade after ed-PG belly dancing urs.” d to be on stage, but a disabled dancer, is e there isn’t a lot of

ing on a dance team

community college, cine for her first two was her parents’ dimpted Cruz to find a d herself. r life that she could

was a way to alleviate

college’s dance team om anatomy classes ce performances and onately trudging to-

BY PAULA KILEY ward a degree in medicine for two years, Cruz took the leap and applied to another community college to pursue dance professionally.

“I believe as long as you have the passion to dance you will excel, and that’s what I saw in her... passion,” Cruz’s mother, Maria Silvia, recalled after Cruz revealed that she wanted to pursue dance. “I saw her confidence, and I felt reassured that she will thrive.”

For the first time in her life, Cruz received professional dance training, something she longed to have access to in her youth. Her new community college boasted a rigorous dance curriculum that allowed Cruz to build a strong foundation in dance.

“I became more in tune with my body and started figuring out how to work in a safer way with my body instead of just throwing myself out there,” Cruz said. “It was a super important foundation for me.”

Cruz’s journey hit a bump in the road after a meeting with two dance instructors and the college’s chair of disabled student services.

The meeting in question was prompted after one of her instructors reached out to Cruz to discuss how she should be graded in class due to what the instructor felt was Cruz’s failure to meet class standards.

“You need to be more realistic,” Cruz recalled being told by the DSS chair in that soul-crushing meeting.

The meeting adjourned with recommendations for Cruz to sit out during class to take notes and to complete the courses’ finals with different instructors. Cruz left the meeting stone-faced.

“I couldn’t talk. I just stayed silent,” Cruz remembered, choking through tears. “For the first time ever, I hated dancing. I hated dancing that day.”

The summer that followed is what Cruz looks back on as one of the lowest points of her dance career.

“I didn’t like where my mind was going,” Cruz said. “It was really scary.”

But through it all, Cruz leaned on the same thing she has leaned on countless times in her life: dance. That summer was filled with dance classes, auditions and performances that kept Cruz busy and motivated enough for her to gather the energy and courage to apply to CSULB’s dance program for fall 2018.

“I had a hard time transitioning [to CSULB],” Cruz said.

“After the incident, it did put me in reality. There are people that will not see me as a dancer, and I have to be realistic with myself [about] that.”

Now in her second year at CSULB, Cruz has been surprised with the university’s acceptance and accomodation, noting its stark contrast to her previous experience at her community college.

“The biggest difference is that my [community college’s] dance program tolerated me, here, they accept me,” Cruz said. “There’s a huge difference.”

A rekindled love for dance led Cruz to take advantage of more opportunities. Cruz sought out dance intensives and workshops that allowed her to collaborate with other disabled dancers and translate movement for disabled bodies, a skill Cruz said she often has to figure out alone in most dance settings.

“I think Vanessa is one of the few people I know that has this raw talent,” said Mark Travis Rivera, a fellow disabled dancer who has performed with Cruz at a UCLA Disability Dancing Lab. “Oftentimes, disabled people have to rely on raw talent because we don’t have the same access to training or opportunities that nondisabled people have.”

Cruz is currently working on several projects, her most reent one being a contemporary ballet solo she has choreographed for herself to be released as a dance film.

“It is a little scary [calling it a contemporary ballet] because there’s an expectation for how a ballerina should look or how contemporary movement should look like on bodies, so it’s a very vulnerable place to call it a contemporary ballet,” Cruz said.

The piece utilizes fairy tale-like narrative elements common in traditional ballet pieces and explores themes of acceptance. According to Cruz, her motivation to choreograph her own piece was to show people that disabled dancers can be choreographed and integrated in dance pieces.

“There’s so much you can do [with disabled dancers],” Cruz said. “In the dance world we’re used to seeing bodies a certain way that when you start playing with different kinds of bodies that image of how bodies [are supposed to] look like clashes with the creative process.”

Cruz hopes to take her experiences and skill set to one day establish her own ballet conservatory that allows disabled dancers the access to learn dance and repertoire to perform professionally. “[Dancing] makes me feel free. It’s just kind of having a voice to be heard,” Cruz said. “Just being able to dance and give the audience a taste of the infinite stories that could possibly [be told] if we had more disabled dancers is a gift in itself because I know that I will help at least in some way pave that pathway.”

“ I believe as long as you have the passion to dance you will excel...

I saw her confidence, and I felt reassured that she will thrive.

”

— Maria Silvia, Vanessa Cruz’s mother

8 ARTS & LIFE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | ARTS@DAILY49ER.COM

Community pillar Community volunteer, Yuri Williams, travels across America dressing up as a superhero to visit children in hospitals.

