The Northwest Missourian

NORTHWEST

MISSOURIAN

THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2021

MARYVILLE, MISSOURI

NWMISSOURINEWS.COM

VOL. 110, NO. 2

@THEMISSOURIAN

Grad enrollment sees massive spike SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney_lowry

ENROLLMENT AT NORTHWEST

As the 2021-22 school year begins with in-person classes, undergraduate enrollment is down compared to last year’s record-setting numbers, a drastic comparison to graduate enrollment which is up by 42%, pushing overall enrollment to be higher than previous years.

Northwest outlined in a press release the enrollment based on the first day of classes headcount, but it’s still waiting on the campus census Sept. 15 for non-preliminary numbers.

On the first day of classes, Northwest had a headcount of 7,319 students, while last year showed a population of 7,267 for overall students, leading to the fourth consecutive year that headcount has increased.

Director of Academic Success and Retention Allison Hoffmann said although these numbers are down, they are something the University predicted.

“Our enrollment projections meeting meets monthly to discuss how enrollment is trending for each student segment and strategies to put in place that may impact enrollment,” Hoffmann said.

Last year, Northwest seemed to slide by issues with enrollment, despite many other institutions struggling with numbers of students in their undergraduate and graduate programs, but this year undergraduate student enrollment appears to be lacking.

Contributing to the lower undergraduate enrollment, there was a headcount of 986 freshmen on the first day of classes this semester, 262 students less than the headcount for the 2020-21 school year.

“Regional and national data suggests that many four-year regional, public institutions such as Northwest will see a decline in first-time freshmen enrollment due to shifting demographics, COVID-19 concerns and students making a decision to enroll at institutions very close to home,” Hoffmann said.

Despite the enrollment rate for undergraduate students being lower over-

42%

Increase in graduate enrollment

21%

Decrease in freshman enrollment All other students enrolled

Freshman enrolled MAKAYLA POLAK | NW MISSOURIAN

all, Hoffmann said fall-to-fall retention is set to be consistent with previous years at 76%. Northwest’s highest in school history was 78% in 2018.

In contrast to the low numbers shown in undergraduate enrollment, graduate student enrollment had soared past last year’s numbers.

“Graduate enrollment is definitely a bright spot, up 42% overall,” Hoffmann said. “First-time graduate student numbers show a 136 percent increase compared to our first day of classes last year.”

First-time graduate students are setting another University high, with students coming from 320 different countries.

On top of increased graduate enrollment, online enrollment is also up 20% compared to this time last year which was at 15%.

With the preliminary data showing lower numbers in undergraduate enrollment than the previous year amidst the pandemic, graduate and online enrollment seems to have played a significant part in the 4.3% boost in overall enrollment for the 2021-22 school year.

ADDALYNN BRADBURY | NW MISSOURIAN

Northwest freshman Devin Kernes walks with Cat Crew members on move-in day Aug. 14.

Kernes is one of 986 freshmen that have started this year at Northwest.

The Palms set to reopen after renovations from new owner QUENTIN MORRIS News Reporter | @TheMissourian

ADDALYNN BRADBURY | NW MISSOURIAN

Ashton Dain raises her hand, along with others, to indicate she is done filling out paperwork at the vaccination clinic April 7 in the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse.

No plans for vaccine mandate amid Pfizer full FDA approval NATHAN ENGLISH Managing Editor | @nathan_3nglish

Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for the coronavirus received full approval for those 16 and older from the Food and Drug Administration Monday. The announcement prompted many public and private institutions including the New York City public school system and CVS Health, among others, to issue vaccine mandates that were planned if full approval was granted. Northwest has no plans to implement a similar mandate at this time, Lt. Amanda Cullin said.

Cullin is a member of the Crisis Management Team 2 at Northwest, which is comprised of various on-campus officials and community leaders. The team is primarily responsible for making recommendations to the Northwest Leadership Team regarding coronavirus mitigation efforts

such as the mask mandate.

Full FDA approval of the vaccine is expected to help increase vaccination rates nationwide and slow the spread of the delta variant. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in June found that 31% of unvaccinated adults would be more likely to get the vaccine if it was fully approved by the FDA. Nate Blackford, president of Mosaic Medical Center Maryville, said he is hopeful those who said they wouldn’t get the vaccine without full FDA approval will now take the opportunity to get the vaccine. An estimated 98% of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 from May to July were unvaccinated individuals, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.

“Vaccinations really are the solution,” Blackford said.

SEE VACCINE | A4

The Palms is a local Maryville bar and restaurant that originally opened back in 1937. For years it’s served as a place for college students, residents and alumni to come and enjoy food and live entertainment.

The Palms closed down after Morgan McCoy died when a vehicle crashed into the establishment in Jan. 2018. The Palms tried to open back up in March later that year, but lack of interest from the community forced it to close down again.

Dee Marriott — the formerly beloved bar’s new owner who also owns Jake’s Steakhouse & Sports Bar in St. Joseph — bought the building back in July and is hoping to continue the traditions that once were before the accident, along with adding some of her own.

“I talked about it for a long time, actually tried to talk my-

NW student victim of homicide

A Northwest student and her daughter were found dead Aug. 22 in their Boone County home.

Authorities determined that Allison Abitz, 43, and her daughter, 11, were killed in an apparent homicide. Boone County law

LINCOLN HIPSHER | NW MISSOURIAN

The Palms, known previously as a local bar, was bought out and is being remodeled as a restaurant that will still feature a bar. The new owners are in the midst of renovating their business, planning to double it in size and add a kitchen to the back side.

self out of it for the last year and a half,” said Marriott, who is hoping to turn the building into a family-style bar and grill.

“There’s just a need for some different food sources and things like that here in Maryville.”

After opening Jake’s Steakhouse and succeeding in downtown St. Joseph, she realized people around her wanted that

type of success in Maryville, too.

Dee Marriott is looking to create an environment the Maryville community lost when Carson’s Sports Grill closed during summer 2020.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me to do something like Jake’s,” Dee Marriott said.

enforcement are continuing the active investigation.

Abitz taught at an elementary school in Fulton, Missouri, and was pursuing an online educational specialist degree at Northwest.

Students are welcome to use Wellness Services for counseling assistance by contacting 660.562.1348 during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or can contact the University Police Department at 660.562.1354 outside of business hours. Fac-

ulty and staff should call the University employee assistance program at 880.964.3577.

For all members of the Northwest community, they can contact a county counseling support line at 888.279.8188.

Northwest President John Jasinski sent an email to Northwest students, colleagues and friends notifying them of Abitz’s death Aug. 24.

“Please keep Allison’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” Jasinski said.

SEE PALMS | A4

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NEWS

Org fair kicks off SAC fall activities QUENTIN MORRIS News Reporter | @TheMissourian

Student Activities Council led off the year with its annual Student Organization Fair where 78 organizations signed up to participate.

SAC has just under a dozen planned events for the student body this fall semester. Some are returning events like Grocery Bingo, an event that gives students a chance at winning a free bag of groceries. SAC also has other activities for students like rock climbing and axe throwing.

