WIU
INFORMER
FALL 2015
Sport Clubs
SPORT CLUB GRADUATE ASSISTANT JESSE GEER
After taking over for Tiara Cash as the Sport Clubs graduate assistant in the fall, I could see the strong bond between all of the clubs from the very beginning. From the president’s meeting at the start of the semester I recognized the passion each club had for their team. In the fall semester, there were a total of 11 teams that traveled for a tournament or a game. The highlight of the fall season was hosting a two-day, all-day event on Vince Grady Field for Ultimate Frisbee called the Western Classic. There were a total of ten teams at the event and the Ultimate team performed seamlessly. The Sport Clubs Corner, a monthly YouTube show recapping the month events, was launched this semester. Lindsay Kring, Sport Clubs supervisor, and myself are show hosts and invite different presidents to talk about their club. I am very excited to continue to market and grow sport clubs here at Western Illinois. The next season will be very exciting as more teams will compete and teams will be involved in different events at Western.
BADMINTON CLUB MARKETA NASENBENY
The Badminton Club has been active on campus since president Ryan Metz started the club in February 2013. The Vice President in Spring 2013, Marketa Nasenbeny, became President in Fall 2013. She is still currently the President, and has an anticipated graduation of May 2016. The club has 35 members and practices on Sunday’s at 12:30pm and Thursday’s at 3pm on the Spencer Recreation Center courts. The club does not travel nor compete against other schools. The members prefer to play against each other for fun. Badminton may not seem like a very difficult sport, but it is definitely harder than it looks. It requires lots of endurance, stamina, and cardio. The Badminton Club accepts anyone who wants to join. There are no tryouts and you do not need to know how to play the sport. The members teach the rules to newcomers and how to properly hit birdies. Overall, this club is very laid back; you can come and go for practices as you please. It is fun to play against your friends in a few badminton matches while getting a great workout!
WOMEN’S CLUB SOCCER The WIU Women’s Soccer Club is alive and “Leatherneck strong”! In our second year now, we have tapped into the pool of student athletes who pursued the challenges of competitive soccer as kids and high school players. We have many new members who love this game without the pressure of daily practice and conditioning. We have formalized our uniforms and jerseys in WIU colors and flooded the field in “purple and gold” at our first club game in Iowa City, IA against the University of Iowa. We held the opposition scoreless throughout the entire second half and left
the field with confidence and respect. This team has come together thanks to a small core of upperclassmen and great enthusiasm from the freshman contingent (which is more than half of our members). The most significant contribution to our season has come from Nick Knowles who facilitated funding and travel support. With more games on the horizon for the spring and high spirits from everyone, you can expect to see club soccer flourishing in Leatherneck Country.
MEN’S CLUB SOCCER
This fall, the Men’s Soccer Club continued to build on our progress from last year. We have a very close group of guys who have played together for a long time and look to do very well this year. We played in a friendly game against the University of Illinois Springfield where we tied 4-4. We will play in an indoor soccer tournament held at Loras College in February where we look to do extremely well. We will also have a couple more friendly games in the spring.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The WIU Women’s Club Volleyball Team’s started with a tournament at the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL. One of the teams tied for 6th place out of 23 teams. The second tournament was at University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Both teams improved from the first tournament and worked together as a team. Our practices are held Tuesday and Thursday nights at Brophy Hall. Next semester, we plan to attend a National Ranking tournament and the National tournament which is held in Louisville, KY.
WIU FISHING TEAM JON OBERREITER
Our season was a little tougher than expected; we got out and did a good amount of fishing on Lake Argyle and Spring Lake but the fishing was slow and challenging. We had few fish weighed in and it was a tough season. We participated in the State Tournament held at Clinton Lake in Clinton, IL. Once again, the team did not get the fish needed. We are excited and looking forward to participating in the national tournaments for Fishing League Worldwide and Bassmasters in the spring.
ICE HOCKEY CLUB
The Western Illinois Ice Hockey Club continues to push forward since reforming the team three years ago. Despite many critics saying it was not possible for Western to have a team, the ice hockey club continues to prove those critics wrong. The team drives their own private vehicles approximately an hour-and-a-half to Peoria twice a week to practice at the Owens Centre in Peoria. The 2015-16 season got off to a rocky start with four consecutive losses to the University of Northern Iowa and Bradley University. However, the team, consisting of around half of the returning players and half new players, turned things around recently with a record of 3-1 after starting off 0-4. The club picked up their first two wins of the season against Wheaton College with scores of 11-3 and 10-4.
COMPETITION ON THE MMA SCENE Every Monday and Wednesday, many students from Western Illinois University choose to spend their evenings training with the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) club at the Student Recreation Center. The club focuses on two main areas of combat: striking (kick boxing and muay thai) and submission grappling (jiu jitsu and wrestling). Sometimes the training isn’t enough so some of the members decided to compete in a grappling tournament to test their skills in jiu jitsu. Through intense training, workouts, and dieting, Osaretin Omofonmwan (Oso) and Omoruyi Omofonmwan (Uyi) came back from the NAGA Grappling Tournament with medals around their necks from their own separate divisions. Oso took home the gold medal, and his older brother, Uyi, grasped the silver with pride. Oso competed in the tournament in the 170-179 pound weight class, while Uyi cut down all the way to the 140149 pound weight class. Both competitors had confidence
in their training going into the arena. Oso told his coach before his first fight, “I’m ready for this. I’m excited and a little nervous, but I’ve got this.” After swiftly taking down his first two opponents, submitting them via arm bar and triangle, Oso proved that he was more than prepared. Uyi also happened to submit his second opponent through the triangle choke. One might say that the triangle is the Omofonmwan brothers’ signature submission. Although the triangle choke was a trend, both of the brothers have so much more to their MMA game than that. After winning medals at the largest submission grappling tournament in the country, these men are even more driven to learn all that they can to become the best fighters that they can be. While this competition focused strictly on jiu jitsu, a martial art that mainly uses grappling and submissions, the MMA Club is the best place in Macomb to train for any combat/martial arts competition.
The club split a weekend with Lewis University with a 6-5 win and a 4-3 loss. They are currently 2-4 on home ice, 1-1 on the road, and 3-3 in the division. The team is currently preparing for their next opponent, Robert Morris University Black, on December 5 at the Owens Centre in Peoria, IL. The team remains committed to work hard and improve performances with on-ice practice and off-ice conditioning while maintaining good academic standing. Anyone interested in joining the ice hockey club should contact the club immediately for information.
BOWLING CLUB
This year has definitely been a rebuilding year for the club as only two members are returning from last year, sophomores Brad Behrends and Kurt Messenger. So far this year the club has competed at the Midwest Collegiate Championships, the Purdue Boilermaker Classic, and our own tournament, The Leatherneck Classic. We also had our best finish of the year at the Lindenwood Lion’s Classic coming in 11th place. One of the bright spots for our team this year has been the addition of freshman Nick Shupryt. He has led the team in average at every tournament including his best tournament of the season, the Midwest Collegiate Championships, where he averaged 199 and was just two pins away from averaging 200. He will be a leader on the team for years to come. Other new members this year include freshman Jacob Smith and juniors Alyssa Russo and Vicky Warf, who are all great new additions to our team.
QUESTIONS REGARDING SPORT CLUBS? Contact Nick Knowles (309) 298-1228 NS-Knowles@wiu.edu