By Paris Barraza Arts and Life Assistant

A

hero always comes to the rescue for anyone in need, no matter how far the cry for help. In 25 days, Yuri Williams traveled to all 50 states to inspire communities that need hope.

His quest? Bringing smiles to hospitalized children by dressing up as a superhero. But Williams’s superhero act does not end when he takes off his Spiderman or Deadpool costume.

With his daughter’s blessing, Williams, 43, completed his second tour of the United States in December 2019, where he dressed as popular superheroes to cheer up children at hospitals and visited the elderly at care facilities. Williams, an Orange County correctional officer, took a month off to embark on the project using his own money and grants from companies like Walmart.

“I do this because I love giving,” Williams said. “Every time, the day before [an appearance], I cannot sleep because I’m just like a little kid, excited because I’m going to make someone else happy.”

Williams founded A Future Superhero and Friends in 2017, a Long Beach non-profit thats mission is to serve people in need including veterans, the homeless and hospitalized children. A Future Superhero and Friends organizes food drives, blood drives, free movie nights and most notably, appears at hospitals with Williams dressed from head to toe as a superhero.

The decision to start the organization came during what Williams considers one of the most difficult times in his life, the passing of his mother, Lynda, whom he lost to cancer in 2009.

For five years, Williams grieved the death of his mother. It came to a head on his way to work early one morning, when Williams found himself picking up his phone to call his mother, something he used to do every day, only to realize that no one would answer.

While he gathered himself, he scrolled through Facebook and came across two individuals who were giving back to their communities, a police officer in Arkansas named Tommy Norman and a cosplayer known as Hip Hop Trooper. Williams, who would later go on to befriend both of them, knew he needed to channel his loss and love for his mother to create A Future Superhero and Friends.

“My mom taught me how to give,” Williams said. “My thing is to keep my mom’s

“ RYAN GUITARE | Daily Forty-Niner

Yuri Williams, 43, created a non-profit called A Future Superhero and Friends that helps people in need including veterans, homeless and hospitalized children. Williams organizes food drives, blood drives and free movie nights while dressed head-to-toe as a superhero.

name alive by doing what she taught me.

That’s what I live by every day.”

From giving out lottery tickets on the street to teaming with apparel company Bombas to provide socks to the homeless, Williams sought out different ways he could perform acts of kindness in a time that he says is filled with distrust.

His mission to help is aided by individuals like 70-year-old Rosemarie Cayetano, who has donated 250 hand-crocheted scarves for Williams’ cause. The two met when Williams saw her post about her handmade scarves on Facebook.

“I saw all the good he did and I was hooked on making more and more scarves for him to give to the homeless,” Cayetano said. “One day he posted a video of him giving away my scarves to people and when I saw one on a man, I cried.”

The scarves, like the socks, lottery tickets and superhero appearances, are ways Williams brings joy to the community.

“People think you gotta have money to be kind to people, but you don’t,” Williams said.

“You can sit down and talk to somebody.

Conversation is free. Your time is free.”

Williams, who called himself a “43-yearold kid” after pointing out his bright red Spiderman socks and shoes, saw how important superheroes were to the people he served. “‘Where’s Spiderman? Where’s Spiderman?’” Williams said, recalling how one man living on Skid Row wanted to see Williams in costume. “That caught his attention and probably brought him back to his childhood again. That suit has done so many things for me and helped so many people smile. Everybody has some type of superpower to me.”

Now, Williams and Juan Carlos Alfaro, the art program director for A Future Superhero and Friends, are creating an art program and mentorship for youth to express themselves and receive guidance that will focus on their futures. Alfaro met Williams last year, and since then they have developed this new program.

“He really puts himself out there,” Alfaro said. “A lot of people would certainly shy away from the hard work it takes to have such a strong presence on the streets as he does.”

The art program is not the only act Williams has planned for 2020. He is also preparing for a third tour across America.

“My thing is to inspire somebody else to be the next A Future Superhero, and that’s the reason I named it that,” Williams said. “I feel that when I’m not here anymore, the next A Future Superhero is born. [...] I just want people to know that there are good people out here doing good things.”

That suit has done so many things for me and helped so many people smile. Everybody has some type of superpower to me.

— Yuri Williams

Community Superhero

”

OPINIONS 9

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | OPINIONS@DAILY49ER.COM

Spill the Tea is a weekly section for students to share their opinions and make their voices heard. Long Beach State students answer a question that can range from the silly to the political. We at the Daily Forty-Niner value the diverse opinions of the CSULB student body and look forward to you sharing them with us. The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team hosted USC Jan. 17 in its home opener at the Walter Pyramid, winning in four sets. Students weigh in on why they come to cheer on the Beach.

