St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Kevin Hagenlocher's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #4

2011-04-29T22:18:00.001-05:00

Tennis season is starting to wrap up. It’s bittersweet because I’ve had a good season, but I’m ready to have a little more time to focus on school! This past week we played against Carthage College. They were a strong team and handled us 9-0, but many of the matches were competitive. On Tuesday we played our final conference match against Fontbonne. We had to win to hold our spot in conference and advance to the team tournament this Saturday. We did just that beating them 8-1. I had a solid match at number 1 singles, winning 6-2, 6-0.

This weekend we face up against Westminster. This is the second consecutive year we’ve been in this position. Everybody will come out playing to win on Saturday, it should be some great competition. It was looking like there was supposed to be some rain in the forecast but now it's looking like it will be windy. They’re predicting steady 20 mile per hour winds! This will definitely be an interesting weekend. I’ll blog an update with the results and how it was being a SLIAC student-athlete this year.

Until next time,
Kevin Hagenlocher
(about Kevin)

Kevin Hagenlocher's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #3

2011-04-20T19:06:00.002-05:00

Hey everybody!

A lot has happened since last time I wrote! We’ve played lots of tennis and school just keeps getting busier and busier. Principia tennis fell to Greenville College 2-7. We competed fairly well but had a tough time with Greenville’s solid doubles game. I won my singles match improving my record in conference to 3-0.

This past weekend was the SLIAC Individual Tournament. Overall Principia competed well compared to previous years. Because of weather we were moved inside to a tennis center in Fulton, Ill., and then to Creve Coeur Racquet Club in St. Louis for the second day. I was the number one seed for the third flight going into the tournament. Although a first round bye made things easier, I had an extremely tight match against Jesse from Greenville in the second round. We ended up have to play a second set and match tiebreak. I won both, with a huge comeback from 2-7 in the match tiebreak. This win launched me into the finals vs. Webster. In the final I was able to get things done with a 6-4, 6-4 victory! I was awarded 1st Team All-Conference. The rest of the team did well too, with no finish below third place!

On Monday we played Webster again. This time they came back on top of their games. I lost my singles match in a match tiebreak - this broke my undefeated streak. Now Prin tennis is working hard to prepare for a solid match against Westminster College in the team tournament. The tourney is still two weeks out, a fair amount of time to pull things together!

We play Fontbonne soon as well as Carthage. Both are good chances to demonstrate what we’ve been working at this whole season. Talk to you guys soon!

-Kevin Hagenlocher
(about Kevin)

Kevin Hagenlocher's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #2

2011-04-10T20:24:00.002-05:00

Well it’s been awhile since I’ve given an update. Since last time I posted we’ve had a good amount of matches. We played Missouri Baptist, a tight match that we lost 5-4. That same Saturday we played Concordia Seminary, who we defeated 9-0. We also beat Eureka 9-0 to kick off conference play for the season. This past Friday we traveled down to Westminster for our second conference match. It was a beautiful day to play tennis and although we ultimately lost the match 8-1, there were some signs of good competition. Weston and myself had a solid doubles match at the number 1 spot. We forced a tiebreaker, but went on to lose. I won my singles match 6-0, 6-4 at the number 3 spot. That gives me some good confidence going into the SLIAC individual tournament this upcoming weekend. Yesterday we played Washington University, who is currently the number five nationally ranked team for Division III. Normally they play the bottom half of their lineup against us, but this time the players higher up the ladder on our team played Wash U’s best players. I lost both my doubles and singles match, but came out feeling successful and that I’ve raised my game up another notch. Back to back matches this weekend is making completing schoolwork a little tricky. I’ll sign off but give you guys another update soon! Kevin Hagenlocher (about Kevin)

Kevin Hagenlocher's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #1

2011-03-30T21:09:00.001-05:00

Hey Everybody! My name is Kevin Hagenlocher. I’m currently a sophomore at Principia College. Besides Tennis here are some of my other activities; I’m a member of the men’s Varsity Soccer team, PEC (Principia’s Entrepreneurial Club) I speak Spanish and play guitar. I’m a Business major so I’m working to complete my requirements for that as well. We just got back on campus to kick off our spring quarter and that means Tennis Season! Our team had an awesome Spring Break in Orlando, Florida. There we played Berry, Earlham, St. Scholastica, and Oglethorpe University. We had fun playing outdoors for the first time, seeing some tough competition, getting some good sun and team bonding. We were free the second week of spring break to go visit family and friends, many of us stayed in Florida or found another warm SB destination. Having just gotten back from spring break, it’s a little hard to deal with this winter-like weather. We’ve been practicing indoors in Hexberg Tennis Center this week because of the cold. Our women’s team has their first conference match today, so our team is going to support them. The men’s team is preparing for our first conference match against Eureka on Thursday and our two matches this upcoming Saturday. Over the course of my season, I ‘ll be keeping you guys updated on how we do as I team, how tennis is a part of my life, and what it’s like to balance school, athletics, and a social life as a college student. Hopefully it will be apparent that all of these aspects are a big part of my life and are preparing me for life after college. Now you know a little bit about me! Kevin Hagenlocher (about Kevin)

Amelia Kirby's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #4

2011-03-30T21:04:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone! I cannot believe it has been SNOWING! I am certainly not a cold weather person. We were supposed to go to Greenville Friday and Saturday for the Greenville Tournament but unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, it was cancelled. I had a Spanish and Sociology test scheduled for Friday, but I had rearranged them due to our tennis matches. I must admit, I slacked on studying because I believed I would have more time to make them up. I found out at practice Thursday the Greenville Tournament was cancelled, but I had a Student Senate subcommittee meeting at 5:15, then we counted ballots for the Student Senate Presidential Election (congratulations to Jonathan Milton, by the way) then I had Spanish lab and finally our official Student Senate meeting. I didn’t get back to my room until 10:30. I knew I would have to take my tests the next morning, and if I didn’t, I would be penalized. I wish we could have played this weekend, but Blackburn was hosting “stay overs” and my roommate and I were selected to house a recruit for Friday night. I can only imagine how grumpy I would have been to be at a match all day, then to hang out until the wee hours of the morning and get up to play more tennis. We have a match on Tuesday at Principia and I’ll be playing #5 singles and #3 doubles with Kami Brimberry. It’s still chilly out, mostly cloudy. We have another match at Webster on Thursday and a Triangular Match on Saturday. Be not afraid of death, be afraid of the un-lived life. Amelia C. Kirby (about Amelia)

Amelia Kirby's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #3

2011-03-22T20:50:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

This past Saturday we played Eureka at 9:00 am and Maryville at 3:00 pm. I was ranked #4 singles and #3 doubles. I was supposed to play singles and doubles against Eureka, but they only brought four girls. That only allowed for 2 doubles teams, and a win by forfeit. I won my singles match against Sarah Dvorsky 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Our match lasted almost 2 hours, and we went to deuce four or more times on almost every point. I was unable to play against Maryville because of a wedding, but overall Blackburn defeated Eureka 8-1 and lost to Maryville 5-4.

We play Lewis & Clark on Monday. I'm glad because an athlete on their tennis team was on our team last year. I'm looking forward to seeing Dylan and having a friendly little competition between ol’ college pals. I most likely won’t play against Lewis & Clark because I rolled my ankle during my singles match against Eureka.

As I mentioned in my first post, I interviewed to be an Orientation Leader for the upcoming summer, and I was hired! This means I’ll live on campus over the summer, go through Orientation Leader training and help incoming students get acquainted with Blackburn and college life.

Amelia C. Kirby
(about Amelia)

Amelia Kirby's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #2

2011-03-17T21:09:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! The tennis season is off to a wonderful start! We’ve had a few cold, rainy days, and even had to practice inside. Today was beautiful outside and I’m really excited for it to be consistently warm.

Our first games are on Saturday. We play Eureka at 9:00 am and Maryville at 3:00 pm. I’ll be playing singles and doubles against Eureka but will miss the Maryville match due to a wedding. We haven’t established our ranking yet, but I was #5 singles and #2 Doubles with Mallory Cummings last year. I hope to be ranked higher than last year, but I would settle for being the same.

Until next time...
Amelia Kirby
(about Amelia)

Amelia Kirby's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #1

2011-03-09T20:02:00.003-06:00

I am a Sophomore and involved in many activities on the Blackburn campus. This semester I'm in Radio Club, Film Club, Spanish Club, Tennis, House Council, Student Senate, Piano and Spanish.

I'm also trying to prepare for a semester in Spain, I'm running for Assistant Manager of the library and Crew Head for Audio Visual. I'm in Sophomore Seminar for Art because I'm an Art major, and I interviewed to be an Orientation Leader for the upcoming summer. Plus, there are my other classes and on-campus job.

This is my second season in tennis, and we have many young players on our team. We're looking forward to a great season and lots of fun! That's a little about me for now...

Amelia Kirby
(about Amelia)

Meet the Spring 2011 Bloggers

2011-03-09T19:47:00.005-06:00

The following student-athletes will write a blog entry once a week (or thereabout) throughout teh spring sport season. We hope you enjoy the insight into the life of Division III student-athletes that their journal will offer. Baseball Matt Downs Spalding University Softball Alicia Mayfield MacMurray College Sophomore San Diego, Calif./Prestonsburg Major(s): Sport Managment & Business Career Goal: To get into coaching or work in the professional sports industry. Other Intercollegiate Sports: Softball Men's Golf Robby Meeh Webster University Men's Tennis Kevin Hagenlocher Principia College Sophomore Wildwood, Mo./Principia Upper School Major: Business Administration Career Goal: To own and operate my own company...achieve a sense of success by enjoying my work and making a difference in my field. Other Intercollegiate Sports: Men's Soccer Athletic Achievements: Academic All-SLIAC Women's Tennis Amelia Kirby Blackburn College Sophomore Buffalo, Ill./Tri-City High School Major: Art Minor: Studio Art Career Goal: To have a fulfilling job Other Intercollegiate Sports: Cross Country Men's Track & Field Westminster College Women's Track & Field Michelle Sutton Greenville College Graduate Student Jackson, Mich./Jackson High School Major: Biology Career Goal: I want to become a dentist! Other Intercollegiate Sports: Cross Country Athletic Achievements: For Cross Country...SLIAC Newcomer of the Year (2006), Four-time First Team All-Conference, SLIAC Runner of the Year (2008, 2009), Academic All-Conference, All-Sportsmanship Team (2010)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #8

2011-02-24T20:38:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone,
Last night was our final game of the regular season. We played Webster University here on our home court where it was also senior night. We honored and recognized five of our players and one student coach. It was an amazing game to end the regular season. Coach Quigley started all five seniors right after the National Anthem was sung beautifully by senior captain Rana Boyd.

Senior Julie Brown scored the first basket of the game to give the Lady Griffins a quick lead!

Senior Shaerika April grabbed boards all night long!

Senior Rana Boyd played a key role locking up on defense with one of the SLIAC’s strongest players!

Senior Mal Ludwig was unstoppable in the paint!

Senior Calli Collier topped off the night with a steal and free throw to win the game!

I love my seniors! They will be greatly missed next year, but along with the rest of the Fontbonne University’s women’s basketball program, I wish our seniors the best of luck in the future. I have no doubt in my mind that these players will be successful in all they do.

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
(about Madison)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #7

2011-02-16T21:13:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone,
Talk about busy! Work Study, basketball and 18 hours of classes make it hard to prioritize! Life right now is quite a bit of a balancing act, but somehow I’m managing to stay somewhat sane. I knew this week was going to be especially busy, but it was sure a reality check when I looked in my planner:

Monday: Valentine’s Day and American Economy Test
Tuesday: Read and Finish American Literature 100+ page book
Wednesday: English Literature Test, basketball game away
Thursday: Western Civilizations Test Due
Friday: 10 papers due at 8:00 a.m.
Saturday: Basketball game away
Sunday: Prepare for Senior night on Tuesday

Monday: 5 papers due
Tuesday: 5 page paper due

Then it will be time to breathe!

Add up work study, basketball practice, class and hours upon hours of homework each night, and you get a DIII athlete!

Basketball is getting back on track, the Lady Griffins grasped a few good wins and we hope to keep on track through hard work and dedication.

Live, Laugh, Love!

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
(about Madison)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #6

2011-02-02T20:06:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone,
I don’t have too much to say this week. The Fontbonne Lady Griffins had a very lucky bye last Wednesday. We had sickness running around the team from Monday until Friday, but most of the team was back to at least 90 percent to gut out our conference win against Principia on Saturday. We started out a little on the sloppy side, but we never gave up and got our heads on straight in the second half.

As I’m sure most of you know we are experiencing some wintry weather this week. We had a snow day Tuesday and Wednesday so you would think I’d be caught up on my studies. However, my good intentions to study were put aside when my friends and teammates, who live in the dorms, thought we should have fun instead of a boring study day. Oh the dorm life- movies, pizza, and chocolate chip cookies! After trudging down the road to Schnucks (in sleet and snow!) we made it back and had a good day in the dorms!

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
(about Madison)

Jonas McBride's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #4

2011-02-01T18:12:00.001-06:00

Man its slippery outside. I was just about as tentative walking to the dining commons this morning as I played against Webster. :) As you may have guessed by that comment, things didn't go well in our game against the Gorloks. Fortunately, however, that game marked the end of the first round and left us looking forward to the second half of conference play.

We started the second half of the conference season off with Blackburn who had come out hot in the first half earlier in the season. Not to disappoint, they did the same thing again. We went into halftime down by 8. In the second half, though, we found our footing and came back with a solid finish. Andy hit eight 3's for us...unbelievable! We then looked forward to our only Division 1 opponent of the season at SIUE. We played a good defensive first half and were down by 4 at intermission. We had great hopes of coming up with an upset but a 22-3 run early in the second half put them out of reach for the rest of the game.

It doesn't look like we are going to travel to Eureka tomorrow due to the all the ice so I think we are just going to play them over Skype. There has got to be a way to do that.

Coach has been giving us a variety of lessons and a more recent one has to do with what really brings satisfaction in life. The world tells us that we will find satisfaction in things like wealth, sexual conquests, and athletic success. But real satisfaction is found in relationships, both with God and others. After a tough loss it is hard to believe that a win would not have been more satisfying than having good relationships with your teammates, but the feeling of a win doesn't last long until you have to do the same thing over again. The relationships, however, last.