Not all activities are fun and games; later in the semester on Nov. 17, SAC will be showing the film “Show Me Democracy,” a documentary that tells the story of several college students during the Ferguson protests and how they became involved with racial justice.

Student Involvement Coordinator Isabelle Stewart said, “It’s an opportunity to partner with the Diversity and Inclusion Office and highlight some political issues that are going on around our country

and be able to make our students more knowledgeable and how they can advocate for being anti-racist.”

SAC is also returning an inperson speaker to campus. Beverly Gooden will be speaking Oct. 6 in the Ron Houston Center for Performing Arts. Gooden is a published author and speaker on issues like domestic violence, gender violence and women’s health. She will discuss her lived experience as a survivor.

She will also speak about why she started the Why I Stayed movement. The Why I Stayed movement started in 2014 as a way for those who have survived domestic violence to share their story.

“She will come and talk about her experience surviving domestic violence, domestic assault, and I think that’s a message that is great for students to be aware of because domestic violence and assault happens way more than we would like to think it would,” Stewart said. “We are excited to hear about her story and see how it impacts our students.”

ADDALYNN BRADBURY| NW MISSOURIAN

A group of Northwest students crowd around the Student Activities Council table at the annual Student Organization Fair Aug. 25. SAC has just under a dozen planned events for the student body this fall semester.

In terms of COVID-19 restrictions, SAC President Brady Netzel said, “We are going to simultaneously do what they (Northwest) recommends, so at this point, it is masks and maintaining and social distancing if possible. Really it comes down to a strict mask policy.”

Despite the mask mandate,

Netzel said he believes there will be more students at events.

“People want to get out more and get more involved this year,” Netzel said.

SAC has plans to bring a concert to campus in the spring semester, but the details for that are still being worked out. SAC is also planning more events

throughout the year that haven’t been finalized yet, like Walkout Day, which traditionally incorporates a SAC event.

SAC has a calendar on their website that has a time, place and dates for all of their planned activities throughout the semester.

Low attendance noted at first Senate meeting KAILEE FORD News Reporter| @kailee_ford

The first meeting of the 99th Student Senate for the 2021-22 school year started off with absences, committee updates and a brief mention of the 2020 rollover budget.

Student Senate President Bailey Hendrickson reminded fellow senators and representatives to attend the regular meetings. Hendrickson said she wants meeting attendance to be better than what it was last year. Past meetings have had low attendance rates, which led to some measures never seeing a vote.

“It’s the first meeting and we’re off to a rocky start,” Hendrickson said.

Each committee gave an announcement and reports about goals for the semester and different events coming up in the week, including an open house hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Student Senate Blood Drive.

The Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council gave updates on recruitment for Greek Life on campus. IFC President Brady Fritts said there were 90 men registered, the highest it’s been in years.

Student Senate Treasurer Jenna Lee-Johnson gave the update

$25k Rollover budget from last semester about Panhellenic Council recruitment. She said there were around 176 women signed up so far.

Nominations for empty positions were also held and will be voted on next week. The empty positions were two junior class representative positions, one offcampus representative and four on-campus representatives.

Other announcements includ-

NWMSU SHOW-ME GOLD PROGRAM

ed updates from Internal Relations Co-chair Student Veterans Association President TJ Goldizen, who said there are 10 student veteran parking spots available and that a meeting was held Wednesday to give student veterans parking spot permits.

The rollover budget received a brief update. Hendrickson said they are waiting for budget assessments from the committees and will likely talk about rollover next meeting. At the end of the spring 2021 semester, Student Senate had no definitive plan for a $25,000 surplus — another issue brought on by lack of member attendance.

The 98th Student Senate Treasurer Connor Thompson pro-

posed a plan at Student Senate’s final meeting for remaining funds to be used for a scholarship; however, no decision was made or mentioned in Tuesday’s meeting.

Hendrickson ended this semester’s first meeting with inspiration for the new and old members of Student Senate. She repeated some of what she said to freshmen at this year’s Convocation, where she said failure is inevitable, but it is how you continue after that failure that matters.

“We all fail, but how we pick ourselves up and move on determines our actions after failure,” Hendrickson said. “Our goal is to serve the student body, and we have the opportunity to make this the best year yet.”

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NEWS

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Nate Blackford’s path to Mosaic presidency for about five years with an organization owned a third by Mosaic Life Care, a third by the University of Missouri’s health system — MU Health — and a third by a health system called Mercy.

When the president position opened, Blackford said he had to apply, knowing it would bring him closer to a community he loved.

“Being able to work in a community that, I think, is special and being able to work with great people really is an ideal match for me,” Blackford said.

Blackford had been with Mosaic since 2015, but this would become his first presidential role in the organization. He still calls himself a rookie, and the statistic that shines from his first 29 months — shepherding the medical center through two major changes and a global pandemic.

Blackford helped lead Mosaic - Maryville through a change in ownership — from St. Francis SSM Health, the backbone of Maryville’s hospital for more than 100 years — to Mosaic Life Care. This, in turn, also required an installation and update of electronic medical records, something hospitals across the country are now relying on.

After the ownership transition was all but complete, the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on halt, and its strain on health systems did not neglect to include Mosaic Life Care.

“Just when we thought we were through the most difficult part of the transition, our

KENDRICK CALFEE Editor-in-Chief | @calfee_kc

Before the age of 20, Nate Blackford had five major operations on his heart. He spent a good part of his childhood absorbing memories — more hazy now than they used to be — of doctor visits, hospital beds, holding hands and worried parents.

Having been born with a congenital heart defect, the hospital wasn’t a fun place to be. But it had to become a second home, of sorts; one he didn’t always want to go to, but one that would inevitably help save his life.

Blackford, president of Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville, shares this story as the true inspiration behind his passion for healthcare. His own medical ailments opened up a world of caregiving, one he was called to at a young age, and one that defines him today.

“Helping people at times in their life when healthcare is needed — I was just drawn to it,” Blackford said. “I’ve just always wanted to do this.”

Blackford was born and raised in Maryville. After graduating Northwest with an undergrad in business management and marketing, and a master’s degree in business administration, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri. There, he met his wife Andrea.

But Blackford couldn’t stay away from the unique community of Maryville for long, he said, and eventually moved back to start a family. At the time, he served as chief operating officer of the hospital in Albany, Missouri, formerly known as Northwest Medical Center.

There, Blackford played a role in getting the Northwest Medical Center to become part of a larger health system. Blackford and other staff realized the small hospital in Albany needed the support of a system with additional resources at its disposal. So, they formed an agreement with Mosaic Life Care, and Albany became part of a system connected to the Mayo Clinic network.

This was the first of a series of changes that would shape Blackford’s career thus far in healthcare. Change, after all, has followed him wherever he goes: both necessary change, for the good of a healthcare center, and the kind of change that happens when his teams have an undying drive to improve, he said.

Before he became Mosaic Maryville’s president, Blackford worked in administrative roles

not a negative fact to dwell on, he said, because of an excellent staff that just made things work.

Tucked on the north wing of Mosaic - Maryville, down a long beige and white hallway sits the administration office. It’s 2 p.m., and Blackford sits at a small table in his office with a package of trail mix and a Diet Pepsi. Another busy day means this is his first meal since breakfast.

