The Times-Delphic

SPORTS

Knapp Center 2601 Forest Ave. Des Moines, Iowa 50311

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 2E

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Two of a kind: Austin and Kak continue to shine Sophomore teammates drive each other to succeed

by Rodney Spears

Staff Writer rodney.spears@drake.edu

Sophomores Brogan Austin and Omet Kak racked up almost half of the team’s total points in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Due to their dominance of MVC distance events, the two will forever be linked as the powerful duo of the 2011-12 Drake track season.

Because Austin and Kak are teammates with great success, it might be assumed that they would work closely with one another. This is not the case, however.

“We don’t really train together.

I train with another mid-distance runner on the team named Charlie Lapham,” Kak said. “Brogan and I only do a workout together once in awhile, but not very often. We train for different events, so I can’t do what he’s doing, and he can’t do what I’m doing.”

When Austin and Kak do get the opportunity to train together, they use each others’ strengths to work on their own weaknesses.

“It is nice to have a training partner because on tough workouts, we can alternate the lead on workouts.

For instance, we will do 1,000-meter repeats,” Austin said. “Omet will take the first 1,000, and I’ll take the next, or vice versa. It might not seem like much to run behind someone in a workout, but in reality, it does.”

Kak‘s best event is the mile run, while Austin excels in the 10-kilometer run. They have been known to run against one another, but both Kak and Austin conceded that they still have work to do when competing against each other.

“Omet’s best event is the mile, and he is a machine when it comes to that distance. I have a hard time competing with him in that event, but I don’t plan on letting him beat me forever,” Austin said.

Kak shared Austin’s sentiment in regard to races of longer distances.

“Brogan’s best events are (the) 5,000 and 10,000-meters. I have never run a 10k, but I don’t think I can keep up with him,” Kak said. “The 5,000-meter, on the other hand, is a different story. I think I can keep with him at this distance because it’s not as long as the 10k.”

Mutual respect and admiration describes Austin and Kak’s dynamic.

It is clear that they both look up to each other in several ways, but like any great athlete, neither of them plan to ride the back seat for long.

“Omet is a modern marvel. He has only been running for about three-to-four years where as most good distance runners will run 10plus years to get at the level where Omet is,” Austin said. “He has the mindset to do whatever it takes to be the best, and he is not scared to sacrifice for the good of the cause. Omet is a weapon to be reckoned with, and I’m glad he is my teammate.”

Kak also expressed admiration toward his teammate.

“He is really dedicated, and I look up to him. Everything that he does has running in mind,” Kak said. “He doesn’t stop being a track and field athlete after practice; that’s what sets him apart from me and my other teammates.”

TAYLOR SOULE |photo editor SOPHOMORE BROGAN AUSTIN (top) holds on to sophomore Omet Kak (bottom) after going on a run together during practice. Austin and Kak have developed a unique competitive relationship in their time at Drake.

Former Bulldog Jenna DeLong has found a new home in UT Dallas

by Eduardo Tamez Zamarripa

Sports Editor eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu

Even if it’s been almost a year since softball standout Jenna DeLong graduated, her teammates still haven’t forgotten about the fire extinguisher.

“Yeah, we played a trick on her (DeLong’s) roommate, and we sprayed her with the fire extinguisher,” said junior Macie Silliman, DeLong’s close friend and former teammate at Drake. “So now the big joke with everyone is Jenna and the fire extinguisher. Every time we see a fire extinguisher, (we) take a picture and send it to Jenna.”

DeLong graduated from Drake University last May with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast news journalism and in English. She also graduated as

knew one way to celebrate.

“She carried on the tradition when she was over in Holland,” Silliman said.

“They won the Cup, and apparently they went back to the hotel, and they got all of the fire extinguishers, and (it) cost them all this money and whatever, but she celebrated with the fire extinguishers.”

Following her successful sixth-month stint in the Netherlands, DeLong got offered a job by Bastian and VanBrunt.

“I was trying to figure out where softball was going to take me. I met some people that presented that opportunity,” DeLong said. “They wanted me to come to Dallas to coach the TFS. It’s a traveling softball team.”

Team TFS Texas is a professional softball organization of The Fastpitch School.

“I miss them a lot. I’d give anything to be on that team again.

Being here is the next step of my life.”

–Jenna DeLong the all-time strikeout leader for the Bulldogs and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year her senior season.

DeLong went 21-8, posted a remarkable 1.89 earned run average and registered 228 strikeouts last season.

When it was time to make a decision after graduation, it’s understandable that DeLong was not ready to turn her back on softball.

“I still wanted to play. I flew to the Netherlands to play professionally,” DeLong said. “My intentions were to play softball and get paid for it.”

The Tex Town Tigers, located in Enschede, Netherlands, gave DeLong the opportunity to continue playing softball.

However, two weeks into the season, the Tigers’ head coach Meagan Hartung walked out and left the team out to dry.

“Dutch lifestyle is completely different. Everything is laid back, everything is slower,” DeLong said. “It wasn’t that big of a deal to them. To me it was a big deal.”

The Tigers were stacked with experienced players, and the season went on without skipping a beat.

Once it was time for the European Cup, coaches Michael Bastian and Monti VanBrunt joined the team. The Tigers went on to win the European Cup under Bastian and VanBrunt. DeLong helped clinch the win in the team’s 6-0 victory over Sparks Haarlem.

After winning the most prestigious cup in European softball, DeLong only

Even though DeLong was interested, she had to turn down the position.

“That’s not going to pay my rent; that’s not (going to) help me in my career,” DeLong said. “If you can find me a primary job, I will consider it. I thought these guys were crazy; it wasn’t important enough to move to Dallas.”

DeLong came back to Des Moines and began looking for a job.

“I had applied to jobs everywhere, all industries in Des Moines. I needed to start a career,” DeLong said.

DeLong considered joining the Bulldogs as a volunteer assistant coach. She still wanted to be around the program.

But as winter break approached, DeLong heard there was an opening at the University of Texas at Dallas from VanBrunt and Bastian.

“She was pretty bummed about it, but it was a good decision for her. She didn’t really want to leave yet,” Silliman said. “Last year, we got second in the (MVC) tournament. She wanted to be around everyone. But a better option came up for her so she could move forward in life.”

DeLong is now the assistant softball coach and the women’s cross-country head coach at UT Dallas.

While DeLong is comfortable with what she has to offer as a softball coach, being involved in cross-country is uncharted territory.

“That will be entertaining. It starts next fall. I’ve never ran cross-country my entire life,” DeLong said. “There’s a lot of help around here. I’ve got the entire

summer to recruit.”

As for the softball aspect of her job, DeLong is loving every minute of it. She looks back on the first practice of the season and remembers how surprised she was by the skill level of her players.

“I was really excited. I got to watch the pitchers throw,” DeLong said. “I didn’t know anything about Division III. I was pleasantly surprised with their skill level.”

If there’s something that DeLong has learned throughout her coaching stint, it is how much work assistant coaches put into a program.

“I haven’t regretted one day. I work 13, 14 hours a day. I’ve realized how much an assistant coach actually does,” DeLong said. “I would like to thank my assistant coach (at Drake) for everything that she did.”

After only three months of coaching, DeLong is still working on developing her coaching style.

“I guess I don’t really have a coaching style or philosophy. Be positive and encouraging, and people will want to play with you and for you,” DeLong said.

DeLong still misses her friends back in Des Moines and her family back in

Idaho. She’s still developing her coaching philosophy and learning her role as an assistant coach, but DeLong is comfortable with the role softball is now playing in her life.

So far, the Comets are rolling along nicely with a 21-13 record. This doesn’t come as a surprise to Silliman.

“I think she will be very successful.

Not only because of her background, (but) she’s got the passion for it and has a lot of softball knowledge,” Silliman said.

DeLong is happy in Dallas, and she’s excited to see how much her team can still improve and progress.

“Life is good here. It’s fun to see a different part of the country,” DeLong said.

“There’s always room for improvement.

We still have more to accomplish.”

In the meantime, DeLong will continue enjoying the ride without forgetting her Bulldog roots.

“I keep up with them everyday. I miss them a lot,” DeLong said. “I’d give anything to be on that team again. Being here is the next step of my life.”

photo from JENNA DELONG

Softball preview

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

After opening Missouri Valley Conference play with an 8-1 record, the Drake softball team dropped five straight games. Despite ups and downs, the Bulldogs are optimistic entering the May 1012 State Farm MVC Championship.

“We knew we were playing the lower conference (teams) first, so it was really good to get the momentum,” said freshman pitcher Rebekah Schmidt. “Then, we started playing hard teams like UNI, and they’re at the top of the conference, so that was hard, but we knew we had to battle through it and just use that and keep going because it’s definitely not over.”

Schmidt is weeks away from her first MVC Championship appearance.

“When we’re really good on the field, we want to carry it into hitting,” Schmidt said. “Taking the good from both is giving us a lot of momentum.”

Learning from Drake’s mistakes is atop senior infielder Torey Craddock’s to-do list.

“Playing those games was good for us even though they were tough losses,” Craddock said. “We learned a lot, and I hope we keep moving forward with each game.”

With the final innings of Craddock’s Drake career approaching, every swing is an opportunity.

“Every run counts and every runner we get in scoring position is very important for us because every game is going to be close in the tournament and in the conference games,” Craddock said.

While undefeated Northern Iowa holds steady at No. 1 in MVC play, every team poses a threat.

“UNI is playing really well right now, but I think any team in the conference is capable of pulling a win any day,” Craddock said. “It’s whoever shows up, and we have a chance at winning, the tenth team has a chance at winning. It’s all about who plays the best ball on that day.”

Northern Iowa leads the MVC in doubles and triples this season. The Panthers’ Mackenzie Daigh boasts 58 hits in the 2011-12 campaign, tops in the MVC. Besides Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Illinois State are also viable threats to take home the MVC title Southern Illinois spearheads the MVC in batting with a .301 average. llinois State is hanging around with a 10-7 record in conference play.

With tough teams looming in Drake’s future, determination is key.

“We consistently keep fighting and fighting even if the score is 5-0 in the seventh (inning),” Craddock said. “Whether we’re losing or winning, we’re just giving everything we have, every pitch, every hit, every inning.”

PAGE 3E | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

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THE TIMES-DELPHIC

Ghorbel looks back on Davis Cup experiences Bulldogs

by Dominic Johnson

Staff Writer dominic.johnson@drake.edu

The Davis Cup is the premier team competition in all of tennis, with the best tennis players from 137 countries being selected to compete for their nations.

The competition is divided into multiple groups, with the world’s elite players and teams in the World Group, followed by Group I, Group II and Group III. The rules at their most basic level are quite simple: Win and you move on to the next round.

Lose and you are done for the season, facing the possibility of being demoted into a lower group.

Last summer, Drake junior Anis Ghorbel was selected as one of four players to represent his home country of Tunisia in a Group II match

against Ireland.

“I’ve been on the Davis Cup team since I was 18,” Ghorbel said. “I was selected because I was playing really well in national tournaments, and I was the best in my age group at the time.”

Ghorbel’s first Davis Cup match was on July 18, 2008 against Slovenia.

Ghorbel lost the match and Tunisia eventually lost the match 1-4 to Slovenia.

“It was tough because all the other guys were like seven years older than me with more experience,” Ghorbel said.

The Federation called upon Ghorbel once again in 2009 for a match against Morocco, and that time he competed in doubles for the first time. The loss to Morocco kept Tunisia in Group III for the start of 2010, but Ghorbel couldn’t partake

TAYLOR SOULE |photo editor JUNIOR ANIS GHORBEL holds his racket at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center outside courts. Ghorbel has led the Bulldogs to an overall 21-2 record, compiling a team-best 26-6 singles record and is in the running for MVC Player of the Year.

in the competition. While Ghorbel was busy competing for the Bulldogs last season, the Tunisian team earned wins over Benin, Ghana, Cameroon and Algeria to move them back into Group II. After losing a Group II match to Great Britain in March 2011, the Tunisian squad was set to play Ireland on July 8 to determine if they would remain in Group II or be moved down to Group III. “I was at Drake in spring semester last year when I got an email from the Federation, like three months before the actual event, saying that I was selected to play against Ireland,” Ghorbel said. “And that I’m now the No. 2 player on the team.”

Tunisia’s top player, Malek Jaziri, has been a staple of the Tunisia Davis Cup team the past few years, as the current world No. 96 has played in 50 matches for his home country. Being named the second best player behind Jaziri was a huge step forward for Ghorbel in his tennis career.

Immediately after Drake’s NCAA tournament run ended last year, Ghorbel was on a plane back to Tunisia to begin practicing with his team.

The match officially began on July 8 at the David Lloyd Riverview Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland.

Ghorbel was in the first match of the day against then-world No. 110 Conor Niland.

Ghorbel actually earned a set point to take the lead in the first set, but Niland saved that to capture the first set. From then on, Niland’s superior conditioning and experience opened the flood gates. Ghorbel eventually lost 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

“I felt like I was right there with him in the first set, but he was just so much more experienced in the end,” Ghorbel said. “The Irish crowd was just so loud, and he played better than me in the important points, but it was a big match for me to learn from.”

The day ended with the teams all tied up at 1-1, as Jaziri had defeated Ireland’s Barry King in straight sets in the second match of the day. On the second day, Jaziri and Ghorbel combined to play in the No. 1 doubles match.

“I had a long conversation with our coach before the doubles match, and he told me, ‘listen, you are playing really well, so don’t be stressed, just go play your tennis,’” Ghorbel said.

The advice must have worked because Ghorbel and Jaziri won their doubles match in straight sets against Niland and James Cluskey. The 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 win moved Tunisia to a 2-1 lead.

“I played one of the best doubles matches in my life that day because I just forgot about everything besides the tennis,” Ghorbel said.

In the third and final day of competition, Jaziri faced off against Niland of Ireland. Niland took out Tunisia’s best in three straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1, to level the match at 2-2. Tunisia’s Davis Cup fate now rested on Ghorbel’s racquet. If Ghorbel won, Tunisia would stay in Group II and Ireland would be relegated to the lower Group III. If Ghorbel lost, Tunisia would be back down to Group III. Ghorbel showed no sign of nerves to start out the match against Ireland’s King, though, as the young Tunisian jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the first set. But Ghorbel was soon broken back, and he eventually lost the first set in the tiebreaker. After that, Ghorbel simply couldn’t keep up with the more experienced King. After two days of best-of-five-set tennis, his body had hit the wall.

“After losing the first set, my legs were completely gone, and I wasn’t in it mentally anymore,” Ghorbel said. “For me, it was just different, more than my body was ready to deal with.”

Despite the loss, Ghorbel’s teammate Jaziri had nothing but praise for the young Tunisian.

“He is a very good doubles player,” Jaziri said of Ghorbel. “He also has courage and likes to play for his country.”

When Ghorbel came back to Drake for this season, he immediately talked to Drake head coach Evan Austin about things he had learned from his Davis Cup matches and how he could incorporate new aspects into his game.

“I learned a lot from the matches against Ireland last summer because I realized I wasn’t far from their level of tennis,” Ghorbel said. “They had more energy on and knew they could grind it out on the court.”

Austin and the strength and conditioning staff at Drake began to work with Ghorbel before the fall season. The extra work started to pay off almost immediately as Ghorbel won the Drake Invitational and reached the finals of the ITA Midwest Regional.

“I was just ready in my legs for more matches,” Ghorbel said. “When you are ready physically, you are ready mentally too.

The loss to Ireland moved Tunisia back into Group III, where the Tunisian team will have to be one of two teams to move on out of the group’s round robin format back into the higher level of competition. This summer’s round robin will be against seven African teams, and the event will be in Tunisia. Ghorbel has once again been selected to play for his country, and he believes his success this year for the Bulldogs will help Tunisia move back into Group II.

How to recruit in the tennis world Coach Austin discusses how to find the hidden gems and the challenges of bringing international talent to Drake

by Dominic Johnson

Staff Writer dominic.johnson@drake.edu

“The tricky thing about recruiting in college tennis is that if I find a good player in Bosnia or somewhere, I can’t exactly go hop on a plane to go take a look at him,” said head coach Evan Austin.

If Austin had hopped on a plane last year to visit each of Drake’s three freshmen just once, his round trip would have racked up over 18,000 miles. Talk about frequent flyer miles.

Whether it’s on the lawns of Wimbledon or the blue courts of the Roger Knapp Tennis Center, tennis has become an international sport. When Austin is looking for talent to fill out his roster each year, he doesn’t abide by the usual Drake practice of looking primarily in the Midwest. And although Austin’s recruiting net spreads a few thousand miles beyond the usual Drake reach, one common sentiment holds true.

“For all us coaches at the smaller schools, we are trying to find the kids that not everyone knows about,” Austin said.

And that is no easy task either because it isn’t just the smaller schools looking for international recruits. Even the nation’s top team and defending NCAA champion, the University of Southern California, has six international student-athletes on their 11-man roster.

While the top 10 teams in the nation may have the budget to fly out and meet with their student-athletes, Austin has to rely on something a bit more rudimentary: trust.

At the most basic level, Austin is constantly looking at the rankings from the International Tennis Federation’s junior circuit of tournaments, searching for the diamonds in the rough. He tries to find players who may not have the highest international ranking, but show promise.

“I’m looking for kids like Alen [Salibasic], who a lot of the bigger coaches didn’t know about because he didn’t have a high ranking,” Austin said, “but he showed promise because he played some smaller level pro tournaments and had results there.”

But Austin doesn’t make these decisions based solely on results. Having played collegiately at the University of Kentucky, he has a number of contacts abroad, from former players to friends and coaches. Once Austin finds a recruit he likes, it isn’t easy to get in contact with them.

“A lot of these guys are in different time zones, out traveling and playing in tournaments with no email access, so it’s a long process,” Austin said. “From the first

time you first start talking with them through email and each guy on the team better and giving them a great the time they arrive on campus, it can take a couple experience. I think guys are seeing our moves in the years.” rankings and the good things going on here.”

The process isn’t just for one or two players either.

Unlike basketball or football, tennis has the ability “For every 30 or 40 kids that you find that are pretty to give out 4.5 scholarships. With six players in the startgood, you might get one of them,” Austin said. ing lineup, Austin and a number of college coaches opt Fortunately for college tennis coaches everywhere, to split the scholarship money up amongst the roster. the players themselves are a huge resource once they Therefore, he is constantly looking for true student-atharrive on campus. Having played in hundreds of junior letes: ones who can earn scholarships in the classroom tournaments, many of the student-athletes have friends as well as on the court. and competitors from around the world who might also “It’s to Drake’s benefit and the team’s benefit to be looking to play collegiate tennis. find the smartest kids possible,” Austin said. “If you For example, while Drake tennis legend Maor Zir- bring someone that isn’t smart enough, they’re not gokin was a volunteer assistant coach, he played an in- ing to make it here at Drake.” tegral role in recruiting senior Jonathan Hadash.

What’s even more impressive is that Drake’s lineup of players from the United Kingdom seems to keep feeding new talent into the program. Junior James McKie was a key factor in bringing sophomore Robin Goodman to Drake. In return, Goodman was a key factor in bringing freshman Ben Mullis to Drake as well as a recruit for next year, Ben Lott. But this isn’t just simple nepotism.

Each player has made an impact on the No. 39 (this will probably change by next week) Bulldogs.

Drake’s recent success isn’t just benefitting them on the international stage, but a number of students in the United States are starting to take notice of the Bulldogs’ movement in the rankings, as well.

“I’ve been in contact with a few guys from Florida, Texas and California looking to get a TAYLOR SOULE |photo editor shot at college tennis,” Austin said. “We’ve done JUNIOR JEAN ERASMUS prepares to serve in the Bulldogs’ match against Wichita a good job of getting State on April 21 at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

gunning for secondstraight MVC title

by Dominic Johnson

Staff Writer dominic.johnson@drake.edu

The No. 49 Drake Bulldogs travel to Omaha, Neb., on Friday, April 27 to partake in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, where the winner will earn an automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. Only 64 teams earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. Although the Bulldogs are currently ranked as one of the Top 50 teams in the nation, head coach Evan Austin’s squad goes into the conference tournament looking to lock up its second-straight tournament title while erasing any doubts that they have earned a spot in the NCAA championship.

The Bulldogs enter the MVC Championships with their second consecutive season posting 20 wins or more and carrying a national ranking.

Drake is considered the favorite to win the tournament, but it will most likely have to go through the Wichita State Shockers to earn the title. If both teams end up making it to the final, it will be a rematch of last year’s championship match, which saw the Bulldogs battle to a 4-0 victory.

This year’s Shockers won’t be intimidated by Drake’s national ranking, as the Shockers have played five nationally ranked teams this season and even garnered a national ranking of their own. The Shockers were ranked as high as No. 62 in the nation this season, but their only win over a ranked team came over then-No. 65 Southern Mississippi. The Bulldogs can’t afford to rest on their laurels though, as the Shockers were a few matches away from beating the No. 43 Arkansas Razorbacks in March.

Wichita State is led by Matheus Pereira and David Cavalcanti. Pereira is the top singles player for the Shockers, with Cavalcanti taking charge of the second spot. Wins at these two spots will be the key for Drake’s success in the tournament, as these two players are in close consideration for All-Conference honors at their positions. In last season’s championship match, Drake’s Anis Ghorbel beat Pereira 6-3, 6-2 at the second singles position. Cavalcanti competed at the third singles position last year, so he faced off against Drake’s Jean Erasmus, but the Bulldogs had already clinched the match before either player could claim victory.

Besides being exceptional singles players for the Shockers, Pereira and Cavalcanti may be even more talented at doubles. Drake’s top doubles team, James McKie and Ghorbel, will have its hands full, as the two Shockers combine to form one of the best doubles teams in the Valley. The Shocker duo held a national ranking during much of the year due to its run to the quarterfinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American tournament.

Wichita State isn’t the only team that will challenge the Bulldogs for the MVC title, though. Despite losing to Drake 6-1 during the regular season, the Illinois State Redbirds are capable of being a dark-horse candidate for the title. The Redbirds have one of the best doubles teams in the conference in Alexander Pelaez and Tuomas Manner, and that pair could lead to Illinois State winning the doubles point against any team in the Missouri Valley.