-Jonas McBride
(about Jonas)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #5

2011-01-27T20:07:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back from break! I hope you enjoyed your holidays as much as I enjoyed mine! I kept pretty busy once school got out and was overjoyed when coach told us he was allowing us a few extra days with our families. Since I go to school away from home and don’t get to go back to visit often, I jumped at the chance to head home early!

While at home I spent time catching up with friends and family. I even got first place at our family’s appetizer and dessert cook-off at the Christmas Eve party! I woke up early Christmas day and went to early church before heading to my grandparents. I spent the whole day playing games and spending time with family. I couldn’t ask for a better break!

I had to leave family the day after Christmas to make it back for practice that evening. However, I can’t complain because our team was on an airplane headed for Florida the very next morning. While in Florida I enjoyed our practices that consisted of running on the beach and practicing on a beachside court. I also enjoyed some almond joy ice cream, relaxing in the hammocks, paddle boats, miniature golf, and playing sand volleyball with the team! The most exciting part of my trip was taking the trolley around town with Julie and Calli!

As for basketball, we’ve been working hard to hang on as we ride through the season on a rollercoaster full of ups and downs. The season is flying by and coming to an end. The team is working hard and keeping our eye on the goal.

“A bend in the road is not the end of the road…unless you fail to make the turn.” – Author Unknown

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
(about Madison)

Jonas McBride's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #3

2011-01-24T20:46:00.002-06:00

We are now ending our interterm classes, for those of us who took them, and are preparing to start the Spring semester next week. Just overhearing some of the guys talk about their interterm classes it sounded like a lot of work. I was gladly taking an independent study on athletic training, so although there was still a decent amount of work, I didn't have to spend 3 hours a day in class.

On the court, the last week and a half has had its ups and downs. We felt that we were prepared to play Westminster last Wednesday, but we did not play as well as we would have liked and came up short. Fortunately, I think we grow closer as a team whether we win or lose.

We then played in Fontebonne's nice gym on Saturday. We were surprised at their height. Besides not having a 7-footer, they looked like a Division 1 team to me. We possibly had the worst shooting day of the season, but we made up for it with rebounds and eeked out a win. Just a couple of nights ago we hosted MacMurray knowing that we were both in the middle of the conference in terms of our records. We played a pretty good game and shot well, but they had some 3-point shooters that were lights out in the last 5 minutes. We again eeked out another win. Saturday we have our hands full hosting a hot Webster team. It should be exciting.

It is easy to get caught up in winning and losing, but whether or not we win Saturday we should always be thankful for the gift God has given us of playing college basketball. There is a lot of people who would love to have such an opportunity. We all have different skills and abilities that God has given us. I think being thankful is realizing that we didn't have to be given those things, and realizing that we didn't gain these things by our strength.

1 Corinthians 4:7 says, "What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?"

-Jonas McBride
(about Jonas)

Rashod Seaton's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2011-01-18T18:25:00.002-06:00

We split our games last week. So Westminster is still perfect in conference play. On the upside, we had a quality win against Fontbonne. We put up a prayer for Coach McKinney after the game. He's such a strong man.

The road for us in the run for the conference tourney only gets tougher, especially since we still have to play the #2 team in the conference, Webster, two times and #1 Westminster once again. It should be fun though.

Keep cheering for us,
Rashod Seaton

Rashod Seaton's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2011-01-11T21:17:00.002-06:00

This week is a big week for us (the Greenville Panthers). We play Westminster and Fontbonne in the same week - away! These are two of the top teams in the conference as of now and as far as the standings are concerned.

Coach is trying to keep us on task, focused and active, especially the guys that are not taking an interterm class. To accomplish this, he has us coming in at 8:30 a.m. in order to put up about 200 shots and some free throws. We call it a class: Basketball 101. We have to have a good practice today (1/11/11) in order to be ready for Westminster tomorrow (1/12/11).

Cheer For Us,
Rashod Seaton

Jonas McBride's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2011-01-06T20:23:00.002-06:00

All the guys got back from their respective parts of the country for Christmas break this last week. Obi planned on visiting family in Nigeria but was delayed for four days in Germany and ended up having to cancel the trip. The rest of us returned from either the West Coast or Midwest. When we got back and had practice on Saturday I was worried we were all going to be completely out of shape, but I was glad to see that we were only slightly out of shape.

We were all anxious to start the rest of the conference season by heading to Louisville on Monday for our Tuesday night matchup against Spalding. We remembered how bad we had played to start the game at Spalding the year before and felt we needed to show ourselves we could play well in this gym. Both teams started out the game hot, but we went into halftime with an 8-point lead. In the second half Spalding stayed hot and we went on a dry spell. We ended up losing to a good Spalding team by 14. We are fighting back mentally right now to stay together after such a frustrating loss. Fortunately, we have a game tonight and on Saturday to help put this game behind us.

Something we are learning as a team and beginning to put into place is praying during the games. Jesus died for us and took our sin on Himself so that our sin would not cause us to be separated from God the Father, and because Jesus did this we can come to the Father with any concern at any time. As Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Since there are endless opportunities in a basketball game to worry, it just makes sense that we would also pray during games. We try to pray for things like playing to our potential and staying positive through negative situations rather than for a win because that may not be God's will (even though we always think a win is what we want). Sometimes a loss is just what a team needs.

-Jonas McBride
(about Jonas)

Jonas McBride's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-12-14T21:23:00.002-06:00

This last week was a tough one. Professors are trying to wrap up their classes with papers, presentations and tests, while we are trying to balance these things with basketball, friends and still trying to have a little time for ourselves. Some of us also have what are called "little brothers" that we mentor in town, and actually there is a Christmas gift exchange and dinner tonight that some of us will attend.

With basketball, we had just come off a 5-game winning streak before heading to Kentucky to play Asbury and Union on Friday and Saturday. It was a long 5 to 6 hour drive, but after arriving at Lexington, Coach Barber introduced us to a former player at the University of Kentucky named Tony Delk who gave us a complete tour of the players' dorm and facilities. We played Asbury later that night but we didn't play the way we know we can. Our big guy Andy Traeger was injured and we had trouble putting the pieces together. The next night we lost another starter to injury, KJ Hilliard, and had similar troubles meshing like we had been doing before this weekend.

Although we lost both games this weekend we were still successful representing Christ through our actions on the court. Coach teaches us about an idea of Frosty Westering called "The Big Time". This philosophy runs in face of the classic view of winning, which says "winning is everything" and if you aren't #1 you are no one. Even though we are a very capable team, we are starting to realize the truth of the quote from the coach on the movie called "Cool Runnings" where he says to his sled captain, "If you are not enough without the Gold Medal, you will never be enough with it." Whether we are winning or losing we will still hold up our hands when we are charged with a foul, and help up our opponent's when they get knocked down. Our team is not just learning a new way of playing basketball, we are learning lessons for a new way of living life.

-Jonas McBride
(about Jonas)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #4

2010-12-07T21:19:00.002-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I had a great past week, but finals are coming up so things are getting busy and stressful. Therefore, I will be brief and hit the highlights of last week.

After a tough loss in our first conference game against Westminster College on Wednesday, the Lady Griffins made a huge turn around last Saturday. We must have gained some motivation from the loss because we came out hard and kept up the intensity throughout the entire Principia game. The men followed in our footsteps with their hard work and buzzer-beater win! The great games led to a hilarious and fun ride home for the Griffins! Possibly the best part of being a college athlete is having that great extended family.

As I said, finals week is approaching…so I have to get back to studying.

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.” -Unknown

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
(about Madison)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-12-01T21:36:00.002-06:00

Hello Everyone,
The past two weeks I’ve been about as busy as Santa’s elves will be in the coming weeks. Meeting deadlines for paper after paper has kept me going.

The weekend before Thanksgiving my team left at 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning for Adrian, Michigan. We arrived in Adrian approximately 10 hours later, got checked into our hotel, and headed for the gym. We ended up losing our game that night, but fought back the next morning for an overtime win. Saturday afternoon was nothing more than a long drive back to St. Louis. After unloading the bus, I crawled into bed sometime around 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

Everyone was on the floor and ready to play our third game in three days by Sunday afternoon. The girls did great by pulling out another win. I didn’t hang around long after the game because I had three papers due in the next two days. I didn’t get much sleep that night or the next because I worked on the papers through both nights until the early mornings. Even with no practice on Monday I was still busy with school, but I knew if I could just make it until Tuesday afternoon I would only be one game away from Thanksgiving break!

We played a tough game against Missouri Baptist on Tuesday night and left for break after an exciting Griffin win. I had a fun night in St. Louis before I got to leave the next morning. I hung out with my family that had driven down to watch the game.

I left early Wednesday morning for home with Yurie, a Japanese exchange student and basketball teammate. The break was a blast! I am thankful for the time I got to spend with family and friends. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and the football games weren’t too bad either. I was at the mall by 4:30 a.m. on Friday to get some pretty good deals! However, I enjoyed just spending time with little sister so I wasn’t too concerned about shopping. The following day we continued our family tradition of putting up the family tree.

To conclude, I must add one last highlight of Thanksgiving break- watching the MU vs. KU game- go Tigers! Before I knew it, Yurie and I were on our way to St. Louis for practice Sunday night. Now it’s back to routine- basketball and class.

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.” – Vesta Kelly

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
(about Madison)

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-11-16T21:23:00.002-06:00

Hello Everyone,

Last week flew by as I was constantly looking toward the weekend. Friday night Fontbonne held its annual Late Night with Lee McKinney! The gym was packed with students and alumni who came to cheer on Fontbonne’s former and current players as they battled each other. Even with our slow start, the game sped up and we ended up with a 30-point win over the alumni. The boy’s game was also very enjoyable with some great athletes on both teams. I mostly enjoyed the showboat dunks throughout their game. The alumni ended up pulling out a win in the end, but the game was hard fought on both sides.

Saturday my team headed to Rolla, Mo., to play Missouri S&T. We were ranked as underdogs but nonetheless, came out aggressive and full of energy. Two natives of Rolla who play on my team had good games to show for their hometown crowd, but Missouri S&T got us in the end. This week started hard as we played the battle of Big Bend against our rivals across the street. During the first half against Washington University, 2010 Division III National Champions, we put up a good fight, but we fell to the Lady Bears in the second half. With an off day today, I’m trying to catch up on some homework before we regroup tomorrow to work even harder for our games to come. With three papers due in the next few days, I better get to work.

“Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.”
- Dan Reeves

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
(about Madison)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #9

2010-11-16T21:16:00.002-06:00

This season is over, and the next one is starting. It's weird to think that it has been three months since we showed up for sports camp. This last week was certainly exciting. After winning conference last Saturday, we knew we were going to the national tournament, but we didn't know who we would face or where we were going to play. On Monday, we found out that we would be flying to Texas to play Hardin-Simmons. Everyone was so excited to be going to Texas! We flew down on Thursday, then played on Saturday. We ended up losing 3-0, but everyone agreed that our team had such a wonderful and fun season.

Despite the loss, the trip to Texas was fun, and we ate lots of real Texas food when we were there. We did have lots of homework to do, though. This is our last week of school, and everyone had finals to study for and last minute projects to get done. Only two days of class left and two days of finals! It's looking like a lot of work right now, but Christmas break is so close, and everyone can't wait to go home.

We're so grateful for how wonderful this season was, and can't wait for next year!

Lauren and Julianna

Madison Fischer's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-11-14T22:19:00.004-06:00

Hello Everyone,
I’m now into my fourth week of basketball practice and so far all is going well. We were lucky to have returned eleven out of our twelve girls from last season! We are also excited to have five new girls join us this year! Every day of practice is challenging and always a competition as we strive to push one another to better our team as a whole. On the court my team plays very aggressively, but we try to leave this on the court rather than taking it into the locker room.

Off the court I’ve been spending my time hanging with friends, team bonding, working and studying. When I got a couple days off basketball over a weekend I headed up to Mizzou to hang with friends and go the homecoming game! When I got back to campus on Sunday my team got together to carve pumpkins. This proved especially fun for Yurie, a Japanese student and teammate at Fontbonne this semester. Class work and studying was pretty difficult when midterm fell on the first week of basketball; I had a lot of late nights and early mornings, but you have to do what you have to do.

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
- Robert Collier

Until Next Week,
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
(about Madison)

Meet the Winter 2010-11 Bloggers

2010-11-14T22:15:00.001-06:00

The following student-athletes will write a blog entry once a week (or thereabout) throughout the winter sport season. We hope you enjoy the insight into the life of Division III student-athletes that their journal will offer.

Women's Basketball
Madison Fischer
Fontbonne University
Sophomore
Tarkio, Mo./Tarkio High School
Major: English and Social Science/Pre-Law
Career Goal: I plan to attend law school and then hope to work in a law firm or open a private practice.
Other Intercollegiate Sports: Golf

Men's Basketball
Jonas McBride
Greenville College
Senior
Perry, Mo.
Major: Physical Education
Career Goal: To serve Jesus Christ.

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #9

2010-11-09T20:45:00.002-06:00

It is now the home stretch of the semester with one month left of school until the Winter Break. There was no meet for our team this weekend as we continue to prepare for the Regional meet this Saturday. Practice has been going well with intense workouts. However, more than a few members of our team have injured themselves over the past week, which is unfortunate. We will have to run extremely well to compete this weekend.

School has been consistent for the most part. Things are starting to get hectic as the semester comes to a conclusion. As for enjoyable matters, there was a movie night this past Wednesday at 8:00 PM presented by FAB (Fontbonne Activities Board). We watched Up in the Air. It was a good movie with the theme that people sometimes try to live solo and without the love of others when they truly need others to be happy. On Friday, I met with my advisor to schedule classes for next semester. I have exactly ten classes to take before I graduate.

Saturday night was awesome! I went to Dance Marathon at Washington University with several of my friends to dance for twelve hours while also raising money for Children's Miracle Network. Children's Miracle Network donates money for patients and research at Children's Hospital and Cardinal-Glennon Children's Hospital. Dancing for twelve hours and yelling to show our Fontbonne spirit earned our teams from Fontbonne the Spirit Award. It was the first time we have ever won that honor. The night was just one of those amazing nights.

Yesterday, I attended a Self-Defense program that taught me much valuable information. I learned about ways to stop someone who is choking you, ways to fight intelligently, and techniques to take in order to seriously injure an attacker. It was a wonderful two hours spent with friends while also learning a lot. At any rate, it is a very important week both academically and athletically. I hope we can run well this Saturday!

