Athletics

ATHLETE PROFILE

Tyreace House ’16

McMurry University senior football player Tyreace House ’16 would have made the Three Little Pigs proud. During his fouryear career with the War Hawks’ program – and even before – he has proven himself to be one House that is as solid as a brick.

House was not exactly your typical incoming freshman when he came to Abilene in 2012. Before he set foot on Wilford Moore Stadium’s field, House was a sixth-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics and played four seasons of professional baseball in the A’s minor league system. And not too many incoming freshman can boast of a younger brother who is a standout defensive back in the National Football League, either.

And neither have many had to endure and adapt, as he has.

Once House decided to give up his chase of a career in pro baseball, he eventually made his way to McMurry, thanks to connections he had to campus via his brother Davon (who currently plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars). Arriving in the spring of 2012 – prior to the fall season – House’s strength and faith was tested almost immediately.

While on his way to longtime McMurry professor Bill Libby’s property south of Abilene to do some work – along with two teammates and a student assistant coach – his car had a high-speed blowout, rolling the vehicle and ejecting House from the car. The Lord was watching over House. Just a few moments earlier he had rolled down his window because he heard a strange noise. Those assessing the damage say had the window not been down - and House tossed from the car - he would “have been gone.”

House spent that summer prior to his freshman year rehabilitating for the most part. More evidence of God’s hand on him was that – even though he had over 100 stitches – he did not break a single bone in the accident.

“(The accident) affected me a lot,” House reflected. “It affects me to this day. I always think back that I almost lost my life. I’m thankful to God, and my family praying for me; and the school was behind me.”

House admitted he almost gave up on school and college football after that. But his brother’s encouragement helped him keep going.

“I felt like that was it,” House said when assessing his return to college after the traumatic accident. “And then I talked to my brother and he was like ‘you can fight; you can do it’. So I took it upon myself to ‘fight’ the whole summer and keep working out.

Once returning to the gridiron, House became the prototypical team player, doing whatever was necessary for the good of the War Hawks’ program. He started as a running back, moved to linebacker as a sophomore and junior, while also assuming a kick return role. As a senior in 2015, he returned back to offense as a receiver/ running back and was also a returns specialist.

And now as House finishes his degree work (he expects to graduate with a general business degree in the fall of 2016), he is also hoping to get the opportunity to play football at the next level someplace. But regardless of what comes next, House’s perspective since his accident has made him become more introspective and realistic.

“I preach to everybody else and try to tell people that the ‘next day’ is not promised to you,” House said. “McMurry football gave me a chance from the beginning and I appreciate that. School-wise, McMurry gave me the chance to receive my education. I always thought ‘sports, sports, sports, sports’, and now I come to the world and it’s not ‘sports’; school comes first.”

House has proven that he can stand up to just about anything and remain strong, weathering life’s storms with brick-like strength.

ATHLETE PROFILE

Taylor Russell ’16

Anyone who has ever watched a McMurry University women’s basketball game over the past four seasons knows that senior forward Taylor Russell ’16 has never been one who is afraid of a little hard work and getting her hands dirty when it comes to basketball. Russell has earned a reputation as a true blue-collar player who dives for loose balls, is constantly in hustle mode and frequently battles larger players for rebounds (and usually wins).

Russell also tackles her academic endeavors with that same fervor and effort. Already earning both ASC Academic Honor Roll, ASC Distinguished Scholar and ScholarAthlete recognition from the NCCAA, Russell is currently working on an Honors Project that could have farreaching benefits.

And appropriately, her project required her to get down in the dirt, so to speak.

A biomedical science major, Russell is doing a study of diatomaceous earth and sediment to compare the microbial growth between them. The project was actually suggested to Russell by biology professors Dr. Gary Wilson and Dr. Thomas Benoit, also taking into consideration Russell’s time commitments to the War Hawks’ women’s basketball team.

“It’s a critical thinking project,” Russell explained. “It is not so much time in the lab, so it’s giving me enough time to play basketball and do everything else I am doing.”

Russell’s project goes well beyond simply putting dirt in glass tubes (something every self-respecting youngster has done from time-totime in their backyards). In a nutshell, Russell developed the method for studying changes occurring in the diatomaceous earth and sediment. It required her to put her test columns

through a three-week incubation period, as well as documenting color changes and differences occurring in the columns every other day.

“I’ll be extracting samples from each column,” Russell said. “I’m looking at their DNA and seeing what type of microorganisms are developing in the columns. Someone could look at that and, if they’re interested in that, see what happens in sediment and what type of organisms are living in that or in diatomaceous earth; what is different about that.”

According to Russell, her test method is something that can benefit any number of areas from agriculture to medical and beyond. “Who knows where it could take off,” she reflected. “No one else has done this before, so it’s a new thing and I’m getting to make up the methods as we go and determine which is the best way to prepare the columns.

“The main thing will be when I

write the thesis; analyzing and figuring out why did the columns form what they did and why were these microbes in there and what caused them to flourish in there? This semester I’m doing the process and next semester I’ll write the thesis.

“Once I figure this out, then someone else can take the methods I used to develop their own columns. I could be published if this is successful, and that would be exciting. Someone next year could pick up where I left off; the possibilities are endless.”