By Mark Lindahl

Brent Pothoven

Melanie Morales

Spencer Pozgay

Matthew Ortiz

Fourth-year history major

First-year psychology major

“I call most of the games for women’s volleyball so you get attached… It brings the best atmosphere here to the pyramid.”

“I did volleyball in high school, so I love it.”

Fourth-year communications major

Third-year business accounting major

“I love the atmosphere at the games…

I’ve been able to see both national championship teams so you love and appreciate the team.”

“Tradition, obviously.

I played volleyball in high school and they won the last two national championships.”

First Day Blues

By Enacio Diaz

SPORTS 10

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | SPORTS@DAILY49ER.COM

BIG WEST SHOES TO FILL

By Manuel Valladares Podcast Editor

After having been a major player as an underclassman in the past two years, junior middle blocker Simon Andersen has become the de facto leader.

@ manuelvalladares

A

s two-time national champions, the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team is tasked to meet some pretty high expectations, and new team leader Simon Andersen is going to have to use his 6-foot-8-inch stature to rise to that level.

The reigning back-to-back NCAA champion team is looking to follow the past two years of dominance, but with many of its top talent graduating last year, a lot of responsibility has been placed onto younger players like Andersen.

“We talk to the guys all the time about Simon being the visual example of exactly how we want to approach both sides of the ball,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “On the court, off the court, offense, defense, he really brings a professional attitude towards our team.”

The towering middle blocker from Middelfart, Denmark, was a valuable player for Long Beach’s last two titles, having started every game since his freshman year. As a freshman on an eventual championship team, Andersen used his length and timing to block shots while also leading the team in hitting percentage at 47%.

Andersen’s skill comes from the ability to pair his athleticism with his high volleyball IQ, a much-needed characteristic for a team that is still adjusting to a smaller amount of talent after losing star players TJ DeFalco, Josh Tuaniga and Kyle Ensing.

“Of course there’s a lot of new guys who are really excited to play,” Andersen said. “You never know with the freshman coming in, but players like Mason [Briggs] [are] great teammates and he helps us a lot in all sorts of ways.”

Andersen came to Long Beach as a seasoned freshman with plenty of international experience, having been a part of the Danish national team. In 2014 he started out at the U19 level, working his way up to the men’s team where he most recently participated in the 2019 CEV European Silver League.

Getting the chance to join the Dan-

AUSTIN BRUMBLAY| Daily Forty-Niner

Long Beach State junior middle blocker Simon Andersen leaps to serve the ball against University of Hawai’i April 12, 2019 at the Walter Pyramid. Andersen has become the emerging leader of the reigning back-toback NCAA championship team.

ish national team’s program added to his game development, Andersen said. Although he still had to adapt to Long Beach’s playing style, the middle blocker was able to fit into the team like a glove, and now he’s acting as the team’s leader.

“He was taught really well in Denmark,” Knipe said. “[He] came at a high level from playing at their national team program. He was one of the most calm, confident players we ever added to our lineup as a freshman.”

Not every young player is able to build their skills at that kind of level, which is why Andersen has made it a goal to help the younger players.

“I feel like I am getting huge support from all the guys I have … like Carlos [Rivera] is a really great setter,” Andersen said, “and we’ve been getting a lot of really huge passes that open up our offense. It’s been a huge key for us.”

For a team that welcomes six freshmen, No. 5 Long Beach (4-0) is trying to fast-track the development of many players by getting them familiar with the Beach’s system and preparing them for the high-level competition in the Big West. As one of the top volleyball conferences in the nation, the Big West boasts consistently ranked programs such as No. 1 Hawaii, No. 4 UCSB and No. 7 UC Irvine in a hard-hitting conference schedule.

Despite not being a finished product, the Beach has yielded great results after three-straight wins at UC Santa Barbara’s ASICS Invitational and a solid four-set win over crosstown rival USC Friday, Jan 17 in its home-opener.

“Every team is different. You’re always losing guys and you’re always gaining guys,” said junior outside hitter Ethan Siegfried. “Alan [Knipe] really tries to make that an emphasis every year, so we’re just setting that goal, one year at a time.”

Luckily the newcomers to the Beach have the well-rounded Danish blocker towering around the nets of the Walter Pyramid to look up to as a role model.

“It’s been really great to play with all the great guys that have been [here in the past],” Andersen said. “I just hope I can give some [of my knowledge] to the guys playing with me now.”

Weekly Sports Calendar Monday 1/20

Tuesday 1/21

Wednesday 1/22

Thursday 1/23

Men’s Basketball v. Irvine @ Walter Pyramid 7 p.m.

Women’s Basketball v.

Hawai’i @ Long Beach 7 p.m.

