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SWIMMING & DIVING
Siblings share bonds in pool, school
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t is a lot of time and a lot of aches and pains. Everybody knows what everybody is going through, which creates a bond that is aside from the family bond. — Rick Walker coach
RYAN SIMONIN Daily Egyptian The Salukis have combined school and family tradition as the swim team capitalizes on recruiting siblings from swimming families. This year, the swim team brought in two freshmen, with a third on the way, that have either past or present family ties in the program. Coach Rick Walker said recruitment of siblings in families happens frequently. Swimming families tend to be very close-knit because of the nature of sport, he said. “It is a lot of time and a lot of aches and pains. Everybody knows what everybody is going through, which creates a bond that is aside from the family bond,� Walker said. Walker said both of his children swim and he himself grew up with
DAN DWYER | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Freshman Carly Dvorak, who swims backstroke and the individual medley, practices Tuesday at the Edward J. Shea Natatorium in the three brothers who all swam. “I don’t know if it is in the genes or whether it is just a convenience,� Walker said. Walker said sometimes characteristics between siblings come out in the way they swim. Freshman George Minkel, whose sister Susan Minkel swims on the
women’s team, said they were in the same club and high school team together. He said his sister has been a big help in his transition to collegiate swimming. Minkel said he learned how to swim from his sister and he watched her swim when he was a child. “Everything we do is the same,
Recreation Center. Dvorak is the third in her family to compete for the Salukis. and I guess that is where I got everything from,� Minkel said. Freshman Carly Dvorak started swimming because of her older sisters Kelly and Samantha Dvorak, who were both swimmers at SIU. Carly Dvorak swims backstroke, the same stroke her older sisters swam. Dvorak said she likes it, but at times
it is frustrating because she is not as fast as her sisters. She said when she looks at the best times leaderboard on the wall of the Edward J. Shea Natatorium and sees her sisters’ names, she feels the pressure to live up to their legacy. Please see SWIM | 7
FOOTBALL
Junior wide receiver gets his shot with Salukis NICK JOHNSON Daily Egyptian After SIU offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer called the play for third and goal from Western Illinois’ 5-yard line Nov. 13 at Saluki Stadium, he realized the sun would be directly in the face of junior Cam Fuller, the targeted receiver on the play. “When I called the play, that was one of my fear ... actually trying to get the ball on the other hash so we could run that play into the shade,� DeBoer said. Senior quarterback Chris Dieker called the play, took the snap and fired a pass toward Fuller, who was running to the corner of the end zone. Not only was Fuller blinded by the sun, as DeBoer feared, but he also had a defender draped over his shoulders. Using his 6-foot-3 frame as a shield, the St. Louis native distinguished ball from sun and made a diving snare to give make the score 20-10 in favor of SIU.
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just put it in my mind. ‘You know what, I’m just going to get better, and get better for next season.‘ Then it start showing in practice.
“I just picked the dark target,� Fuller said. “Thankfully, the ball was there; it was just right time, right place. But we practiced it a lot so I was ready for the moment.� The touchdown catch was one of Fuller’s three catches in the game, his first three of the season. Fuller said he was the seventh receiver on the depth chart before the season, and was frustrated with his development before he talked to DeBoer, who is also the team’s wide receivers coach, around Week 3 of the season. After the meeting he convinced himself that he could improve, he said. “I just put it in my mind and said, ‘You know what, I’m just going to get better, and get better for next season.’ Then it start showing
Cam Fuller junior wide receiver
in practice,� Fuller said. Fuller transferred to SIU as a sophomore before the 2009 season from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. He was redshirted, so he didn’t play and he struggled learning the playbook, DeBoer said. “Last spring, he really struggled to learn even just where to line up. In the last month and a half, he’s really improved himself as a football player,� DeBoer said. “He’s a natural receiver ... and in the end he makes plays. And we saw that in the game last week.� But the 2010 preseason wasn’t the first time in Fuller’s football career that he struggled. He played little league football when he was 11, but didn’t play again until he was a sophomore at Ladue Horton
Watkins High School. He started at cornerback for the varsity team that season but was benched. “I was thrown right into the fire, I didn’t do well at all. I got benched because I just couldn’t handle it,� Fuller said. He then suffered a broken hand his junior year and missed the entire season, he said. But then Fuller had a breakout senior year in which he caught 56 passes for 751 yards and 10 touchdowns. After playing one year for Graceland, he said he wanted a bigger stage to play on and transferred to SIU. Fuller credits his rapid progression this season to his fellow wide receivers and DeBoer, but said senior Joe Allaria has been the one who has truly taken him
under his wing. Allaria constantly gives Fuller route-running and blocking techniques, and those are the two areas of his game that Fuller said have improved the most. “He’s really kind of like my mentor out there at practice,â€? Fuller said. Allaria said he tries to not only show Fuller and the other young wide receivers good football technique, but also how to conduct themselves off the field. “I really noticed his work ethic improved this year. ‌ I could just tell he wanted it more,â€? Allaria said. “He can continue to get a lot better, but I think we saw a little bit of what he could do last week against Western and Coach is going to give him a shot.â€? DeBoer said Fuller has gotten to the point where he can play anywhere on the field as a receiver, but time will tell where his best fit will be for next season. Please see FOOTBALL | 7