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #8

2010-11-09T20:41:00.002-06:00

We won the SLIAC tournament!! The semifinal game was against Webster, one of our biggest rivals. From the very beginning of our warm-up we were ready to play and it showed. We won 3-0 and celebrated like it was the final since they were the team that beat us in the championship last year. But we still had the final game against Greenville, and we brought the same intensity. We won 5-1; it was amazing. For the semifinal game all the sports teams practiced early, so they could come support us which was so nice to have since it was Webster. Then on the final game it was an evening game and a lot of players had family there to watch so tons of people came out. We loved having so many Prin fans.

After the game, awards were given out to players and teams for their accomplishments throughout the season. We were honored to receive the awards that we did and were grateful to have our hard work acknowledged.

Because we won, we got a bid into the NCAA national tournament which means we are going to Texas to play Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday. This week our coaches are raising the intensity even more in our practices, so we can be prepared for a higher level of play. With all of this added together, having only two weeks of school left and missing classes, our schedule is about to get real busy and we need to get on top of our work. But it's nothing we haven't done before and can't handle. We just want to play well and have fun!

Thanks, see you next week!
Lauren and Julianna
(about Lauren & Julianna)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #8

2010-11-02T21:50:00.002-05:00

Well, the past week had its ups and downs for sure. Most importantly, our cross country team failed to defend the conference title on Saturday, finishing in a disappointing fourth place. The positive to take away was that we did not run poorly. A few of the other teams simply ran better and have improved much more than we have since last year. The other good news is that we have the regional meet left to try to set some new marks. Congratulations to Greenville, who was obviously the best team on Saturday!

Academically, the week was mellow with not much going on in classes. I attended the men's and women's soccer games against Webster. Both teams won in exciting fashion with late goals, earning 2-1 victories. On Thursday, SGA hosted their Costume Contest and Pumpkin Carving Contest. It was very fun and brought people closer together in the Halloween spirit. Sunday was Halloween and also my 21st birthday. I spent the night enjoying the company of many close friends as we went to the U-City Loop. Monday was All Saints Day and I attended Mass at school. It was a beautiful celebration of the lives of the holy men and women who have walked this earth before us as well as those who will be saints in the years to come.

It is getting to be that time of the semester where things become hectic. School and cross country will present enormous challenges for me in the next two weeks. I thank God for the talents He has given me as a runner, scholar, and disciple. I thank God for my family, my friends, and my life. If you are reading this, remember to be thankful for what you have and cherish the people you encounter in life. This week has reminded me that I am blessed by God, and I am grateful for all of the gifts and people He has given to me.

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #7

2010-11-02T21:47:00.002-05:00

We had two games this week. The first one was against Westminster, and we won 7-1. After the game, we went to an Italian restaurant where everyone got their own personal pizza! It was the best way to celebrate a win, and it was delicious pizza. Our second game was against Maryville, a DII school. We worked hard, but lost in overtime.

School was really busy this week. We're getting close to finals, and all the teachers are starting to realize that we only have three weeks left. Despite all of the work, Halloween weekend was pretty fun. Saturday night, one of the houses on campus put on a talent show called Transylvania Treats. Two of our teammates performed songs, and they rocked! There was also a haunted house on campus put on by another house. Some of the soccer players went together and suffered through intense fear for the seven minutes we were led through the "insane asylum." All in all, it was a pretty socially fun weekend...soccer, we will improve.

Conference tournament this week! We'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks!
Lauren and Julianna
(about Lauren & Julianna)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #7

2010-10-26T21:46:00.002-05:00

It has been a brilliant week. On Wednesday I had an SGA meeting, in which we discussed some important issues on campus. I helped with an environmental awareness program on Thursday night. The night was designed to discuss ways that residents can better reuse, reduce and recycle. The presenters discussed taking simple actions that can protect the environment, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, using both sides of the paper when printing, and using dirty clothes to dust your room. It was very informative and taught me a lot.

Later on Thursday night I went to my church and was able to spend some time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It was wonderful to get away from the craziness of school and campus. The highlight of the weekend by far was going on Metanoia, a retreat open to all students. It lasted from Friday to Sunday and was absolutely phenomenal! I heard several of my friends give talks about their faith, relationships, and how they have seen God in their lives. I spent plenty of time in prayer and reflection, especially during our small group sessions. I had the opportunity to meet new people and deepen existing friendships. The core team did a magnificent job planning the weekend and making it a great success.

The cross country teams did well on Saturday at the STLCOP meet at Forest Park, with one of my teammates, Zack Kassman, setting the new school record for the 5K, running a 16:24. I did not run because I was on the retreat. It should be very interesting to see what happens on October 30th. Four teams will battle for the conference title. I do not think that we are the best team this year, but I certainly believe that we can win on Saturday. We will have to wait and see!

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #6

2010-10-25T21:36:00.000-05:00

We played three games this week – we won two and lost one. It was our first loss in a while, and it was pretty disappointing. Even though the score didn't work out in our favor, we played well and their only goal was from a PK. The challenging games are always the most fun because they test all aspects of our game: offense, defense, persistence, and our love for the game, each other, and the other team. It also really helped that it was a home game where we had the support of the crowd.

The week after midterms our school cancels classes on Wednesday as a sort of fall break. Some of the girls went off campus and had dinner, which is a treat! It is so nice to have a break from class, have a full day to work on homework, and get ahead on anything.

This coming week we have our last two regular season games. One of them is against Maryville – a DII school. So we're pumped for that game. Also the conference tournament is just around the corner!

This is Lauren and Jules signing off....Thank you!
(about Lauren & Julianna)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #5

2010-10-20T22:16:00.002-05:00

We only had two games this week, and we played well in both. The first was against Fontbonne, which we won 6-1. One of the freshmen on our team had her first collegiate goal! Everyone was so excited for her, plus it was an awesome shot. The highlight of the week was definitely beating Webster, who had beat us last year in the conference final in the second round of pk's. It was a win we really wanted, and that was a great way to start the weekend!

Saturday night, Principia made it possible for students to visit a local corn-maze. There was a "bunny hole" maze and a haunted maze -- this was scarier for some than others. Eventually some of the students joined the corn-maze workers and tried to scare other Principians as they walked by unexpectedly. It was a fun night!

School-work wise, it was really nice only having two games because this week was mid-terms. We also had a day off from soccer, and everyone on the team was grateful for the break. Good games, fun weekend, mid-terms over...BOOM! It's all downhill from here!

Thanks!
Lauren and Julianna
(about Lauren & Julianna)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #7

2010-10-19T18:06:00.005-05:00

Winston Churchill once said, "If you are going through hell, keep going".

That is exactly what I have been doing and it has paid off. The past week was awesome, full of action and excitement. Our Get-to-Know SGA Event went very well as I communicated with students about various issues on campus. I was also part of a Fontbonne commercial filmed on our campus last Wednesday. Most of the runners on our team were part of the scene as well.

On Thursday, I went to the seminary to celebrate an American version of Oktoberfest. There was authentic German beer, German food, and German football, or as the Americans call it, soccer. It was a wonderful evening of reflection and enjoyment with several people who are filled with the spirit of God and His love. I was fortunate to have been able to attend.

On Friday we met as a Student-Athlete Advisory Council and planned some exciting events, including Middle School Night, a dodgeball tournament, and events to better support the various teams. I played some football on Friday afternoon and had a blast. There was a comedy duo that came to Fontbonne on Friday night and performed various tricks and stunts that were entertaining. One of them juggled a bowling ball, a knife, and a toilet cleaner while standing on two skateboards stacked one on top of the other. It was incredible!

The weekend was excellent as some friends and I spent Saturday morning doing service, making meals for starving Africans. We had fun together while making a difference. We did not run a meet this week and had another strong week of practice. Overall, it was a brilliant week of community, fun, laughter, and service. 12 days until Conference Meet! 25 days until the Regional Meet!

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Karl Tooren's Men's Soccer Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-10-13T21:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry I didn't write last week, it's been a rough week for me. Unfortunately I had to go back home for a doctor's appointment and was put into a cast for my hand which I had hurt a week before. This will, however, be my last week writing to you all since I had to get surgery on my hand and will no longer be playing this season. As for this past week, though, we had a game on Friday and lost, but it was definitely worth playing. One good thing that came from the week was me making athlete of the week, which made me happy.

As for classes, its been sort of rough. I haven't been able to do much. Note taking and test taking had been vary hard. Luckily my school is very accommodating and has helped me out. Other than those few things not much has gone on.

I hope you all have great seasons and do well in classes, hopefully they will be able to find someone else to write in my place.

Karl Tooren - MacMurray Men's Soccer
(about Karl)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #4

2010-10-12T21:27:00.002-05:00

It was Homecoming weekend...so fun! We played Spalding University from Kentucky and again we won 6-0. It was great to get a win in front of all the alumni. Lots of parents came out, so we had a bunch of families in the stands as well. It was also great because it was a beautiful warm day. Later, we went to a Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for past Principia athletes and coaches. It was really inspirational to see the legacy and history behind the teams at our school.

Then we had a dance party! Of course there was no drinking, just lots of music, lots of dancing, and lots of friends. What more could you want? How about an alumni game the next day! It happened. Unfortunately, we lost to the alumni, but it was tons of fun to play against the greats. Then the homework hit Sunday night. This was probably the most difficult weekend (homework wise) for everyone because we had so many events to go to during the weekend. Sunday night was homework night for everyone, but we survived...barely. Until next week...

Thanks,
Lauren and Julianna
(about Lauren & Julianna)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #6

2010-10-12T21:24:00.001-05:00

The last week was a busy one with many events and meetings taking place. I had a Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Wednesday, in which we came up with some plans for future events. We are holding a Get to Know SGA event as well as a Halloween costume party in the next few weeks. These should be exciting! I also had a Biological Sciences Organization meeting. We formed a team of students and faculty to work for an hour during World Food Day on Saturday, October 16. We are going to make meals for starving Africans who desperately need our help. It will be a great service project.

No classes met on Friday as it was an academic study day. We did run in the Principia Cowbell race on Friday evening. Both our men's team and women's team finished second behind Principia. I finished fourth individually in the meet. The meet was a good benchmark for where we stand in the conference. We are slightly behind where we want to be at this point, and the next three weeks will be crucial in training.

On Saturday, I went to the women's and men's soccer matches. The women were beat heftily by Greenville, 4-0. The men showed good form on the other hand. After relinquishing an early goal, they fought back hard and eventually equalized in the final ten minutes. Extra time proved to be of little significance as the match ended in a draw. Overall, it was a solid match. On Sunday I played in a golf tournament with my father. It was an excellent experience, and I enjoyed every minute of it even though we did not play very well. I was glad to spend some quality time with my father.

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Kathryn Leetch's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-10-12T21:15:00.003-05:00

Hey guys! Sorry it has been a while since I have been back, our lives here at Westminster are crazy crazy!! Our games usually come on Tuesdays too, so it's a challenge!

Anyway, we played Greenville last week and it was a tough match...sadly we lost. This past weekend, we traveled to Washington University for a 5-team tournament on Friday night and Saturday. We played University of Dallas and Washington U. on Friday, taking U of Dallas and losing a hard fought game against Wash. U. Saturday we played Webster and Mount Union University, two very good teams, both of which we were defeated by. We did take Webster to 4 games, which is good, but we are eager to play them a final time in a couple of weeks!

We are on track and keeping up to most of our goals, which is all we can ask for! We travel to Spalding University in Kentucky this weekend for a weekend of fun!! I will be sure to let you all know how it goes!

As for the academic side of things, we are all doing well in our studies, and our freshmen are getting used to the college world very well. We strive to do our best on the court and off, whether that means in the classroom or out in public.

Thank you for all of your support! We wish you the best of luck in this weeks' endeavors!!

-Kathryn, Westminster College Volleyball
(about Kathryn)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #5

2010-10-05T20:56:00.002-05:00

The past week has gone well with school, cross country, service and activities happening around campus. Although our women's volleyball team lost their match to Webster 3-1 last Tuesday night, they earned a hard-fought win in the second game. On Wednesday, I was able to spend some time with Jesus in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It was a magnificent time of prayer and reflection. God continues to bless me in everything I do. I also started working again with six special school district students on campus. I help them with typing papers, replying to emails and playing educational games on the Internet. I was able to help out with the teens at my church on Thursday night, as we spent a night discussing the importance and beauty of the Mass. On Thursday night, I participated in a social organization's event on campus. It was all about childhoodd games as we played Uno, Kickball, Dodgeball, Apples to Apples and others.

On Saturday, we ran a mediocre race in Louisville. We placed 9th as a team and did not have too many positives to take away from the race. The important thing we took away, though, was that we have been training extremely hard right now. As a result, our times have been affected. Now, we will focus more on our speed and really make a zealous surge in the last four races of the year. I cannot wait for the upcoming meets as we will all reach peak performances and continue to get better.

Saturday night was awesome as I worked part of the Dance Marathon Trivia Night. The purpose of the trivia night was to raise money for Children's Miracle Network and help the hundreds of sick children throughout the St. Louis area. The main event, Dance Marathon, is a twelve-hour dance-athon to support these children. Anyway, I saw many friends, new and old, and had an excellent time. On Sunday, I saw the Fontbonne Theatre Department's production of Misery. The two actors did a phenomenal job capturing both the horror and humor involved in story. I was laughing one minute, and then scared for my life the next. The actress playing Annie Wilkes captured the insanity and misery of her character, while the actor playing Paul Sheldon also was splendid in portraying his anxiety, fear and pain. Finally, classes are slowing down and I am keeping up with the work. The next four weeks will be awesome!

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #3

2010-10-05T20:53:00.001-05:00

We had an eventful week with three games. On Tuesday we played Blackburn, which we won 6-0. On Thursday, we headed down to St. Louis to play Washington University, who is one of our toughest competitors. We didn't play as well as we had hoped and lost 4-0. One of the girls on our team lives close to the Wash U campus, and her parents invited us over for some pizza. It was delicious and helped to raise our spirits.

Friday we went to the volleyball game here at Prin. This was one of the first times we've been able to go support them. It was great to watch them win. two of the matches, they played a game for the fans where shirts were laid down on one side of the court, and the crowd had to serve volleyballs over and hit the shirts from the opposite end. It was pretty funny to watch non-volleyball players try and hit the balls.