In singles, the Redbirds are a young team but they have a number of left-handed players who can disrupt the flow of any match. In addition to that, Pelaez is one of the best singles players in the conference. By beating Ghorbel in a third-set super tiebreaker in the regular season, Pelaez made himself the likely favorite in the running for the MVC Player of the Year award.

The remaining teams in the draw are Southern Illinois, Bradley and Creighton, but there is little evidence from the regular season that suggests any of those teams would be capable of reaching the final, let alone a win to move them into the NCAA Tournament.

State Farm MVC Championship April 27-29 Omaha, Neb.

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 4E

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Drake basketball programs receive makeover compiled by Eduardo Tamez Zamarripa Sports Editor eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu

In less than a year, the men’s and women’s basketball programs at Drake have taken a drastic turn. The men’s basketball program will have three players transfer, including sophomore Rayvonte Rice. In addition to that, Associate Director of Athletics Heather Weems accepted a position elsewhere and assistant coach Mike Gibson has bolted from the program. The women’s basketball program dealt with two projected starters quitting the team mid-season. Playing with only nine available players, the Bulldogs made an improbable run to the Missouri Valley Conference championship. Yet, just 15 days later, head coach Amy Stephens resigned after arguably her best coaching job ever. The basketball programs have undergone an unprecedented series of departures and transfers from coaches and players that have left both of Drake’s programs in disarray. For one, the men will field virtually an entire new roster. Meanwhile, the women will have to adapt to an entire new regime. Not only will both squads struggle to stay relevant in the MVC, but the question remains: what exactly has caused this unexpected exodus? Something is brewing in the Knapp Center.

DECEMBER 2011 What happened: Junior Kayla Person quits the team shortly after the Bulldogs’ loss to Iowa State on Nov. 15. Person, who was projected to start for Drake this season, played only eight minutes in the loss to ISU. Person transferred from Drake after the fall semester.

Women’s basketball MARCH 26 What happened: Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb announces the resignation of head coach Amy Stephens.

Stephens’ resignation came just two weeks after the Bulldogs had reached the MVC championship.

LATE FEBURARY 2012 AUGUST 29

MARCH 2

What happened: Sophomore Rayvonte Rice and senior Kurt Alexander are arrested for stealing $50 worth of socks from a Scheels Sporting Goods store in Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines. Both players are suspended for the season’s first two games.

What happened: Drake loses to Creighton 68-61 in the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals, marking the fourth time in as many tries that head coach Mark Phelps failed to get past the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs had defeated Bradley in the play-in game to reach the quarterfinals.

SEPTEMBER 14

MARCH 11

What happened: Senior Frank Wiseler announces his departure from the men’s basketball program. Wiseler cites injuries as the reason for his decision to quit the team.

What happened: Bulldogs receive an invite to participate in the CollegeInsider. com Postseason Tournament. The Bulldogs lost in the second round to Rice.

Drake had defeated North Dakota in the first round. The loss marked the last game for redshirt senior Kraidon Woods, senior Kurt Alexander and redshirt juniors Cory Parker and Greg Whitaker.

Men’s basketball

What happened: Redshirt junior Brittnye McSparron quits the team. After starting 22 of the team’s first 25 games of the season, McSparron does not suit up for the Bulldogs’ match on the road against Bradley on Feb. 24. With only two games remaining on the regular season, McSparron quits the team.

MARCH 27 What happened: Following the departure of head coach Amy Stephens, the entire women’s basketball staff is let go.

APRIL 18 What happened: Assistant coach Mike Gibson leaves Drake to pursue busines career.

Director of basketball operations Jamelle McMillan also resigned to pursue other opportunities.

MARCH 15 What happened: The Bulldogs fall to South Dakota 61- 53 in the first round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, ending the Bulldogs’ postseason dreams.

Seniors Alex Montgomery, Amber Wollschlager and AP All-American honorable mention Rachael Hackbarth play their last game as Bulldogs.

What happened: Freshman Judd Welfringer and redshirt sophomore David Smith are granted their releases from Drake.

MARCH 8-MARCH 11

What happened: Associate Director of Athletics Heather Weems accepts the position of Director of Athletics at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

What happened: After playing with only nine active players (sporting a sevenman rotation featuring three freshmen), the Bulldogs make an unlikely run to the Missouri Valley Conference championship.

As the seventh seed, Drake defeated Evansville, Illinois State and Wichita State, before falling to Creighton.

APRIL 5

What happened: Allison Pohlman is re-hired as assistant coach for the Bulldogs. Pohlman had been let go after Stephens’ resignation.

APRIL 17 What happened: Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb announces Jennie Lillis Baranczyk as the new head coach of the women’s basketball program.

APRIL 6

MARCH 27

APRIL 19TH

What happened: Sophomore guard Rayvonte Rice is granted his release from the Drake program and plans on transferring. Rumors have linked Rice to Xavier, Virginia, Kansas State and Illinois.

SEPTEMBER 14

MARCH 2

MARCH 27

APRIL 5

APRIL 18

DECEMBER 2011

FEBRUARY 2012

MARCH 8-11

MARCH 26

APRIL 17

ALL FILE PHOTOS

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 6E

Playing to win, one point at a time Aguilera’s consistent and calm approach serves as example for younger Bulldog players

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Every day, Jessica Aguilera clicks on her hometown online newspaper based in Santa Cruz, Bolivia seeking news both on and beyond the tennis courts.

On Oct. 9, 2011, Aguilera created tennis news of her own, winning the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Individuals title in the No. 4 bracket.

The 2012 State Farm MVC Championship is just days away, and the senior is eager to make headlines again.

With newsworthy tennis in mind, Aguilera embodies poise, consistency and composure on the court.

“I’m just calm,” Aguilera said.

Along with the Drake women’s tennis team, Aguilera’s Babolat Pure Drive racket appreciates her patient play.

“Tennis isn’t like a team sport, but we play as a team,” Aguilera said.

“When I’m playing, for example, I will never throw my racket or anything, and I think that’s an example for the freshmen to just be calm.”

Balancing a double major, professional plans and tennis, Aguilera’s busy schedule demands determination.

“I think being a student-athlete is really nice,” Aguilera said. “You double up your time management. You are always busy.”

Aguilera’s busy college career will commence in May when she receives her bachelor’s degrees in marketing and management. After graduation, the senior will pursue employment in the U.S. Before moving her 2012 tassel, though, Aguilera looks to finish her Bulldog career with another MVC title.

“We have conference soon, so we’re expecting to do better this year,” Aguilera said.

The MVC Championship opens on Friday, and Aguilera’s progress is

promising, said Drake head coach Paul Thomson.

“She and I have been working a lot together on her confidence and her focus as far as being, I guess, a little more assertive, sometimes on the courts,” Thomson said. “She’s very talented. She can play with anybody on our schedule that she’s going to go up against.”

Aguilera owns a 18-7 singles record in the 2011-12 campaign. Paired with sophomore Klavdija Rebol, Aguilera has notched 10 wins en route to an 14-8 doubles ledger this season.

“She’s won a lot of matches,” Thomson said. “It’s just, she doesn’t realize she’s capable of doing some of the things she actually can.”

Aguilera’s forehand isn’t the strongest. Her serve isn’t the speediest.

Her cheer isn’t the loudest.

Her dependable play is dangerous, though.

“She makes balls and makes balls and makes balls and makes balls,” Thomson said. “She doesn’t have a lot of overpowering weapons to finish a lot of balls, and put a lot of balls away and hit a lot of winners, but her weapon is the fact that she’s so consistent.”

While Aguilera’s game is no surprise, her consistency is awe-worthy, Thomson said.

Aguilera’s relentless play offers a powerful example for Drake’s young players like freshman Amanda Dick.

“She does always go out there and (does) her best and (tries) her hardest, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her give up,” Dick said. “I’ve been out there sitting next to her on the court, and she’s pretty quiet. I say, ‘Oh, that’s how I kind of want to be on the court.’”

Dick routinely practices with Aguilera, and she appreciates the senior’s supportive attitude.

“At practice, she always does what she has to do,” Dick said. “She’s fun to talk to, and she cheers her teammates on, and she’s there for us.”

Krizman leads Bulldogs to succesful season

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Junior Manca Krizman’s closet is decorated with photos of her favorite professional tennis player, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

With his gritty play and determined personality, Djokovic sits atop the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings. Two months ago, he captured his fifth Grand Slam title by winning the 2012 Australian Open. A Grand Slam championship is one of the highest individual honors in professional tennis.

Last fall, Krizman captured the Missouri Valley Conference’s highest individual prize: a State Farm MVC Individuals title.

With tennis’ top athlete in mind, Krizman continues to serve, volley and lead her team into Drake women’s tennis lore.

“Manca is that fight and that grit and that determination, and people look to that,” said Drake head coach Paul Thomson.

With every swing of her Babolat Pure Drive racket, Krizman plays with her teammates in mind.

“I call her my equalizer, my enforcer, simply because if something needs to be said, if one of the players needs to step up as far as holding someone accountable, she’s not afraid to do it,” Thomson said. “Manca is a leader more through her actions than her words. She leads by being at practice early, being one of the last ones to leave, her discipline and her commitment on the court, her work ethic.”

Despite approaching graduation early, the end of Krizman’s Drake career remains promising.

“I tell her everyday, it’s just doing the small things and getting big results,” Thomson said. “I think if she continues to work on her fitness and her court position, she knows when something’s not working right, how to make an adjustment. She’s been around for a while. She’s one I that can just kind of wind up and push out there and let go most times.”

For freshman teammate Amanda Dick, Krizman’s winning work ethic is motivating both on and off the court.

“She works hard all the time, so it always makes you want to work hard,” Dick said. “She’s a team player, and she cheers on everybody else as well, so on the court and off the court she’s always contributing to the team in some way or another.”

Besides her team-oriented mindset, Krizman’s 2012 season record is impossible to ignore.

The Solkan, Slovenia-native owns a 29-3 singles record in the 2012 campaign, including a three-set triumph over Marie-Pier Huet of then-No. 25 Oklahoma on Jan. 21.

Paired with senior Gabby Demos, Krizman also boasts a 24-9 doubles record.

Krizman’s winning streak adds to her already influential position, Dick said.

“Besides the fact that she’s winning like no other, she’s obviously a leader on the court because she has been kicking butt, and she pushes us to work harder and she cheers us on,” Dick said. “She leads more by example than anything else because she shows what we should be doing.”

For Krizman, leading by example isn’t limited to tennis.

One practice, Krizman introduced the Bulldogs to “Ai Se Eu Te Pego,” a popular Brazilian dance tune by Michel Telo.

“Manca said, ‘Everybody in Europe knows the dance’ and just started dancing in the middle of practice,” Dick said.

Now, the ditty routinely plays on Drake’s practice mix tapes, Dick said.

Alongside her noteworthy dancing skills, Krizman is committed to Drake’s leadership.

“Each one of us is a leader in a different way, so we don’t have really a specific one, so I think that’s a good thing that everyone has to step up,” Krizman said. “It can’t just be one person, but if we all step up, I have a feeling that we are capable of doing a lot of things.”

Although only a junior, Krizman will don her cap and gown in May and receive her bachelor’s degree in psychology. After graduation, she plans to pursue internships and, eventually, graduate school in the U.S. Before Krizman walks across the Knapp Center stage, though, she looks to finish her Drake women’s tennis career on a triumphant note.

“We have a really good record, so we are going to try to keep it up,” Krizman said. “Also, those teams that we played that are kind of challenging for us — we’re going to try to really be very prepared for those matches and maybe have this little twist and beat them.”

Tough MVC rivals loom in Drake’s forecast, but Krizman will walk into the Roger Knapp Tennis Center with determination.

Before stepping confidently onto the blue hard courts, she’ll view the framed image decorating the women’s tennis locker room.

Novak Djokovic won’t fit the frame, though.

Instead, eight familiar faces will accompany Krizman into MVC battle.

“I like playing as a team, even though it’s individual sport,” Krizman said.

“The best part is that even when it gets tough, you have your team once again.”

TAYLOR SOULE |photo editor

Bulldogs ready for MVC tournament after reaching 20 wins on the year

by Blake Miller

Staff Writer blake.miller@drake.edu

After closing out the regular season this past weekend on the road against Wichita State and Creighton, only the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament remains for the Drake women’s tennis team. After an extremely successful spring season for the ladies, which included a win streak of 10 matches in a row, there is a feeling of satisfaction heading into the tournament.

“Honestly, this season has gone even better than I expected and as well as I hoped,” senior Gabriela Demos said.

“Besides our loss to SIU last Saturday, we have beaten every team we should have and even some I was not expecting.

We have also bonded better than ever before and I think everyone is having a lot of fun playing, which I haven't seen in a while.”

The Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 1992 and headed into the last weekend of the regular season with an impressive 20-5 mark.

The MVC tournament will take place in Omaha from April 27 to April 29. However, the Bulldogs are still unsure

of who they will play in the first round.

Drake held the top spot in the MVC for most of the season until a recent loss to Southern Illinois dropped the squad to second place, and they will likely remain there.

No matter who the Bulldogs face, they know they will have their hands full.

“All of the pieces are there for this weekend’s matches and beyond,” said head coach Paul Thomson. “Again it’s a matter of the team playing our tennis, our way, the Bulldog way. If we all show up on the same day ready to go we’ll be a tough team to deal with.”

Drake has been unable to make it out of the first round in the MVC tournament in each of the last three seasons, but this year’s team is much improved.

The team is getting better play out of improved veterans like Demos, seniors Jessica Aguilera and Amanda Aragon and junior Manca Krizman, as well as the addition of rising star freshman Nell Boyd.

“We have worked extremely hard this year and everyone has stepped up at one point or another,” Boyd said. “Just being focused and playing our hardest will make us be successful.”

FILE PHOTO

PAGE 7E | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

SPORTS

Volleyball squad looks to outwork future opponents

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Pass, go and hit. Pass, go and hit.

Drake volleyball knows the drill.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

“Yes!” shouts Drake head coach Tony Sunga with every thunderous kill.

Ah, the sweet sounds of spring progress.

After Sunga’s turbulent first season at Drake’s helm, spring practice brings fundamental focus for the Bulldogs.

“This is a breakdown of some of the small things that were preventing us from success, and we’re doing that,” Sunga said. “It’s more about passing and delivering that first ball.”

However, before the Bulldogs pass, serve and dig into spring success, their 2011-2012 season losing streak stands.

Drake finished 9-23 overall and 5-13 in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, good enough for eighth place.

Offensively, the Bulldogs finished last in conference play, averaging just 13 percent hitting from the floor.

Defensively, Drake averaged 2.09 blocks per set, ranking seventh in the MVC. The Bulldogs graduated four seniors including setter Caitlin Johnson, Drake’s leader in digs.

Despite a rocky 2011-12 season and a young roster, Sunga is confident entering spring play.

“Everyone’s going to have an opportunity this year, and they see that, so it’s an opportunity to improve during the spring and again when we come back in August,” Sunga said.

“It’s going to be very competitive.”

With players already battling for positions, Sunga anticipates Drake’s youth movement. Six incoming freshmen will join the Bulldogs next season.

“We’ll be relying on our younger

crew,” Sunga said. “We have seniors that will step up, so the young ones are going to have to challenge those seniors and juniors.”

Almost one year ago, freshman outside hitter Amanda Platte stepped onto Ron Pearson Court for her first Drake volleyball practice.

For Platte, playing in a new city under new leadership proved challenging.

“This was Coach Tony’s first year and our first year meeting him, so I think we were just kind working out the kinks with kind of starting over,” Platte said.

After finishing the 2011-12 campaign, Platte and the Bulldogs opened spring play with fundamentals in mind.

“We’re practicing four days a week and really working on serve receiving because serve receiving is the base of the volleyball play, so we’re starting out with the basics,” Platte said.

These improvements, Platte hopes, are stepping-stones toward MVC prowess.

Alongside Platte, junior outside hitter Bentley Mancini is ready to surprise the MVC faithful next season despite Drake’s limited roster.

“We’ve decided that we obviously have a small team, and we’ve just decided that we need to outwork everybody else, and we’ve definitely been doing that in the weight room,” Mancini said. “We’re just going to have to outwork our competition on and off the court.”

Before Drake opens MVC play in September, though, replacing key players is atop its to-do list.

Last season, the Bulldogs bid senior middle blocker Michelle Reidy farewell.

Sophomore middle blocker Haley Brightwell recently announced transfer plans, opening both middle blocker positions.

Filling Drake’s vacant positions

is both demanding and promising, Mancini said.

“It’s going to be tough because we lost two key middles,” Mancini said.

“We lost our setter (Johnson) who had been serving the team pretty much the whole time she’d been here, but Halli (Meyer) is our new setter, and I think she’s completely capable of run-

ning the team. We have two incoming middles who are going to need to step up right away and have confidence when they come in.”

The Bulldogs are already boosting confidence, technique and teamwork this spring.

“The spring is really just to kind of break down our technique, and we

don’t really get a chance to do that very much in the fall when we’re playing games,” Mancini said.

“We’re really looking forward to getting better and getting stronger in our technique and skills.”

TAYLOR SOULE |photo editor JUNIOR JADRANKA TRAMOSLJANIN (LEFT), JUNIOR BENTLEY MANCINI (MIDDLE) AND FRESHMAN HALLI MEYER (RIGHT) flex their muscles across from Old Main. Next season, the Bulldogs will field a “small” squad and will need to rely on their athleticism to outwork opponents. Drake went 5-13 in the MVC in head coach Tony Sunga’s opening season.

A day in the life of senior Blood of a champion crew captain Kat Moore

by Monica Worsley

Staff Writer monica.worsley@drake.edu

by Meagan Flynn

Staff Writer meagan.flynn@drake.edu

Senior crew captain Kat Moore has always strived to challenge herself. While in high school, not only was she a cheerleader, but she also took advanced classes.

But when she got the postcard from Coach Charlie DiSilvestro inviting her to join the rowing team upon entrance to her first year at Drake University, she was ready to push herself in a new arena.

“It was a transition, but it was kind of expected. We are a D-I sport, so going into it, I knew it was definitely going to be different,” Moore said.

If the physical hurdles weren’t enough of a change, the new sleep schedule would top it off.

Moore says that she, along with most other rowers, typically rise at 5:20 a.m. in order to meet at the Bell Center at 5:45 a.m. for their carpool to the Birdland Marina in Des Moines.

She and her teammates do this every day, with the exception of Sunday. On Saturday, they are granted an extra two hours of sleep and meet instead at 7:45 a.m.

Moore usually hits the hay at 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m., but says that other rowers sometimes push it to 12 a.m. or 1 a.m. if they are cramming for tests.

Typical workouts on the water usually last from 6:05 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. — ending just in time for 8 a.m. classes — and consist of various drills with the four and eight-rower boats, which are primarily used in the more competitive 2K spring season. Indoor winter workouts are spent mostly on the ergometers and the treadmill.

The team also lifts weights every Tuesday and Thursday in addition to their morning workouts.

“It’s definitely a time commitment,” Moore said. “It’s something I love and it’s something I’ve done all four years, but taking a full load of credits and working and rowing…it’s a lot. It gets to you — especially when you get up so early, it’s always hard to stay up late and do stuff.”

The feeling that accompanies the rowers as they cross the finish line makes all of their sacrifices, hard work and extreme exhaustion worth it.

“There’s a sense of gratification,” Moore said, “a sense of contentedness. There is a lot of buildup to the races that we row. We practice every day so that we will win, and coming across the finish line is like our ‘All right, we did it.’”

For Moore, though, the most nerve-wracking part of the race is before it has even begun — at the starting line.

photo from DRAKE ATHLETICS

“There’s kind of this calm before the storm, where you know it’s coming, but you have this time between now and then to mentally prepare,” Moore said.

Moore became captain last year after speaking with DiSilvestro about her future plans for the team.

“I saw changes I wanted to make and saw a general vision about where I wanted to go,” Moore said. “[Coach DiSilvestro] agreed.”

One of the major changes Moore incorporated in the fall was mandating two additional workout times each week in order to improve strength and endurance in the team as a whole.

“It’s definitely a lot, but we were at a tipping point,” Moore said. “We definitely had the potential to improve if the girls put in the effort.”

This spring, Moore and the crew hope to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference outright. In 2010, the crew was one point away from third and last season the meet was completely cancelled due to turbulent weather. The conference championship is held in Princeton, N.J. Sixteen underclassmen and seven upperclassmen constitute this year’s team. However, according to senior rower Brittney Smith, newcomers are not a problem.

“For a lot of the team, nobody has ever rowed before,” Smith said.

“When you’re first starting out, you’re all in the same boat — literally.”

Rowing is not anything like basketball or football, but according to both Smith and Moore, it’s the most

team-oriented sport out there.

“You have to follow the person in front of you in order to be fast. Not only are you working together as rowers, but you also have to work with your coxswain, because while she’s steering you, you’re also pulling her,” Moore said.

Moore says that there is a lot more internal competition on this year’s team — but in a good way. It has helped strengthen bonds on the team.

“It’s nice this year that we have a higher level of competition, but healthy competition to constantly get better and push our boats,” Moore said. “I think we’ve improved on that since last year.”

As for her personal goals, Moore hopes to bring home some medals from the Dad Vail Championship in Philadelphia, Pa., a popular tournament in the United States that usually attracts up to 140 teams, Moore said.

For Moore and her fellow seniors, it will mark the last meet of their four years’ worth of dedication and hard work.

But it won’t be the end of rowing in Moore’s life. She said that she has learned much from the experiences given to her by being on the team.

“I’ve learned a lot more discipline,” Moore said. “In order to be on the rowing team, you definitely have to time-manage a lot. It’s also affected my work ethic and has definitely improved that. You just have to have a lot of persistence with rowing.”

Drake alumna and former rowing standout Chelsea Smith is on a road taken by few Drake athletes and even fewer Drake rowers. She has put in plenty of blood, sweat and tears along the way.