“I don’t know that I know what normal is like,” Blackford said, shaking a peanut out of the package. “But we have a great team. We have a wonderful team of providers and leaders and caregivers in this organization that are absolutely a joy to work with.”

He takes a sip of soda and looks out to the hallway.

“The primary reason why I love my job is the people I get to work with.”

Blackford serves as a board member in four different organizations in the community: The Bridge, a Maryville church, Northwest’s chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce, and The Source Medical Clinic.

At The Bridge, he serves as treasurer, overseeing the offering and donations, and communicating financials with leadership. The church is a relaunch and rebrand of Blackford’s childhood church called Community of Faith.

Blackford said the congregation at Community of Faith felt God’s spirit move that it was time to do something different.

KENDRICK CA:FEE | NW MISSOURIAN

Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville President Nate Blackford talks with staff in a town hall meeting Aug. 24. Blackford has been one of many healthcare leaders working to promote local public health throughout the pandemic.

The Bridge Pastor Chad Mayne said Blackford has a way of making people feel comfortable and welcome, and never fails to brighten someone’s day with a joke.

“He leads by example. Just being the family man that he is and he works hard — but he takes time for his family — I think that’s being a good example to college students on up,”

“It’s simple, really — love God, love people.”

-NATE BLACKFORD

journey — COVID hit,” Blackford said.

Blackford became one of many local faces keeping the community up-to-date on COVID-19 protocol, mitigation strategies and best practices to promote public health and maintain medical center resources.

Pre-pandemic, the hospital was full of change, and undoubtedly, the pandemic has been full of changes, requiring flexibility in healthcare. So, change and transitions have been the face of Blackford’s tenure. But it’s

It was a church that either needed to reinvent itself, or close its doors. After months of seeking God’s will for the church, a small group of people birthed the vision for The Bridge, he said.

Now a much bigger church, Blackford said The Bridge has begun impacting many more lives, and he is proud to call it home.

“I really identify with our message,” Blackford said. “Over time, people and denominations have sort of complicated the gospel message. It’s simple, really — love God, love people.”

Mayne said.

Being the president of a medical center means having a busy schedule. It sort of just comes with the job, Blackford said. His advice to other fathers under a similar circumstance is to not forget what their priorities are.

“It’s very easy to let the urgent get in the way of the important,” Blackford said. “Understanding, maintaining and being committed to those priorities and treating them as nonnegotiable is really critical.”

For Blackford, everything else

takes a backseat to faith and family. Leaning back in his chair, Blackford crossed his arms and took a breath … exhaled.

“It just has to,” he said.

Going forward, Blackford is concerned for the capacity of health care from staff, to facilities, to equipment, in order to meet all healthcare needs of the community, not just COVID-19 patients.

“I think we all are done with COVID, but unfortunately COVID is not done with us,” Blackford said. “We have to stay the course in terms of taking all the mitigation steps to ensure that the hospital has capacity to provide healthcare services.”

On the wall next to Blackford’s desk hangs a poster of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson — golf is his one hobby, he says. Just to the right hangs three Louisville Slugger baseball bats, each given to him from loved ones as a symbol for an accomplishment.

Blackford turned 46 this year. The rookie’s stats now tout 22 years in healthcare serving others, 27 years after his last heart operation.

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Aug. 26, 2021 @TheMissourian

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CRIME LOG for the week of Aug. 26 Northwest Missouri State University Police Department Aug. 23 There is a closed investigation for property damage.

Aug. 22 There is a closed investigation for a liquor law violation at Perrin Hall.

There is an open investigation for stalking at the Station.

Aug. 21 There is an open investigation for sexual assault at Franken Hall.

Aug. 17 There is a closed investigation for a liquor law violation at Tower Suites West.

Maryville Department of Public Safety Aug. 22 A summons was issued to Jamie S. Marzett, 20, for driving while intoxicated on the 100 block of West First Street.

A summons was issued to Jacob H. French, 19, for driving while intoxicated and failure to maintain the right half of the roadway on the 1000 block of South Main Street.

Aug. 21 There is an ongoing investigation for tampering with a motor vehicle on the 100 block of East South Hills Drive.

There is an ongoing investigation for leaving the scene of an accident on the 900 block of North Main Street.

PALMS

CONTINUED FROM A1 “We have a lot of Maryville people that go down there, and they’re just asking me to do something like that, where it’s nothing about who’s here. It’s just a niche, as far as being a sports bar and grill that’s not corporate. I feel that we have the need for that here in Maryville,” Dee Marriott said.

For now, Dee Marriott is awaiting her architect’s further plans for the reconstruction of the building. There isn’t an exact target date for the project’s end, though Dee Marriott would “like to have something done in a pretty timely fashion this fall.”

Manager John Marriott, who shares no relation with Dee Marriott, says the building will double in size. The expansion

Where to get your vaccine in Maryville SIDNEY LOWRY News Editor | @sidney _lowry

There are many places on and off campus and in the Maryville area where students, faculty and staff can go to get their vaccines.

Mosaic Medical Center Maryville On Fridays, Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville holds a clinic offering Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and people can pick their preference of the two before their appointment. If someone doesn’t want their vaccine on a Friday and already has another doctor’s appointment scheduled, they can get it while at that appointment.

To make an appointment for their vaccination, people can call Mosaic Medical Center Maryville at 660.562.2600.

Hy-Vee Inside of Hy-Vee lies community members can get their COVID-19 vaccine. The pharmacy allows scheduled appointments, as well as walk-in appointments if people want to get their vaccine there.

Hy-Vee offers Pfizer, which is currently the only vaccination to be fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

To set up your appointment, visit hy-vee.com.

Roger’s Pharmacy Roger’s Pharmacy has the Moderna vaccine and holds clinics on Friday by appointment.

Pharmacy Technician and Store Manager Deb Garrett said they

Aug. 20 There was a summons issued to Manuel R. Montoya, 22, for driving while intoxicated and careless and imprudent driving on the 100 block of North Main Street.

There is an ongoing investigation for larceny on the 100 block of North Charles Street.

There is an ongoing investigation for larceny from a motor vehicle on the 300 block of East Davison Square.

There was a summons issued to Alexis T. Stamper, 19, for a minor in possession on the 1200 block of Fourth Street.

There was an accident between Lillian M. Gaddy, 20, and Raishawn A. Williams, 21, on North Mulberry Street and West Ninth Street.

Gaddy was issued a citation for careless and imprudent driving.

Aug. 19 Shyann A. Williams, 19, is wanted on a warrant for failure to appear in court on the 400 block of North Market Street.

A summons was issued to Craig Hardesty, 30, for filing a false police report on the 400 block of North Market Street.

Aug. 17 There is an ongoing investigation for larceny on the 1600 block of South Main Street.

There was a summons issued to Ricky G. Foster, 58, for harboring a vicious animal and failure to obtain a rabies vaccine for an animal on the 100 block of South Vine Street.

NEWS

ADDALYNN BRADBURY | NW MISSOURIAN

Northwest junior Bridget Smith receives her first Pfizer vaccine April 7 at the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse during a mass vaccination clinic. Pfizer’s vaccine for the coronavirus received full approval for those 16 and older from the Food and Drug Administration Aug. 23.