On Saturday, we played MacMurray at home. It was another offensive game for us, and we walked away with a 5-0 victory. Next week should be another busy one, with three games again. We're trying to get ahead of our school work in order to prepare for homecoming weekend!

Lauren and Julianna
(about Lauren & Julianna)

Karl Tooren's Men's Soccer Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-09-29T19:50:00.002-05:00

Hey guys!

So, this is my first blog and not a lot has seemed to really been going on right now. It's been pretty much just soccer and school. Our season has been a bit of a rough one. We have been trying to keep a full team and trying to keep ourselves healthy. But for some reason the cards seem to always be dealt against us. We have been plagued with some pretty serious injuries to some key players. It has been a bit of a stressful week playing our last couple games with almost minimal players, but we are keeping strong and together. Hopefully for us things pick up and get better.

As far as classes go, it seems it's just reading after reading, homework after homework and test after test. Sometimes it gets hard to tell one day from another. One good thing though, it definitely helps with time management. It always keeps me and my teammates on our feet. It is hard though, missing classes for games and not being in class to see what is being taught...but that's the life of a student-athlete.

I guess that's all for now, like I said, not much has happened.
So until next time, I hope everyone has a good and safe week and for all the athletes, I hope it's an injury free one.

Karl Tooren - MacMurray College - Men's Soccer
(about Karl)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #4

2010-09-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

The past week has had many positives. First, we had a strong performance at the Memphis Twilight race and beat several Division I schools. Zack Kassman, one of my teammates, set a new school record in the 8K, running a time of 26:37. I am very proud of Zack and the rest of our team as we have continued growing and improving. I did not run a very good race, but I will move on and run great in Louisville this weekend. Second, this past Thursday I was able to spend some time with the teens at my church in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It was awesome to take some time out in order to praise the Lord and express my love for Him. I was able to catch up with some friends and see how their lives are going.

On Friday, my friend TJ and I won the FAB Lip Sync competition for the third straight year. We had a blast and were entertained thoroughly by the other performers. Several of my friends competed in front of the largest crowd for the event I have seen in my three years at Fontbonne. The night was unbelievable, and I was also fortunate enough to see two of my friends from Truman State who came down to watch our performance. On another note, the school week went well as classes are slowing down somewhat. Anyway, I am looking forward to a new week and a wonderful opportunity on Saturday in Louisville.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 3:14

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University Cross Country
(about Michael)

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #2

2010-09-28T20:03:00.002-05:00

We had a lot of practices this week. Two early morning workouts where we got to watch the sun rise and afternoon practices full of mosquitoes and bugs. We are learning to play through any distraction.

We only played one game this last week against Eureka, at Eureka. The score was 7-0 us; it was a great offensive game. Afterward came the best part. We each got a medium sized pizza from Pizza Hut to devour as we watched our men's team play. This was the first time we were able to support them. It always helps to have fans at away games. We cheered them all the way to a 2-1 victory.

We were in a rush to get back because 2006 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus was speaking at our Campus that night. He founded the Grameen Bank which specializes in microfinancing for the poor. It was an inspiring hour and a half and a great finish to our long day.

Jules and Lauren
(about Julianna & Lauren)

Kathryn Leetch's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-09-21T21:59:00.003-05:00

Hey all!

So, where do I begin?? This season has already started off with a huge bang, and we are already on a fast roll! As far as a record goes, we are currently 5-6 wins to losses, and have a lot of big games coming up. Last night we beat MacMurray 3-0 in a pretty competitive match! We are 4-1 in conference which is a huge improvement from last year, so we are all very happy about that! We are looking forward to other conference games especially, but also the other teams we get to play this season.

Another improvement for the team this year is that we have such large numbers, we have created a semi-stable JV team! The JV team has 4 matches this season, including one this Friday, and one played last Friday at Eureke. The JV team is currently UNDEFEATED! Yay!

The team is stronger than ever and we really believe that this will be our year to do something BIG, so look out! Haha! We have 4 seniors that we will miss very much next year, but we are very strong this year, so their presence on the court is much-needed and definitely noticable.

I think that is all I really have for this week. Hopefully I have good results for you all next week!!(We travel to Illinois College this weekend for a few matches, as well as a JV match Friday, hopefully wins!)

Thanks guys, and on behalf of the Lady Blue Jays, Good luck this week in all of your games!!
-Kathryn Leetch, WCVB

Principia Women's Soccer Student-Athletes' Blog #1

2010-09-21T21:55:00.002-05:00

Three weeks of sports camp—it was great! We had three-a-days, some pool workouts, and a lot of team bonding time. It was really wonderful not to have school going on at the time, so we could really focus on being a team. With a huge freshman class, that was really important this year. We finished last weekend of sports camp with a great trip to Chicago. While there, we got to do a bit of sightseeing. We visited the Shedd Aquarium and got to pet some starfish! Soccer was fun, too. We finished pre-season with a record of 2-2.

We had our first home game this last Saturday against Lindenwood, which we won 6-0. Since school has now started, it was great to finally have some fans cheering us on. With one week of classes under our belts, we are adjusting to the different demands placed on us; we’re learning to balance school, soccer, and social lives. It helps that our coaches really encourage the student-athlete, meaning academics comes first. At the same time, that in no way excuses us from a mediocre performance during games. For most of us, practice is our favorite time of day. It’s a wonderful outlet where we can just play soccer, and not have to worry about school and homework.

Our first conference game is this Saturday, and we are so excited to finally see the fruit of all our hard work.

Julianna Mangelsdorf
Lauren Wienecke

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-09-21T21:48:00.002-05:00

Last week was a challenging one to say the least. I had two tests, one in calculus and the other in plant biology. I will just say that I have scored better on tests in the past. Anyway, school is moving quickly and the semester is becoming more difficult. The practice week for cross country was quite challenging as well. I did two-a-days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

There were some highlights of the week, though. My friends and I went to the Cardinals game on Thursday night and were fortunate enough to see a game in which the struggling Cardinals could put four runs on the board and shut out a powerful Padres line up. The game was a great break from the week. On Saturday, we ran a solid race at the Maryville Invitational, placing third in a race that featured some strong local competetition. The course was the most difficult one I have ever run, with some very steep hills. Personally, I had a top 15 performance and was satisfied. The team ran better as a pack this weekend and grouped well together.

This weekend we head to Memphis for a Saturday twilight meet. It should be a very fun night as well as one that serves as a benchmark for us. It will reveal to us where we stand against Spalding in the conference. An old teammate will be at our meet in Memphis, and I am very excited to see him again. He helped us win conference last season and is truly a great teammate and friend. I miss him a lot. Anyway, this week has been better than last week. Tomorrow, many of us are going to the men's soccer game against Washington University. It should be insane!

Michael Horn
Fontbonne University
Cross Country
(about Michael)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-09-14T22:41:00.001-05:00

The last week has been eventful. I had a Student Government Association meeting last Wednesday as the senator of the Biological and Physical Sciences department. We planned some events for the upcoming weeks and discussed modifying the smoking ban on campus. I also had a Dance Marathon meeting in which we discussed this wonderful event that takes place on November 6 this year. We will have two teams this year at Dance Marathon, an event dedicated to raising money for and awareness of children's hospitals throughout the area. I worked six hours last week in the RA office, supervising St. Joseph Hall.

On Thursday night, I attended a prayer night at the Vocation Office at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. It was informative and reflective as many of us shared our vocation stories and discussed the seminary. Sunday was magnificent with Mass and a family picnic. I was able to see many people I had not seen in a long time. The experience was a great relief from the busy week that had passed. The academic aspect has been going well overall. Classes are becoming more hectic with tests and more homework. I really enjoy my psychology class as well as my physics class. I have two tests this week, on Tuesday and Thursday.

We did not have a cross country meet on Saturday, so the practice week was challenging as we ran lots of miles. The team is coming together gradually and is building a strong unit at the moment. We need to stay focused and work harder than we ever have before if we want to reach our goals this season. We run at Maryville this Saturday in an 8K race. The course is new and I am excited to see how it unfolds!

Michael Horn
(about Michael)

Michael Horn's Men's Cross Country Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-09-09T21:38:00.003-05:00

It has been a solid week, but there was not a whole lot going on around campus and in the classroom. Classes are going well, and things are starting to settle down a little academically. I have been getting more homework than normal, though. The cross country team is off to a mediocre start, as we placed 8th at the Wash U Early Bird meet this past Saturday. It will take a focused effort to get back on the right track. We have the talent and chemistry to succeed this year, and the freshmen and new runners are doing an excellent job of stepping in and answering the call.

As for extracurriculars, the Griffin Gang, an organization that I help lead, had a successful first meeting last week in which we discussed ideas and positions for the upcoming year. My goal this year is to increase support of student-athletes for their enjoyment as well as the enjoyment of the supporters. Dance Marathon meetings are beginning as well. I am excited about Dance Marathon, a wonderful event of dancing for twelve hours while raising money and awareness for local children's hospitals. The event will take place in early November.

Anyway, the Labor Day weekend was quite uneventful as I spent some time on homework and spent time with friends. The one highlight was the Greek festival. The food was absolutely amazing, along with the music and atmosphere. Overall, it has been a good week and I am looking forward to the rest of the semester.

Michael Horn
(about Michael)
Fontbonne University XC

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #11

2010-05-13T20:35:00.003-05:00

Visualize yourself stepping up to the plate. It's been an amazing game and your whole team has played their hearts out. In an instant you rewind back to the beginning of the game. A couple early home runs put us up by two. Is it possible that we are beating the team that destroyed us in a double header just two days earlier? Of course it is! Why? Because at any time and any place, any one team has the ability to beat another. That is the magic in softball.

A few nicely placed hits puts the other team up. Dang! We were winning, will this be the end? What? Another couple runs from our team. We really do believe! Back to defense and they score again. Now they are up by four and its the bottom of the 7th. Man it hurts to see such a well played game and we lose by four. Wow our team got a double, another good hit and that girl got in! Too bad we weren't just losing by one, we would be tied now. Oh wait! Another girl on base, and another, and another! Now snap back, you're stepping into the batters box. Every girl has played their heart out so far in this game and look where you are. The scoreboard reads 7-6, the bases are loaded, and there are 2 outs. A million things run through your head, "I have to get this hit!," "The whole team is counting on you, don't let them down!," or "Ok! you can do this and be a hero!" Maybe even some negative thoughts, "I haven't been hitting good all season, why couldn't someone else be up to bat?" Four pitches and your at-bat is over. You struck out.

How do you feel? Now make it your senior year and the second to last game of the season. Yes, that's exactly how I felt after losing to Webster 7-6 on Thursday. We took that loss into our next game against Eureka and failed to perform there as well. That took us out of the tournament quick and ended my softball career in a less than ideal way. That memory will be with me for a long time. Friday night we traveled back to the tournament, because six of our girls were being recognized for All-Conference awards. It was awesome that 12 of our 15 team members elected to go and show support for the other girls. Sara Mize - honorable mention, Jamie Hebron - second team, Angie Doherty second team, Brya Irvin - first team, Rachel Brewer - first team (and hitter of the week once), and Lindsey Schuberth - first team (3 pitchers of the week) and pitcher of the year. Also, we found out later that our catcher was named to the all-tournament team for the conference tournament. So, congrats to all of you for your awards.

Monday night was our team's end of the season awards night. It was an awesome night of food, fellowship, and receiving honors for the work we put into the season. I made a 20 minute long movie full of pictures, video clips, and sad Disney music. It was a great feeling hearing the girls "awwww" and laugh at the memories we shared together. Cristi's mom had sent me photos from her playing in high school and earlier, so she was surprised to see those on there. Some were a little embarrassing, but I had a few embarrassing ones myself. In my eyes, the highest honor you can be given at an awards night is the servant leader away. Its the award given to the person who has dedicated themselves to serving the game, the coaches, and the fellow players. It's someone who may come early to practice, stay late, carry equipment, or set up things outside of practice. This year I was honored to get that award. I was given an awesome fleece blanket with my name and number on it as well as a gift card to Olive Garden.

I remember my freshman year when coach explained the award that I was going to work at being that person. Not to get the cool gifts, but because it was such a high honor and that is the type of person I wanted to be for the team. I finished the year so much better than I had envisioned. Second team All-Conference, servant leader of our team, and 14 sisters that I can call on any time, any day.

Now time to finish up school. Only two tests, two papers, and two presentations left until I'm all done! Then I'll have my graduation party, graduation, and off to Guatemala. Wow things are moving too fast. I'm excited that my aunt and little cousin will be home tomorrow. They live in Germany and I only get to see them once or twice a year. I will see them even less this time because I will be leaving to Guatemala so quickly. Well, I appreciate everyone reading these blogs and supporting our team. It's been an unforgettable season and I hope I gave you a little insight into the life of a Division III softball player.

Instead of ending with a quote this week I'm going to count down the top 15 reasons I will miss playing softball:
15) That feeling of the first season's practice when you have the most energy that you'll have all year
14) Tarping sessions
13) Long Spring Break trips
12) Bus rides with sing-alongs
11) That day in practice where everything just clicks for you and you have a great day
10) Awkward award ceremonies (should I walk to the man giving the award? Do I shake his hand for the picture) HAHA!
9) Trying to guess who got what awards before they are announced
8) Doing homework on the bus to games
7) Praying with the team
6) Complaining with the team
5) Fun team games like dead bug and signs
4) Laughing so hard it hurts
3) Pushing cars out of the mud when they get stuck
2) Loud music
1) Friends that you'll never forget

Have a blessed summer and be sure to check back next year for a new blogger.
-J
(about Jamie)

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #10

2010-05-05T22:07:00.002-05:00

I am sad to report that this will be one of my last posts. I will probably do another one next week and possibly the one following, but that will be the end. It is possible that this will be my last week of being a student-athlete, but I'm not ready to say goodbye, so I'll continue writing until school is over.

It's hard to believe it's May already, how time flies! Everything is starting to come to an end fast and it's taking me by surprise. There is a possibility that my last softball game will be on Thursday. It's a very difficult thing to think about. It's going to be really hard, not because I'll miss playing necessarily, but I'll miss having all these girls around me. It's going to be a big change that I foresee being very difficult.