On April 9, 2012, Smith and her lightweight double sculling partner, Michelle Sechser, competed in the Non-Qualified Small Boat Olympic Trials in Chula Vista, Calif., Unfortunately, they did not qualify.

Smith and her double sculling partner, Michelle Sechser, train at the lightweight specialized USRowing Training facility in Oklahoma City, Okla., under coaches Bryan Volpenhein and Kris Korzeneowski.

There, the pair trains to maintain athleticism and rowing technique while keeping their boat weight average under 126 pounds.

Olympic rules stipulate that a single lightweight rower may weigh no more than 130 pounds.

Alongside training, Smith is pursuing a Masters of Science in exercise science at the University of Central Oklahoma. She also works as a graduate assistant rowing coach.

Smith’s proudest athletic accomplishments all stem from her experiences at Drake.

Before graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology in 2010, Smith was a one-of-a-kind Bulldog.

Her Facebook name reads, “Chelsea ‘Bleeds Blue’ Smith,” and she was often a member of the Drake crowd at athletic events as president of what is now Spike’s Army.

“I got the name Chelsea ‘Bleeds Blue’ Smith because I was always really involved on campus,” she said.

“There was another girl on campus named Chelsea Smith who would be at events, and a lot of times the wrong

one would get tagged.”

At Drake, Smith was committed to athletic involvement but by the end of her crew career, she questioned her desire to continue rowing.

“I initially started rowing because some of my friends were doing it to stay in shape for the summer,” Smith said. “I actually really hated it. I hated carrying the boats, the power and learning the technique but I kept doing it for the summer because I didn’t want to be the only one to quit.”

Smith joined Drake’s crew as a recruit her freshman year, still skeptical about the sport. At the end of her sophomore year, academics and other extracurricular activities led Smith to question continuing with crew.

Returning to the team that fall, not only did Smith want to continue rowing for Drake, she wanted to start training as a lightweight rower for the U.S. National Team.

That same fall, she broke the Des Moines River singles record.

“I am really grateful for all the help I got from Coach D. and Bursch.

Not many coaches would say yes to helping a 5-foot-6 and 130 pound colligate rower get to the Olympics, but they were both willing to get me working to my goal,” Smith said.

Drake head rowing coach Charlie DiSilvestro and head strength training Coach Mike Bursch helped Smith establish and implement a training program.

Even with their help, Smith encountered obstacles along the way.

A few tears fell in the summers of 2009 and 2010 when Smith finished third at the USRowing Under-23 Rowing World Champion Trails.

Even after winning two bronze medals at the Pan American Games, Smith felt slightly defeated.

“I have a lot of respect for Chelsea,” DiSilvestro said. “She has put a lot on hold to train for two spots in a boat against rowers that have been rowing a lot longer.”

photo courtesy of CHELSEA SMITH

SPORTS

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 8E

TUESDAY, APRIL 24 6:00 p.m.

Grand Blue Mile Downtown

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25 12:00 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

6:15 p.m.

Heptathlon Decathlon Pole Vault @ Jordan Creek Town Center

THURSDAY, APRIL 26

DRAKE RELAYS SCHEDULE

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Decathlon Heptathlon 800-Meter, UD/CD Women­­­– Final 800-Meter, UD/CD Men – Final 3,000-Meter, HS Girls – Final 3,200-Meter, HS Boys – Final 4 x 1,600 Relay UD/CD Women – Final Hall of Fame Program Begins @ Sheslow Auditorium 10,000-Meter, UD/CD Women – Final 10,000-Meter, UD/CD Men – Final 5,000-Meter, UD/CD Women – Final 5,000-Meter, UD/CD Men – Final

FIELD EVENTS 3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Discus, HS Boys – Final High Jump, HS Girls – Final Shot Put, HS Girls – Final Long Jump, HS Boys – Final

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

FRIDAY, APRIL 27 8:00 a.m.

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100-Meter Hurdles, HS Girls – Prelims 110-Meter Hurdles, HS Boys – Prelims 100-Meter, HS Girls – Prelims 100-Meter, HS Boys – Prelims 4 x 100-Meter, CD Women – Prelims 4 x 100-Meter, CD Men – Prelims 4 x 100-Meter, UD Women – Prelims 4 x 100-Meter, UD Men – Prelims Distance Medley, CD Women – Final Sprint Medley, HS Girls – Final Sprint Medley, HS Boys – Final 4 x 800, CD Men – Final 100-Meter Hurdles, HS Girls – Final 100-Meter Hurdles, UD/CD Women – Prelims 110-Meter Hurldes, HS Boys – Final 110-Meter Hurdles, UD/CD Men – Prelims Officials Break Opening Ceremonies 4 x 1,600-Meter Relay, UD/CD Men – Final 100-Meter, HS Girls – Final 100-Meter, UD/CD Women – Prelims 100-Meter, HS Boys – Final 100-Meter, UD/CD Men – Final Distance Medley, UD Women – Final Men’s Masters 800 – Final 4 x 200-Meter, CD Women – Final 4 x 200-Meter, CD Men – Final 4 x 200-Meter, HS Girls – Final 4 x 200-Meter, HS Boys – Final 800-Meter, HS Girls – Final 800-Meter, HS Boys – Final 800-Meter, UD/CD Women – Final 4 x 400-Meter, CD Women – Prelims 4 x 400-Meter, CD Men – Prelims 4 x 400-Meter, UD Women – Prelims 4 x 400-Meter, UD Men – Prelims Clear Stadium 4 x 100-Meter, HS Girls – Prelims 4 x 200-Meter, UD Women – Final 4 x 100-Meter, HS Boys – Prelims 4 x 200-Meter, UD Men – Final 100-Meter Wheelchair Race, Women – Final 100-Meter Wheelchair Race, Men – Final Grand Blue Mile, Corporate Challenge, Women Grand Blue Mile, Corporate Challenge, Men 240-Yard Shuttle Relay, Elementary School – Final 800-Meter, Wheelchair Race, Women – Final 800-Meter, Wheelchair, Men – Final 4 x 100-Meter, Middle School Girls – Final 4 x 100-Meter, Middle School Boys – Final 4 x 800-Meter, UD Women – Final 4 x 800-Meter, UD Men – Final 4 x 400-Meter, HS Girls – Prelims 4 x 400-Meter, HS Boys – Prelims

FIELD EVENTS 8:30 a.m.

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Shot Put, HS Boys – Final Discus, HS Girls – Final Long Jump, HS Girls – Final High Jump, HS Boys – Final Pole Vault, UD/CD Women – Final Javelin, UD/CD Men – Final Shot Put, UD/CD Women – Final High Jump, UD/CD Women – Final Pole Vault, UD/CD Men – Final Long Jump, UD/CD Men – Final Javelin, UD/CD Women – Final Shot Put, UD/CD Men – Final High Jump, UD/CD Men – Final

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6:02 p.m.

8K Road Race and 1/2 Marathon Race @ Drake Stadium Shuttle Hurdle Relay, HS Girls – Prelims Shuttle Hurdle Relay, HS Boys – Prelims Shuttle Hurdle Relay, UD/CD Women – Prelims Shuttle Hurdle Relay, UD/CD Men – Prelims 4 x 800-Meter, CD Women – Final Distance Medley, CD Men – Final Sprint Medley, CD Women – Final Sprint Medley, CD Men – Final Sprint Medley, UD Women – Final Sprint Medley, UD Men – Final 4 x 800-Meter, HS Girls – Final 4 x 800-Meter, HS Boys – Final 3,000-Meter Steeple, UD/CD Women – Final 3,000-Meter Steeple, UD/CD Men – Final Officials Break Drake Relays Hall of Fame Recognition Beautiful Bulldog Contest Winner Parade of Officials Shuttle Hurdle Relay, HS Girls – Final Shuttle Hurdle Relay, HS Boys – Final Shuttle Hurdle Relay, UD/CD Women – Final Shuttle Hurdle Relay, UD/CD Men – Final Distance Medley, UD Men – Final 400-Meter Hurdles, HS Girls – Final 400-Meter Hurdles, HS Boys – Final 400-Meter Hurdles, UD/CD Women – Final 400-Meter Hurdles, UD/CD Men – Final Tribute To Our Troops 400-Meter Hurdles, Special Invitational Women – Final 400-Meter Hurdles, Special Invitational Men – Final 1,500-Meter Run, HS Girls – Final 1,600-Meter Run, HS Boys – Final 100-Meter, UD/CD Women – Final 100-Meter, UD/CD Men – Final 100-Meter, UD/CD Women – Final 100-Meter Hurdles, Special Invitational Women – Final 110-Meter Hurdles, UD/CD Men – Final 110-Meter Hurdles, Special Invitational Men – Final 1,500-Meter Run, Special Invitational Women – Final Mile Run, Special Invitational Men – Final 400-Meter, Special Invitational Women – Final 400-Meter, Special Invitational Men – Final 200-Meter, Special Invitational Men – Final 4 x 100-Meter, HS Girls – Final 4 x 100-Meter, HS Boys – Final 4 x 100-Meter, CD Women – Final 4 x 100-Meter, CD Men – Final 4 x 100-Meter, UD Women – Final 4 x 100-Meter, UD Men – Final 800-Meter, UD/CD Men – Final 1,500-Meter Run, UD/CD Women – Final 1,500-Meter Run, UD/CD Men – Final 4 x 400-Meter, CD Women – Final 4 x 400-Meter, CD Men – Final 4 x 400-Meter, HS Girls – Final 4 x 400-Meter, HS Boys – Final 4 x 400-Meter, UD Women – Final 4 x 400-Meter, UD Men – Final 2012 Drake Relays Ends

FIELD EVENTS 9:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

11:00 a.m.

11:45 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

Hammer Throw, UD/CD Women – Final Long Jump, UD/CD Women – Final Discus, UD/CD Men – Final Pole Vault, Special Invitational Women – Final Triple Jump, UD/CD Men – Final High Jump, Special Invitaional Men – Final Hammer, UD/CD Men – Final Pole Vault, Special Invitational Women – Final Shot Put, Special Invitational Men – Final High Jump, Special Invitational Women – Final Triple Jump, UD/CD Women – Final

ACHIEVE

Cownie Soccer Complex 2600 E. Hartford Ave. Des Moines, Iowa 50320

ACHIEVE

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 2F

The role player E v e r y t e a m h a s i t s r o l e p l a y e r s — t h e o n e s w h o a r e n ’t t h e l e a d i n g s c o r e r s, w h o d o t h e d i r t y w o r k a n d w h o d o n ’t a s k f o r r e w a r d s, t h e o n e s w h o d o t h e s m a l l t h i n g s t h a t m a y g o u n n o t i c e d . B u t s o m e t i m e s, t h a t ’s e x a c t l y w h a t m a k e s t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n a w i n o r a l o s s. W h e t h e r this player is one of the starting five or watching from the bench, his or her contributions deserve recognition.

by Meagan Flynn

Staff Writer meagan.flynn@drake.edu

MORGAN REID: DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST

When Morgan Reid, a 6-foot sophomore guard from Kansas City, came in as a freshman, she was given ample playing time, but she was timid, and she was afraid to make mistakes.

This year, though, her role on the team changed. This year, Reid became the Bulldogs’ defensive stopper.

“This year I wanted to focus on helping the team defensively and trying to be a stopper to create some energy,” Reid said. “It was a lot different role than what I was used to. I used to be really tentative and cautious, so [this new role] really helped my confidence.”

Reid averaged 5.9 points a game this season, snatched the ball 37 times, recorded 55 assists and pulled down a total of 175 rebounds, averaging 5.1 per game — the second best on the team next to senior rebounding machine Rachael Hackbarth.

But statistics are only a small window to look through when trying to understand a player’s contributions on the year. Diving for loose balls isn’t tracked, but if it were, Reid would, without question, lead the team.

“I’m always on the floor wrestling for loose balls,” Reid said. “A lot of people buy into that mentally. Doing

the small things and working hard on defense, it’s good for the team.”

Often times Reid found herself assigned the tall task of guarding the opposing team’s best player, whether that’d be a post player or shooting guard. With her height, Reid has always been flexible on defense — able to closely match the height of bigs in the post, but also match the speed guards while defending the perimeter.

“She’s been a huge defensive stopper,” said Hackbarth, team captain for the Bulldogs this season.

“She’s had a lot of games where she’s had to take the best player, and that was really key for us.”

The Bulldogs finished 18-16 overall and went 9-9 in conference play. Next season, the women’s team will have a brand new coaching staff.

“Looking back, we always find things that we could’ve done better,” Reid said. “But we made a really good run at the end. There’s a lot to be proud of with our season.”

After downing Evansville in the first round and Illinois State in the quarterfinals, the Bulldogs defeated Wichita State 56-52 in the semi-finals to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference championship. The Bulldogs lost to Creighton 53-38.

But the mere opportunity to play in a championship game showed how far the team had come since the start of the season.

The team had to deal with a myriad of obstacles this season: two starters left the team, and there were numerous nagging injuries to deal with.

As for personal obstacles, Reid had some knee issues, but nothing the athletic trainers couldn’t control. And once, before a game against Indiana State, Reid felt sick and worn down, but it was nothing she couldn’t fight through.

“Basketball’s a long game. You have to do what it takes and do what you can,” Reid said. “In the beginning it’s hard, but once you get in the flow of the game, all those things [bothering you] disappear.”

And perhaps that has been the theme of the women’s basketball season from beginning to end.

After fighting through injury and spots to fill early on, the Bulldogs found themselves in the MVC championship.

And Reid, she did what it took and did what she could to bring bursts of intensity and energy to her team through her stalwart defense.

“She’s done a really good job getting everyone fired up,” Hackbarth said. “She brings a lot of grit as far as going after loose balls or giving that extra oomph to get a rebound that you didn’t think she could get.

“She’s a great person and a great teammate, and she has a bright future ahead of her and a lot of potential.”

FILE PHOTO

FILE PHOTO

SETH VANDEEST: THE ROAD TO RECOVERY In the middle of a summer league game, junior Seth VanDeest, the Bulldogs’ starting 6’11” center, dove for a loose ball and extended his arm perhaps slightly too far. And then, the pop.

He could hear it and feel it more when it popped itself back in. It hurt worse than before, when his shoulder would pop out of place during everyday activities. Now, it was approaching unfixable.

His doctor told him it was a global tear on his labrum, and if he didn’t have the surgery to fix it right away, it might not ever be repairable.

“We had to make sure we had it taken care of before it accelerated even more,” VanDeest said.

But after the surgery, which was scheduled for July 2011, recovery would take up to seven months, leaving VanDeest with only 10 games to play in the season by the time he was ready to start going full speed again.

So VanDeest did what he had to: he listed himself as a medical redshirt. In doing so, he’d grant himself an extra year on the roster, but spending an entire season on the pine was by no means easy.

“It was disappointing, and it was hard not being able to be out there with my teammates and working every day with them, trying to get better,” VanDeest said. “It was definitely a tough year to sit back and watch.”

In his first two seasons with the Bulldogs, VanDeest started all 62 games he played.

As a freshman, he was named to the Missouri Valley Conference AllFreshman Team, was named to two All-Tournament teams, set the school record in free throws made as a freshman (80) and approached breaking various other single-season, freshman-set records.

As team captain in his sophomore season, he posted an equally impressive outing with a season-high of 26 points, averaging 8.8 points per game.

“I wanted to be out there helping my team, but that’s just the way the game goes,” VanDeest said. “Injuries are part of the game. I just had to adjust the best I could and have the best attitude I could.”

Not being on the floor didn’t stop VanDeest from maintaining his leadership role off the floor.

While watching game film, head coach Mark Phelps often times found himself averting his attention toward the bench — VanDeest’s reactions to a good or bad play were full of expression.

“You don’t watch film to watch what guys do on the bench,” Phelps said.

Watching VanDeest interact with the game from the sidelines caught Phelps’s attention over and over.

“I must’ve rewound it six times,”

Phelps said. “I showed it as a clip in our film session to model what a great teammate is all about.”

Phelps was impressed with VanDeest’s continued role as a team leader regardless of his absent contribution on the court.

“He was a terrific leader despite the fact that he wasn’t playing,” Phelps said. “Your great leaders are typically in the trenches — blood, sweat and tears. Because of their effort, determination and performance, that’s what makes them a leader. The performance part is important in being a leader, and despite him not being able to do that, he still was a great leader.”

For rehab, VanDeest drove out to West Des Moines three times a week for an hour-long physical therapy session. When he was not in West Des Moines, he was with the Drake athletic trainers, working to regain strength and to regain the range of motion in his shoulder. He did this for an hour each day during practice.

“Sometimes he did it in the gym on the practice court, and guys were able to see that,” Phelps said. “He was very instrumental in our success this year.”

However, his 6’11” presence in the post was sorely missed.

“He’s one of the best centers in the league,” Phelps said. “When you get the ball to him in the post, Seth has the unique ability to create offense both for himself and his team.

He would’ve had a great year.”

From VanDeest’s standpoint, it was more than just the offense and defense, passing, rebounding and scoring that he missed.

“I missed the competition, the camaraderie with my teammates — being able to go out there and compete and play in front of the Knapp Center crowd,” VanDeest said. “When we fill up the Knapp Center, it’s one of the best crowds, one of the best home court advantages we could have.”

But there is a silver lining to VanDeest’s season spent on the sideline.

He was able to increase his lower body strength tremendously, and he hopes that this new strength will improve his rebounding skills. Plus, the extra year as a fifth-year senior will be beneficial not only for VanDeest, but especially for his team.

Through it all, VanDeest realized that obstacles are not the end-all in the game of basketball. They create a new sense for one’s role on the team, and VanDeest was able to fully discover that.

“Injuries are a part of the game.

It was hard on me, but my teammates supported me, my coaches supported me, my family supported me.

It wasn’t the end of the world. I just had to move on from it and move forward,” VanDeest said.

Football uses academics as main selling point for recruits

by Erin McHenry

Staff Writer erin.mchenry@drake.edu

Student-athletes strive to make Division I teams. They have the highest reputation in college athletics.

Athletes train their hardest to achieve a scholarship from a successful program and play out their four years of higher education.

It works differently for the Drake football program. As a member of the Pioneer Football League – a nonscholarship Division I conference – coaches have to recruit with another approach: find students who want to be athletes whether they receive a fullride scholarship or not.

“The premise is guys who are going to really any of the schools in those three conferences are going because they want the best of both worlds,” said head coach Chris Creighton about non-scholarship football leagues. “They want a great education, and they want to be able to play Division I football.”

Drake football is coming off a great year. It won a share of the PFL title this fall, played the first-ever American Football game on African soil in May 2011 and had 61 players with grade point averages that were over 3.0.

These are factors players can’t ignore, Creighton said.

Assistant head coach Rick Fox said the staff focuses its recruitment efforts on the program’s five goals: Academics, to be the best they can be, creating a “family,” having fun and being impact men.

Fox said being “impact men” refers to leadership, character and community service.

Stoy Hall, a fifth-year senior who graduated this fall, was named to the Allstate Good Works Team. Twentytwo players were chosen from over 600 colleges and universities to be honored at the Sugar Bowl for their outstanding community service.

“If that’s not something you’re interested in, then you’re really not going to enjoy being a part of our program because that’s what our guys do,” Fox said.

Michael Lahart, a third-year pharmacy student who finished up his fifth year of eligibility this fall, said many of these factors are what helped him choose Drake.

“You’ve got 100 friends before school even starts,” Lahart said. “The tight-knit group of friends you make through football is really what makes it special. In a way, it’s our own type of fraternity.”

Creighton said that many players on the team were originally offered scholarships from other schools, but they turned them down because they see the tradeoff at Drake as more

worthwhile in the long run.

“Instead of compromising on the education and getting some football money, look at the next 40 years, not just the next four,” Creighton said.

Lahart also pointed out the commitment to academics that is instilled in Drake’s football program.

“Your stereotypical football player doesn’t care about classes. He takes the bare minimum, has his grades handed to him,” Lahart said. “That doesn’t happen here. Overall, the kids

that stay here really do work hard in the classroom.”

Fox said the recruitment process begins in early February, a year and a half before students would potentially come to Drake. During that time, players contact the coaching staff, the coaching staff contacts players and the coaches visit and evaluate players.

He also said summer camps are a key part of the recruitment process.

He estimates 230 upcoming high school seniors will attend the camp

this year. The freshman class for the 2012 season has already been determined. Right now, the staff has begun recruiting high school juniors for 2013.

“We feel as though our program is on the rise,” Creighton said. “The 2011 season was another step forward on the rise; it was not the end all, and it was not the top. We’re going to pursue getting better.”

FILE PHOTO

PAGE 3F | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

ACHIEVE

Smith eager to take on ‘best of the best’

by Eduardo Tamez Zamarripa

Sports Editor eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu

For junior Marissa Smith, it’s hard to look at the Drake Relays as something different than the Drake women’s track and field team’s most important meet of the year. It’s not that often that the team gets a chance to play in front of a stadium packed with students and alumni.

portunity to go up against the best.

Smith, an Ajax, Ontario, native, is ready to be one of the Bulldogs leaders throughout Relays. She has consistently been one of Drake’s top performers throughout the year and has enjoyed success in recent weeks.

At the Jim Duncan Invitational on April 14, Smith snagged the 100-meter hurdles title with a time of 14.28 seconds. Not only that, but Smith also took home second place in the 4-by-

“Being in it is an honor more than anything else. Representing our school and our city.

–Marissa Smith “As a track athlete, it’s an honor for us. Relays is such a huge event.

Being in it is an honor more than anything else, representing our school and our city,” Smith said. “I’ve never looked at it as a student. As a student, I just see everyone partying.”

While the majority of Drake students associate Relays with lots of events and activities, both Drake track and field squads relish the op-

for Smith. This will be the third time Smith attempts to shine on the blue track.

Smith also talked about the preparation for Relays. While she said that the Bulldogs approach the meet just like any other meet in terms of training, Smith said coaches are often busy organizing and planning events.

However, even if the team’s preparation doesn’t change much heading into the event, Relays is as big as it gets for track and field. Smith is ready to take on the challenge one more time.