VACCINE

CONTINUED FROM A1 Local healthcare provider Mosaic issued a vaccine mandate for its employees last week prior to the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Blackford said the decision was based on evidence of vaccine efficacy, a belief that the vaccine would soon be fully approved and mandate implementation at other healthcare systems such as the Mayo Clinic, which announced its own mandate in late July.

“We feel strongly that needs of the patient come first, and that we have to put our patients’ health and well-being and that of our caregivers at the top of our list. And felt like the vaccine was the best way to mitigate the risk associated with their health and well-being,” Blackford said.

Blackford estimated 60 to 65% of Mosaic employees were vacci-

nated and said rates vary based on department. The mandate will roll out in three tiers, with the first tier including new hires, volunteers, and agency staff required to receive their initial dose by Sept.

13. The next tier, comprised of physicians, managers and “other leaders,” has a deadline of Nov. 1. The final tier with all other employees does not have a vaccine deadline at this time.

While not implementing a vaccine mandate, Northwest will continue its mask mandate.

She did not directly quote on a timetable for the mandate, but hinted that it isn’t necessarily a permanent fixture.

“Ultimately, we would like to see a return to normal as soon as possible,” Cullin said.

Cullin said she was pleased with compliance with the mask mandate during the first three days of classes last week. Crisis Management Team 2 will

continue to meet at a minimum once a week over Zoom to monitor the COVID-19 situation at Northwest and discuss recommendations to the NLT. Overall, she had a positive outlook on the current COVID-19 situation at Northwest, she said.

Tom Patterson, administrator for Nodaway County Public Health, said he was encouraged by the low case counts locally but said the county is likely “on the cusp” of a larger spike in cases. The end of August 2020 saw cases skyrocket, as there were 272 active cases in the county Aug. 31, 2020, with 189 coming from Northwest.

The current case count at Northwest as of Aug. 22 was 13, according to the university COVID dashboard. Both Blackford and Patterson are optimistic that the current numbers, vaccine rates and mitigation efforts indicate the spike will be smaller than last year.

is partly due to adding a new kitchen to the back of the building and also dueto Dee Marriott’s plan to maximize seating opportunities.

“The thing about The Palms’ building that interested me is the outdoor space,” said Dee Marriott, who expects the expanded kitchen to be 40 feet by 60 feet. “I mean, we’re building quite a bit inside, but we still wanted to have an outdoor feel, even to our room additions; that’s just something we don’t have here in Maryville ... That’s something that we’re working really hard on pulling through.”

Dee Marriott said she hopes to use The Palms to bring a different experience to Nodaway County residents, Northwest students and alumni.

“It’ll be unique to the atmosphere and unique to the town,” John Marriott said. scheduled those clinics for Friday so people have the weekend to recuperate if they aren’t feeling well due to temporary reactions from their vaccine like nausea and muscle soreness.

To make an appointment for the clinic, Garrett said calling ahead to schedule a time is preferred because they want to make sure people have no issues with making their appointment and to thaw the dose.

Walmart Walmart Pharmacy is offering the Moderna vaccine through walk-ins and by appointment. People can schedule their appointment online and fill out paperwork before they get there, or they can call ahead to schedule it. With walk-in visits, people will have to fill out their paperwork when they get there before they get their vaccine.

The Wellness Center Northwest’s campus was home to the mass vaccination clinics held by Mosaic Medical Center - Maryville last semester, but students are still able to get vaccines on campus through the Wellness Center. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, students can have a walk-in visit at the Wellness Center where they can get their choice of the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine. If students can’t make it to the walk-in clinic, they are able to make an appointment for another time by calling ahead of time.

Though the Wellness Center is mainly for students, Assistant Director of Wellness Judy Frueh said they wouldn’t turn anyone away if they wanted to get their vaccine there.

All students need to do is call the Wellness Center at 660.562.1348 to schedule their COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

LINCOLN HIPSHER | NW MISSOURIAN

What was once a bank will soon become a donut and coffee shop. Sweet Dream Donuts & Coffee does not have a scheduled opening date. The small chain has had issues finding staff for their new Maryville location.

New businesses face pandemic problems while trying to open KAILEE FORD News Reporter | @kailee_ford

Maryville is seeing progress on current and new businesses this fall, with new ice cream and donut shops opening and an update on the new building location of Grill Sergeant Barbecue, which has taken over the spot where Carson’s Sports Grill used to be.

The new location of Kris and Kate’s Ice Cream at 119 W. 4th St., which is based in St. Joseph, opened Aug. 22 despite the landscaping of the plot not being complete.

The Maryville location was set to open months ago, but due to COVID-19 and not being able to get resources on time, they had to push back the opening.

Kris and Kate’s owner Austin Evans said some of the landscaping wasn’t finished, and picnic tables for the front of the building are still on backorder.

“We’re even behind on dirt for the outside,” Evans said with a laugh. “But we wanted to open up and start serving the community.”

The pandemic has caused

supply shortages in materials such as lumber because of closing factories and shipping delays in the U.S. and other countries, according the Washington Post.

Evans plans on hosting an official grand opening for the ice cream shop Labor Day weekend to better celebrate the opening of the Maryville location. The grand opening will involve live music during the opening celebration.

Issues with resources aren’t the only problems new businesses are facing. Sweet Dreams Donuts & Coffee, which plans to open a Maryville location, is having trouble getting employees to work when the new store opens.

Businesses in the U.S. have found it difficult to hire employees or get workers to come back to work since lockdowns ended.

Restaurants and fast food businesses have found it difficult to hire and retain employees, despite growing support and demand for a high wage, according to USA Today.

Owner Buntha Ty said the new location for the small donut chain was planned to open a few months ago with other loca-

tions in northwestern Missouri, but trouble hiring has pushed this back. He said he hopes to get it up and running in about a month or two.

Ty said an opening date isn’t set in stone, but he’s excited to set up shop in Maryville to serve donuts and coffee to a wider clientele in this part of the state.

“People come all the way to Savannah to get our donuts,” Ty said. “If they’re coming all that way, we must be doing something right.”

The owner of Grill Sergeant Barbecue Paul Thompson said didn’t have much to comment on regarding the current construction work for the new building for the barbecue, which is currently being run as a food truck, but said it’s coming along slowly but surely.

Thompson isn’t sure when construction work will be finished, but he said it’s been a long process, which is filling his busy schedule.

“There’s no time frame on when it’ll be done,” Thompson said. “It all depends on how much time I have, which isn’t much.”

OPINION

Aug. 26, 2021 @TheMissourian

A5

FOR THE CULTURE:

Be friends with your minority classmates CORBIN SMITH Opinion Editor @curly_corbs

College is naturally a melting pot of different people and backgrounds. Entering my third year at Northwest, I’ve had both negative and positive interactions meeting people from backgrounds as colorful as a piece of notebook paper.

Leaving the most diverse high school in Missouri to attend school in northwestern Missouri was somewhat of a culture shock. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people who had never spoken to or even seen a person of color before college.