School is the same way. It feels like I'm on a conveyor belt getting closer to the chopping machine and the closer I get, the faster it moves. I have so much to get done and so little time. For example, right now I should be preparing for a group presentation I have to help with in the morning, but instead I'm writing this blog. I can't believe I will be getting on a plane in 19 days where I will be living in another country for 6 weeks. So much is happening I'm really starting to feel overwhelmed. I keep telling myself I need to take one thing at a time, but it's difficult.

Senior night was last Thursday. It was a great night! I got a lot of very sweet cards from the team and a really awesome framed picture of the team. Our team pictures are in the middle and around the outside are little scrap booking pieces of dogs and paw prints, a medical clip board, syringes, a stethoscope, and a lab coat to represent me going to vet school. It was such a great idea and a perfect present! My sister also got me some flip flops I'd been wanting. Thanks sissy! Along with the presents and tons of pictures we also won two games and my whole family was there to watch. To my surprise I didn't cry either!

I would like to take a special time to notice one of the hardest working people on our team. I feel that my teammate Sara Mize deserves special recognition, especially this week, because she has made some SportsCenter Classic catches. There are some things that don't show up in the newspaper or stats that deserve recognition so I would like to name Sara Mize my personal player of the week for her hard work in the outfield.

Well, as porky pig puts it, "Dats all fowlks!" Have a blessed week. See you next Tuesday.

-J
(about Jamie)

"Somewhere behind the athlete you've become, the hours of practice, the coaches who push you, the teammates who believe in you, and the fans who cheer for you is the little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back. Play for her!"

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #9

2010-04-28T21:47:00.002-05:00

Welcome to another wonderful, fun filled blog about my life. Each week I learn about someone new who has been reading my blog. It's pretty cool to think that people are actually reading this. I almost wish there was some way of showing how many times someone reads it. I'd like to make shout outs to my sister Katelyn, who is a creeper that will definitely read this.

I'm very excited for Thursday. I honestly think that if the games get canceled on Thursday it is a sign from God that Cristi and I should remain seniors for another year. I am excited because my whole family will be there, my dad and grandparents and sisters; it will be a fun game. We did get hit with some pretty upsetting news today. Our number one pitcher, Lindsey, will be out for the rest of the season. It's very disappointing news, especially for her, but I know our two other pitchers will step up and together we will move on.

My week of school work has been pretty mundane. I turned in my 15-page paper on rabies and I have a presentation on Monday, but other than that school is pretty lackadaisical. Tonight I went to my self-defense class and it was a lot of fun. We have started our finals which actually involves fighting. We have 60 seconds of boxing another person in the class and then the professor gets into a big suit and we pound away at him. I didn't get to go this week, because we have an odd number of girls, so I'll be going in a couple of weeks. I'm kind of excited, I've never really been in a fight before, it should be interesting. In high school and even now I have heard rumors of girls being scared of me (I have no idea why) because they think I look like a good fighter, but I've never really tested my abilities. So i guess we will see in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, since I don't have a lot to talk about I would like to take this blog and dedicate it to my teammates. All of the girls hold a special place in my heart and I would like to go through and talk a little bit about each of them and why they are so special to me.

Cristi is a senior from CA and I have known her the longest. She is my right hand girl and I know I could trust her and go to her for anything. I always listen for her in a game and we depend of each other to pick each other up and carry the rest of the team. It's pretty awesome because we can read each others thoughts. One glance at her and I know what she's thinking and vice-verse. It's a pretty cool power. I'm really going to miss her next year.

Erica is a Junior (credit-wise a senior) from Illinois. She has really impressed me this year, she talks up a lot more and her talent is really beginning to show. I think that slapping is probably the most difficult part of playing softball and she has had some very good at-bats. She is also a very smart girl and is going to make a wonderful PT some day. We have also been spring break roommates for two years running.

Lesley is a Junior from Illinois and I believe that she is the first person I would willingly admit works harder than me. She is always pushing to make herself better and it really shows. She is a great outfielder because she hustles like no other. She is also very intelligent and is majoring in Math, which in itself means she is delusional, but I still love her. She is also a beautiful Christian and a great mother figure for this team.

Sara is a Junior from Illinois and is seriously the craziest person I know. I love that she smiles a lot and always says and does the strangest things. She rocks some pretty sweet sun glasses and is NEVER afraid to sacrifice her body to catch a fly ball, even it it means diving head first into a fence. I will never forget the time she got hit in the head with a ball. Coach asked her what day it was (to make sure her brain was ok) and she said Thursday. Coach said ok and went on to hit the next ball. Everyone laughed so hard, because it was Wednesday! She got the nickname "Seems" from this event and I won't ever forget it. I call her niner and she called me elevener, she's an awesome girl!

Rachel is a sophomore from Illinois and this year is really opening up. She's not a very talkative person, but being around a bunch of crazy girls will really open a person up. Rachel is hilarious when she talks. She will say everything so serious, but it will be dripping with sarcasm. She's an amazing player as well. Some of the saves she has at first base are remarkable. One time she did the splits to get a girl out and I was psyched, then she told me that her foot slipped and it wasn't actually supposed to happen. That was funny! I'm definitely going to miss her next year.

Lindsey is a sophomore from Illinois and she has the heart of a lion/angel. She is fierce in everything she does, but she has more compassion and cheer than anyone I know. She can turn any situation from terrible, to good. She is an awesome pitcher and has been named pitcher of the week 3 times this year! She is a beautiful and talented girl and I know she is going to do awesome things! I love that I can come to practice and always see her smiling.

Angela is a sophomore from Illinois and is a lot like a mini-me of Lindsey. I always know I can find her smiling and laughing no matter the situation. I know being a pitcher is hard, but she's taken on the challenge and her will to win shines when she is on the mound. It is difficult to come to the college level and try to pitch, especially when you have had a year off, but she is improving every day. We've had a couple boyfriend heart to hearts and they have been very special to me. She is a very special girl and I'm glad she came to this team.

Brya is a sophomore from Illinois and I always think of her as my side-kick. I feel like she is older than she is, because I can barely remember playing softball without her. We got pretty close when she was a freshman because we were encouragement partners and we are a lot alike. We kind of have the same issues in our lives and we leaned on each other a lot last year to get through them. I know I can tell Brya anything and I can always call her when I need something. Speaking of! One time this year I was stranded in Bloomington (2.5 hrs from Greenville) because of a big snow storm and Brya came all the way there to get me so I could make it to practice. That is true friendship!

Darci is a freshman from Illinois and she has been a great addition to this team. She is a hard worker and is going to be a great catcher next year. It is awesome to watch her play and improve with every game. She has really come through hitting as well. She is fun to be around and it's great to hear stories and her and her boyfriend's geeky ways. She is an awesome girl!

Amanda is a freshman from Illinois and also a roommate from this year's spring break trip. I'm very happy that she was in our room, because I really got to know her a little better. She really reminded me of myself when I was a freshman. Sometimes I was scared to speak up, because I was afraid of rejection from the other players who were all friends already, but once one or two of them let me into their circles I was really fun to be around. Red is the same way, once she started to open up, I really liked her sense of humor and I know she is going to improve every year. I'm really glad she found her way to Greenville.

Ashley is a freshman from Indiana and the strangest girl I know. She is seriously like an 8 year old, only more annoying at times. Sorry Ash, but you know its the truth. She will put at least 10 packets of sugar into a SMALL cup of tea. She probably puts sugar in McDonald's sweet tea. HA! But really she is a fun girl to be around. She can never sit still or be quiet for more than 2 minutes. (Just ask Rachael) It is funny watching the most talkative person on the team and the least talkative person on the team. She is fun to tease and a great player.

Rachel is a freshman from Indiana and can do this really awesome move where she jumps up in front of you and shakes her whole body like a possessed person while in the air. Everyone should ask her to do it for them some time. She has a very crazy sense of humor and it is really funny to watch her tease some of the other girls. Though her mind thinks of things most other people would not, it is great to have her around. She is a good player and watching Coach Rica literally set her down in a puddle of water the other day was HILARIOUS!

Last but certainly not least Erin is a freshman from Illinois and a great girl! She is one of my encouragement partners and my normal throwing partner for practice and game warm ups. I'm so glad she decided to join the team this year, because she really adds a lot to the dynamic and playfulness of the team. She is a hard worker and I believe can pull through any situation. I have seen her when it looks like the whole world is against her and she just keeps on going. I love to make her laugh on the mound and its really fun to watch her throw, because I can tell she is always improving and working hard.

Well, I'm sorry if this is longer than normal, but I wanted to let each of the girls know they will always hold a special place in my heart. You girls have really made my Senior year one of the best years of my life. I have memories that I will never forget and people who I will always hold dear to me. I know it will be tough without me and Cristi next year, but you girls are really going to go far. I hope you guys don't expect to win the alumni game though, because we will dominate. Ok by this time I'm sure my good friend Ang is about to cry because I left her out of the team list, but I did it on purpose to trick her into thinking I forgot about her, but I could never forget about her.

Ang is a freshman from Missouri and one of the most amazing girls I know. I believe that she alone has knit this whole team together to be the tightest group of girls we can be and the best group of players as well. I know she inspires me to be a better player on the field. She has a huge heart and an awesome sense of humor. I look forward to seeing and talking to her every day and texting her random things throughout the day. Sometimes she calls me just to let me know there's a good song on the radio. She has helped me through some stressful times this year and I only wish she could have been here four years ago. I'm going to miss her a whole bunch next year, but I know the girl's are in good hands. (side note) She's an awesome hitter! 10 homeruns, #1 in the nation right now, and she's probably going to kill me for announcing that, but it's worth it.

Alright, I'll end so hopefully I won't take up the whole website page with my one blog. I hope everyone has a blessed week, I encourage you to call up a friend and let them know how much they mean to you, or maybe call a friend from high school or college that you haven't talked to in a while. It's great to hear from people when you don't expect it. Thanks for reading and until next week, "Adios Amigos!"

"Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will never change so much to the point where we're not all still friends."

-J
(about Jamie)

Chris Claypool's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-04-23T21:07:00.002-05:00

Hi all!

So it's been a while since I've written and lets just say it's not because I've forgotten. The end of the year has begun and with it has come preparing for tests, papers and projects. It seems as though finals are the least of my worries as of right now. All things considered I'll be lucky if I even make it to finals with everything right now.

The one thing I still am enjoying is tennis. This year's team is a lot of fun and I'm really enjoying it. This past weekend we had the Individual Conference Tournament, and we all did very well which was really exciting. It was a long weekend as we left Fulton Thursday afternoon and didn't return until late Saturday night. Early that next morning, this past Sunday, I was right back at it with a group meeting at noon and was there until 5pm. The one thing that finally tore me away from working was my stomach, as I had forgotten to eat most of that day.

That night I had chapter (if I hadn't already mentioned it, I am an active member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity here on campus). After I decided to take the night off and just relax with the guys in house. It was really nice as it had been a long weekend.

This past week has generally been the "same ol' same ol'" Classes during the day (naps in between are the best thing I have discovered since coming to college), practice in the evenings, and homework at night.

Back to tennis; we now have the Team Conference Tournament this weekend. While last weekend was serious and intense, this weekend is the real deal. It's a bit stressful as each team is coming back with a clean slate. The regular season is done and almost forgotten about as the score is now 0-0! The winner of this weekend moves on to regionals and the first rounds of nationals. We have been able to do well in the past and hopefully can perform well again, as I know the other three teams will come ready to play. But that will have to wait until tomorrow and Saturday as I have a presentation at 9 a.m. that I must keep preparing for!

So until next time!

Chris Claypool
(about Chris)

P.S. Wish us luck this weekend!!!

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #8

2010-04-20T21:06:00.003-05:00

Hola Senores and Senoritas! How has your week been? Mine has been some what uneventful which may sound boring, but for a stressed out college kid it's actually good news. I'm really starting to feel like I'm catching up on homework instead of trying to get it done at the last minute. I'm even writing this blog at 10:00AM instead of the usual 10:00PM. Impressed? I thought you would be. I finished the 15-page paper on rabies and turned in the rough draft. I'm sure I'll have to make some changes before I turn in the final draft next Monday, but it's finished for the most part.

As for softball, it's coming to a close very quickly. I've been preparing myself for it to be over and as of right now I believe that I am ready. I know down the line I will be watching a group of kids play or a friend's team play and I will wish I were out there. I would love to be a coach some day; I think I have a lot to offer a young group of girls.

As for games, this past week we went 2-2. We had a somewhat surprising pair of losses on Tuesday, but of course that happens. Sometimes other teams which may not have the record that you do will come out ready to hit and ready to win, and some days good teams just don't have the hitting that they normally do. It often makes me feel like softball is a game of chance almost as much as it is a game of skill. Hitting is what wins ball games, but for that to happen more than one person on the team has to be having a good hitting day. Is it luck if five or six girls have a good day? I mean to get that many different individuals hitting well on the same day. I don't know what it is, but after being in a slump so long you start to feel like hitting is more about lucky days than talent or practice. I seem to hit well in practice, but I feel that I am yet to have a good solid hit in a game. The same thing happened in High School, I had my best year my Junior year.

Senior night is this coming Saturday. WOW! It came quickly! My family will be there and I'm excited. My other senior is from California, but a very good friend of hers is coming to stand by her I think. It will be a fun day.

Speaking of fun days, last Thursday was such an awesome day I would love to tell you a little about it. I guess it was mostly awesome because my boyfriend came down from Bloomington, Illinois, to spend the day with me. We had a nice lunch at the Chinese place and sat outside on a bench and talked and Thursday night we went to the College's performance of Alice in Wonderland. Our pitcher Lindsey played several parts in it and it was a WONDERFUL performance! Afterward we got ice cream and he headed home. It was great to spend some time with him and it was a beautiful day outside.

One fun, crazy thing did happen with the softball girls this week. If I could post pictures on here, I would show you a picture of our team crouched in front of the Wendy's drive thru with the employee at the window smiling. Saturday evening we were coming home late from our games at Blackburn and the inside of the Wendy's was closed, but the workers were nice enough to let the whole team order through the drive thru. It was a fun crazy experience. Also, one of the girls on the team has recently read my blogs and complained about not being mentioned, so I'm shouting out to Ashley right now, so she can say I put her name in the blog. She's a really awesome girl and I'm glad she's on our team...I'm glad all the girls are on the team. Maybe next week when I have more time I will talk more about the girls individually, but for now I have to go get ready for our games in Decatur.

Have a wonderful day and week and God bless you!