“I’m looking forward to not being in lane eight and not false-starting,” Smith said. “It’s the opportunity to compete with the best of the best. I hope I can make a PR (personal record). It would be great to make a final this year.”

100-meter relay team that included senior Ari Curtis, junior Whitney Westrum and sophomore Tiara Winston.

“I’m not as excited as I’ve been in the past. I’m more focused this year,” Smith said. “I’m happy with the solid team that we have, and I think we can be very competitive this year in our event.”

This is not the first time around

photo from DRAKE ATHLETICS

Kristin Turk looks back on dazzling season in Sweden

by Eduardo Tamez Zamarripa

Sports Editor eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu

Former Bulldog standout Kristin Turk has had no problem adjusting to professional basketball in Sweden.

The former Missouri Valley Conference All-First team selection averaged 21.4 points per game to go along with 4.6 rebounds per game in her first season with Mark Basket.

After taking the league by surprise and reaching the Swedish league semifinals in her debut season, Turk took some time to talk about her life in Sweden.

Times-Delphic: What were you thinking when you arrived in Sweden?

Kristin Turk: Getting on that airplane was a long-awaited moment for me. From the time I left to about two weeks into my stay here, I remembered being pretty emotionless.

I didn’t really know how to feel, so I tried not to get too sad about leaving or too anxious about arriving. I couldn’t sleep on the plane ride over, so when I arrived, I remember just being very tired.

TD: Were you nervous meeting your teammates and coaches for the first time?

KT: I was pretty nervous to meet them, just because it was a completely foreign environment to me. I met them all at practice on my first day there, and I was a little lost, but everyone was very welcoming to me.

TD: Is there a language barrier between you and some of your teammates/coaches?

KT: Everyone here under the age of 60 speaks English. Most of the basketball instruction is done in English, just so I know what’s going on. The only issues I have are if someone is not speaking directly to me, I am often lost in the conversation. I am picking up on more and more Swedish every day, though. Sometimes I even understand full conversations; I just don’t speak it very well.

TD: What has been the toughest thing to get used to in Sweden?

KT: The food and the language have been the two toughest things to get used to. When I first came here, it was around Christmas, so they were eating a lot of Christmas foods. This included a lot of sill, or pickled herring.

I hate fish and anything pickled or raw, so just the thought of it sickened me. I have since found that the food is not so different here. It just takes a little getting used to. The language was rough because I’ve never really been somewhere that I didn’t always know what was going on. There were times I’d be in a car with teammates, and I couldn’t pick up on even one word they were saying. I’ve honestly felt like a dog listening to humans speak at times.

TD: First game of your pro career.

What were you feeling right before you stepped on the court? Were you nervous?

KT: My first game was against the worst team in the league, Jarfalla. I remember right before the game the coach asking me if I was nervous, and I wasn’t at all. She thought it might be a little better if I was a bit nervous, but I am a confident player, and I didn’t want to let the fact that I was playing in a different country change that about me.

TD: You had a terrific first game, came out and shot the lights out. What did that do to your confidence going forward the rest of the season?

KT: I went out with a lot of confidence and shot three 3-pointers from the same spot — hitting all three. I then had to make sure everyone knew that I don’t always start games like that.

TD: Did you ever think, at some point in your time there, maybe I shouldn’t be here? Have you regretted your decision to play abroad?

KT: My time here hasn’t been flawless. I’m pretty sure no one comes to a foreign country to play and has a flawless experience, but I have never regretted my decision to play. I have had a great experience since I’ve

photo from KRISTIN TURK

been here, and I am so fortunate that I ended up where I did. I have been put in a very good situation playing for a very good club, and it’s been 90 percent positive. I think the things that you regret the most in life are the things you do not do. So even if I would have come here and had a terrible experience, I still would have been happy knowing that I tried.

TD: What’s the biggest difference between playing collegiate basketball in

the U.S. and playing professional European basketball?

KT: I think the biggest difference for me has been the refereeing and the physicality of the game over here.

In our league, we only use two refs, which makes it a lot more physical game. I’ve gotten hit in the face while standing still and holding the ball on several occasions and not gotten any calls. I tend to like a little more physical game, but the refereeing can get frustrating at times.

TD: How have you dealt with your success and your team’s success so far?

KT: My team and the town that I live in are both extremely excited about our success. We finished the regular season with the best record/standing in club history at fourth place. The success seems to just keep coming, and the town couldn’t be happier. We are fortunate enough to have great support and have the second highest attendance in the league. Not bad for a small country town.

TD: I know you were featured in the town’s newspaper. What was that like? How does it feel to already have had an impact on the team and on the league?

KT: I’ve actually been featured in a few newspapers around Sweden, which has been really cool. I think a lot of papers were immediately intrigued by the fact that I wear a mask when I play, so some papers focused on that initially. After I had some big games, I had some more articles written about me, but I really just feel fortunate that the team that I play for is getting national recognition for the hard work they’ve put in. There are so many volunteers and sponsors that help our team run smoothly, so it’s great to see what they’ve done for us pay off by giving Mark national attention.

TD: What has been the most interesting thing about Sweden? Tell me about their culture. What is Sweden

photo from KRISTIN TURK

like?

KT: The most interesting thing about Sweden has been the social and political aspect of it all. Sweden is a much more liberal country than the United States and a lot more accepting of different people. I love the United States, but I do think they could learn a thing or two from Sweden.

TD: I know you’ve been following Drake basketball. Has it been strange to follow the team from so far away?

KT: It has been a little bit strange to listen to the games rather than watch the girls play. The time change also really affects whether or not I can listen to the games. I am seven hours ahead, so any weeknight game is played during prime sleeping hours.

I also really enjoy the atmosphere of Drake games and being around all of the wonderful people connected with the program, so I am sad that I can’t be a part of that experience. I am fortunate that I was able to do radio (announcing) for a few games before I left, so I did get to see the Bulldogs in action at least a few times this year.

TD: Do you stay in contact much with your old teammates and with your former coach, Amy Stephens?

KT: Yes. I talk to Coach Stephens quite a bit through text messaging and keep in touch with most of my teammates through Facebook or Twitter. I am truly fortunate that I’ve grown up in an age with such great technology.

I know when Coach Stephens played, her phone bills were outrageous, and I’m really glad I don’t have to worry about that.

TD: What are your plans for next year?

KT: I am not sure what my plans are for next year yet. I do know that I will play at least another season, I’m just not sure where. I have spoken to my agent a little bit about places that interest me, but I will still consider coming back to Sweden. I have had a positive experience here, and I’m definitely not ready for my basketball career to be over yet.

ACHIEVE

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 4F

The Times-Delphic Athlet JORDAN CLARKE

by Matt Moran

Copy Editor matthew.moran@drake.edu

Looking beyond the numbers, redshirt junior Jordan Clarke was the ultimate team player for the Drake men’s basketball team during the 2011-12 season — and that is why he is my pick for The Times-Delphic Drake Athlete of the Year.

Clarke, a 6-foot-8 forward, was forced into playing the center position for the majority of the season due to an injury to junior Seth VanDeest. He was undersized playing against some of the toughest men in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake lacked depth at the power forward and center positions, and it leaned on Clarke more than any other player to patrol the paint.

Clarke led the team in rebounding, averaging 6.2 per game, which was good for seventh in the MVC. He recorded the second most steals on the season for the Bulldogs.

In Drake’s 68-61 quarterfinal loss to No. 25 Creighton in the State Farm MVC Championship, Clarke played one of the most inspired games of the season. He posted his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, but his numbers don’t illustrate how much he affected the game.

Clarke played 34 minutes, and during each one of those minutes, he faced the task of guarding one of the best players in the country in the Bluejays’ Doug McDermott.

McDermott, the MVC Larry Bird Player of the Year and one of four finalists for the Naismith National Player of the Year award, finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

You might see those stats and say that Clarke got torched. But he didn’t. He is perhaps the best defensive matchup in the MVC for McDermott; the Creighton star is just that good.

Not only was Clarke trusted with this defensive assignment, but he had to anchor the paint and contest shots when his teammates got beat off the dribble.

Oh, and he was depended on more than any other Bulldog to grab rebounds when the Bluejays missed.

Despite being Drake’s primary defender on the opposing team’s best player, and despite being the main helping defender when his teammates needed him, Clarke was also expected to grab the majority of the team’s rebounds.

And he did.

This single game exemplified Clarke’s season with the Bulldogs. He was, by far, the team’s most important defensive player. He is arguably the top athlete on the squad, and he has the ability to defend skilled players at multiple positions. One night, Clarke would take on a 6-foot-6 wing player with terrific outside shooting ability. The next night, he would guard a 7-foot center that banged and bruised inside.

Clarke accepted any defensive challenge that was thrown his way, and he still managed to lead the team in rebounding. In addition, Clarke had the highest grade point average on the team (3.24) and was named to the MVC ScholarAthlete second team.

Even though he didn’t receive the credit that other Bulldogs have garnered this season, Clarke is a worthy selection for Drake Athlete of the Year because he epitomizes a team-first performer.

MATT KUHN

by Tad Unruh

Staff Writer tad.unruh@drake.edu

With all of the hullabaloo and hoopla about the successes of all these great athletes and who should be the The Times-Delphic Drake Athlete of the Year, I hope I am able to make my case for Matt Kuhn of the Bulldogs’ men’s soccer team.

After covering the Drake men’s soccer team throughout most of the year, I have gotten to know head coach Sean Holmes, his program and his stellar group of student-athletes. I feel this gives me the ability to further make this case.

The senior Kuhn should be the Drake Athlete of the Year.

Why, you ask? Why should the men’s soccer team captain be considered as Drake’s athlete of the year?

As a redshirt senior, Kuhn has given his heart and soul to this program, riding through the highs and lows of nearly half a decade of Drake soccer. Kuhn is a part of the winningest class in Drake men’s soccer history. Over a span of five seasons (Kuhn redshirted the 2010 campaign due to an injury), he was a part of 57 wins, two NCAA tournament appearances and a Cinderella run to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight in 2009.

As far as personal accomplishments go, Kuhn started all 20 games this season, netting 11 goals, four assists and leading the team in overall points with 26, en route to an 11-8-1 season for Drake. He was a complete rock in the midfield all season for Holmes and the Bulldogs.

His season accolades include a second consecutive All-MVC first-team selection and an All-MVC Tournament first-team selection. But Kuhn’s talents extend far away from the soccer pitch.

As an accounting major, he finished the semester with a 4.0 grade point average, netting him a spot on the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America First Team (he garnered second-team honors in 2009). He fully embodies the term “student-athlete.”

With his entire athletic prowess, his leadership in the classroom

and the mark he has left upon the Drake program, Kuhn has consistently been a great all-around person. Every time I interviewed him, he treated me with the utmost class and never shied away from answering a tough question.

Lastly, with all of these accolades, let us add one more. Kuhn was selected in the Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft by D.C. United after the fall campaign and began trying out with them for the upcoming season. He is the fourth Drake men’s soccer team member to be drafted by a team in the MLS. He has since been waived

by D.C. United and is recovering from a knee injury.

I personally wish him the best of luck in his professional endeavors, and I hope this column has made the case for him being the Drake Athlete of the Year.

JAMES MCKIE

by Dominic Johnson

Staff Writer dominic.johnson@drake.edu

When I was given the opportunity to cast my vote for The TimesDelphic Drake Athlete of the Year, I knew immediately that my nominee would be coming from the men’s tennis team. How could it not?

The Drake men’s tennis team has been the best team on campus this year. It has held a national ranking all season, achieving a ranking as high as No. 39 in the nation after tallying wins over DePaul, Nebraska, Iowa and Marquette.

My vote for Drake Athlete of the Year hasn’t had a national ranking in singles and he hasn’t gone on a 30-match win streak like sophomore Robin Goodman, but he has my vote because his stellar performance this year has played an integral role in Drake’s 20-plus win season. I’m voting for junior James McKie. Oddly enough, McKie started off his 2012 season with a loss to Illinois State’s Skip Span at the No. 3 position in the Missouri Valley Conference Individuals Tournament. Earlier this year I spoke with head coach Evan Austin about McKie’s initial loss to Span. He said the loss to Span set the tone for the rest of McKie’s season. He could no longer be content to sit behind the baseline and grind it out against players.

Austin said that if he could be aggressive and force his game onto his opponent that he could beat almost anyone. Months later, McKie is still busy doing just that.

In Drake’s first match of the season against No. 66 DePaul, the squad was facing a 0-2 deficit after losing the doubles point and junior

Jean Erasmus’ match at the second singles position. Who was there to begin the rally for Drake? McKie. He beat his opponent 6-3, 6-2 to put some life back into the Bulldogs, who eventually ended up winning the match 4-2.

Another win that sticks out is the match against No. 38 Nebraska.

Drake had won the doubles point against the Huskers, but Ghorbel, Erasmus and freshman Ben Mullis had all lost their first sets. Who was there to stop Nebraska’s comeback attempt? McKie. He absolutely dismantled his opponent, 6-0, 6-1, at the third singles spot to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-0. Drake eventually clinched the match at 4-1 and brought a 4-3 victory back home to Des Moines. That just so happened to be Drake’s first win over a Top 40 team. Ever.

The final reason I have for nominating McKie for this award is that his success has been a bit of a surprise. I’ve been watching McKie since his freshman year, and it is obvious that he is a gifted athlete. But I wasn’t sure when he would make that next step in his tennis career at Drake. He was named to the MVC All-Select Team his first two seasons in singles, but he had never been named All-Conference. Now, I can say without a doubt that McKie has gotten over the hump that has kept him away from All-MVC honors, and he will be All-MVC this year. It’s just a matter of if the conference gives it to him at the second or third position.

When the Bulldogs are in need of a win, McKie has been there to give them one in straight sets. He is the glue that keeps this team together in the tight matches, and that is why he is The Times-Delphic Athlete of the Year.

MIKE PIATKOWSKI

by Ashton Weis

Assistant Relays Editor ashton.weis@drake.edu

I know, I know, the quarterback of the football team? How cliché for The Times-Delphic Drake Athlete of the Year. But I have good reason for choosing senior Mike Piatkowski, who seems to be the most obvious and corny choice, but the reasons are neither obvious nor corny.

I spent the fall semester reporting on the Drake football team.

I could wow you with all of the amazing stats that are attributed to Piatkowski’s name, such as being named the Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Year. He also set the Drake record for passing completion percentage at 65.3 percent for the season, tied his career high of four touchdowns in a game to win a share of the PFL title by defeating Dayton and moved into third on Drake’s all-time passing list. He broke the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision record for completion percentage in a single game at 90.3 percent, and he was honored as the MVP at the Channing Smith Banquet. These are only several of Piatkowski’s many accomplishments over the course of the past season.

But let me tell you why Piatkowski really deserves to be Drake’s Athlete of the Year.

The Drake football team had a great year, which can’t be disputed or denied. Piatkowski supported the team the whole way and performed with an attitude to be admired.

After every game, whether it was a win or loss, he was on the field ready to back up his teammates.

His coaches and fellow players continually commented both on Piatkowski’s level of play and his passion for the game. And he was the first to do the same for his teammates, with a humble and modest demeanor. He also never accepted the praise of success single-handedly.

Piatkowski deserves to be named the Drake Athlete of the Year, and not because he is the quarterback of the football team or because he has been so successful in his football career with Drake.

It’s his modesty, tenacity and passion for his teammates and for the game that make him the most obvious choice.

Piatkowski deserves this award and the recognition for leading the Drake Bulldogs through a remarkable season, which he will no doubt repeat in the coming season.

Drake University has a lot to look forward to on the football field, especially with Piatkowski, who has one more year of eligibility due to redshirting his freshman year, leading the team.

Rachael H Athlete o 2011-

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te of the Year

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

The Times-Delphic staff selected senior Rachael Hackbarth as the 2011-12 Drake Athlete of the Year

RACHAEL HACKBARTH

by Eduardo Zamarripa

Sports Editor eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu

Make no mistake, senior Rachael Hackbarth had one of the best seasons in Missouri Valley Conference history. Based on her statistics, her conference and national accolades and her invitation to play for the USA Women’s All-Star team, Hackbarth is more than deserving of The TimesDelphic Drake Athlete of the Year award.

But that’s not why this exceptional player should win this award. The thing about Hackbarth is that she embodies everything that is good in college athletics.

There’s something admirable about the way Hackbarth goes about her business. She is steady, calm and humble. She never seems rattled or worried when things aren’t going her way.

Off the court, Hackbarth is soft-spoken and polite, always carries a booming smile on her face and always exhibits a silent confidence.

When I first met Hackbarth three years ago, I was amazed by her strength and her dominance on the court. The first time I saw her play, I thought to myself, “This girl should be averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds a game.” But she wasn’t, at least not yet.

Every year that went by, Hackbarth got better and better. Her commitment to excellence and her drive to keep improving should not be overlooked. Hackbarth averaged 6.8 points per game her freshman season, 12.3 PPG her sophomore year, 14.6 PPG her junior season and, finally, 18.9 PPG her senior year. From averaging 4.7 rebounds per game her freshman season, Hackbarth concluded her Drake career averaging 11.9 RPG. In fact, Hackbarth became a double-double machine this year. No one recorded more double-doubles in the NCAA this season, not even Brittney Griner of Baylor. Hackbarth recorded 26 double-doubles during the 201112 campaign.

Putting aside her marvelous statistics, what I appreciate the most about Hackbarth’s game is how much of an impact she has on both ends of the floor.

Hackbarth of the Year -2012

The Bulldogs were able to run their offense through Hackbarth. This opened up the perimeter and freed up teammates whenever she was double-teamed or even triple-teamed. On defense, it never mattered who the Bulldogs were playing. Hackbarth was able to guard the opposing team’s center one-on-one without a hiccup.

Hackbarth was a rock for the Bulldogs. She was the heart and soul of this squad all year.

The Bulldogs struggled throughout the regular season. Two starters (Kayla Person and Brittnye McSparron) left the team, and they lost junior Stephanie Running to injury. By the time the State Farm MVC Championship came around, Drake was playing with nine healthy bodies, including three freshmen.

Yet the Bulldogs had a magical run. Drake defeated Evansville, Illinois State and Wichita State to reach the championship against Creighton.

Drake lost to Creighton and received a Women’s National Invitation Tournament bid, where it lost to South Dakota in the first round.

Through it all was Hackbarth. Always steady, always reliable.

Hackbarth earned All-MVC first-team honors and All-MVC defensive-team honors. She was named the 2012 Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year after leading the conference in rebounding and scoring, the third time anyone has ever accomplished that feat. Lastly, Hackbarth was named an Associated Press All-American honorable mention.

Hackbarth has all the accolades and statistics that you could ever ask for, and we should not overlook them. But look at what she did for this team.

Look at how she led this team to the MVC Championship.

Hackbarth didn’t shy away from anything this season. The MVC tournament run was a culmination of the maturation of Hackbarth as a leader and as a player.

In the end, what I want you to know about Hackbarth is that she embodies everything that we need to uphold and celebrate about college athletics. She did things the right way: with hard work and determination.

She has improved and matured every year, has been a great student, an outstanding athlete and an even better person in her time at Drake.

She is my pick for The Times-Delphic Drake Athlete of the Year.

by Blake Miller

Staff Writer blake.miller@drake.edu

The 201112 Drake men’s basketball season was filled with its ups and downs. One of the bright spots on the season was junior Ben Simons, who is my pick for The Times-Delphic Drake Athlete of the Year.

During the campaign, the Bulldogs were able to notch victories over both Iowa State and Wichita State, but they also suffered disappointing road losses to Indiana State and Illinois State which cost them a higher seed in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship. Drake ended up in a five-way tie for third place in the MVC, but it lost all tiebreakers and ended up as the No. 7-seed going into the MVC tournament. The Bulldogs were able to get past 10th-seeded Bradley in the first round but eventually fell to the No. 2 seed Creighton Bluejays in the quarterfinals.

The Bulldogs built a stable base for next season, but the losses of sophomore Rayvonte Rice (Rice is expected to transfer), senior Kurt Alexander, redshirt senior Kraidon Woods and redshirt sophomore David Smith (who is transferring as well), will hurt the team’s chances next season.

However, the small forward Simons averaged 16.4 points a game this season. On Nov. 15, the Bulldogs welcomed the Cyclones to the Knapp Center. Iowa State, which finished third in the Big 12, defeated defending champion UConn in

BEN SIMONS the NCAA tournament’s first round, but it was unable to get past Drake in this early-season matchup.

Simons had a huge impact on the game, tying his then career high in points and leading all other scorers with 24 points.

Simons’ performance in this game gave Drake fans a good preview of what was to come from the 6-foot-8-inch junior in the rest of the season. On Drake’s biggest stage of the year, against the then No.14 Bluejays, Simons helped Drake’s efforts with 18 points, but ultimately the team fell just shy, losing 77-69. The following Saturday, Drake took its shot at another top-25 team, the Wichita State Shockers, and this time the Bulldogs prevailed.

The game took three overtimes, but Simons led the Bulldogs to a 93-86 victory with a new career-high of 29 points.

Simons is the type of player who always plays well, but when the team needs him to stepup against stiffer competition, he is generally able to elevate his game.

Against Bradley in the first round of the MVC tournament, Simons led the way with 16 points.

The very next day, Simons finished below his season average in the team’s MVC tournament loss to Creighton, only putting up 11 points. His slightly below-average numbers show how important he is for Drake to defeat a quality opponent.

If Simons wasn’t able to play lightsout like he did against the Cyclones and Shockers, Drake could not take down elite competition.

Drake was invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and played North Dakota at home in the first round. The Bulldogs squeaked by the Fighting Sioux 70-64, and Simons had the gamehigh with 24 points. In its second round game, Drake was unable to move past Rice University, but Simons still helped the efforts with 21 points, with 19 coming in the second half.

Next season Drake will have a different look to its roster, but we’ll always have a shot to succeed in the MVC with Simons on our side.

KYNDAL CLARK

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire on Nov. 15.

The tablet’s magic screen is already transforming e-readership.

The Drake women’s basketball team introduced its own “Kyndal Fire” on Nov. 2.