Friday 1/24

Saturday 1/25 Women’s Water Polo Beach Invite @ Ken Lindgren Aquatic Center All Day Women’s Basketball at UC Irvine @ 2 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball v.

Pepperdine @ Long Beach 7 p.m.

Sunday 1/26

SPORTS 11

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020 | DAILY49ER.COM | @DAILY49ER | SPORTS@DAILY49ER.COM

FRESH SPRING FACES BASEBALL

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Toren Craig, Redshirt Sophomore, Queen Creek Ariz., South Mountain CC, Shortstop

Mason Briggs, Valencia Calif., Freshman, Libero

Toren Craig will come to Blair Field as one of the most exciting shortstop prospects coming out of the junior college ranks this year. After playing two seasons for South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, Craig made a name for himself as a defensive ace with offensive versatility at the plate. After a 14-41 (8-16 Big West) season, the Dirtbags need a boost from within, and a new wave of recruits gathered by a new head coach may be exactly what the team needs.

Mason Briggs will be stepping onto the court in the Walter Pyramid for the first time this season as a freshman, but he’s not unaccustomed to the scene. Brigg’s older brother, Trevor, played for the Beach from 2017-2019, bringing a sense of familiarity for Mason that most freshman won’t experience. The younger Briggs may not need it though, as he was a three-time Bishop Alemany High School Player of the Year award winner in his final three years of high school and four-year letterwinner. Briggs was named the Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year in 2018, has spent time with Team USA and was a member of the Boys Youth National Team in 2018 and 2019.

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Fanny Runheim, Örebro Sweden, Freshman, Sprints/Jumps

Hanna Farnsworth, Freshman, San Clemente

Fanny Runheim traveled over 5,500 miles to Long Beach via plane from Örebro, Sweden, but with all of the international running experience under her belt she could probably run it too if she wanted. Runheim has collected multiple international championships in the 100m and 200m in 2018 while also competing in the long jump with a top mark of 19’ 11’’.

Hanna Farnsworth may be a freshman, but she already has the inside scoop on Long Beach State as both her parents attended CSULB as well. This may prove important for a squad that just lost seven seniors and are short on upperclassmen. There will be three graduate transfers set to enter the fold, but even with the veteran experience, they too will be learning a new system. If Farnsworth can bring her confidence to the Beach based on her accomplishments prior to joining, a significant role may open up for her to make a real impression in the stat sheet.

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SPORTS 12

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FRESH SPRING FACES cont.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

TENNIS

Tegbir Jhutty, Fremont Calif., Sac State transfer, Long/Triple jump

Inbar Cohen, Freshman, Tel Aviv, Israel

Tegbir Jhutty joins the Beach with plenty of hype already as a high-level performer in the Big Sky Conference meets for Sacramento State last season. Jhutty finished ninth in both long jump and triple jump. He recorded multiple top-five finishes last season with Sac State and was also a two-time league champion in long and triple jump at John F. Kennedy High School.

Inbar Cohen is one of many international student-athletes at the Beach, coming from Tel Aviv, Israel. Cohen was ranked the top junior player in her home country before making the switch to college. Cohen reached No. 704 in the ITF junior world rankings and has plenty of top-level experience for being just a freshman.

What may be even more impressive than her tennis prowess is Cohen served two years of military duty in Israel before being eligible to join the Beach in spring 2020. Bringing a great work ethic to an upward-trending tennis squad may be exactly what the team needs to make some noise this postseason.

SOFTBALL

WOMEN’S WATERPOLO

Abby Lockman, Grad transfer, Previously attended Tennessee, Catcher

Darby Huff, Redshirt freshman, Long Beach Poly HS, Utility

Abby Lockman comes to Long Beach as a graduate transfer, using her last season of eligibility to reunite with fellow Tennessee transfer Taylor Rowland. Lockman previously played three seasons for the Tennessee Volunteers, who were ranked No. 17 last season.

Lockman started in 120 out of 151 games during her time spent in Nashville, while also garnering a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll each of the three years. Last season the Beach finished with a non-inspiring record of 25-25 (12-9 Big West), but really began to roll by the end of Big West play. If Lockman can inject the team with experience and knowledge during high-stakes games against big-name opponents, the shark-watch sirens may be sounding come playoff time.

The women’s water polo team will only see three seniors return from the 2019 squad, meaning internal growth will be paramount to the team’s success. After a 16-15 (1-4 Big West) season, Darby Huff will be able to make a splash as a new face in the pool, but not for the team. After redshirting last season, Huff will get her chance after learning the playbook and seeing new opportunities arise with less veteran depth on the team. The utility player made her respective All-league team each year she played throughout highschool at Long Beach Poly and should contribute very early into the season.

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