This information was strange to me because I felt like Northwest wasn’t the place to diversify my friend group. However, I’ve encountered multiple people who have experienced more backgrounds in one semester than they have their entire life.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Well, how can I prove I’m not racist? I’m not racist,” I think I can help you.

Try to get to know people who don’t look like you. I watched a Ted Talk presentation from Daryl Davis about how he attended Ku Klux Klan rallies for years in order to learn why Klan members were so opposed to Black people. He sat through white men calling him the n-word and explaining how white people are the superior race. If you think I’m lying, you can watch the presentation yourself.

The most important takeaway from his lecture was education over isolation. He went into uncomfortable territory and confronted the issue of racism through the lens of love instead of hatred. Although he didn’t disband any chapters, he established an understanding between two opposing people.

Don’t try and prove yourself to us. Yes, minorities would love the support of white people and to know we have allies, but we don’t need you to parade it like you’re the hero we need. Additionally, playing ‘our’ music for us or speaking ‘like us’ is one of the easiest ways to kill a friendship before it starts.

Honestly, we just want somebody who will hear us out and support us in our fight against centuries of racism in America. In relation to my last point, sitting down and learning how someone works as a human is more important than trying to impress them.

Don’t point out how different we are because we already know. Chances are the person of color you’re trying to befriend is skeptical on how you feel about their skin color. Don’t take this personally because we have been attacked for it, so it’s somewhat of a safeguard to keep us from the racially insensitive individuals. There’s a simple way to fix this — treat us like any other normal human.

There’s many ways to go about talking to and meeting people of color. There are obviously do’s and don’ts, but that goes with any social interaction. Simply be a good person, and you can get along with anybody with a darker complexion this semester.

ALEXANDRIA MESZ | NW MISSOURIAN

OUR VIEW:

Northwest needs to enact COVID-19 vaccine mandate Now that there’s a fully approved vaccine and viewpoints on said vaccine have flown like food in a chaotic school lunchroom, how should the University proceed with such information? Easy — Northwest needs to mandate that students receive the vaccine to continue inperson enrollment.

On Aug. 23, the Food and Drug Administration fully approved the first coronavirus vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will continuously be administered to individuals age 16 and older.

“The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. said in a press release.

“While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated.”

Let’s view this from an objective standpoint. First, the University has removed all opportunities of virtually attending classes, as no professors are offering Zoom links if students are quarantined or contract the vi-

YOUR VIEW:

Should Northwest require the vaccine now that Pfizer is fully approved by the FDA?

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“Since the vaccines are now FDA approved, I do think that.

I don’t know if it should be mandatory, but I definitely think there should be a big push toward it.”

“They should because the new variant, it’s getting a little out of control. To protect yourself and others, they should.”

“No, I don’t think they should require anybody to get the vaccine. I think it should be their own choice. Everybody should be able to make the choice for themselves.”

Your Bearcat misses fun conspiracies Conspiracy theories suck now. Add it to the list of things the MAGA crowd has ruined including the red hats, voting rights and for a brief but devastating period, Kanye West.

Back in my day we used to have fun conspiracies about celebrities being lizards and Ted Cruz somehow terrorizing the city of San Francisco as the Zodiac Killer two years prior to his birth.

Yes, there were always the fringe racists who tried to tell

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you President Barack Obama wasn’t a U.S. citizen, but those people didn’t seem to get any real momentum going.

Now, everytime I want to talk about how the Moon is really a giant Swiss cheese wheel, some moron comes in and tells me Bill Gates is putting microchips in the COVID-19 vaccines to track our location.

People love to tweet about those mythical chips from their iPhone with their location turned on. No, they don’t

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get the irony.

Could you guys not ruin everything? I used to have fun researching conspiracy theories on YouTube and now I can’t do that anymore without ending up with recommended videos popping up on my feed of some QAnon follower trying to explain why the last eight times Donald Trump was going to come back were false, but this time it’s actually happening.

I really hope you guys didn’t have parties every time

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If so many colleges and universities across the nation are phasing in vaccination efforts, Northwest can feasibly do its part.

From a public relations standpoint, Northwest shouldn’t be worried because it’s impossible to please everyone. Every year, the University requires students to get the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and Meningococcal vaccine before stepping on campus in their first year. So, students opposed to receiving vaccines are simply exposing their hypocrisy when refusing the newly approved vaccine. There’s no difference in requiring students to get those vaccines and getting the COVID-19 vaccine. They have undergone the same approval.

As mentioned earlier, the discussion of receiving or refusing the vaccine is tedious. However, if the safety of others is in question, safety should be more concerning than being told what to do. Now that the FDA has fully approved a safe vaccine, Northwest should adhere and do what’s safe and fair for all of its students.

Make the vaccination a requirement.

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rus. Under normal circumstances, this should be expected, but we’re in a pandemic. A little leeway should be granted.

So, what if someone without the vaccine comes to school and gets another student sick? That initial student would be responsible for the second student missing class, homework and potentially falling behind.

Although popular vaccines like Moderna and Johnson and Johnson aren’t fully approved yet, there’s at least one vaccine now that’s fully approved, and Northwest offers it.

Most places in Maryville allow people to choose which vaccine they wish to receive, so students wouldn’t be forced to get a vaccine they’re uncomfortable with.

At this point in time, Northwest wouldn’t be alone in vaccination mandates. 40 states have at least one higher educational institution that requires students to provide evidence of vaccination. Institutions in Missouri that require proof of vaccination include Culver-Stockton College, Rockhurst University, Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis, Webster University and William Jewell College.

If you believe information within our publication is incorrect, please email us at northwestmissourian@gmail.com, call our newsroom (660) 562-1224, or leave us a comment on www.nwmissourinews.com.

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that was supposed to happen.

That’s a lot of wasted time at Party City.

I guess now that I have one less hobby to kill time, I will continue to search “Donda” on Twitter and refresh every three seconds until Kanye actually drops the album. That should occupy me for a year or the rest of time.

The Stroller has been a tradition since 1918 and does not reflect the views of The Northwest Missourian.

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Aug. 26, 2021 @TheMissourian

A6

WALK THE TALK:

Northwest football’s G.O.A.T’s?

And more JON WALKER Sports Editor @ByJonWalker

Welcome to Walk The Talk, a weekly mailbag column where I answer any questions you might have regarding Northwest Athletics. After a year mostly filled with questions about whether a sport was going to play or not, we’ve got light at the end of the tunnel. Northwest football kicks off its season in less than a week against Fort Hays, so we’ll eventually take the time in this edition to find out who would be on the program’s Mount Rushmore.

JON WALKER | NW MISSOURIAN

Northwest volleyball senior setter Maddy Ahrens sets for a hitter during the Bearcats’ practice Aug. 17 in Martindale Hall. The Bearcats will start their 2021 season at the Courtyard by Marriott Classic Sept. 3-4 in Tampa, Florida.

VOLLEYBALL

CONTINUED FROM A8 Each season, the program tries to encompass a phrase, a motto to personify the identity of that year’s squad. The message this year, mentioned by Woerth but more so used via social media, is “#PlayAsOne.” “From our standpoint, we’re usually thinking about the team more than any individual on the team, so that really hits on that ‘Play as one,’” Woerth said.