Freshman Kyndal Clark’s magic touch is already transforming Drake women’s basketball. The Knapp Center crowd is catching on quickly.

This season, a “Kyndal Fire” chant routinely resonated from Spike’s Army.

With her sharp shooting, relentless defense and crunch-time composure, Clark’s fiery play is entertaining (and pun-worthy) for fans and teammates alike.

That’s why I’m nominating Kyndal Clark for The TimesDelphic Drake Athlete of the Year.

Sharp shooting: last season, senior Rachael Hackbarth commanded Drake’s offense. Leading the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring and rebounding, Hackbarth’s name graced headline after headline. Despite fans’ Hackbarth hoopla, Clark immediately captured MVC attention as well. Alongside two MVC Newcomer of the Week nods, Clark averaged 9.8 points per game, only ranking behind Hackbarth in scoring.

Drake fans noted Clark’s early offensive promise, particularly from behind the arc. Clark tacked golden arch upon golden arch onto the Knapp’s McDonald’s trey tally.

Her 3-point prowess wasn’t limited to MVC showdowns, though. On Dec. 11, the Bulldogs defeated Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin in Madison, 65-54. Clark drained a careerhigh four 3-pointers against the Badgers en route to 17 total points.

Clark finished the 2011-12 campaign with a 35.9 shooting percentage from beyond the arc, sinking 46 3-pointers and ranking 11th in the MVC.

I’m lovin’ it.

Relentless defense: Clark is the Bulldogs’ go-to defensive guard. Guarding with grit and agility, Clark commits every spec of her 5-foot-5-inch frame to defense. Even when defending veteran MVC players like Missouri State junior Christiana Shorter, her squeaky shoes were in step.

En route to 33 steals this season, Clark routinely scrambled, dived and even tumbled for the basketball.

Only the crowd’s chanting silenced her squeaky sneakers.

Crunch-time composure: throughout the 2011-12 campaign, Clark’s crunch-time composure proved game changing.

Let’s take a trip down Buzzer-Beater Lane.

On Jan. 27 against Bradley, Clark’s first bucket didn’t fall until there was 18:38 in the second half, but the dwindling time didn’t unnerve her play. She scored all of her 17 points in the game’s final 19 minutes and boasted a perfect free throw shooting night, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Clark’s last-second shooting also fueled Drake’s improbable State Farm MVC Championship run. In the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Illinois State, Clark’s buzzer-beating layup clinched Drake’s first trip to the semifinals since 2009. Just one day later versus No. 3 Wichita State, she nailed two free throws with less than a minute to go to seal the Bulldogs’ championship bid.

Though Drake didn’t take the MVC title, Clark’s poise prevailed.

Finally, Clark’s positive attitude is award-worthy.

On Feb. 2, with just over 10 seconds remaining on the game clock, Drake handed the ball to Clark as a fouled-out Hackbarth watched from the sideline. Clark’s final shot deflected off Shorter’s hands, securing Missouri State’s 69-66 victory.

Even after Shorter’s heartbreaking block, Clark greeted her fans with grateful smiles.

With her smart-shooting, gutsy defending and buzzer-beaters, Clark deserves to win The Times-Delphic Drake Athlete of the Year award.

P.S. Kyndal Clark accomplished all this as a freshman.

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 6F

Keeping up with Josh Young

by Tad Unruh

Staff Writer tad.unruh@drake.edu

Josh Young, one of Drake’s most successful basketball players, carries his career onward by pursuing his passion for basketball professionally in Germany.

In his time at Drake, Young garnered multiple All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, racked up 1,789 points in his career and helped the Bulldogs secure a bid in the 2008 NCAA tournament, the program’s first since 1971.

Since graduating, Young has been with three different teams, beginning with a trial period with the Austin Toros, which is the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA Development League affiliate.

He continued his career with a yearlong contract with German Pro-B league team, Bayer Leverkusen.

Young’s solid play gave him the ability to weigh his options on his next team. He ended up choosing a team in Germany’s top division, joining the Walter Tiger, in Tubingen, Germany.

“Some teams will bring you in for a workout if you switch teams, but usually they have been watching you and scouting you through the year,” Young said. “I got a lot of good looks from teams in Germany, and Tubingen was the one who got really excited about my potential, and they wanted to sign me for this year, and so I made the deal.”

Since joining the squad, he has been a sixth man for the Tigers, playing in a very competitive and American-dominated Bundesliga, which is the name for the top German basketball league. The Walter Tigers are currently ranked 12th in the 18-team league.

“I love the situation here; great

system, great people, the town is small, and it is nice, my coach (Igor Perovic) is really a players’ coach, and I’ve learned a lot more this year,” Young said.

Living and working in Germany for two years has been a mostly smooth transition for Young, but he has learned a lot about himself along the way.

“I think you grow in different ways, understanding that you have to treat yourself as a professional, taking care of your body, making sure that you are eating right, making sure you are training at the highest level, so I think that my mindset along with a lot of other things has grown,” Young said.

Young added that taking care of his body has been essential to his success.

“When I got here, I was just a regular person. Now I have to be a chef, a butler, a maid, a barber,” he said. “It teaches you a lot of different traits you may not have had to learn had you not been in the situation. It is really a good learning experience.”

For the first time in the two years that he has been living in Germany, his mother, LaSonya, will be joining him abroad. She has been helping him foster his dream since a young age.

“I think from about the time Josh was two, everything became a ball.

It didn’t matter if it was socks or a bowl that became a goal,” LaSonya Young said. “To watch him grow up and really love this game, and now to see him actually do this as his work, I couldn’t be more happy for him.”

LaSonya Young added that she cannot wait to see how her son lives in Germany.

“I’m excited first of all about seeing where he lives, and then meeting some of the people because you

know whenever he was away, even at Drake, I wanted him to be surrounded by good people,” LaSonya Young said. “So I think, as a mother, I want to take that opportunity to go over and see these people face to face, to tell them, you know my son is away from me and you take him in, and you love him and take care of him.”

Not only does Josh Young enjoy the food and the extensive family values, he has also started to pick up the German language.

“Most people know English here, and they use it when they are talking to you, but if you know German, obviously they would much rather speak in their native tongue,” he said. “I have been picking up on some of the language, and I think if I’m going to live somewhere outside the United States, I should be able to pick up the language.”

It is a good thing he is picking up the language because at the end of this season, Young was offered a twoyear contract with the Walter Tigers, and after much discussion with his family and thought on his part, he has decided to stay in Germany.

“I don’t know how much better my game will be in the next couple years because I can see how much my game has improved this year,” Young said. “And if it improves like this next year, I will be playing at an even higher level than I even was in college, so that will allow me to have a lot more offers to even play at a higher level.”

LaSonya Young just wants her son to be happy.

“It’s like my husband and I told him, if there is a lot of games and fun in your system, just keep playing until you get it out of your system, and just for me to see him play at this level, I am very happy for him,” LaSonya Young said.

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The British connection

by Dominic Johnson

Staff Writer dominic.johnson@drake.edu

In 2009, Drake’s former head coach Chase Hodges recruited James McKie, a young tennis player from Edinburgh, Scotland. Little did Hodges know how much McKie would mean to the Bulldogs, and little did he know how the young Scot would also be a catalyst for recruiting some of the United Kingdom’s best undiscovered or under-recruited talent to Drake.

McKie arrived on campus, but he never got to play for the coach that recruited him. Instead of Hodges, head coach Jimmy Borendame led the Bulldogs for the 2009-2010 season. When he wasn’t busy on the court, McKie was staying in contact with friends and players from back home in the United Kingdom. One of those players was Robin Goodman of Cambridge, England, who was looking to play tennis at a Division I institution in the United States.

“I was seeking out coaches, emailing a lot of coaches,” Goodman said. “I literally emailed everywhere possible, in places where I’d never end up going to like Hawaii.”

But all of those emails to random coaches weren’t what ultimately landed Goodman a spot in Drake’s lineup.

“I had been talking with James a lot,” Goodman said, “and then James contacted me over Facebook and was like ‘Hey, we’re looking for a new guy to start in August.’”

After emailing back and forth with Borendame, Goodman eventually committed to the Bulldogs and arrived in Des Moines the following fall. Like McKie before him, the young Englishman made an immediate impact. Goodman lost only one match during the spring season of his freshman campaign. And, like McKie, Goodman proved to be a key in recruiting as well. Both Goodman and McKie once again looked back home for players that could improve the Bulldog lineup. They set their eyes on Ben Mullis from Leicestershire, England.

“I had my profile on a site called ‘College Prospects America’ that was trying to help me get recruited,” Mullis said, “but Robin and James also spoke to coach (Evan) Austin about how I would

Rivalry spans more than 100 years

by Rodney Spears

Staff Writer rodney.spears@drake.edu

Duke vs. North Carolina, the Yankees vs. the Red Sox and Real Madrid vs. Barcelona are among the great sports rivalries in the world. But the Missouri Valley Conference has its own intense rivalry: Drake vs. Creighton.

Drake University in Des Moines and Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., are approximately 130 miles apart, which is about a two-hour drive. Close proximity may cause the tension felt between their sports teams.

Paul Morrison, also known as Mr. Drake, is Drake’s well-known sports historian. Even though Morrison could not pinpoint the source of the rivalry, he admitted that the schools have been clashing for a while.

“When I was a student at Drake back in the late ‘30s, Creighton was a respected opponent of ours in football and basketball as well,” Morrison said.

“They were one of the first Jesuit schools to give up football back in the early ‘40s.”

Morrison said that even though the schools clash in many sports, there is a layer of respect between opponents.

“We played them pretty consistently, but I wouldn’t say hate,” Morrison said.

“I always thought we had a good rivalry with their sports teams and their student body.”

The dismissal of Creighton’s football

program did little to falter the heated rivalry. Every year since the Bluejays joined the MVC in 1977, they have faced the Bulldogs twice a year in basketball. The two schools have played each other 150 times in men’s basketball.

“Everyone knows when we play Creighton. That’s why the Knapp Center is always packed when they come here,” said first-year student Cat Hill.

“My night was ruined when we lost to them this year.”

The rivalry also extends to the Office of Admissions. Since the two schools are so close, they often find themselves competing for the same students.

Bobby Griffith is a first-year student at Drake, but he attended Creighton Preparatory School, which was founded the same year as Creighton University in 1878.

“I almost went to Creighton, but I liked Drake better,” Griffith said.

When Drake and Creighton are compared, the similarities are alarming.

Both are private institutions with about 3,500 undergraduate students. Drake’s tuition costs about $29,400 a year while Creighton’s tuition costs about $31,800 a year. They were also founded within three years of each other: Creighton in 1878 and Drake in 1881.

This heated rivalry has over 100 years of history, and the characteristics that spark the rivalry are the same that will forever link the universities together.

TAYLOR SOULE |photo editor FRESHMAN BEN MULLIS (left), junior James McKie (middle) and sophomore Robin Goodman (right) pose together at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center outdoor courts. The Bulldogs are getting ready for the MVC Tournament on April 27.

ary of last year,” Austin said. “He finally started posting some bigger results over the summer once he was done taking his A-Levels, which are like finals.”

Once Mullis started improving his ranking based on his summer results, Austin knew he was just the type of player that Drake could benefit from. Austin

What was really appealing was that playing in college wasn’t going to end up being a massively new thing where I didn’t know anybody.

–Ben Mullis be a good fit at Drake.”

Besides learning about Mullis from McKie and Goodman, Austin had to do a good amount of research on Mullis just to figure out how good he really was. Austin said that Mullis wasn’t the type of player that would wow you with his pristine groundstrokes, but he was an excellent match player.

“Ben didn’t have the highest rating at the time I started talking to him in Febru-

Why do we hate Creighton?

also said that it is always important that a player isn’t just a good student-athlete, but that he gels with the rest of the squad and really buys into Drake’s team concept.

“He was the type of guy who we needed: a good energy guy who could play down low his first year,” Austin said.

“The fact that he knew Robin (Goodman) obviously helped, and I didn’t think it would be a big adjustment for Ben.”

Mullis said it helped that he knew McKie and Goodman.

“What was really appealing was that playing in college wasn’t going to end up being a massively new thing where I didn’t know anybody,” Mullis said.

Mullis was initially going to join the Bulldogs this fall, but he had another final exam to take back in England. Austin was eager to get Mullis onto the squad for the spring semester, though, as he said he was that one piece of the puzzle that could provide Drake with more depth.

Both McKie and Goodman made contributions right away when they got to Des Moines, and Mullis was no different. Mullis ended up clinching the match for the Bulldogs in the first match he played in Drake blue and white, locking up a 4-2 win over No. 65 DePaul.

“It’s not easy coming in January and producing right away, but Ben has done that,” Austin said. “He has been playing better and better, and I think he will finish the season strong.”

The boys in blue have played a big role in attracting yet another talented player from England. Ben Lott from Newcastle will be joining them on the court next season.

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The best game you’ve ever played compiled by Taylor Soule Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

1

2

1

AARON HAWLEY

Junior Aaron Hawley, men’s basketball “My best game ever would probably be high school, my senior year. It was the semifinals of the state tournament, and I had 32 points, and we played the No. 1 team in the state, so we beat them to go to the championship.”

2

AMANDA DICK

Freshman Amanda Dick, women’s tennis: “It was my senior year, and I was in a United States Tennis Association tournament in the Chicago area. I was warming up against the No. 2 seed of the tournament, and I realized that my usual favorite racket was kind of broken in the frame, so I was going with my second choice. I was warming up, and then it started feeling weird, and it was making funny sounds, so I looked at the frame, and what had been a crack had turned into the same thing that was going on with my other racket where the frame was starting to cave in on itself. So, I had two broken rackets, no extras, and I was like, ‘Well, I can’t forfeit the match because I’ve never done that,’ and I refuse to do that to this day. So, I just said, ‘Okay, I guess I’m playing with a broken racket,’ and I won in two sets against the No. 2 seed with a broken racket. Then, I had another match after that, and had to play with broken rackets again and won that match as well and made it to the final. So, probably the best matches I’ve played considering my rackets were against me.”

3 3

4

MIKE PIATKOWSKI

Senior Mike Piatkowski, football: “My best game ever was probably last year. We played Campbell at home, and it was just a great game for the team defensively and then offensively, we completed 30-33 passes and just great flow to the game and ended up winning.”

4

BENTLEY MANCINI

Junior Bentley Mancini, volleyball: “I’ll have to go with this past season. We played Kansas State, and it was kind of the highlight of my career so far. I think I had 18 kills or something like that, but just the atmosphere at Kansas State, they completely underestimated us and we got going. We gave them a run for their money. We just barely lost in five (sets), and they’re a really, really good team, so that was definitely the highlight of my career because I stepped up and showed the team what I was capable of. We all rallied, and it was an awesome experience.”

5

5

6

LAURA MOKLESTAD

Junior Laura Moklestad, women’s soccer: “The best game ever would be my freshman year when we played Creighton.

They’re our biggest rival and it was just a really well-fought game. We were trying to work really hard for the seniors and it ended up going into overtime.

Then, one of our seniors, Liz Woerle, scored the game-winning goal. It was six minutes into the overtime, so it was just really awesome to see our team working together so hard for that common goal. I think it was one of our best games that we played. We all just had that drive, and it was just a really fun game, but a challenging game too. Creighton was a very good team, so to get that win was really exciting. It just really pumped up our team a lot.”

6

ANIS GHORBEL

Junior Anis Ghorbel, men’s tennis: “It was definitely during the (Missouri Valley Conference) regionals last fall.

It was the semifinals of the regionals, and I played this guy who’s No. 1 in Nebraska. Before the match, I knew it was going to be really tough to play this guy and to beat him, but I talked to my coach (Evan Austin), and we set a plan to go into the match and play with it. I actually played the game that I had to play to beat this guy, and I played perfect tennis. I was really, really solid on the court, didn’t miss that much. I was playing very aggressive; probably 80 percent of first serves, which helped me a lot. I was moving really, really well, just being solid, not giving him any free points or chances to come back in the match, and I beat the guy 6-3, 6-3, which is a very good score against a guy like that who is like top 40 in the nation. I was really happy with the way I played against him, and hopefully I keep playing like that, which is what I’m doing right now.

I’m playing as well as a can. Just keeping on working hard and keep listening to what coach tells me and just try to play my best tennis.”

7

7

8

BROGAN AUSTIN

Sophomore Brogan Austin, men’s cross-country/track and field: “One of my best races was during last year at the Drake Relays in the 10-kilometers. There are not many chances to have your best race as a runner because of all the adversities that come with running. But on this day my legs were fresh, my mind was right and the weather was perfect. I still had never broke fifteen minutes in the five-kilometers at the time, but I still managed to run 29:54 for the10-kilometers, which is equivalent to 14:57 per five kilometers. I was lucky enough that a kid from Georgia paced me for the first seven kilometers, which is most likely why I succeeded the way I did. After I finished the race I was filled with joy, as I had smashed all odds. The time eventually helped me qualify for outdoor regionals at Oregon University and my 10-kilometers time held up as the fourth fastest freshman in Division I.”

8

HADLEY JENNINGS

Sophomore Hadley Jennings, women’s golf: “My best round ever was in Springfield, Mo., on Oct. 17, 2011. I shot 75. I remember playing the front nine, I shot even par and I kept thinking to myself that this is too good to be true. I am finally playing really good golf, and I remember thinking I know I had some bogeys but I fired right back with birdies and I could feel my mom and dad (who were following) and how proud they were of me. I really started to relax and play golf. I had some bad holes on the back nine and putted pretty poorly with four three putts (two is average per hole) and if I would have just two putted those holes, I would have shot 71, one under par, but I remember thinking how easy that round was. How everything fit into place, and I was really steady with my emotions which is important in golf. I remember with about two holes to finish I really started to think about how good the round was going and how if I parred? My last two holes I would have shot a 73. I then put pressure on myself and bogeyed the last two holes, but it was one of those rounds where I just felt so extremely happy afterwards.

Golf is a crazy game where you have ups and downs and emotional highs and lows, but I remember feeling just content and proud of myself. That day I really started to believe in my own head that I was a good golfer. I had always been told that growing up, but I never really believed it until that moment. I just remember feeling confident over every shot and was hitting the ball the best I had all season. I just remember feeling like all my hard work had finally paid off.”

ACHIEVE

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 8F

Women’s soccer celebrates 10th year anniversary Horner, Moklestad and Lose reflect on the program’s history

by Erin McHenry

Staff Writer erin.mchenry@drake.edu

This fall marked the 10th anniversary of the Drake’s women’s soccer program. Established in 2002, the team was succesful right away, winning the Missouri Valley Conference title three seasons in a row. In 2006, the squad even advanced to the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round.

Jen Lose, 26, a 2010 graduate from the pharmacy program, joined the team as a walk-on during her first year for the team’s third season.

“We had a lot of talented players that wanted to receive both an opportunity to play Division I soccer and get a quality education,” Lose said.

“This program attracted players that weren’t afraid to take chances with a new program, and I think that is a testament to the drive, passion and success the team had very early on in the Drake women’s soccer program existence.”

Lose said it was hard for the team to gather fans and support initially, but it was successful nonetheless.

“The most memorable part for most girls was the trip to the NCAA Tournament,” Lose said. “We really wanted this for our inaugural class but unfortunately came up short in the MVC championship game that year.”

Head coach Lindsey Horner said that in the team’s most recent season last fall, the Bulldogs did not perform as well as she would have liked due to several obstacles.

“We dealt with injuries and illness our toughest travel schedule to date, and an overall inexperienced team, if you look at it not as age or grade, but in overall college games played,” Horner said.

In a sport that starts 11 players and averages about 16 players playing each game, we only had two players that had three varsity letters and two players with two varsity letters, so while the game results didn’t always go our way, we had many players that gained a lot of valuable experience.”

Junior forward Laura Moklestad also agreed that injuries and illnesses were a struggle for the team. She said the team had great chemistry and several talented players, but it didn’t always capitalize on its strengths.

TAYLOR SOULE | photo editor JUNIORS TARA ZIKA (far left), Kasey Wellman (middle left), Kelsey Pigg (middle), Laura Moklestad (middle right) and Lauren Strickfaden (far right) celebrate the women’s soccer team’s 10-year anniversary by eating cupcakes. The Bulldogs will rely on these soon-to-be seniors to lead them in the 2012 season.

“At times we could’ve had more, but we haven’t always been able to reach our potential, which has been disappointing,” Moklestad said. “But it’s cool to see how we’ve regrouped from every disappointment we’ve had and used that as a learning experience.”

The team went 4-11-4 overall last fall and tied for fourth place in the MVC. The 2012 season this fall will be Moklestad’s last, and she hopes to make it her – and the team’s – best.

“Everyone is really committed to working harder than ever,” Moklestad said. “We don’t want to have another season like that (in 2011).”

Horner said the soccer program will finally have enough alumni to have a soccer reunion at Drake Relays. She said she hopes the team history can be used as a learning opportunity for current players.

“I look forward to our alumni sharing stories and memories with our current players of where the program started,” Horner said. “It’s easy

to take for granted that we train in a multi-million dollar stadium with lights, while our alumni can recall shagging soccer balls out of the woods behind the old practice field.”

Though the team hasn’t seen the successes accomplished in previous seasons, the caliber of the MVC has increased.

“Youth soccer clubs are producing better players, and the overall standard of athleticism continues to rise across the board with Division I programs,” Horner said. “We have some

very good players on our roster, but we are facing very good players each game as well.”

Moving forward, the team will continue to train toward a better season. Moklestad said she’s excited for the possibilities and hopes that the team will produce positive results.

“I think we have more of an essence of what it means to become a team that does win,” Moklestad said.

“I think we have the potential to win the MVC tournament, and this could be the year that we do that.”

Bulldogs hire new coach Women’s golf looks to finish strong

by Eduardo Tamez Zamarripa

Sports Editor eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu

The women’s basketball team has found a new leader.

Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb announced the hiring of former University of Iowa standout Jennie Lillis Baranczyk as women’s basketball head coach on April 17.

Lillis Baranczyk is the sixth women’s basketball head coach at Drake. Her hiring comes after the resignation of former head coach Amy Stephens on March 26.