I'm stealing this week's quote from our assistant coach's facebook.
"When a gifted team dedicates itself to unselfish trust and combines instinct with boldness and effort, it is ready to climb."

-J
(about Jamie)

Bryan Stanley's Baseball Student-Athlete Blog #4

2010-04-20T20:44:00.003-05:00

Hello there SLIAC fans! It’s been forever since my last blog...that can have a lot to do with finals and the end of the semester coming up. I am starting to get excited because this is my last semester of school as an undergraduate student.

Lately, I have been busy writing a 20-page feasibility plan for my entrepreneur class that I do not need to graduate, but decided to take a tough class anyways thanks to my mom. Alongside this 10-page paper that has engulfed my life, I have been studying for my last class of my college career as well as writing two papers. One paper is five pages and the other is 10-pages. While trying to figure out time to finish these papers, studying, competing in baseball (which I think we have a great chance at making some noise) and working, there is not much time for social or any fun time for me.

In a way I am excited to graduate and move on with my life, but then I am starting to become sad knowing that this is the final month of my college baseball career. It’s sad, but without baseball I would have probably not ended up going to school, graduating and learning life’s most valuable lessons. Sorry for such a short blog, but it’s back to my 20-page paper.

Until next time, later SLIAC fans!
-Bryan Stanley
(about Bryan)

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #7

2010-04-14T20:45:00.002-05:00

Hello again and welcome to the Greenville Softball player post. I am happy to report that I have made it through another week as have you if you are reading this, so congrats! I am pleased to report my life got a lot less stressful after Monday night, but I should start from where I left off on my last blog.

Last Wednesday was a game day and a very special friend of mine's birthday. I probably have the worst memory of anyone I know, so I will tell you that we split with the team we played on Wednesday, but I can't even remember what team it was. I believe it to be both a blessing and a cure that I don't have a very good memory.

Softball has been drastically changing for me in the past week or so. It is amazing how that happens, but it makes me ask myself why? Is it really the sport that is changing or is it myself? Saturday we picked up two wins which was much needed. For unknown reasons our team has played game one very well and more times than not we come out with a win. Actually, if my memory serves me correctly (which it usually doesn't) aside from the very first game we played, we have always won the first game in our double headers. The embarrassing part comes with the second game. At least half the double headers we have played in, the second game we get short gamed. It's hard to say why this is. Maybe we are tired or get lazy, maybe we have less confidence, I don't have the answers.

I was recently nominated to apply for the SLIAC scholarship and with the application I was required to write an essay on how being a student-athlete has prepared me for the future. It was actually a fun essay to write, because I went back to my first years as a student-athlete, in fifth grade. I played basketball on a co-ed team. Let me tell you, it wasn't fun trying to compete with boys for a starting position. It also brought me to my middle schools days when it seemed like you had to be the coaches' favorites to get the position you wanted. I just want to give a word of advice to you coaches - I don't know if there are any reading this, but if there are - I just ask that you don't ask anything of your players that you wouldn't do yourselves and that you don't treat your players any other way than you would want to be treated. If you expect your team to be positive, make sure you and your coaching staff are following the same guidelines. If you want your players to keep their heads up after a mistake, don't hound them until they want to cry. For the best results, learn each individual player and what makes their desire to be better increase. Every year there are different girls on my team and I know how they work. Some get better when you push them and put pressure on them, others need encouraging words. Most importantly, the words of you and your coaching staff and their attitudes affects everyone. It's like a parent and child, if the child is mouthy, the apple probably doesn't fall far from the tree. If your coaching staff is talking to each other negatively about the team where the team can hear them, it will bring the whole teams morale down drastically. Sports can become increasingly difficult when players feel that it is the team against the coaches.

On a side note, I finally chose a vet school and the winner is...The University of Illinois. I know my decision surprised a lot of people, but after a lot of praying and crying I feel that I have chosen the right place for me. MIZZOU was very nice and personal, and I would recommend it to anyone who asked, but the University of Illinois is close to home and it's where I have always dreamed I would attend. I'm overwhelmed with thoughts about having a house or apartment with a dog and attending classes to achieve my dreams. Which brings me crashing back to reality: I have to finish undergrad first. I guess I'm developing senioritis. Right now I have a 15 page paper on Rabies due Friday that I should be working on, yet writing this blog seems much more important. Actually everything I can think of seems more important, washing my clothes, checking my facebook, brushing my hair, etc. I'm ready for graduation!

We have a game tomorrow against Eureka (surprised I remembered? me too) and we are hoping to get two wins. Lindsey received pitcher of the week again, for the third time. Congrats Lindsey! She will also be performing in the school play Alice and Wonderland which I will be attending on Thursday. That girl is a trooper, if you want to know what it is like to have a crazy life, just ask her. She is a double major, biology and theater, works an on-campus job, has play practice every night, and plays softball. I don't know when she finds time to sleep. All the girls on my team are great in their own way and I love each and every one of them. I guess that wraps up this week. Hope you all have a safe and productive week. Thanks for listening!

My quote this week is one I used in my essay for the scholarship, it's a good one.

"Sports remain a great metaphor for life's more difficult lessons. It was through athletics that many of us first came to understand that fear can be tamed; that on a team the whole is more than the sum of its parts; and that the ability to be heroic lies, to a surprising degree, within."
-Susan Casey

-J
(about Jamie)

Natalie Wetterauer's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #5

2010-04-14T20:41:00.002-05:00

Wow...time is just ticking by and it seems like the end is so near, but yet far away at the same time. Well last Tuesday we played Principia College and lost. Then we played Webster on Thursday and lost. Saturday we played both Westminister and Fontbonne. We won against Fontbonne and just missed the win against Westminister. All the matches we played last week were well played, and all my teammates had some great hits and continue to improve their game.

This week is slightly less busy than last week’s schedule. We played Augustana College today and lost as well. I probably played my best singles match yet this season and it was exciting to see how well I'm getting to know my game and reading opponents.

The rest of the week is looking busy with us away at Greenville tomorrow, and then in St. Louis for the SLIAC singles tournament Friday and Saturday. There is a good chance that we are the number one doubles team and our 1 thru 3 singles could place well in the tournament, so it should be an exciting weekend. I just wish that we were not all clogged down with our studies, end of the year projects, papers, and exams so that we could focus more on our game and worry less about what we have to do immediately getting off the courts. Well I want to wish everyone good luck for this weekend’s tournament, and I hope the rest of everyone’s week goes well!

-Natalie Wetterauer
(about Natalie)

Bryan Stanley's Baseball Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-04-08T18:40:00.003-05:00

Hey SLIAC fans! Sorry it’s been awhile since my last post but we have been really busy this week with baseball, school and all that other fun stuff. Last weekend was Easter weekend. Saturday we had a double header against Washington University-St. Louis. This day was quite crazy! With the rain, the game was changed at least five to six times until both coaches agreed on a time and number of games that we were to play. We played a double header starting at five and the next one to follow. We didn’t get finished until 10 o’clock at night.

Myself and a few other players were not able to go home and celebrate Easter with our families. I decided to go to church in the morning with David Mueller. David’s dad is a reverend at a Lutheran Church in Florissant. It was a great church service. After church I got together with Bryce Law and Chris Cravatta, who were also not able to go home for the holiday. We ended up driving around the area trying to find a place to eat. If you know us three, this takes forever to come to a decision. Eventually we decided to go to Hometown Buffet. We ate a little too much and separated for about three hours to take a power nap. After we all woke up we stayed up late playing video games all night.

This week was also a very busy week for us. On Monday my roommate and I (John DuHadway) went to the Blues game, in which they won in overtime. It was nice to go to the game and get a break from everything and go out to have fun. On Tuesday we lost a tough game to Division II rival University of Missouri Saint Louis. We were so close, but that has been the story of the year for us...losing 5/6 games by one run. Last night we played a close and tough game against another rival Fontbonne. We barely pulled it off, but a win is a win and we will take every win we can.

This weekend should be a lot of fun because we have new SLIAC team Spalding coming into town. It should be three great games and also very enjoyable because last year's pitching Coach Mike Stawski is now the head coach at Spalding. Along with Coach Stawski is former teammate Barret Dugger. It should be a lot of fun and we should draw a good size crowd.

Hope everyone enjoyed this week's blog and I will be talking to you soon!

-Bryan Stanley
(about Bryan)

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #6

2010-04-07T21:02:00.002-05:00

It's amazing how fast peoples' lives can change. It makes me wonder if we really understand what that means until it happens to us. It's been a stressful week for me. Thursday after practice I received a text message from my mom that said my step-father was in the hospital, they thought he had a stroke. I immediately called and things seems alright, he was ok just needed to run some more tests to see what was causing the strokes, but he was fully functional and stable.

My sisters and I made plans to leave for Indiana as soon as possible. Unfortunately, soon wasn't really all that soon. Our softball team had a game in Spalding, Ky., the next day. You think four hours in a car there and another four back is a long trip? Try adding a car full of girls and not knowing what's happening with your family...it was a nightmare. I tried to keep it out of my head so it wouldn't affect my playing, and I think I did a fairly good job, but it was difficult to "leave it at the gate" as our coach would say.

I think it's very important to leave all unsoftball related matters out of your mind when you are practicing or playing, but it's not always an easy task. To make matters worse my sister had informed me that my stepdad had another stroke in the night and lost all movements in his left side. It was tough to push those scary thoughts out of my head, but it was a nice getaway while we played two good hard games. We won one and lost one. Everyone was dead tired on the way home, but we filled the time with singing. Yes, please imagine a bus full of girls singing church hymns and songs from an array of musicals. It was a sight to see and hear!

I'm happy to report that my stepfather is doing better. Through prayer and hard work he is gaining movement back in his left side. We spent all Easter break in the hospital with him, I think it was a blessing in disguise. Its so hard to see the man who is always smiling, taking care of everyone else, always ready with hugs lying in a hospital bed unable to do anything for himself. At first he just kept apologizing that we had to see him that way. I wasn't prepared for the wave of emotions I experienced over Easter, but it opened my eyes to see my family coming together, my friends and softball family texting and letting me know they were praying, and God working his miracles.

I can't believe it's almost the middle of April. Cristi told me today that there are only three weeks until senior day. That's so hard for me to believe! Time goes by so quickly. Our pitcher Lindsey was named pitcher of the week again for the second time, congrats Linds! Also, tomorrow is Angela's birthday, Happy Birthday G! This softball team truly is my family and my life would be drastically different without them. When you get us all together it's a crazy time, but I don't think any of us would ask for it any other way. I'm really going to miss it next year.

I hope everyone had a good Easter Break and you are looking forward to summer, but I especially hope you are cherishing every moment and telling the people around you how you feel about them, because life can change in an instant.

"The most important things in your life aren't things."
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

-J
(about Jamie)

Natalie Wetterauer's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #4

2010-04-06T21:14:00.002-05:00

Well first off I hope everyone had a great Easter. My family Easter was spread over two days. Saturday evening my aunt, uncle, and two cousins came over for pizza and an Easter egg hunt. 314 eggs were hidden for 7 of us kids. Technically we are adults since we are all over 18, but we are all kids at heart. After several people being pushed to he floor, all the eggs were found and I recieved second place. It was so much fun. On Sunday we went to my grandparent's for lunch and then spent the rest of the day with the family.

As for tennis, last Tuesday we played Rend Lake and lost 5-4. Following that match we played Blackburn College and won 9-0. Yesterday, Monday, we played Domincan University and won 6-3. It has been so much fun getting more matches in this past week and seeing good results and great improvements across the team.

This week we have a challenging schedule ahead of us. Today we play Principia College, Thursday we play Webster University, and Saturday we play Fontbonne University and Westminister College. It should be an exciting week and we are hoping to pull off a couple of wins!

Natalie Wetterauer
(about Natalie)

Chris Claypool's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-04-06T21:10:00.002-05:00

Quite a bit has happened since I last wrote. In terms of tennis, it has picked up quite a bit with conference play starting. We've had three conference matches in which we've been lucky enough to win all three of them.

We traveled to Principia last Thursday, which is a decently long drive for us. Normally I'll relax on the van ride up there by listening to music, sleeping or just hanging out with the rest of the guys on the team. This time; however, I had a test the next day in my Human Biology class. Now, normally for a test like this I would've began studying a day or two in advance, but I had all sorts of stuff going on that needed my attention including other papers, tests, tennis matches and practice. So I studied all the way up there, played, and then studied all the way back. Due to the distance we had to travel, it wasn't until nearly 11pm that I was back, showered and in the library. Needless to say I was "dead" the next day. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Easter Break would start as soon as I was done with my test.

I was able to go home the next day and was able to spend a few days relaxing, especially since we had this past Monday off due to the break. I got back to school yesterday afternoon as we had practice at 5. After practice, I grabbed some food and headed right back up to the library to begin practicing a speech I was due to give today. It went alright and now my focus has turned to our match today against Concordia Seminary. Thankfully, I'll be able to relax after this one as I don't have anything school-wise until Thursday.

So until next time...Hope everyone else has an enjoyable week as the weather has finally come around!

Chris Claypool
(about Chris)

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #5

2010-03-31T22:20:00.002-05:00

Wow! Another week has gone by already. I can't believe it! I guess that's a sign that it's been a hectic week. As far as softball is concerned it's been a good week. Since last Tuesday we have won 4 of 6 games and had a player, Rachael Brewer, named hitter of the week. The previous week Lindsey Shuberth was named pitcher of the week, so congrats to both those girls and the rest of the team for the accomplishments.

Now that I think about it, I already talked about last Tuesday's games against Illinois College, so I won't go through that again. This weekend we were supposed to play a SLIAC tournament in Springfield, but Friday's games got canceled. We did get to play Saturday and we won the first game against Principia and lost the second against Webster. This past Monday we played a great couple of games with Hannibal-La Grange. We won the first game 1-0 and lost the second game. The second game was a real heart breaker, there were multiple opportunities for different hitters to hit in the scoring run, but we just didn't get it done. We lost 4-3 in extra innings.

School's been going well. I still haven't decided on a vet school yet, so that decision is always looming in my mind. I have a couple projects I really need to get a good jump on before we come back after Easter break, but other than that school is going well. I've started a self defense class and tonight was our first class. It sounds like it is going to be an interesting class. Tonight the teacher was talking about school shootings and different times when people were attacked and it's a reality today, there is a lot of violence out there.