“Also, just striving to be the best that you can be, playing as No. 1 from an individual standpoint too. Those were the things that hit me when I heard, ‘Play as one.’”

The team will have to play as one without Hallie Sidney. The All-MIAA outside hitter is using her medical redshirt and will be sidelined the entirety of the season. Woerth said Sidney wouldn’t be ready to play until at least late October, so she elected to get healthy with the expectation to return to the program for the 2022 season.

It leaves room for the program’s youth to step up, though.

Woerth’s 2021 recruiting class features one outside hitter, two

middle hitters and a setter. The two middle players will be key components also, as Morgan Lewis and Bethany Elkins — both middle players — graduated from Northwest in May. “With the young girls coming in, they’re just super coachable,” senior setter Maddy Ahrens said. “They just fit right in with the team, and I think it’s super exciting to just have a bunch of hardworkers and girls who lift you up. … We’re all just super pumped.”

And should Woerth and company get back to the finale of the MIAA Tournament, they’re hoping for a different outcome than last time. They don’t want to go into the 2022 season having to chase the league’s crown — they want to defend it.

That, though, is one of many accomplishments the Bearcats are hoping to check off their list by the end of the season.

“We want to have a 20-win season. We want to win at home — conference championships and postseason conference championships and national titles,” Woerth said. “From the standpoint, our mindset’s on those goals right now.”

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How does the construction in Bearcat Arena affect volleyball and basketball?

Northwest Director of Athletics Andy Peterson has already said Northwest volleyball will play its season on a temporary court, which is set to be installed in the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse.

There are a few indoor tennis courts on the south side of the building, and that’s where the court will most likely be.

As for stands, it’ll either be chairs or pop-up bleachers that are brought in to surround the court.

For basketball, nobody is really sure yet. The project is supposed to be done in Bearcat Arena by late October or early November at the latest. The problem, of course, is that the first home basketball game of the season is Nov. 6, when the women’s team hosts William Woods for an exhibition.

If the gymnasium inside of Lamkin Activity Center isn’t done by then, I’d guess the first few games would be played at the Civic Arena in St. Joseph.

However, I think they’ll get it done just in time for basketball to be back in action.

Will Marc Gordon get Northwest soccer to .500 this season?

If the team continues the pattern that has shown through Gordon’s first three seasons, yes.

The Bearcats went 2-15 in Gordon’s first year at the helm of the program in 2017, with a season-long 11-game losing streak effectively halting any hopes of a postseason appearance.

In his second year, the ’Cats went 6-10-3, a significant improvement compared to his first. During the final week of the season, Gordon and company took down MIAA foes Missouri Western and Missouri Southern to squeak into the MIAA Tournament before losing in the first round. It was the program’s first postseason appearance since 2012.

COVID-19 modified Gordon’s third year, but it gave a glimpse of hope for the program. Despite a spring season, instead of playing in the fall as usual, the Bearcats went 4-3-1. Northwest beat Central Missouri 5-4 in the spring, marking the Bearcats’ first victory against the Jennies since Nov. 6, 2008.

Along with that, they made the MIAA Tournament again, which featured a first-round win against Missouri Southern before the tournament was canceled for various reasons.

So, yes, I believe the Bearcats will reach .500 this season. We’ll see if they get off on the right foot during the season opener Sept. 3 against Sioux Falls.

Mount Rushmore of Northwest football players?

This is tough, as you could imagine. I wasn’t alive to watch Mel Tjeerdsma lead the program to its first title in 1998. I was just learning to crawl when they won the program’s second in 1999.

I think it’s important to understand that I’m wrong, regardless of who I put on this list.

There are way too many notable players in the program to narrow it down to four.

After extensive research and conversations with people who knew those teams a little bit better than I ever could, I present my Mount Rushmore of Northwest football players: Chris Greisen | Quarterback | 1995-98 Greisen is the original superstar quarterback of the program. He didn’t become the starter until his junior year, but that might be what makes his resume so impressive.

16

Tony Miles’ record-setting number oftouchdown receptions in 1998 As a junior, Greisen threw for 2,456 yards and 23 touchdowns.

He had a single rushing touchdown, too. That same year, he was named first-team All-MIAA. As a senior, he threw for 2,937 yards and 25 touchdowns en route to being named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year. He added five rushing touchdowns, too, while making his way to the All-MIAA first team for the second time in as many years. Oh, and that season he led the program to a 24-6 win against Carson-Newman for the program’s first national title.

He was drafted No. 239 overall in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. After that, he had a 12-year professional career, including stints in Washington and Dallas. When he wasn’t in the NFL, he was tearing up the AFL, where he compiled Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2007 and 2010.

Greisen was inducted into Northwest’s M-Club Hall of Fame in 2007 and the MIAA Hall of Fame in 2012. One of the greatest gunslingers to put on a Northwest uniform.

Xavier Omon | Running Back | 2004-07 There, quite literally, isn’t a single rushing record at Northwest that doesn’t belong to Omon.

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Rushing yards? He had 7,073 total, including a program-record 2,337 in his junior season.

Rushing touchdowns? He had 92 total, which is 33 more than second on the program’s alltime list. He holds the record for most rushing/receiving touchdowns accounted for in a season, too (38).

Omon wasn’t a part of any of the program’s six national titles, but he played for the trophy three times in his four-year Bearcat career. He was inducted into the Northwest M-Club Hall of Fame in 2015, along with the MIAA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Once graduating from Northwest, Omon was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft with the No. 179 overall pick.

After that, it was a series of pit stops in five different NFL organizations before ultimately ending his professional career after he was waived by the Denver Broncos in August 2012.

Tony Miles | All-purpose | 1996-2000 There aren’t too many other people who can say they scored three touchdowns in what’s sometimes referred to as the greatest collegiate football game to ever be played. That’s right, I’m talking about the 1999 Division II National Championship, when Northwest won back-toback championships after beating Carson-Newman 58-52 in quadruple overtime.

Miles tallied a receiving touchdown, rushing touchdown and a kick return for a touchdown in that game — a performance that personified the entirety of his Northwest career.

He was twice named an AllAmerican at both wide receiver and kick returner, along with being named first-team All-MIAA three times. His name is littered among the top of the program’s record books, but no record more notable than being second on both Northwest’s and the MIAA’s all-time lists for career receiving yards. He graduated with the Northwest record for receiving touchdowns in a season, too.

He averages the most yards per punt return in school history, and kickoff returns as well.

After leaving Northwest, Miles ended up with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a Canadian Football League team that he joined in 2002. In his second year in the league and first year with the Toronto Argonauts in 2003, he was named a CFL All-Star.

He won the Grey Cup with the Argonauts during his second year in Toronto, and his professional career ended after another one-year stint with the TigerCats in 2008.

If there was something to be done on the football field, Miles probably could’ve done it.

Jamaica Rector | All-Purpose | 2000-04 It’d be incredibly unjust to include Tony Miles and not mention Rector, who holds countless program receiving records.

He holds some special teams records, too.