“Jennie Lillis Baranczyk is an extraordinary fit for the Drake women’s basketball program,” Hatfield Clubb said in a press conference last week.

“She is a demonstrated teacher of the game, a tenacious recruiter of Iowa and the Midwest, and she is committed to the holistic development of the studentathlete. Jennie has been mentored by four talented head coaches, including former Drake head coach Lisa Bluder, and is uniquely prepared to lead Drake women’s basketball program.”

The Bulldogs are coming off an 1816 season that saw the team make an unlikely run to the Missouri Valley Conference championship game. Drake’s success in the MVC tournament earned the team a Women’s National Invitational Tournament berth, where the Bulldogs fell to South Dakota in the first round.

Lillis Baranczyk arrives at Drake

after a two-year stint at the University of Colorado as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Lillis Baranczyk was also an assistant coach at Kansas State for two years before spending four seasons at Marquette, also as an assistant coach.

“I am honored and thrilled to become the head women’s basketball coach at Drake University,” Lillis Baranczyk said. “As a native of Des Moines, I remember very clearly the winning tradition of Drake women’s basketball. This is truly a great fit for me, my family and for Drake. I am excited to be able to recruit and work with student-athletes who will share in the same goals and vision. I am very proud to represent the Drake Bulldogs, and we will work hard to be a significant part of this community.”

The Des Moines native had a successful collegiate career at Iowa. Lillis Baranczyk was a four-year letter winner from 2000 to 2004 under Bluder.

Lillis Baranczyk played in three NCAA Tournaments and was a three-time AllBig Ten Conference selection.

Lillis Baranczyk graduated as the only player in Hawkeye history in the top 10 of five major statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

She graduated from Iowa in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and then earned her master’s degree in counseling and student development from Kansas State in 2007.

TAYLOR SOULE | photo editor HEAD COACH JENNIE LILLIS BARANCZYK answers questions in a press conference held on April 17. Lillis Baranczyk was introduced as head coach.

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Disappointing spring finishes can’t dampen teamwork for the Drake women’s golf team. Drake’s 326.23 average score ranks eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake’s teamwork, however, ranks first in the MVC for sophomore Hadley Jennings.

“At the beginning of the season, we kind of started out, and it was each person for themselves, and though our scores haven’t shown it, it’s become more like we’re actually a team,” Jennings said. “We play like a team, we think like a team and we’ve grown a lot closer. Hopefully, it will pay off.”

The Bulldogs opened spring play on March 12-13 at the Jackrabbit Invitational in Primm, Nev., finishing 11th out of 15 teams.

Nine days later, Drake concluded the Monterey Bay Invitational in Monterey, Calif., finishing ninth out of 14 teams.

The Bulldogs fired season-low rounds at the Creighton Classic on April 16-17 in Omaha, Neb. Drake finished fourth out of 14 teams on day one before completing day two with a seventh-place finish.

Albeit gradual, the Bulldogs’ growth is promising for Jennings. En route to Drake’s growth, one saying inspired the sophomore.

“The famous quote is, ‘Golf is a game played between the six inches of your head between your two ears’ because it’s 90

percent mental and 10 percent fundamental,” Jennings said.

“It’s a lot about what you’re thinking while you’re swinging.”

Mindful swinging is cornerstone for the Bulldogs entering the State Farm MVC Championship in Terre Haute, Ind., which started yesterday (April 22). Against MVC powerhouses like Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa, Drake’s focused play is key. Focused play isn’t reserved solely for Jennings, Drake’s leading scorer, though.

“I think we can really go far, and having that strong base and that strong leadership, we hope, will simmer down through the team, and everyone will start playing better,” Jennings said.

“Just like Northern Iowa: they’re in our conference, and a couple girls started playing well, and the whole team started playing well, and those girls really showed some strong leadership, so we’re hoping to do that next year.”

Redshirt junior Chelsey Falk spearheads Drake’s leadership role, a position Jennings looks to take over.

“Chelsey (Falk) is already in a really good leadership position, and that will be something I’ll transfer into to get us to be strong leaders,” she said.

Strong leadership means strong friendship for Jennings and the Bulldogs.

“The best part about being a member of the team is such a unique opportunity because you’re with six other girls that share the same passion that you do for golf, that are here to get better, here to learn,” Jennings said. “You’re forced to get to know them. It grows your diversity. It grows you as a person.”

Drake ready for MVC Championship Worley confident Bulldogs can make a run

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Morris Pickens’ sports psychology clients include Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink — and the Drake men’s golf team. Pickens’ psychological guidance is already paying off for the Bulldogs.

“It’s a process, but you can tell everyone is already more mentally strong on the golf course,” freshman Dane Worley said. “We had a few nice finishes this spring.”

The Bulldogs fired season-low rounds at the Jackrabbit Invitational on March 12-13 in Primm, Nev. Worley led Drake with nine birdies to tie for fifth place en route to Drake’s dayone, seventh place finish. Drake finished the tournament in eighth.

After March’s notable Jackrabbit Invitational showing, Drake struggled to find its rhythm.

Drake finished 20th of 22 teams at the Arkansas State University Red Wolf Intercollegiate in Jonesboro, Ark on April 2-3.

Despite Drake’s rocky spring campaign, Worley is confident entering the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship in Hutchinson, Kan., on April 30 and May 1.

The Bulldogs’ 304.42 average score ranks seventh in the MVC. “I am proud of the fact we are heading in the right direction individually and collectively as a team,” Worley said.

Conquering Hutchinson’s nationally ranked course is fore-

front for Drake.

“The course we are playing the MVC Championship at is very demanding,” Worley said. “It’s a top 30 course in the country. It is going to require a lot of patience by our whole team.”

Besides patience, Hutchinson’s challenging course demands teamwork.

“Our goal is to win,” Worley said. “We feel we can win if we are all playing well at the same time. We have the potential. It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it. Preparation is key.

With the resources we have around us, we will be prepared.”

With MVC forces like Wichita State looming, sharp shooting is Drake’s focus.

“We have to put the good scores together at the same time so we can compete as a team,” Worley said.

Wichita State junior Rafael Becker tops the MVC, boasting an average score -0.48 under par per tournament. Besides Becker, four Shockers complete the MVC’s top five individual players.

The Shockers’ 282.54 average score ranks first in the MVC. Despite No. 21 Wichita State’s notable numbers, golf is unpredictable.

“They are a good team, but anything can happen in golf,” Worley said. “Wichita State is the highest ranked team in the MVC, but other than them, the MVC is pretty wide open. We competed against several MVC teams in other tournaments this fall and spring and beat some of them, so it’s pretty much up in the air.”

SPEED

Ian Weller Cradle of Civilization Alexandria, Egypt

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THE TIMES-DELPHIC

An international revelation

Ekta Haria adjusts to life in the States

by Hali Ortega

Staff Writer hali.ortega@drake.edu

Adjustments made by international students can range from figuring out a new currency to learning a language, but for international student Ekta Haria, it was more everyday things like food and showers. She is learning more about her own country along the way.

Haria comes from Mombasa, Kenya and is a first-year biology major and business minor at Drake University.

Coming from Kenya to Iowa has changed a lot for Haria. She said her transition has been, “...not easy, but pretty smooth.” Haria said the transition was made easier because, “... of the people around, everyone is so friendly.”

Haria has learned about the culture here in the United States, some of which is very different than what she is accustomed to. Even her eating patterns have changed.

“I used to eat like five meals a day and normally over here you eat like two, maybe,” she said.

Another difference Haria has noticed is how people shower.

“Over here people don’t care if you take a shower in the morning or not,” she said. “At home, you have to take a shower.”

During her first-year seminar class, Queer Voices, Haria decided to research how homosexuality was approached in Kenya. In her lifetime, Haria said, she had only met two people who were openly gay, but when she came here she became more aware of homosexuality.

“Everyone was so accepting, so that was one of the most shocking things,” she said.

Haria said in Kenya homosexuality is considered a disease.

“While living there I had seen it, only it was given a different name,” she said.

This was the realization Haria came to about her country while studying in America – that she had seen homosexuality quite a few times, but it was referred to in a different manner in Kenya.

“During this research paper, that’s when it struck,” Haria said.

Looking back she now realizes that what was labeled a disease in Kenya is not treated as negatively in the United States. Pride parades and other such events would never be accepted in Kenya.

Haria’s pride remains for her country, but during her time here she has gained a new perspective on the issue and disagrees with the way her country treats the issue of homosexuality.

“I’m closer to my country, being patriotic and everything,” she said.

“But this is one thing that really hurt me.”

Taking a step back from a situation allows new perspectives and cognitive growth. Haria plans to take advantage of this realization by visiting all of the states. This way she can build new experiences and remain open to new perspectives.

As a Drake student, these types of multicultural experiences are readily available. Such experiences can be found through study abroad programs, multicultural organizations, culture focused courses and more. It’s just a matter of stepping out to find them.

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 2G

Oops, I did it abroad Students share stories of their mishaps while studying abroad

by Nicole Barnett and Brooke Dahnert

Staff Writers nicole.barnett@drake.edu brooke.dahnert@drake.edu

Chelsea Rink

photo from chelsearink.blogspot.com

Chelsea Rink, a junior education major, went to Barcelona to study abroad during the year. While she was video chatting with her friends from home, she didn’t want to disturb her sleeping roommate or anyone in her host family’s apartment. She turned on the nearest lamp, but realized it would be too bright. She decided to put a couch cushion on top of it. Unfortunately, the cushion caught fire, breaking the lamp and damaging the cushion. Jumping to action, she took the couch cushion and dumped the excess feathers and “burnt crispies” out of the apartment’s window. She proceeded to cut the rest of the “burnt crispies” off of the cushion, put them into a plastic bag and dropped it from the stairwell below. She turned the lamp on to check it, and it began to smoke.

“I checked out the lamp itself,” Rink said. “It was very, very burnt. I took a pair of my underwear, and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at the top of that lamp…(then) I stressed a lot for the next few minutes, (and I) drank some water. I hid the (cushion) under my bed. I went to bed. It was 6 a.m.”

The next morning, Rink had to explain to her host mother what had happened to her couch cushion — in Spanish. Fortunately for Rink, her host wanted to get a new couch anyway.

Keaton Hewitt

Keaton Hewitt, a sophomore finance major, has spent this semester in Sydney, Australia. During the Australian Mardi Gras, Hewitt and his roommates decided to dress up for the parade, although they didn’t realize the parade was a gay pride parade. Hewitt decided to dress as a Trojan complete with shorts, a Trojan hat and a small sword. Unfortunately for them, the weather dropped to about 65 degrees, and it began raining heavily. In an attempt to stay warm, they found the nearest café. When Hewitt and his roommates entered, everyone turned to them and started laughing and taking pictures with their phones. When he asked the waiter where the restroom was, one of them even yelled, “Down the stairs and to the left, Mr. Caesar.” Hewitt said he still saw the silver lining in his odd ensemble.“I don’t think I have taken so many pictures with so many strangers, but it was definitely an experience I will never forget,” he said.

TAYLOR SOULE | photo editor

EKTA HARIA POSES NEXT to the Harvey Ingham Hall sign. Haria is a first-year biology major and business minor.

photo from Facebook

Fulbright Scholarships benefit alum, professors Since 2004, 15 Drake students have received honors

by Stephanie Kocer

Staff Writer stephanie.kocer@drake.edu

When Ellen Bastian graduated from Drake University in 2010 with a dual degree in international relations and electronic media, she never thought it would lead her to the Russian steppes in a town 400 miles east of Moscow. Now, Bastian is creating a documentary about globalization and its influence on Russian agriculture.

None of this would have been possible without the Fulbright Scholar program.

U.S. Congress started the Fulbright Program in 1946 to increase understanding between the United States and other countries. Approximately 1,700 students, teachers and scholars are awarded the scholarship every year to complete a project in another country. Congress awarded 6,000 grants in 2010, which added up to more than $322.3 million. “(The program) is for internationalizing America,” said Eleanor Zeff, the Fulbright Program adviser at Drake. Those applying can either teach or organize a project.

Since 2004, 15 Drake students have received a Fulbright scholarship.

At least one student has received the scholarship every year since 2004.

Drake was the second highest student Fulbright producer in 2009-2010 among U.S. master’s institutions.

Students have to apply and have a

bachelor’s degree to participate. Recipients can work in 155 participating countries.

Zeff said there have been some great projects put together by Drake students. They have constructed business, building and development projects as well as conducted interviews and studies.

Bastian is creating her documentary film in Cheboksary, Chuvashia, Russia. After she graduated, Bastian interned as an environment educator at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa. There she learned about research concerning native ecosystems that coexist with agriculture.

“I started wondering whether the same discussions are taking place in Russia’s steppes, its version of North America’s prairies, and how globalization is influencing rural life there in general,” Bastian said. “It seemed like a good documentary film topic to explore.”

Bastian first learned of the Fulbright program when she was a firstyear student at Drake.

“When I was a freshman I saw Fulbright flyers in the halls of Meredith and decided to keep it as a goal for the future,” she said.

Being away from home has been

an eye-opening experience for Bastian.

“I have gained even more appreciation for the relative accessibility of information in the U.S.,” she said.

“The grant has taught me a lot about how to move forward with a project, an idea, in a very unfamiliar environment. It has taught me about being

The grant has taught me a lot about how to move forward with a project, an idea, in a very unfamiliar environment. It has taught me about being flexible, about letting a project evolve as it moves along.

–Ellen Bastian

flexible, about letting a project evolve as it moves along.”

Other Drake students receive Fulbrights to teach English to students in other countries. Linda Yang, who graduated in 2008 with an English education degree, went to Hong Kong to teach English for the 200809 school year.

“We were there mainly because in certain areas of Hong Kong it is hard to encounter native English speakers,” she said.

Their presence gave students a chance to practice English more often. She was also able to organize events outside of the classroom. She created a Thanksgiving dinner for the students who had only seen the celebration of the holiday on TV and in movies.

She cites this as one of her favorite memories from her Fulbright experience.

Yang said she decided to apply for the scholarship because she loved to travel, and because it fit with her values.

“As the daughter of Chinese immigrants who achieved the American dream with education, I know firsthand its transformative power,” she said.

Yang is now pursuing her masters of sciencein-management degree at the London School of Economics. She said her Fulbright experience directly influenced this decision. She realized how connected the international economy was and “couldn’t help but notice the marketing and consumer behavior differences between the two places.”

Yang encourages students to apply for a Fulbright. She said it is a once-

in-a-lifetime opportunity that will change any student’s life.

“I think the biggest gain I got from the program was learning to further appreciate different cultures and incorporate aspects I liked from those cultures into my own,” she said.

The Fulbright Program isn’t just for students. At least one professor from Drake has received the Fulbright award every year since 2007.

One of those was international politics professor David Skidmore. He spent a year in Hong Kong during the 2010-11 academic year. Skidmore went with other American professors to advise eight major universities in Hong Kong on their development of general education.

“It was designed to give students a broad base of education,” he said.

Aside from advising the universities and traveling, Skidmore also taught a class on globalization in China. He got to work with students from six different countries.

Skidmore said his Fulbright was a great experience and that he took a lot away from it. He offers some advice for students and faculty who are thinking about applying..

“I think the main thing is to make sure your strengths are a particular match for the Fulbright you’re applying for,” he said.

PAGE 3G | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

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Support for Uganda

Campus group contributes

by Morgan Emery

Staff Writer morgan.emery@drake.edu

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Times-Delphic.

The Drake University chapter of U.G.A.N.D.A. Youth, which stands for Unified Group Against Neglected and Displaced African Youth, began after students viewed a documentary that struck their hearts. The documentary was called “Invisible Children.”

In 2007, three young men who were captivated by the conflicts in Uganda created the documentary.

They recorded the lives of the children trying to escape servitude in the Lord’s Resistance Army. The students at Drake were so viscerally affected that they could not be idle about the issue.

“The purpose of the organization is education,” sophomore member Ashley Ester said. “All of the money that is made through fundraising and events is sent back to Uganda to build schools for the children.”

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

Scarf sales save lives Beza Threads combats sex slavery

U.G.A.N.D.A Youth put on an event called “A Concert for Hope” to raise awareness on the Drake campus. There were local bands and raffles and all of the proceeds were sent straight to Uganda to help build a better education in the African country. In 2011, students spread awareness of the conflict in Uganda by being silent for 25 hours. The number 25 is significant because the war in Uganda has lasted 25 years.

“To raise money, we sell T-shirts and wire bracelets. We also fundraise by asking people if they would like to donate money for the children in Uganda,” Ester said. “With all of the fundraising and the selling of merchandise, we are able to get students more aware with what is happening in Uganda.”

U.G.A.N.D.A. Youth is still hoping to get more people involved.

“We don’t have that many members in the group,” Ester said. “We are still a fairly young group.”

by Morgan Emery

Staff Writer morgan.emery@drake.edu

There are over 70,000 prostitutes, mostly children, in the Ethiopian city of Addis Ababa. The children are prostituted and known as “child slaves.” Autumn Rupkey, a Drake University alumna, is fighting to end this disturbing statistic.

Rupkey took a trip to Ethiopia to work with an organization called WinSouls, an Ethiopian nonprofit.

While on the trip, she formed relationships with children who are forced into sex slavery.

“It honestly was one of the most impacting moments of my life,” Rupkey explained. “I wanted to do something for the girls. They were constantly selling homemade scarves on the street, and I thought it would be a good idea to sell them here and send the proceeds back.”

The foundation Beza Threads was created to rescue the girls in Ethiopia.

In 2009, an event was held on Drake’s campus that sold around 75 scarves in an hour and a half. Now back on ASHTON WEIS | assistant relays editor campus this spring, Beza Threads

sold these eye-catching scarves again for just $20.

“Just as in 2009, all of the profits will be sent straight to the girls who handmade the scarves in Ethiopia,” Rupkey said.

Rupkey said that she does a lot with the marketing, graphic design and website. She also produces all of the handouts the group uses in presentations, and she helps sell the scarves.

Megan Carter, another Drake alumna, also helped sell scarves on campus this spring.

“The most tangible way for students to get involved is by buying the scarves and spreading awareness by simply talking about the issue of sex slavery,” Carter said.

Beza Threads’ current goal is coined Project Ten. The organization’s target is to sell 3,000 scarves, which will save 10 girls from the horrendous reality of the streets in Ethiopia.

Those who did not get a chance to purchase a scarf while Beza Threads was on campus can visit bezathreads. org to be a part of the project.

Study abroad experiences and passion help students

by Bailey Berg

Staff Writer bailey.berg@drake.edu

She’s not a travel agent, but Jen Hogan is responsible for sending more then 1,500 Drake University students around the world.

Maps, traditional paintings and scores of posters for study-abroad opportunities decorate the walls of Hogan’s office. Taped to her desk and walls are dozens of hand-written thank you cards and postcards from places like Verona, Granada and the Dominican Republic.

Hogan sits at a round wooden table, chatting exuberantly, waving her hands for emphasis, talking about life as the study-abroad advisor for Drake, as well as her own studyabroad experiences.

During Hogan’s junior year at Iowa State, the then 20-year-old traveled to the coastal city of Swansea, Wales.

“It was so exciting just having all this independence,” Hogan said.

“There was this sense of adventure and wanting to do more, to see more.

It was amazing.”

However great her experiences, Hogan said her time abroad didn’t make her want to continue working with study-abroad students, at least not initially.

“I didn’t have enough time to really think about what it meant to be a study-abroad student from an administrative point of view,” Hogan said.

“What I was thinking was ‘This could have been done better.’”

Because of an inadequate relationship with her advisor, Hogan left for her study-abroad trip feeling unprepared.

“I had all these questions and wanted some direction,” Hogan said.

“(My advisor) either didn’t care or didn’t have the time to predict what students would feel. We didn’t get the one-on-one time that I like to give students.”

Once she’d graduated and was on her way to her master’s degree in inter-disciplinary studies with a focus in international development, Hogan had that eureka moment in understanding how study abroad should fit into college.

“Basically, I learned what not to do from my study abroad,” Hogan said.

In 2005, Hogan was working at Iowa State in the study abroad office when she heard about a study abroad conference that would be coming to Des Moines. She decided to volunteer and shared a chance meeting with two Drake professors who convinced her to apply for a position in Drake’s study abroad office.

She took a leap of faith and was hired a month later.

It’s that fearlessness of failure and self-reliance that has driven much of what Hogan has done in her life.

During her stint in Wales, Hogan secured an internship at The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.

“At that time, internships weren’t common when you studied abroad, but I scouted one out,” Hogan said.

Once a week, Hogan would trek along the Welsh countryside looking at Roman monuments and sites with a team of professionals.

“Mostly I put things on maps while they talked,” Hogan said.

Having caught the travel bug, Hogan spent a year after college teaching English in Korea through another program she found on her own.

Hogan said she had decided she wanted to do something completely different, and with that, she started researching programs and making

phone calls.

“I had heard horror stories from other people about some of these placements, but essentially I had them send a contract and made sure everything was on the up-and-up,” Hogan explained. “I felt pretty comfortable that I’d traveled enough before, and if I got there and there was something not right or legitimate, I would have no hesitation in coming home.”

She spent the year teaching students ages four to 16 and tutoring two sisters from a university three nights a week.

By now, Hogan is a seasoned traveler. Through Drake alone, she’s visited France, Spain, Austria, England, Germany, China, South Africa, Jordan and, recently, Mexico.

As part of her job, Hogan travels to check out programs. Hogan has a checklist when it comes to potential programs — study experience, safety, types of courses and ability to get around — that she uses to answer the question of what life is really like there.

“I feel like that’s my responsibility,” Hogan said. “If I were to go into a meeting and ask a question like ‘What’s it like going to the Middle East as a woman,’ and the advisor responds ‘I don’t know,’ I wouldn’t want to study there. I can speak with more confidence about what our offerings are in different countries this way.”

In a given year, Hogan helps between 100 and 150 students study abroad, though she talks to more than double that.