I'm also excited, because I ordered a graduation present for the other senior on the team and it should be coming in this week. I'm starting to wish I hadn't ordered it so early because I'm not good with surprises and I'm going to want to give it to her early. I also wish I could tell all of you what it is, because it's very special to me and I know she will love it, but I'm afraid she may read this. Maybe I will remember to tell you after I give it to her.

I hope all of you have a blessed Easter and a fun weekend! I remember being little and hunting for Easter eggs. It's so strange now hiding them for my cousins. Time flies, so enjoy every second you can!

"Men forget everything; women remember everything. That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened."
- Rita Rudner

-J
(about Jamie)

Chris Claypool's Men's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-03-30T20:58:00.002-05:00

I am just getting off my Spring Break and am returning to classes today. I am currently taking 15 hours of class per week with each of my classes contributing towards one of my two majors. So needless to say it is very important that I do well in each.

Being the first week back from Spring Break you would think it would be a simple week to give me time to get back into "school mode." However, I have two tests this week, along with two matches (one of which is away) and a paper. It's no different than any other week really. The only real difference is the fact that tennis season has really started to pick up with at least a match or two per week. I do enjoy it though as it serves as somewhat of an escape from school and also relieves a bit of stress.

Other than school and tennis, I'm also a part of the Blue Blazers Investment Committee. It is a group in which we manage a live portfolio. With that said, I'm in the process of finishing up a post trip survey from our trip to New York we took about a week before spring break. With all this week to look forward to (as well as make-up work from the New York trip) I simply cannot wait until the weekend.

-Chris Claypool
(about Chris)

Natalie Wetterauer's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-03-30T20:51:00.002-05:00

Well officially it’s our third week into the season, but I feel like we haven’t really started yet. This is probably due to us only competing in one match so far. To be fair though life for me has been hectic and to try and squeeze in matches these past couple of weeks would have been hard.

During this past week I was trying to gain back energy lost from my sister’s wedding, study for four exams, hang out with a couple of friends who tell me they never get to see me anymore, put in some hours at work, go to a friend’s bridal shower, and of course get in some more tennis! Sounds a bit hectic right? This week isn’t looking too bad, but that’s only thanks to Easter!

Today we are going to have our second and third matches of the season. We play Rend Lake at 3pm and Blackburn following at 5:30pm. It should be good to play in the beautiful weather that is forecasted for the day and hopefully pull off a few wins. In the meantime, today also marks the beginning of a very busy schedule for tennis, so hopefully professors of mine won’t be too mad at me for missing classes due to lots of away matches!

Well I have to go get some studying done for a test I take in an hour, but I will let you know next week the outcomes of our matches today.

-Natalie Wetterauer
(about Natalie)

Bryan Stanley's Baseball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-03-30T20:40:00.003-05:00

Hey SLIAC fans! Once again I had a busy week with games, work and school. We had to make-up two games this week with North Park on Monday. We pulled off two great wins 2-1 and 2-0 against a pitcher who will end up getting drafted this year.

Along with those make-up games, Tuesday nights are tough. Not only do I have class during the day, but we have practice right after. After practice I have to immediately drive over to school to take the one class I need to graduate this year. The only problem with this class is it’s a four hour night class that only meets on Tuesday nights for eight weeks. These types of classes can be very challenging because there is no room for error. If you miss a class, do badly on a test or do badly on a paper, your grade can be affected. I have already missed one of those classes this semester, so I am behind and trying to catch up. This causes a lot of stress because I want to do the best I can in everything I do and being behind I have to find time in between baseball and work to make up what I missed.

One of the nights I always look forward to is Thursday. Every Thursday, Webster has a bowling league for the whole school where we all meet up and bowl against other classmates at Crestwood Bowl. This is a good time to bond with your fellow teammates and also have a little competitive trash talking. My team consists of our senior catcher John Combs, senior pitcher John DuHadway, sophomore pitcher Pat Amrhein and junior outfielder Paul Kienker. We all are pretty decent, but we all just do it for fun. This week we ended up losing to a team who started off with a 213 pin handicap on us. So we ended up losing all three games. Hopefully next Thursday will bring us better luck.

This weekend we started off our conference season at Eureka College. Road trips are always fun figuring you get to play and hang out with your teammates at the hotel. This weekend was also extra special for me since my parents, my older sister and her husband came down to watch me play. Being five hours away from home, it is very hard for my family to see me play. Thankfully Eureka is half way between my hometown and school. We ended up winning the double header but left early Sunday morning due to a rainout. All in all it was a great weekend full of baseball, family and bonding.

Thanks SLIAC fans for following once again and hope you follow again next week.

-Bryan Stanley
(about Bryan)

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #4

2010-03-24T20:03:00.004-05:00

Hello again! Nice to see we made it through another week. It's one of those nights again. The nights when you are so tired you just want to go to bed, but you can't because there are too many things you need to get done before you can go to sleep.

It's been a crazy, but fulfilling day for me. Tonight we had a double header against Illinois College and it was a great game! It was not only fun and we won, but it was a close game so it was great to see the girls rise up to the challenge. I especially want to give a shout out to my fellow senior, Cristi, who had the game winning hit. She was down on herself for missing a play at home, but came right back out bottom of the 7th with the score tied, 9-9, two people on base, one out and hits a bomb to right field. She really deserved a great hit, and she did an awesome job. I also want to shout out to my girl Angie who had a grand slam in the game, it was an awesome hit.

It was a great game and almost my whole family was there cheering me on, and we went out to eat after the game and had a great time with them. It was awesome to spend time with my family, especially my two younger sisters!

So upon arriving back at my dorm from the game, my first and only desire was to curl up in my bed and go to sleep. I know it sounds ridiculous because it's only 8:00, but I'm getting old and these double headers really wear on my body. I knew I couldn't go to bed, so I motivated myself to shower and write this blog. I also have dishes in the sink and will be washing them before I go to bed. I think that's enough to say I'm good for the night. Luckily I don't have any homework due tomorrow, but I really should try to work on some bigger projects I keep putting off.

So lets recap my crazy life right now for those of you who haven't been keeping up and those of you (like myself) who tend to forget. 1. I'm a senior in College, graduating in like nine weeks 2. We are in the middle of our crazy softball season, traveling and missing classes for games. 3. I am in the middle of deciding between University of Illinois or University of Missouri for vet school 4. I am fundraising for my missions trip to Guatemala that I will be leaving for the DAY AFTER graduating 5. I am trying to make plans for my graduation party 6. I'm trying to persuade my parents into getting me a dog for graduation. I think that's about it. I am so blessed to live the life I do and I wouldn't change one bit of it!

We have a tournament in Springfield this weekend and I'm definitely looking forward to it because my boyfriend is coming to watch on Friday and my best friend is coming to watch on Saturday. WHHOOO!! If you're around, you should come too! I hope you have a blessed week, I'm going to finish my dishes and go to BED!

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

-J
(about Jamie)

Natalie Wetterauer's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-03-23T21:08:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone. Well our match against Lewis and Clark didn’t go quite as well as planned. We ended up losing 5-4. It was still a good match and has inspired us to improve upon our game for the rest of the season.

The rest of the week flew by for me between school, tennis practices and my sister’s wedding. I can’t believe how difficult it is to be taking 18 hours, play a sport, help and be part be part of the wedding and still have a life outside of everything! The wedding was fun, but also exhausting. Here it is the second day of classes and I can’t find the energy to get everything done. We don’t have any matches till next week, so our goal is to improve upon our weak points this week.

-Natalie Wetterauer
(about Natalie)

Bryan Stanley's Baseball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-03-21T21:45:00.002-05:00

Hey there SLIAC fans! My name is Bryan Stanley, and I am a senior right-handed pitcher from Webster University. Sorry it has taken awhile for me to post my first blog, but it has been really busy. Thankfully since I am a senior my class schedule is quite simple, just needing one class the last eight weeks of the term and I will have my Business Management degree with an emphasis in marketing.

Recently, we just got back from Orlando, Florida in which we played 5 games going 3-2. The weather was beautiful until the last two days we were there; we got rained out and lost out on three games. We tried to pass the time by playing card games, our video game systems, eating, watching TV and even going to the movies but nothing passes the time like baseball.

After we got back from Florida on Sunday, we made up two of those games that were cancelled in Florida last Tuesday at DePauw University in Indiana. Once again this was a far travel for us in which all of us missed class for the day. After splitting at DePauw we had to get back to work to prepare for the tournament we were hosting this weekend at GCS. Concordia, North Park and Franklin College all came down to play us.

The weekends become very difficult for me. While going to school and playing baseball, I try to work as many hours as possible at Lenny Sub Shop in Webster Groves and also Morgan Street Brewery in downtown Saint Louis. I try to make as much money as possible when I can to help my parents out with payments for school, books, rent, utilities and fun. I usually end up working approximately 25 plus hours a week between both jobs while practicing, working out and doing homework. It can be very stressful and busy but I wouldn’t have my life any other way. I am the kind of person that always has to be doing something otherwise I get bored very easily. Speaking of work, I have to end this blog due to work but you will be hearing from me soon and hopefully I won’t be as busy. Thanks SLIAC fans and talk to you soon!

Bryan
(about Bryan)

Meet the Spring Bloggers

2010-03-17T09:03:00.004-05:00

Women’s Tennis
Natalie Wetterauer
Eureka College
Junior
Washington, Ill./Washington Community HS
Major(s): Business Administration and Psychology
Career Goal: Attend Graduate School for Masters in Higher Education and Student Affairs
Other Intercollegiate Sports: Swimming
Athletic Achievements: Two-time MVP of the Eureka Swim Team

Baseball
Bryan Stanley
Webster University
Senior
Elgin, Ill./Larkin HS
Major(s): Business Management with an emphasis in Marketing
Career Goal: Marketing or Advertising
Other Intercollegiate Sports: Previously competed in cross country and golf
Athletic Achievements: 2009 1st Team All-SLIAC, All-Conference and national Gold Glove Award at Elgin Community College, High School Male Athlete of the Year and Sportsman of the Year

Softball
Jamie Hebron
Greenville College
Senior
Farina, Ill./South Central HS
Major(s): Biology
Career Goal:
Other Intercollegiate Sports:
Athletic Achievements: Academic All-Conference

Men’s Tennis
Chris Claypool
Westminster College
Junior
Jefferson City, Mo./Jefferson City HS
Major(s): Sports Management & Business Administration w/emphasis in Management
Career Goal: Continue involvement in tennis, whether teaching or coaching
Other Intercollegiate Sports:
Athletic Achievements: All-Conference in singles as a freshman and sophomore, All-Conference in doubles as a sophomore

Men’s Golf
Seth Shultz
Blackburn College
Junior
Murphysboro, Ill./Murphysboro HS
Major(s):
Career Goal:
Other Intercollegiate Sports:
Athletic Achievements:

Natalie Wetterauer's Women's Tennis Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-03-16T21:40:00.002-05:00

Hello my fellow readers. Here is the first of several weekly entries in which I intend to provide you with information about what being a NCAA Division III athlete means for my teammates and I here at Eureka College. I feel like what I am going to enlighten you about is what a lot of my teammates and other people in our conference go through being a Division III athlete. I hope that you find this blog educating as well as fun.

Well our season hasn’t officially started yet, but will on Thursday March 18th. With last week being our spring break our hope was to go somewhere and play tennis, but our plans fell through toward the end of last semester. We have decided that even with this set back we are still going to prevail and have fun this season. Several of my teammates went on alternative breaks to Costa Rica, some worked, and some got to just relax. Those four of us that stayed in the area got together several days to play some tennis and get our games ready for our match this week. Getting back from break though we are realizing that this season is going to be different without some of our graduates from last season. These changes may affect our overall team score this year, but we are pulling together the 4 new members we have to have a great fun season!

We are going to continue to work hard on and off the courts this week to pull through and hopefully get our first win of the season on Thursday. Stay tuned in for the update next week to see how our match against Lewis and Clark goes.

Natalie

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-03-16T21:35:00.002-05:00

Hello again! I wasn't sure if I'd be gracing you with my words this week because it's Spring Break, but good old 21st century technology has allowed me to have internet access while on the road. It's been a pretty disappointing week so far. No new games to talk about because they keep getting rained out. This year's Spring Break has been less exciting as previous years, because we have taken some awesome Spring Break trips. Let me give you the abridged version...
Freshman Year: Trip to Arizona where we played in beautiful weather with an amazing mountain view, laid out in the sun almost every day, worked in a food pantry, and played putt-putt golf.
Sophomore Year: Trip to Texas where we also had good warm weather, had dinner with alumni and played Wii.
Junior Year (the best): Trip to California when we met Paris Hilton, went to American Idol, Hollywood Blvd., laid out in the sun, went to Santa Monica Pier (like off RocketPower!), and made/served lunch to homeless people.
Senior Year (This year): Trip to Indiana where all of our games thus far (which is 4) have been rained out, but we have made it fun with several team games, laser tag, cleaning up a local church, and playing basketball and doing crafts at a local boys and girls club.

We are in Louiville, Ky., right now, so hopefully we will get our two games in tomorrow and two games on Wednesday.

Besides softball news, I have some pretty great personal news. I was accepted to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. This is good and bad news for me: Good news that I have been accepted to the two vet schools I have applied to, but bad news that I now have a serious decision on my hands as to where to spend my next four years. I have also recently been accepted to be an intern in Guatemala helping with a veterinarian and a doctor there. I am very excited.

Wrapping it up, my week has been good because I love hanging out with my softball girls and the family that is traveling with the team, plus no homework, and lots of good news about my future. God is continually filling my life with blessing after blessing.

"If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks, and that means you're not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win."
--John W. Holt, Jr.

Have a blessed week!
J

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2010-03-11T21:49:00.003-06:00

Its been a busy week since I last said hello. I am a person who loves schedules and repetition; I have yet to successfully implement my blog writing into my schedule, so it always seems like I am writing this last minute, but I will get the hang of it.

It's been a busy week, but very fun. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, we finally got to feel what it was like to play softball outside on dirt and grass. The bad news was that we only got one day of practice outside and then we had a game. Our first game was against Missouri Baptist. In my expert opinion, which is no example of expertise at all, it was a good game for us to start with. I know what you're thinking, "Must have been an easy win to boost morale." Actually, it was quite the opposite. We lost both games by an embarrassing number of runs. Doesn't sound like fun does it? It wasn't fun, but it gave us a good place to start, we learned from our mistakes, and it showed us that we have things to improve.