Rector is the sole reason Miles isn’t first on the MIAA and Northwest lists for receiving yards, and it’s because he was just that dominant. He graduated college with 289 receptions, which is third in the history of Division II. He never won a national title, but his individual records speak for themselves when they shattered the previous ones, much like Xavier Omon. Rector has the school’s record with receiving yards, too, tallying 4,497 — 607 yards more than Miles. Rector has the second-most touchdowns catches in the program’s history as well.

After leaving Northwest in 2005, Rector was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. He was Dallas’ primary punt returner before spraining his ankle in the season opener, which eventually led to being cut.

Rector put nearly every career receiving record out of reach for someone wearing a Northwest uniform.

Walk The Talk is a mailbag that focuses on all things Northwest Athletics. To submit a question for the next edition of the mailbag, tweet @ByJonWalker or email j.walker.missourian@gmail.com.

SPORTS

Aug. 26, 2021 @NWMSports

A7

’Cats aim to fix errors in preseason finale WESLEY MILLER Sports Reporter | @wesleymiller360

Northwest soccer has already played in one scrimmage, and now the Bearcats are looking ahead to their preseason finale.

The Bearcats traveled to Truman State University Aug. 21, in Kirksville, Missouri, to face the Bulldogs in an unofficial match.

The scores and stats from the game are not official, but the two programs ended in a 1-1 tie.

Northwest had a four-month break before entering into the scrimmage, which was the team’s first competition of the 2021 season. Generally, there would be a full year break between seasons, but due to schedule changes and cancellations resulting from COVID-19, the team had to play in spring 2021 instead of the usual fall schedule.

Junior defender Letycia Bonifacio, who earned first-team All-MIAA in the spring, said she couldn’t have been more excited to get back on the pitch again despite the shorter break.

“I was feeling really excited during the game and felt good to be playing again with my teammates,” Bonifacio said.

Although excitement accompanied Bonifacio during the first competition of the season, nervousness did too. She said she was a little nervous about new players being out there and having to build a connection with her new teammates.

However, she said it went better than she expected and was pleased with how well the team played for the first time out.

Coach Marc Gordon said he liked seeing his team in action again against an opponent and felt good about being able to return to a normal schedule after dealing with COVID-19 for the past 18 months. Regardless, Gordon knows there is

UP NEXT NW vs. Augustana (exh.)

3 p.m. Aug. 27 Bearcat Pitch

ADDALYNN BRADYBURY | NW MISSOURIAN

Northwest forward Adell Gore fights for the ball against Truman State defender Camryn Sprague Aug. 21 during a preseason scrimmage against the Bulldogs in Kirksville, Missouri. The Bearcats and Bulldogs ended in a 1-1 draw.

still work to be done.

“Yes, we want to get a result from it, but we want to get some of the young players minutes and help them get the first-collegegame jitters out,” Gordon said.

There were both offensive and defensive successes, Gordon said, but there were also missed passes and defensive breakdowns. Despite the ups and downs, Gordon said he thought it was a productive afternoon.

Mistakes are bound to happen throughout the season, which is never truer than when the season first begins.

“We had some small mistakes that are easier to control next time, and I believe we have a re-

ally strong team for this season,” Bonifacio said. “Overall, we played better than I was expecting, and now we’ll work hard to fix those small mistakes and go strong in our season.”

Gordon, who has coached Northwest’s soccer program since 2018, has encountered early-season jitters plenty of times, he said.

With a rather young team, it can be a little more detrimental because this is some of the players’ first ever college season.

“It’s a lot about the psychological game for the players,” Gordon said.

He said some players feel like they need to win each ball. But instead, Gordon said they need

to realize there are teammates who can help them.

Bonifacio said she, along with her teammates, was nervous with and without the ball.

“We all need to be calmer with the ball and without the ball, focus on what we have done in practice and get the job done,” Bonifacio said.

Gordon said they make sure to have the players watch the game film of what happened, so they can see where the mistakes happened, why they happened and how to avoid them in future contests.

Future endeavours for Northwest soccer includes their final exhibition Aug 27. at Bearcat Pitch against Augustana University.

Maryville to start state title defense against MEC foe After enduring a long offseason, Maryville volleyball will begin its MSHSAA Class 3 title defense Aug. 30 against the Benton Cardinals in St. Joseph.

Benton is coming off a 6-9 record from last season, where the Cardinals rattled off four wins in the last five games of the regular season heading into the district tournament. Ultimately, Benton lost in the first round of the district tournament to Savannah to end its 2020 season.

The Spoofhounds were 21-2 last season in the team’s first volleyball state-title run.

Maryville and Benton faced off twice in 2020, with both matches ending in 3-0 sweeps in favor of the Spoofhounds. Despite two perfect matches against Benton last year, first year Maryville coach Bailey Cook thinks the Cardinals will be ready.

“I think that they’re going to try to get around our big front row,” Cook said. “We had a pretty solid front row last year, and we still have one this year.

So I think they’re going to try to work around that.”

Benton brings four seniors into 2021, and while the Cardinals don’t have a lot of size, they show quick hands and the ability to pick up Maryville’s rotations.

“Last year, they were very good at picking up a lot of our hits and tips and just covering the floor really well,” Cook said.

“So, that is something that we have been working on, about finding those open spots on their side of the court, just so they can’t get everything that we send over their way.”

The Cardinals set the ball well, which leads to good looks for their offense, something Cook said the Spoofhounds need to be ready for.

“They have a strong setter,” Cook said. “With a strong setter, they can produce strong hitters, so kind of focusing on the setter and what their hitters look like so we can be ready for all of their hits, just being strong on our end to make their defensive

players work hard as well.”

Last season, the Spoofhounds were able to get Benton out of system during the two matches between the programs, preventing the Cardinals from getting good swings.

Maryville will look to keep Benton out of system again this season to prevent solid sets and hits from Benton’s hitters.

Cook mentioned the Spoofhounds are more than ready to play an opponent that isn’t themselves after months of practice and scrimmaging against themselves.

“They are so excited,” Cook said. “We had a practice and the first things they were saying walking in the gym was that, ‘We’re just one week away from game day, and it’s finally happening.’”

After waiting since last November to play and going through a 2020 season with little fans in the stands due to COVID-19 protocols, the Spoofhounds are ready for a more normal season.

Cook said as of now, there are no restrictions on attendance for

Maryville’s home games, and she expects the Spoofhound crowds to support the team at home and travel well to give the Spoofhounds an edge going into the season. She specifically mentioned the Spoofhounds student section as a cause for excitement, as many of the girls on the team haven’t experienced a full gym on game day.

“Yeah, it’s been a year since we played,” Cook said. “To finally put on a jersey, play another team and have fans — more than just their families — they’re so excited.

They’ve been talking about having that student section for so long now, and with it only being a week away, it’s becoming real now.”

The Spoofhounds lost seven seniors to graduation last year, and will start this season as a young team that has been implementing new rotations and strategies to prepare for the season. With little experience on the varsity team going into the Benton game, there will be mistakes made. That’s something Cook doesn’t want her team to dwell on.

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Maryville’s Ava Dumke prepares to bump the ball during a training exercise meant to focus on returning hits. The ’Hounds start their MSHSAA Class 3 title defense Aug. 30 against Benton on the road in St. Joseph, Missouri.