But Hogan doesn’t just play Vanna White and show off what programs are most exciting. She said a big portion of her job is advising students, though she also handles the marketing for the study-abroad presence on campus, manages Drake’s study-abroad online application site

TAYLOR SOULE | photo editor JEN HOGAN POSES inside her office located in the Center for International Programs and Services. and acts as a liaison between the study-abroad office and other campus offices like student accounts, student records and financial planning.

She also co-teaches the pre-departure and post-departure courses.

Senior Katherine Vergosen has been working in the International Office with Hogan since the beginning of the school year.

“Jen is…well, Jen is awesome,” Vergosen said. “She’s really fun and always has a positive attitude. A really relaxed person to work with.”

That sentiment holds true for many. “(Working with Jen) was very laid back and easy,” first-year Amanda

Luketich said. “I just told her what I wanted, and as obscure and lacking in any actual substance those directions were, she found trips that suited me perfectly.”

With Hogan’s help, Luketich studied in Cambodia over winter break and will be venturing to Tunisia this summer.

Some students come to see Hogan as a fairy godmother.

“We wanted to find something out of the ordinary and extremely cheap,” Luketich said. “(Jen was) responsible for both of my trips, and I would never have heard about either of them if it wasn’t for her.”

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Drake grad aboard Titanic Campus ties to historical event

by Megan Bannister

Staff Writer megan.bannister@drake.edu

Moviegoers and history buffs alike have been in a tizzy lately over the re-release of Jack and Rose’s tragic love story aboard the ill-fated Titanic.

But what many members of the Drake community do not know is that the university has its very own story of loss in relation to the historic vessel.

When the Titanic sank on April 13, 1912, not only was Ernest Portage Tomlin the only resident of Des Moines to perish aboard, he was also a student at Drake’s Bible College.

Born in Canada in 1889, Tomlin came to Drake in 1907 and enrolled in the university’s Bible College. According to historical documentation by long-time Cowles Library employee James Leonardo, Tomlin was a boarder in a single-family residence located at 1209 23rd St., near the present-day location of Taco’s Mariana’s on Forest Avenue while he resided in Des Moines.

Tomlin’s transcripts show that he was a highly motivated student who took classes in subjects ranging from advanced mathematics to Latin to botany. He also maintained an A average, and though his family owned a largely successful bakery, he was known among his friends for his desire to do work with the church.

In the spring of 1910, during his third year at Drake, Tomlin learned that his father was ill and returned home to be with his family near Notting Hill in London.

Less than two years later, Tomlin was eager to return to the university to finish his studies.

He wrote letters to his friends at Drake providing the details of his voyage, but when classmates like Will Mander got word of the tragic fate of the supposedly unsinkable White Star ocean liner, they feared the worst.

“I received a letter from Ernest last week stating that he was sailing for America on April 10, from Southampton,” Mander said, according to an article published in the Des Moines Tribune on April 16, 1912. “We find that the Titanic was the only boat that left

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 4G

Athletes give back

by Taylor Soule

Photo Editor taylor.soule@drake.edu

Southampton on that date and have every reason to believe that he was one of the passengers. I believe that he traveled third class.”

Unfortunately, Mander’s insights were correct.

According to Leonardo, Tomlin bought a third-class ticket on the RMS Titanic for eight pounds and one shilling, the equivalent of about $31.64 in the United States at the time.

At the time of his death, Tomlin wore a black coat with a blue-stripped flannel vest.

In his pockets, rescuers found two billfolds, “a silver watch, pencil, papers, diary, fountain pen, comb, $87 in U.S. currency, one pound and 10 shillings in gold, and two shillings nine pence in change,” according to Leonardo.

On April 24, 1912, the Drake Daily Delphic reported that a ship named the MackayBennett had recovered Tomlin’s body. There is a disagreement as to whether Tomlin’s body was returned to New York or buried at sea along with many others.

Though many of Tomlin’s direct descendents are no longer alive, an interest in his legacy and history of the Titanic has lived on in his descendants.

Described as a “traditional family business since 1865,” according to the shop’s website, the establishment called Martin’s Bakery was started by Tomlin’s grandfather and carried on by his father, Edwin Tomlin.

“My sister Marylin Powell has researched our family at least as far back as the early 1900s,” said Martyn Hawkins, the owner of the family bakery, in an email.

While the original Tomlin bakery was located on St. Anns Road in Notting Hill, the building was torn down around 1960 in a redevelopment project, and Hawkins’ father, the son of Edwin Tomlin, moved the business to Hounslow before finally relocating to the current location in Cornwall, Hawkins said.

In 1992, the family sold a postcard mailed

by Tomlin to his younger sister Lily from the Titanic for roughly 2,400 pounds, according to the Drake historical archives.

Thanks to collaborative efforts with Leonardo, much of the information Hawkins and his relatives have regarding Tomlin’s fate aboard the Titanic can now be found on the Internet, though the family is still interested in learning more about its lineage.

For Drake athletics, championships and charity go hand-in-hand.

“Any way we can help and give back and show support is really nice,” said StudentAthlete Advisory Committee President Gabby Demos, a senior member of the women’s tennis squad. “That’s really what we’re trying to achieve. I feel like each year we’re doing more and more, which is exciting.”

By increasing outreach, Drake athletes’ services are being requested more and more in Des Moines.

“A lot of the kids in the community just want to meet the athletes,” Demos said.

“The basketball teams are in pretty high demand, and they really like the football guys, too. We’re just trying to focus on more interaction every year, and I think it’s getting better.”

Drake athletics’ continued outreach goals have not gone unnoticed in the community. They have partnered with organizations including Soles for Souls, Character Counts in Iowa, Boys and Girls Clubs and the Belize Dance Marathon.

Giving back benefits Drake athletes and the Des Moines community alike, said Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb.

“It’s really good for our students and our staff to engage in volunteer activities and be giving of their time and talents because it’s good for your heart and soul,” Hatfield Clubb said. “It helps you learn to grow, and it teaches you to serve your community, which, I think, is our job as human beings on this earth, to help make the world a better place.”

The time and effort that the department is putting in to giving back to the community is growing more and more each year.

“The focus hasn’t changed, but the energy of it, the momentum of it has increased, and I think that’s because people recognize that we’re doing a lot of those things,” Hatfield Clubb said.

Drake athletics’ outreach includes the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s annual student-athlete talent show. Every spring, Drake’s 16 teams each perform for their fellow athletes and student and faculty fans. This spring, Soles for Souls was also sitting in the auditorium.

Empty cardboard bins welcomed shoe donations before and after the April 5 talent

show.

Outreach efforts aren’t limited to Drake’s spring semester. Drake athletes engaged local youth in some competitive but fun play last semester at the Bell Center. After playing various sports all morning, tying fleece blankets occupied the afternoon. SAAC sent the finished blankets to local homeless shelters housing youth.

Community programs that Drake football is involved in encompass the entire academic year. Players travel to local schools every Friday to read to elementary students.

Besides volunteering, Drake athletes are committed to increasing awareness through competition.

Through volleyball’s Dig Pink, basketball’s

Any way we can help and give back and show support is really nice. That’s really what we’re trying to achieve. I feel like each year we’re doing more and more, which is exciting. –Gabby Demos Hoops 4 Hope and soccer’s Kick Cancer, the athletics department informs in a fan-friendly way.

Men’s soccer even scheduled a “green out” to support environmental awareness. The first 250 fans to the game received a free “Drake Soccer Goes Green” T-shirt.

“Our teams come up with some creative ideas to bring awareness to different efforts for positive social change,” Hatfield Clubb said.

For Drake athletics, winning games, matches and races is rewarding, but Hatfield Clubb said that winning smiles, hugs and thanks from the Des Moines community is the athletics department’s ultimate reward.

“We’re here for a social good,” Hatfield Clubb said. “We’re here to educate our community and to bring young, talented people into our workforce, into the community. Our purpose is social good as an educational institution, and this creates even stronger arms and legs relative to advancing the social good of our work in the community.”

Mr. Drake remains key figure on campus Paul Morrison continues to support, and work for, Drake

MEGAN BANNISTER | staff photographer PAUL MORRISON POSES in his office located at the Bell Center. Known as Mr. Drake, Morrison is an important member of the Drake community.

by Megan Bannister

Staff Writer megan.bannister@drake.edu

At his best count, Drake University Historian Paul Morrison has attended 678 Drake football games.

Beginning in 1935 when Morrison, who is fondly known as “Mr.

Drake,” was a freshman at the university, he began attending football games, and since the team’s 1946 season, Morrison notes that he has missed “very few” of the Bulldogs’ games.

Though last summer, when the team traveled to Arusha, Tanzania, to

play Africa’s first American-style football game in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, Morrison stayed behind.

“I really reluctantly decided that it would be best in the long run not to go to Africa,” said Morrison, who is almost 95 years old.

But thanks to the efforts of Ath-

678 71 Football games attended

letic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb, the team’s most loyal fan was not forgotten.

“Sandy, the (athletic director), took a bunch of pictures when she was on that trip, and she had a picture of me, so every time they took a picture of her, she held up this picture of me like I was on the trip, too, which was really unique,” Morrison said.

Morrison’s long-running relationship with Drake is even more unique.

“I was just thinking the other day that I’ve been retired as long as a lot of people work, but I look forward to coming to work here every day,” said Morrison, who formally retired in 1986.

Morrison has been working at Drake in some capacity since 1945 when he became the first full-time director of the university’s news bureau. Morrison’s parents were both Bulldogs also.

“There’s a lot of so-called ‘blue blood’ in my system,” Morrison said.

The third of five children, Morrison was the first of his siblings to attend Drake. Since his undergraduate years, though, the number of Drake graduates in his family has grown to 14, the most recent being Morrison’s granddaughter.

One of the program’s most devoted fans, Morrison has traveled to “all four corners of the United States” with members of Drake’s football and basketball teams, and he continues to volunteer his time daily as the university’s on-site historian.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t come to work every day,” Morrison said.

Morrison admits the career path and connection were unplanned.

“It was one of those happenstance

Years working and going to school at Drake

things,” Morrison said.

During his freshman year, as part of his financial aid agreement with the university, Morrison acted as the circulation manager for The TimesDelphic, sending out mailings and delivering papers across campus.

“I really thought when I came to Drake that I might go into medicine and be a doctor, but I just fell in love with the journalism area,” Morrison said. “I’ve been stuck ever since, one way or the other.”

In much the same way, Morrison’s life is also intrinsically tied to the Drake athletic department.

“I was never an athlete, but I liked following athletics and the teams,” Morrison said. “I was actually the sports editor of the [Times] Delphic and the Quax when I was a student, and it’s just been in my blood ever since.”

More than anything, Morrison has experienced some of the university’s proudest moments: the track team’s sweep of the Drake Relays’ three most important races in 1951 and in 1969, the basketball team’s historic competition against UCLA in the Final Four. He has witnessed physical changes and expansion in the university as well as demographic shifts, such as Drake’s ever-increasing population of females.

During his time at Drake, Morrison fell in love with a career, a team and also with his wife, Pauline, who worked in the office of the university’s dean of students.

But when asked what spending 71 years as a Bulldog has meant to him, Morrison’s response is simple.

“Drake’s my life,” Morrison said.

9.5

Average number of games attended each year

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Professor focuses on service-learning Learning extends outside the classroom walls to help the organizations and show students a different outlet for using their talents.

“I was trying to find a way to make writing vital,” SpauldingKruse said. “Sometimes I felt like Drake students were insulated on campus, and I wanted them to have a better sense of the community in which Drake was situated.”

She said helping students find a way to make a difference through writing was one of her main priorities. In addition, giving them an opportunity to write in the real world — other than papers graded by professors — was just as important.

“So many times I hear the students say the stakes are really different here,” Spaulding-Kruse courtesy of Carol Spaudling-Kruse said of service-writing. “(The students say) ‘My writing is going to affect people. It’s going to affect

by Erin McHenry of the community, she thought whether or not an organization Staff Writer service-learning would be a great gets funding. It’s going to affect erin.mchenry@drake.edu way to engage her writing stu- public perception of this issue.

This organization is dependdents.

Carol Spaulding-Kruse al“Learning isn’t going to just ing on me. I really don’t want to ways wanted to teach. As a child take place in the classroom any- screw it up, and it feels different.’” she played teacher, and after tran- more,” Spaulding-Kruse said.

The service-writing segment sitioning from one education to “There is more of a sense of of English 061 was so successful, the next, that’s where she ended experiential learning and hands- that Spaulding-Kruse created a up. on engagement, and so service- new course, English 199, entirely “It seems like some of the big- learning is a part of that trend.” for that purpose. But with a new gest decisions of my life felt so In 2009, Spaulding-Kruse class came new territory, which natural that I didn’t decide ‘OK, began by incorporating service- challenged Spaulding-Kruse. now I go into teaching,’” Spauld- learning into English 061, an “It was a lot of work,” she ing-Kruse said. introductory writing course re- said, “and any professor who has The English professor has quired for all English and writing taken on this initiative to include a been at Drake since 1996. After majors and minors. A portion of service component in their course attending a workshop by Associ- the course focused on service- has also dealt with the same kind ate Sociology Professor Darcie writing. Spaulding-Kruse paired of issues as I have.”

Vandergrift on service-learning, students up with nonprofit orgaDespite the struggles she Spaulding-Kruse was inspired. nizations, and they collaborated faced, students enjoyed the class An actively involved member

and have been successful, which is the most rewarding for Spaulding-Kruse.

“It’s so meaningful to me to see a student both feel like her writing made a difference in someone’s life, become aware of a social issue that she can have a positive impact on and throughout that have writing be at the center,” Spaulding-Kruse said.

One particular student, senior Vladislav Frederick, took his experience as an intern through English 199 and turned it into a career. He worked for Younger American Poets Reading Series during the class, and after the organization lost its director last semester, Frederick took the position.

“It is great to see when a student has an internship that is so completely in line with what they want to do with their own writing and own work,” Spaulding-Kruse said. “In Vlad’s case it was just the perfect match.”

In the past year, Drake created a special program to encompass all service-learning, headed by Mandi McReynolds. The organization looks to find real-world experiences for students to learn from, such as studying abroad or internships.

Even though she is currently on sabbatical writing a historical fiction novel, Spaulding-Kruse will be back in the fall to continue developing her service-writing class, while working alongside McReynolds to build off the young program in hopes to create an actively engaged campus involved in experiential learning.

Local series features acclaimed poets Drake student works closely with poetry program

by Katie Ericson

Staff Writer katie.ericson@drake.edu

When signing up for and taking classes, students usually think of them as little other than courses required for their majors. Some students think they will only occasionally learn something from classes. They take them simply to fill in AOIs or to fit a time slot.

However, other students go above and beyond that mindset.

Senior Vladislav Frederick took English 199 his junior year.

That year, he switched his major to English. Carol SpauldingKruse, professor of English, helped him with his transition since he was late in the process, but Frederick is grateful she did.

“She was an excellent guide, providing feedback on reflections I submitted and encouragement during the whole process,” Frederick said.

Frederick said that without Spaulding-Kruse’s aid he might never have experienced the poetry he now loves. Instead, he enrolled in the course and began working with Jennifer Perrine, assistant professor of English, and the Younger American Poets Reading Series.

The series is dedicated to bringing new and experienced poets to Des Moines for their own nights of reading and discussion about their works, advice and poetry in general. YAPRS began in 2011 and has grown rapidly since

It’s these kinds of partnerships that turn communities into rich and vibrant followers of the arts, which makes me all the more proud to be a student at a university that engages in these partnerships.

– Vladislav Frederick its inception.

Frederick joined the group when it began. He admitted that he was a bit behind because he had just started his English major, but he began learning as soon as he joined the group.

“Quickly I learned that for the folks running any reading series, there are a million logistical, publicity and fundraising duties that go into making the event a success,” he said.

Throughout his time in the class, Frederick was involved with every aspect of YAPRS. He put up posters, spoke to classes at Drake and nearby high schools, approached businesses for funding and helped set up and take down the events.

His favorite part of the process was writing introductions for the visiting poets.

“A good introduction reflects a deep respect for and interest in

the works of the poet you are introducing, which makes any good intro a labor of love,” he said.

Frederick said the poets were appreciative of his intros, and his greatest reward was seeing their reactions. He also said he learned about the importance of the fine arts.

“It’s these kinds of partnerships that turn communities into rich and vibrant followers of the arts, which makes me all the more proud to be a student at a university that engages in these partnerships,” he said.

YAPRS is sponsored by Drake University and has the necessary funding to draw well-known authors who give students valuable information about writing after college.

As one of these interns, Frederick became quite attached to YAPRS. He worked through his spring, summer and fall semes-

ters with the internship and then found a new opportunity. Perrine, the coordinator of the series at the time, was looking for candidates to fill her position. Frederick took over her position, and Michaela Mullin and Joel Nathanael became co-coordinators Together, the three new coordinators planned to “work on the series and push it to new heights.”

This included getting the organization its own bank account, mailing address and board of directors. These improvements helped YAPRS become an accredited, stand-alone nonprofit organization. Though Frederick admitted this meant many more fundraisers and various challenges for the group, he said this step is one that YAPRS needed to take, and it will greatly benefit the series.

YAPRS will have two of its biggest authors yet for its next event. Poets Robert Fernandez and Mark Levine will be at Beaverdale Books on May 3 at 7 p.m.

Fernandez has won a Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Poetry and has been selected as a New American Poet by the Poetry Society of America. Levine is also successful and is considered,

by Frederick as “one of the biggest names in poetry that our series has ever had the privilege of hosting.” He is a recipient of the Whiting Award and a National Endowment for the Arts.

Financing study abroad opportunities

by Taylor Larson

Staff Writer taylor.larson@drake.edu

Breanna Thompson, a junior international relations and history double major who is currently spending a semester in Morocco, has a mission: to aid Drake students in achieving the university’s call for global citizenship.

After spending two months abroad in Muscat, Oman last summer completely on scholarship, Thompson is passionate about making studying abroad less of a financial burden for Drake students.

Throughout the fall semester, Thompson worked with the Alumni Development Office and with the Center for International Programs and Services after receiving support from Student Senate to create an endowment fund to aid students in any of their international prospects.

“Depending on the program, the semester can actually be more expensive than your regular semester at Drake when you include flights and things like that,” Thompson said.

Katie Nelson, a first-year student who is working out the kinks for her own study-abroad experience, agrees that spending a semester abroad is an opportunity that students should take advantage of.

“Rather than experiencing your semester as a student in Iowa, you’re experiencing a whole new world as a student abroad,” Nelson said.

“Culturally, you get so much more out of your semester. In some places, however, the exchange rate is low, your travel costs could be high and touring isn’t cheap.”

It can also be more expensive, Thompson said, when students choose a program outside of those partnered with the university. Drake offers students one-fourth of their total yearly academic scholarships (or half of their semester scholarships) to study abroad, but only if a student chooses a Drake affiliate.

Many programs, however, are available for one-time affiliation. This means that while Thompson chose an outside program for her experience in Morocco, she still received her scholarship after talking with her adviser, making plans with the study-abroad office, speaking with financial aid and creating a bigger hassle for herself.

“My idea with these extra scholarships would be a way of getting money from the university to go abroad and contribute to your education at Drake, but you don’t have to go through those extra loop holes,” Thompson said. “My hope is that people will then have other options and more options for programs if they don’t have to worry so much about it always having to be affiliated with Drake.”

Thompson began this undertaking last semester by presenting to an alumni recruiting board that planned to take her information to potential donors who want to give directly to students involved internationally. “(They) wanted my story and were interested because they can bring that to the donors and kind of convince them more that that is one of the needs of the students,” Thompson said.

Thompson began working closely with Jen Hogan, assistant director of international programs and services/study abroad.

“I think the way we’re approaching funding and education abroad here at Drake is something that has been up for discussion for the last couple of years,” Hogan said. “We have programs and we have schools that we work with that offer certain scholarships, but we recognize that sometimes it’s just not enough.”

Hogan and Thompson are each optimistic, however, that the university will start distributing these funds to students sooner rather than later.

“Working out the details of the (fund), we’ll hopefully be able to (sketch) more of an approach toward a more general scholarship,” Hogan said. “For now, though, we’re hoping some of these other donors come through, too, so we can allocate money for scholarships because we absolutely look at it as a priority.”

HOW TO HELP FINANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE ABROAD: University grants and * Drake scholarships awarded to a student are limited to 50% for study abroad on a Drake affiliated provider and 100% for an exchange program and for two semesters only.

YOUNG AMERICAN POETS READING SERIES “YAPRs brings nationally renowned writers to a stage in Des Moines in the interest of arts education and providing a platform for less visible art forms. Younger writers are also given the opportunity to share the stage with established writers, engaging in a venue to network, exchange literary ideas and contribute to the preexisting literary culture in Central Iowa.”

– From http://yaprs.blogspot.com

UPCOMING EVENTS: Thursday, May 3 Robert Fernandez and Mark Levine Thursday, June 7 Brandon Courtney and Adam Clay CONTACT: 1.515.249.5103

who receive a Federal Pell * Students Grant may also be eligible to receive a supplemental Study Away scholarship from Drake.

scholarships and financial aid * Other include: –Paul Thibodeau Travel Scholarship for Global Citizenship –Gilman Scholarship –Borman Scholarship –German Academic Exchange Service –Clinton Scholars Program –Truman Scholarship

more * For scholarship

information on each visit www.drake.edu/ international/study-abroad/finaid

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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 6G

ROTC deployment impacts lives Identifying with different cultures and appreciating life at home

by Amanda Goodwin and Ian Wells Staff Writers amanda.goodwin@drake.edu ian.wells@drake.edu

Studying abroad is not the only way to visit another country through Drake University. The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. (ROTC) program immerses its students into different cultures around the world.

Drake senior Ian Weller first had exposure to the ROTC program during Welcome Weekend of his first year, signing up as a non-contracted cadet for Army ROTC. After Weller had to write a paper for class and visited the U.S. Navy website, he decided to switch programs.

Since his transfer to Navy ROTC, Weller went on two “stints” for the State Department in Jordan during the summers of 2007 and 2008, each for two months. Weller also took advantage of Drake’s first Cradle of Civilization trip to Egypt in 2010, and again for his semester abroad in the spring of 2011 during the revolution, where he was relocated to Oman. During that time, Weller visited Dubai, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

“Hopefully this (going abroad) will help me prepare for going into the theater of the mili-

Hopefully this [going abroad] will help me prepare for going into the theater of the military.

–Ian Weller

tary,” Weller said.

Weller is one of several ROTC students being deployed overseas this summer. Weller will be deployed as a commanding officer for the U.S. Navy in either Bahrain or Japan and will find out in August which port he is assigned.

“As an officer, I will be overseeing 30 or 40 guys or gals,” Weller said. “Having that experience means I will be able to somehow identify with what they’re going through, plus all the stresses that come with Navy life.”

ROTC students are being deployed all around the world for experience. Going straight into a foreign country with no background of cultural exposure would be a potentially dangerous thing. Junior Jeremy Hild, an ROTC student being deployed in Tallinn, Estonia, said that there are programs that prepare ROTC students who will travel to these countries.

Hild is staying in Estonia for 30 days. Prior

to leaving, he had to go through some cultural awareness programs.

The learning program he went through is a cultural awareness and language proficiency program. There are three parts to the program: humanitarian aid, cultural teachings and military-to-military, which is what Hild is involved with. Hild said that he is very well prepared for his deployment this summer thanks to his lieutenant.

Lt. Patrick Hendrickson is the military science instructor and head of the ROTC program on campus. Hendrickson, a Drake grad, has had plenty of experience abroad after being deployed to Afghanistan for seven months.

In Afghanistan, Hendrickson’s job as platoon leader was to speak with village elders about the area’s security and to keep the Taliban out.

Hendrickson hopes to instill the knowledge he gathered overseas in the cadets he trains at

Drake.

“I’m in the perfect position to prepare them for success,” Hendrickson said. “Their job is really important once they leave here. They’ll be in charge of 40 husbands, sons, uncles, dads, everything.”

Hendrickson said even though his feet are firmly planted in Des Moines, in some ways he has never left Afghanistan.

“There will be times, sitting in this building, where the heat will kick on, and all those vents expand and the metal booms, and you just have to realize, ‘OK, I’m in the Drake office.’ You’re just on that constant state of alert,” Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson said that the most difficult thing about deployment was leaving his wife and two children, daughter Ava and son Jacob, behind in America. He said life in Afghanistan was definitely an adjustment, and that when he is home, he does not take it for granted.

“You take advantage of it,” Hendrickson said. “Grabbing a nice hot cup of coffee, going home to a warm bed and kids that love you, sitting there and watching TV, taking leisurely walks on the streets without there being explosions or anything like that going on. It really hits home when you’re away.”

Students’ blogs Various countries represented at Drake strengthen Students come to campus from around the world experiences abroad

by Amanda Horvath and Trevor Marchuk

by Taylor Larson

Staff Writers amanda.horvath@drake.edu trevor.marchuk@drake.edu

Staff Writer taylor.larson@drake.edu

Juniors Megan Bannister and Hanna Bartholic have a lot in common: they’re both Drake students, their last names both start with ‘B’ and they have both seen Harry Potter’s Platform 9 ¾. Beyond that, however, Bannister and Bartholic share a love for blogging that grew during their semesters in Europe.

While some may use their blogs abroad for school credit, Bannister and Bartholic used them as a way to stay in touch with family and friends and for the personal perks.

“I like to blog because it’s a great way to stay in contact with everybody at home,” Bartholic said. Who is currently spending a semester in London, England.

“It’s (also) kind of a nice way for me to look back and see what I did. It’s almost for me as much as for them,” she said.

Bannister spent last semester in Barcelona, Spain.

“It (blogging) was a nice way to digitally scrapbook and have a nice little, not-so-much a journal, but something I could look back at and say, ‘Oh yeah, I did do that,’” Bannister said.

In each of their blogs, Bannister and Bartholic describe their travels, sightseeing and unique, random run-ins with the different cultures in Spain and England. When each girl wasn’t attending classes, pub-hopping with friends or visiting Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic, they were blogging about it.

“The Barcelona city festival is in the fall, and there’s an event where people run through the streets with fireworks,” Bannister wrote. “It was an experience, especially for someone who’s kind of afraid of fireworks.”

“It’s never really a boring week,” Bartholic wrote.

“There’s just a ton of things to see, and sometimes you’ll just be out and there will be this random festival going on, so you just ditch whatever plans you have and go drink with the Australians because it’s ‘New Zealand Day’ or something.”

Bannister and Bartholic, however, differ in the ways they began blogging. Bannister got her start blogging for Drake Magazine and using her own Wordpress account.

Bartholic, on the other hand, purchased her domain name last semester and used Apple’s webpage creating software, iWeb, to create her own website.

“I knew I wanted a website because I knew I wanted somewhere to put my portfolio for getting jobs and stuff,” Bartholic said. “It seemed like the perfect place to blog, too.”

Bartholic plans to continue blogging throughout the remainder of her semester in London. Visit hannabartholic.com to see her latest adventures and to see pictures of the things on her “London Bucket List” — which includes seeing Westminster Abbey and visiting Ireland.

Blogs of Bannister’s semester in Barcelona can be read at siestasemester.wordpress.com and in the Drake Magazine website’s archives.

Dozens of people swarm into the buildings carrying suitcases, boxes, refrigerators, microwaves and all other necessities of dorm room life. Turning a small dorm room into a home with people you’ve never met before while saying goodbye to your parents for several months is cause for plenty of stress.

Imagine going through all of this in a foreign country.

Drake University has about 3,500 undergraduate students, and of that, there were 282 international students enrolled for fall 2011. Fifty different countries are represented on campus ranging from Canada to Tanzania.

Recruiting students from around the world takes strategic planning, but the same goals and basic processes are maintained. Carrie Lewis, the assistant director of international admission, helps draw international high school students to

Drake.

“We are looking for the same kinds of qualities and kinds of students — just a little further away than most of the domestic admission counselors work,” Lewis said.

While the distance overseas can inhibit students’ abilities to fully experience all Drake has to offer, the university provides some opportunities for access to many aspects of Drake life.

Specifically, there are live online video chats with faculty, and all prospective international students are encouraged to join in.

However, not all international students come to Drake directly out of high school.

Many students are transferring credits from two-year institutions. A large contributor to this population of transfer students is Malaysia. Malaysians represent 44.55 percent of the 282 international students.

Syed Afiful is a first-year student from Malaysia studying actuarial science. Afiful found out about Drake through his relatives and friends who recognized Drake’s strength in the field of actuarial science.

The components of international admissions that Afiful said gave him the most difficulty were obtaining the proper visa and taking the standardized tests required for the American school system.

Although Afiful’s first time on campus was move-in day, he has adjusted to the culture of an American college.

“I think it’s a new experience for me to get into the diversity of students here and let them know me and let me know them,” Afiful said.

While some students’ homes are overseas, the recruitment process is not slowed down thanks to technology. With email, Skype and Facebook, international students are able to be more connected.

Most of the responsibility to go through the proper admission steps sits on the student’s shoulders, since many support systems are not in place for them. For example, many students do not have the luxury of a guidance counselor at their high school. Not only are the responsibilities of going through the admission process

challenging, but the decision to study overseas takes courage.

Adjusting to a new culture while taking on higher education is a lesson all on its own.

“The students that we get to work with are great,” Lewis said. “And anyone who is willing to leave their home to study in another country is very brave to do that.”

As international students look for a school that meets their needs, Drake is there to accommodate. The programs, faculty and many other aspects of Drake contribute to the appeal for those students.

“The administration, the faculty and the students all seem to be on the same page and looking in the same direction in terms of internationalization and outreach and providing a welcoming campus,” Lewis said. “That is a big part of what makes Drake appealing to international students.”

Multicultural organizations on campus

Compiled by Hali Ortega

1 2 3

African Student Association

4 5 6 7

Meetings - every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. in the Pomerantz Conference Room Email – asa@drake.edu

Chinese Student Association Email: cihang.zheng@drake.edu

Coalition of Black Students

Meetings – every other Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Black Cultural Center Email – cbs@drake.edu

International Student Association

Meetings – every Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Pomerantz Conference Room Email – isa@drake.edu

La Fuerza Latina

Meetings – every Monday at 8 p.m. in La Casa Cultural Email – carlos.velastegui@drake.edu Online at http://orgs.l3.drake.edu/lfl/

Malaysian Student’s Association Email – sharyljit.kaur@drake.edu

South Asian Student Association

Meetings – every Sunday at 9 p.m. in lower Olmsted Email – sasa@drake.edu

Pharmacy students work internationally Studying abroad provides ‘real-world’ experience Each year, pharmacy students

by Nicole Barnett and Brooke Dahnert Staff Writers nicole.barnett@drake.edu brooke.dahnert@drake.edu

have the opportunity to study abroad through the International Experiential Learning Program at Drake University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. To graduate as a pharmacist, the degree program lasts six years versus an average four-year college degree. This makes studying abroad through Drake’s regular abroad program almost impossible for many pharmacy students.

This program allows students to go abroad during either their second or fourth year of pharmacy school.

The abroad programs last an average

of four weeks and give students the opportunity to experience hands-on learning in other countries. “(Students) are generally working with pharmacists in whatever location they are at,” said John Rovers, the associate professor of pharmacy practice. He has coordinated some of the abroad programs. “(They) are basically doing the same kinds of learning activities a clinical student would do here, but they are doing it under supervision in a different location,” he said. Students are able to choose from a list of 12 countries ranging from El Salvador to Korea. The three most popular destinations for pharmacy students are Australia, Belize and Tanzania.

“We generally have location sites set up either through other universities where we have partnerships, or because we have had faculty that

have had work experience in those countries and have contacts there where we can get students to work with practitioners globally,” Rovers said.

Students studying through the pharmacy abroad program are able to receive anywhere from one to five credits, depending on the length of their stay.

Drake student Marissa Dittmer travelled to Australia through the abroad program during the summer of her P4 year. “Australia utilizes a national health care system, and I was able to experience firsthand the positives and negatives associated with socialized health care,” Dittmer said.

“I was able to fully immerse myself in the pharmacy work flow and everyday tasks such as methadone dispensing, counseling and over-the-counter product selection.”

For the 2011-12 school year there are 33 students who have either gone abroad or are currently abroad through this program. “(For most sites) you have to find your own housing, with the exception of…South Africa, Belize and Australia,” said Kathy Schott, the director of experiential external affairs at Drake.

An International Experiential Learning Program trip can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000. Aside from tuition, students are expected to pay for their airfare, food, and living expenses.

For more information about the International Experiential Learning Program, visit the Office of Experiential Learning located in upper Olin Hall.

Office of Experiential Education: ROOM 452 Olin Hall PHONE 515.271.3191 EMAIL exp.pharmacy@drake.edu

PAGE 7G | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012

SPEED

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

Expect the unexpected. Unique foods, diverse culture and new languages are expected when traveling to different countries. A romantic relationship that changes the course of your life is unexpected. Among Drake University’s reach to the corners of the world are international couples who were brought together by Drake’s international or study abroad programs.

&Keegan

Kali

by Amanda Horvath

Staff Writer amanda.horvath@drake.edu

They have traveled the world together, but still Kali Judd and Keegan Coats’ first adventure started in the fall of 2008 resting in the grass outside Hubbell Dining Hall.

Judd, an American citizen, met Coats, an international student from South Africa, through mutual friends while studying at Drake University.

The couple was brought together at Drake, and now their wedding is set for September of this year. Since their meeting in the fall of 2008, the couple has traveled the world, yet holds the Drake community close to their hearts.

“I hung out with a lot of foreign exchange students, and one day they were playing soccer and we just kind of met,” Judd said. “And then we went to the Obama rally together, and we just kind of hit it off there.”

Judd and Coats spent that fall semester at Drake building their relationship, but Coats’ student visa

was soon to expire. He would have to leave the United States. Judd had already experienced a long-distance relationship, and that was not an option for her.

“So I basically said well we either need to go somewhere together or just kind of break it off,” Judd said. “And we just decided to go for it.”

The couple moved to Australia in January of 2009 for 11 months where they both went to school and worked. After saving up enough money to leave Australia, Judd and Coats were able to take a trip backpacking through Asia for three months. After exploring Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Japan they moved to Coats’ home country, South Africa, for seven months.

However, the traveling couple was forced apart in August of 2010, because Coats still did not have a visa for the U.S. Judd returned home alone to start the process of getting Coats his visa.

“We knew the process. We knew it would take a while,” Judd said. “You kind of get used to (being apart) after

a while, you get in a pattern.”

Everyday apart for the couple consisted of Skyping, phone calls or using the international texting application called “What’s Up.” Finally, Coats was able to return in July of 2011, and the couple could be together in Des Moines.

Coats is finished with school and has a job at Skyline, an exhibition company, and Judd returned to Drake to finish her schooling. She is now a sophomore international relations major.

“I always liked Drake,” Judd said.

“And I always liked the small community about it, and I didn’t want to go to a big school. So I figured why not go back to Drake.”

Not only could Drake bring a quality education for Coats and Judd, but it also brought them together as a couple. With a couple hundred international students enrolled at Drake, Coats and Judd represent the great connections that can be made.

“I think that Drake does a really good job with how many international people they bring in from different places,” Judd said. “It was nice that Drake helped make those connections around the world for me.”

photo submitted by JUDD and COATS

...we just decided to go for it.

–Kali Judd

&Meng

Kong Foo

by Ying Ying Lee

Staff Writer yingying.lee@drake.edu

photo submitted by XU and PANG

There’s a couple that became the center of attention in both the Malaysian Students’ Association and the Chinese Student Association. Kong Foo Pang, from Malaysia, and Meng Xu, from China, both major in actuarial science.

The first time Pang laid eyes on Xu was during an actuarial science class. As months passed, Xu’s feelings towards Pang blossomed. However, being the very analytical, straightfor-

ward person Pang is, he did not assert his feelings for her. Rather, Xu built up the courage to make the first move and confessed her feelings to him first.

Xu planned to prepare Pang’s favorite noodle dish on the night of her confession. However, when Pang came home exhausted from work he did not notice the dish that was placed on the kitchen counter and went straight to bed. She was devastated from his reaction.

“With his unexpected response, in the back of my mind I really thought that we would remain as just friends,”

Xu said.

After a week had gone by, Pang responded to her confession by holding her hand. This marked the beginning of their relationship.

Their love has remained strong after a year being together.

“If I have some conflicts with my friends, he will always be there to support me,” Xu said.

“She’s very sensitive. Whenever she notices that I’m being unusually quiet, she’ll definitely question me straightaway,” Pang said. “And she’s always there for me whenever I need her.”

They’re planning to visit to each other’s families in both Malaysia and China this coming summer. They are looking forward to a future together.

...she’s always there for me whenever I need her.

–Kong Foo Pang

Amelia

&Eduardo

by Erin Menardi

Staff Writer erin.menardi@drake.edu

It took 5,326 miles for Drake junior Amelia Piecuch to find the man of her dreams. After traveling to Valparaíso, Chile, last semester to study abroad, Piecuch and her Chilean boyfriend Eduardo Suárez Bustos have made the most of their circumstances.

“I was not expecting this at all. I went thinking, ‘This is going to be a fun semester, I’m not going to have any expectations. I’m not going to get tied down, that’s not what I want, it’s not practical at all,’” Piecuch said.

The couple met shortly after Piecuch arrived in Valparaíaso thanks to a mutual friend and a night out.

She was out at a party with friends when she saw Bustos.

“I was there and didn’t really think

anything of him,” Piecuch said. “I kind of ignored him actually. We met there, but it was after that we started talking and became friends.”

Originally from Grosse Pointe, Mich., Piecuch went to Chile to experience a semester full of self-exploration and adventure. Bustos helped immerse her into Chilean customs and culture and introduced her to his family. He shared his passion for soccer with her by taking her to a Chile vs. Paraguay soccer match. These two memories, Piecuch said, were some of the best from her trip.

“I’ve become a soccer fan because it’s such a big part of their culture, and it’s something he really likes, so it was really cool to see that,” Piecuch said.

Despite what most people assume, Piecuch said the hardest part of a long-distance relationship is not the communication itself, but simply “the

idea that I can’t hang out with him. I can’t walk over and go out to dinner.

I have to take a 14-hour plane ride.”

The two have kept their relationship thriving through the use of smart phones and daily Skype dates and make efforts to visit each other every three or four months.

“Most people say, ‘Wow, I could never do it.’ But when they find out I’m happy, they’re glad that I’m in it. They just assume that it’s really hard,” Piecuch said.

The couple doesn’t have any major upcoming plans but are looking forward to Piecuch’s graduation next spring. She ideally would like to move to South America in the near future, but for now they are just “taking things as they come and not planning too far out.”

“I wanted to learn more about Latin America, and along the way I met him. I learned so much about myself, and I’ve been really happy in this relationship. I’ve never been this happy,” Piecuch said.

photo submitted by AMELIA PIECUCH

I learned so much about myself, and I’ve been really happy in this relationship. I’ve never been this happy.

–Amelia Piecuch

&Jarad

Lilianna

by Erin Menardi

Staff Writer erin.menardi@drake.edu

Two of Drake’s staff members didn’t even make it overseas before they were awestruck with each other. Senior admissions counselor Lilianna Bernstein and her husband Jarad, director of public relations and media management, fell in love in December 2004 after

being stalled for a couple of days in the Los Angeles International Airport, both eagerly waiting to begin a 10-day journey to Israel as part of the “Birthright Israel” program.

“As far as I’m concerned, it was totally love at first sight,” Lilianna Bernstein said. “I thought he was cute and was already plotting my move. I remember being really excited to be sitting next to him for such a long interna-

tional flight.”

She was a junior at Drake, and Jarad was a chaperone for her group. They immediately took notice of each other. But as luck would have it, mechanical malfunctions forced all the passengers to de-board the plane and wait for updates. A delay that was expected to last a few hours turned into several days, and the trip was cancelled. However, the couple kept in touch and eventually coordinated to try another Birthright Israel trip later that summer.

“By the time the trip was over 10 days later, we were completely in love. We maintained a long-distance relationship until I graduated from college and accepted a job at Drake,” Lilianna Bernstein said. “Jarad

quit his job, packed up all his bags and drove cross-country to Iowa to be with me. He didn’t even have a winter coat.”

The couple dated for another two years before Jarad proposed to Lilianna in the Los Angeles International Airport terminal where the pair first met. They married in 2009, and the young woman who ran off with her chaperone now has a quirky story to tell when people ask how she met her husband.

“The fact that we both chose to be on that particular trip is proof that it was meant to be,” Lilianna Bernstein said. “I think we both knew on the day we met we were going to marry each other someday. It was definitely love at first sight.”

Porterhouse SPEED

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | PAGE 8G

Interview with

The Times-Delphic had the chance to sit down with Drake’s official live mascot, Porterhouse.

Accompanied by his entourage, owners Erin and Kevin Bell, Porterhouse let the TD in on his idea of a dream vacation, why he loves speedboats and the first question he would ask if he had a sexy, Australian accent.

by Kristen Smith

Relays Editor kristen.smith@drake.edu

The Times-Delphic: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Porterhouse: To my food dish first and foremost, and then maybe Hubbell Dining Hall. That’s definitely a location I love.

TD: Where would you like to take a vacation?

PH: Every day is like a vacation for me.

I enjoy lounging around. Erin and Kevin say I’m lazy, but I would prefer to describe myself as a dog who’s just taking it all in and loving life. If I could go anywhere for a dream vacation, I would go wherever they make dog food.

TD: What is your favorite way to travel?

amazing talent.

PH: Traveling by car is by far my favorite way to travel. Long distance car rides are wonderful. I lie down and fall asleep for the whole trip. It’s really relaxing to be chauffeured around. I take up the whole backseat. In fact, everything in the backseat is mine. But I occasionally sit in the passenger’s seat, and when I do, I fall asleep right on the driver’s arm. It’s incredibly comfortable. I do love boats, as well. Preferably speedboats because I enjoy the wind in my ears, so I can toss them back and just let the wind fly by.

TD: If you could speak any language — besides fluent bulldog, of course — what language would you speak?

TD: Are you good with directions?

PH: Oh yes, I know where I’m going. I always remember who gives me food. Trust me, I can find that person faster than Lolo Jones can go over a hurdle. It’s a pretty

PH: Well, since I am an English bulldog, I would definitely speak perfect English. That way I could better communicate with my owners and tell them exactly what type of treat I would like. I would speak all kinds of English, whether it’s speaking properly like the Queen of England or with a sexy, Australian accent. Honestly, though, I would like to speak any language as long as I could say the word, “food.” Yes, learning the phrase “Where’s the food dish?” would be my main priority.

TD: You seem to make friends wherever you go. What is it about meeting new people that you like the most?

PH: I’ll admit, I love being the center of attention. I love to be loved. I especially adore the Drake students because I know that college kids are likely to drop some food my way, which Erin and Kevin don’t always do. And I immediately care about new people. I am willing to be their best friend and give them a big, slobbery kiss, even if I just met them. I get bored of Erin and Kevin, but I’m fond of Drake students because they give me endless attention.

They all treat me like royalty. Which, in a way, I guess I am.

TD: That’s very true. As the “King of Drake,” if you could switch places with any other king for the day, who would it be?

PH: If I could be crowned the king of anything else, it would be the King of the Couch. In fact, that’s what I usually am at home already.

TAYLOR SOULE | photo editor

A word from our staff: Drake Relays is a rallying point not only for Drake students, but also for athletes, fans and spectators from around the world. As our visitors affect campus, Drake affects the global community.

These stories are a small example of how the Bulldog spirit has touched every corner of the globe. We’ve got everything from the best delis surrounding campus to the international love affairs made possible by Drake.

We explore the interactions between race, religion, culture and politics. We have pieces about students discovering other countries and cultures through their study experiences

and bringing their knowledge back to campus.

Former Bulldog athletes are excelling in the international arena; while some of our current athletic departments struggle. Amidst the strife, other players and team members have stepped up to the challenge and become stronger than expected.

As people from all over visit campus this week to share our Bulldog pride, students will continue to embrace what the world has to offer and continue to seek ways to leave an impact of their own.