“There’s nothing really that you can do once you make a mistake,” Cook said. “There’s nothing they can do about it, so they just need to focus on the next pass or the next ball. I don’t want them getting down on themselves because that affects the team. So I try to emphasize, so much, that once

UP NEXT MHS @ Benton 7 p.m. Aug. 30 St. Joseph, Missouri

they make a mistake, to work on why they made that mistake, so hopefully they don’t make it again.”

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Despite the result of this match not going on the season’s record, Gordon said he is confident in his players to approach it as something that matters, just like a regular season game. Additionally, Gordon said he believes having a challenge like Augustana, a program that hasn’t had a season under 12 wins since 2013, will help his players grow.

“Us being exposed to that level will help us prepare for similar things we will see in our conference,” Gordon said.

The players, Gordon said, tend to raise their level of play when met with a challenging team, like the Vikings. He said they will realize the pace of play they have to be at in order to effectively compete against some of the best teams in the MIAA and Division II. Bonifacio said she is confident she and her fellow Bearcats will rise to the level necessary.

She said she feels ready to go and she knows her teammates are, too.

“I believe everyone is really hyped for this next game. The energy on the field and at the gym improved extremely after this first game,” Bonifacio said.

She also said it makes no difference to her whether the result is official or unofficial.

“We have a saying in Brazil: ‘Treat practice like a game and a game like a war,’” Bonifacio said. “So, go as hard as you can at practice, and when the game comes, you’ll give 110% and leave everything on the field.”

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Back-to-back?

MHS volleyball starts title defense against MEC foe.

Football Mt. Rushmore?

That, and more, answered in this week’s Walk The Talk. see A6

see A7

Aug. 26, 2021

ROSCOE FLINT | NW MISSOURIAN

Maryville High School quarterback Connor Drake readies a pass to his teammate during practice. Blair Oaks handed Maryville two of its four losses last season, including a 51-8 beatdown in Week 1, now they will face off for the first game of the season Aug. 27.

’Hounds kickoff road to redemption

N

WESLEY MILLER Sports Reporter | @wesleymiller360

o team wants to face defeat, especially with a championship trophy on the line.

It’s not often a team gets a chance at revenge against the team that ended its season as soon as the first game of the following season. However, Maryville football has the opportunity to do just that.

The Spoofhounds played Blair Oaks twice during the 2020 season, losing both times.

Now, they’ll start the regular season against the 2020 MSHSAA Class 3 champions with hopes of beating the Falcons for the first time since November 2017.

Blair Oaks handed Maryville two of its four losses last season, including a 51-8 beatdown in Week 1 — the largest point differential in the five-matchup history of the two programs. The other was a 62-40 loss to the Falcons in the state title game.

It’s a new season; records are reset, past seniors have graduated and it’s another chance to start the season 1-0.

Coach Matt Webb said the Falcons have become a very familiar opponent.

“It’s a non-conference opponent for us, but we’ve had them Week 1 for the past few years,” Webb said. “And, you know, it’s been, traditionally, two of the best teams in the state of Missouri when it comes playoff time. It’s two programs that respect each other, but at the same time love to compete.”

Blair Oaks is a class-act program, led by class-act coach Ted LePage, Webb said. He said he has nothing but extreme respect for them and knows LePage feels the same way

about the Spoofhounds.

Webb’s respect for Blair Oaks has passed onto his players. Senior quarterback Connor Drake said he, similar to Webb, has nothing but extreme respect for them.

“They remind me of us — they win a lot,” Drake said. “And they just do things the right way.”

The two teams might have met at the pinnacle of high school football, but Webb said regardless of the outcome last fall, the Spoofhounds are only focused on what lies ahead.

“

Week 1 of a football season is like Christmas Day”

- MATT WEBB

“We don’t think of it as a rematch of the state championship game,” Webb said. “We think of it as the inception of the 2021 season.”

Drake said it is a big game in general because it’s a rematch, but he doesn’t see it as a rematch. He said he has moved on from the result last December, and this is just another game where the team has to execute.

Regardless of who plays, Week 1 is always an exciting time for players, coaches and fans.

Players are ready to get back on the field, coaches are ready to see their team in action

UP NEXT MHS vs. Blair Oaks 7 p.m. Aug. 27 Lee’s Summit, Missouri

and fans are ready to cheer their team on for as far as they can go. With recent history, this game might just have a little bit more on it.

To Webb, however, this game isn’t about what happened in the past. He said it’s a Week 1 matchup between two good programs, and his players are going to be energized for it, no matter who they might play.

“I don’t know if you can get more competitive than Week 1 of a football season,” Webb said. “No matter who you play, you should be excited to be on the football field.”

Webb said through all the work Maryville football has put in up to this point, it feels great to finally play somebody.

The Spoofhounds start lifting weights in January and have camps throughout most of the summer. Now, to be able to put it all out on the field, Webb said the energy and excitement of his players, coaches and himself are through the roof.

“Week 1 of a football season is like Christmas Day,” Webb said. “You get to see what Santa brought you and all the hard work that you’ve done for the year.”

Per usual for the ‘Hounds and Falcons, the game will be played at a neutral site.

This year’s edition will take place Aug. 27 in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

“I think we’re ready to go,” Drake said.

“We’re ready to go win.”

’Cats use tourney loss as motvation for 2021 fall slate JON WALKER Sports Editor | @ByJonWalker

JON WALKER | NW MISSOURIAN

Northwest volleyball coach Amy Woerth give directions during the Bearcats’ practice Aug. 17 in the gymnasium of Martindale Hall. Woerth is entering her ninth season at the helm of the program and has a career record of 135-109.

Despite a loss in the makeor-break set of the MIAA Tournament this spring, Northwest volleyball is ready to get back on the road to redemption.

After a five-set, comeback win against then-No. 14 Washburn in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament, the Bearcats used momentum from their 3-0 sweep of Central Missouri in the semifinals to propel themselves against then-No. 10 Nebraska-Kearney.

The ’Cats lost the first two sets but were able to win the next two. Fifteen points separated the Bearcats and the program’s first MIAA Tournament title.

They lost, though, as Kearney captured a 15-13 win.

“I think I can speak for everyone on this team that we were really disappointed after that loss,” said junior libero Hannah Koechl, who transferred to Northwest from Boise State University in 2019. “But we kind of used that to our advantage and took it as motivation to get back there this season and beat them. We’re really confident we

UP NEXT Courtyard by Marriott Classic Sept. 3-4 Tampa, Florida

can beat them this year.”

But before Koechl and company get back to the MIAA Tournament, they’ll have to navigate the trials and tribulations of playing two seasons with not too much of a break in between.

They have seven to eight months in between seasons when a pandemic doesn’t alter the league’s schedules, but there will be a mere 139 days in between that loss to Kearney and the No. 17 Bearcats’ season debut Sept. 3 at the Courtyard by Marriott Volleyball Classic in Tampa, Florida.

Koechl doesn’t care, though, and neither does Woerth.

“I think it’s great to jump right back in, especially when the worst thing is having that feeling in your gut that we got second,” Woerth said. “We get to get back into it quickly and erase that feeling a little bit.”

SEE VOLLEYBALL | A6