I am proud to announce that we were more prepared for our next opponents. On Monday, March 8th we played Stephens College here in Greenville and pulled in our first two wins of the season. I was proud of the girls and the way they played. We have a number of young girls and I remember the issues I had with stepping up around girls that were older than me, but this year we are a very close team and I think all of the girls feel more comfortable around each other and that will definitely make us a stronger team.

Classes have been going well. I always hate that I have to miss class for games, but the teachers here are very helpful to athletes who must miss class. I'm keeping up and staying on top of things for the most part. I have two classes in which the largest portion of the grade is a research project due at the end of the semester. I find those most difficult to keep up on because I put other homework in front of them since they aren't due for a while. I am researching Rabies for one class as well as Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis for another. Right now I'm waiting on a letter from the University of Illinois about vet school. I thought it would be here by today, but I'm patiently waiting.

I know last blog I raved about our special "team time" that we had scheduled for Thursday and I would just like to report that it was fantastic! All the girls had a great time. Everyone wrote some very meaningful things on our "put up" posters. We, the seniors, are getting them laminated and hanging them up in our dugout during home games. I think it will be a great way to keep the girls spirits high. At the end everyone wanted to read theirs aloud, so we took turns reading some of our favorites. I love seeing the girls laughing and having a great time together. We really are like a big family. Well, spring break will be upon us soon. Hopefully I will get another one of these in before we leave.

"Pray as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you."
- Unknown

I hope everyone has a blessed week!
-J

Jamie Hebron's Softball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2010-03-09T17:56:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone! My name is Jamie Hebron and I play softball for Greenville College. I suppose I should tell you a little bit about myself since you will be hearing about my life as a Greenville student-athlete. I am 21 years old and have attended Greenville College for 3 1/2 years now, and I have been playing softball all of them. I come from a small town about 45 minutes from Greenville. I have two younger sisters, Katelyn and Frances and I love them both very much. Katelyn is the middle sister and is attending SIUE, so she is not too far. I am a senior and will graduate in May with a degree in Biology. I recently received my acceptance letter from the University of Missouri Columbia School of Veterinary Medicine. I am waiting to hear back from the University of Illinois as well. I am super excited that I will be attending vet school in the spring. It has been my life long dream!

I am starting my blog a little later than I was supposed to I think. We are three weeks into the season and our first game is this Friday. So far things are looking good; the team and myself are pumped about playing on Friday. We have not been outside much and we haven't been on dirt at all. I guess I should tell you I’m an infielder. I played third base all throughout high school and came to college to learn a completely different position, a couple different positions actually. I am now pretty versatile which I have learned to enjoy very much. My favorite position, and the place I most often play, is second. I love being able to turn double plays and stretch my range for balls hit to my left or right.

So far I have been doing a fairly decent job balancing my classes and softball. My course load isn't as hard as it has been in the past so I have time to get things done. I feel that way now at least, it may be different once the stress of games and missing classes for games begins. The excitement of our first game hasn't exactly hit me yet, I imagine it's because I haven't played on dirt. Just the feeling of being outside and feeling my cleats on the dirt will definitely get my blood pumping. Our first game is against Missouri Baptist on Friday. Many of us are bummed because what was supposed to be a home game was turned into an away game, because our field is not ready for action yet.

Today was an exciting day for some of us. It was team picture day! Our first team pictures were a fancy, dressed-up picture with equipment. It is amazing how different people looking with fixed hair and dress slacks. Afterwards we changed into our uniforms and headed to the field. It was a cold 30 minutes as we posed for the camera without Underarmour sleeves or jackets. I was glad when it was over with! I'm also very excited about Thursday! It has been a GC tradition to have a "special" team time the night before our first game. The other senior on the team, Cristi, and I, have a fun, memorable night planned. We are designing posters with all the girls’ nicknames on them and throughout the night each girl will write on all her teammate’s posters something positive she likes about that girl. We call them "Put-up Posters" then we are going to laminate them and hang them in our dugout during games. We are excited about the night! I hope none of the girls read this before Thursday; it's supposed to be a surprise! HAHA

Well, this is quite a lot so I will end with a quote...
"Never under-estimate the opponent that appears weaker than you, and never fear the opponent that appears stronger than you."
-Unknown

Have a good week everyone and God Bless.
-J

Cory McClellans's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #3

2010-01-20T20:45:00.004-06:00

It's been awhile since my last blog, and I apologize...I have been very busy with school work, basketball and taking care of some things back home. Now the second semester is under way, with classes beginning last week and the grind of playing a sport and school work begins again.

I am taking 18 credit hours this semester to make up for one of my classes that did not transfer over when I transferred last year. Not much to talk about classes yet, mostly just introduction to the classes, but on the basketball part many things have been going on.

We are currently 4-3 in conference play with wins over Webster, Principia, Blackburn and Fontbonne. Our losses are to Westminster, Eureka and Greenville. We haven't been playing our best basketball lately; in our loss to Greenville a poor defensive performance cost us the game. We scored 92 points, which should let us win almost every game, but poor defense has caused us to lose. Marc Randle and Jerel Robertson played well in our win versus Principia. Marc had a double-double and Jerel posted 16 points and nine rebounds.

We have a big game on Saturday at home versus Spalding. It is also our alumni game, so that just adds to the importance of a win.

That's all for now...

C.J. McClellan
(about Cory)

Cory McClellans's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2009-12-06T21:49:00.002-06:00

As a student at MacMurray College on the week before finals, life is pretty stressful. Along with studying, the Highlanders have been playing a pretty difficult basketball schedule. We are currently on a seven-game losing streak to start the season and are 0-1 in the conference, losing the conference home opener to Eureka.

Also, we lost are starting two guard in the first half of the Eureka game to a knee problem. He had 13 points at that point. Otherwise, we were very balanced in scoring - Randle 12; McClellan 9; Sichting and Robertson both had 8 points. Freshmen Luke Bishop and Brady Slagle chipped in with 8 and 9 respectively.

As a student-athlete the disappointments we have had on the court cannot transfer over to the classroom. Students must keep on task and keep studying for exams, even though the basketball season is not going as successfully as we desire.

C.J. McClellan
(about Cory)

Megan Bunch's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2009-12-01T20:45:00.001-06:00

The season has started since I last wrote, and we're 2-3. The first couple of games were rough; it's hard with so many new people to get everybody on the same page. We're starting to understand it though, and I really think we've come a long way.

We have our first conference game tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. This time of the year is fun, but also crazy with the holidays coming up. We've hardly been able to have a break, considering we played 5 games in the last eight days. It can get tough, but mentally you just have to keep with it no matter what your body is telling you. It's almost the end of the semester also, which means it's time to buckle down with school and finish strong on the finals!

Megan Bunch
(about Megan)

Megan Bunch's Women's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2009-12-01T20:32:00.002-06:00

I can’t believe that this is my last year...it's crazy! I’ve been playing since I was five and to get an opportunity to play in college has been awesome.

We just started practice, and the first couple weeks of practice are never fun. With our team, we only have five returners from last year, so basically the coaches have to re-teach everything. That doesn’t just mean offenses, but defenses, rebounding, everything. All of this has to be done in a matter of three weeks, so it definitely takes a lot of focus from the new people and a lot of patience from everybody else.

Being a senior, I feel like I have to help in any way that I can, because I’ve been through all of this a couple times. Not only is there a lot to learn that has to do with basketball, but there’s also school that athletes have to focus on. I’ve always felt like school work should be done before practice, because after practice is done, you’re usually tired, and just want to relax. Well, that’s all for now, time to go to practice!

Megan Bunch
(about Megan)

Cory McClellan's Men's Basketball Student-Athlete Blog #1

2009-11-11T20:45:00.005-06:00

MacMurray College as a basketball player is very similar to most other schools; it is a constant juggling act between sports and school. At MacMurray the professors work well with the athletes to make sure that they do not fall behind in any of their classes.

We just finished our two exhibition games versus Lewis and Clark and SIUE. We beat Lewis and Clark but failed to pull off the same result versus SIUE, suffering a defeat. One bright spot in the defeat was the play of Jerel Robertson, who shot 9-of-13 from the floor on his way to 20 points. He also led the Highlanders in rebounding with nine rebounds.

With the regular season just around the corner it will begin to get much harder balancing my time with practice, classes and school work. Right now we have a break from games until we open our season on the road versus two-time defending national champion Wash U. At this time classes will be just a month away from final exams, which is the most stressful time for all college students.

C.J. McClellan
(about Cory)

Meet the Bloggers

2009-11-11T20:29:00.005-06:00

The following student-athletes will write a blog entry once a week (or thereabout) throughout the basketball season. We hope you enjoy the insight into the life of Division III student-athletes that their journal will offer.

Men's Basketball
Cory McClellan
MacMurray College
Junior
Forsyth, Ill./Maroa Forsyth HS
Major(s): Business Administration
Career Goal: Finance Analysis - focus in stocks
Other Intercollegiate Sports: Men's Golf
Athletic Achievements: Top 5 in conference in assists, steals and assist/turnover ratio (2008-09)

Women's Basketball
Megan Bunch
Spalding University
Senior
Bedford, Ind./North Lawrence HS

Amber Dahlin's Women's XC Student-Athlete Blog #6

2009-11-03T21:15:00.002-06:00

This past week has been an exciting one. Thanks to weather-induced complications, the SLIAC meet was moved to our campus here in Elsah. We all got a kick out of the fact that one of the reasons we got to host was that ours is the only school with so little traffic that they wouldn't need traffic police. The Conference meet went really well (we apologize to everyone who isn't used to running those hills), and having the whole conference together for the awards ceremony was a lot of fun.

On Saturday night, we had a Halloween party at one of our assistant coaches' house, and the winning jack-o-lantern was our head coach's hands pulling the headband off of a team-member's head. (There are several girls on the team who wear headbands, and Coach has a habit of sneakily pulling them off.)

And now we've begun training for Regionals! Despite the fact that only the top seven runners on each of our teams will compete, the whole team showed up for practice today. I said in my very first entry that cross country practice offered a nice break from schoolwork. Even now, at a point when we're just getting busier and busier and many of us are done competing for the season, we're always happy to come to practice, improve our running, and spend time with each other.

All the best,
Amber Dahlin
(about Amber)

Amber Dahlin's Women's XC Student-Athlete Blog #5

2009-10-28T21:38:00.003-05:00

As we've been training for the Conference meet this Saturday, we've been on a tight schedule. By this weekend we will have run two "pace cognition" workouts with a combination of harder runs and recovery days in between. This past Saturday, we ran a "fartlick" work-out, in which we intersperse a normal run with short near-sprint bursts. On Sunday we did our usual long run, some going for as long as 12 miles! That'll be the day.

A highlight of this week was hearing the story firsthand of a now 79-year-old man who ran a marathon 4 years ago after having only ever run 10K. He built up a training regimen but didn't even tell his wife and daughter that he was doing it until the day of the race. He ended up finishing first in his age group. The moral of his story, he said, was that we shouldn't not do anything because of age. Just imagine if everyone disregarded age in everything they did and didn't do. It's nice to keep in mind as we run, knowing that it really can be a life-long sport. And even if our times aren't the same when we're 75 as they are in college, our mental strength and endurance can only improve.

Amber Dahlin
(about Amber)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #8

2009-10-26T18:56:00.003-05:00

Sorry I missed last week. Our school was on fall break and the blog sort of slipped my mind.

Over break the WU volleyball team ventured to Cleveland, Ohio, for some site-seeing, shopping and of course, volleyball. We got to Cleveland late Wednesday night, then went to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday. Afterwards we went shopping, out for a nice dinner, then back to our hotel. Friday morning we were up pretty early to make our drive to Tiffin, Ohio, where we had a light practice at Heidelberg University before our game against Carthage College later that night.

We didn’t play that great against Carthage. We came out pretty strong at first, but the match was soon over in three, starting our weekend off with a loss.

I know many of us didn’t go into the tournament with much confidence, and the loss right off the bat didn’t help. We headed back to our Tiffin hotel that night frustrated and discouraged. But after a short night sleep we were up bright and early to head back to the University to face two more seriously tough opponents, Heidelberg and Wittenberg.

We had watched the two teams face-off the night before. Both were absolutely amazing, but Heidelberg came back to beat Wittenberg in five. We played Heidelberg first, and took one off of them right away. But in true Webster fashion we lost our consistency in the second game. The third game was close and so was the fourth, but we couldn’t pull out the win. We didn’t have much time to think about what had happened because we played Wittenberg right after Heidelberg.

Wittenberg is ranked somewhere in the top ten in the nation for DIII volleyball, and I’m so proud to say that little old Webster gave them a run for their money. We took Wittenberg to five games, and in the fifth game we were tied 8-8. It might’ve been the most intense game of volleyball I’ve played in my life.

We ended up dropping the game to them but so many good things came from this weekend. We gained confidence that wasn’t there before, and for the first time in a long time we truly played like a team.

Catch ya later alligator,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Erika Boeckmann's Women's Soccer Student-Athlete Blog #4

2009-10-20T20:45:00.005-05:00

These past few weeks have been extremely busy for myself. We just had two weeks with four games, then three games...and we just had two games this past fall break. Unfortunately they did not go very well and we lost both in frustrating terms.

I am glad to finally be mostly recovered from bronchitis. Being sick not only kept me out of soccer but school, and the past week I had alot of lab work and studying to catch up on. Lately I've been working alot on my senior seminar project. I give my presentation on November 13 and my paper is due Oct 30. My topic deals with the biosynthesis of aromatic polyketides, which are compounds commonly used as medicines such as antibiotics. It seems like all of my peers are beginning to stress out about seminar projects. I am in the chemistry department, but many of my friends and my boyfriend are in the biology department.

This week, Monday and Tuesday, is our fall break, and yesterday was spent all day going to our soccer match against Spalding University. We didn't get back until about 4:30am, so today so far has been kind of a lazy day catching up on things around the apartment. This afternoon and tonight though, I will spend most of my time working in the labs, cleaning and preparing materials for the Microbiology and Biochemistry classes.

We have a few days of practice this week to prepare for our game at Principia on Saturday. I'm sure the game will be very intense and hard, so afterwards my boyfriend, who is originally from Grafton, and I are going to go out on the Mississippi River to look at all of the Fall leaves and colors from Grafton to Piasa. I hope to get out and enjoy the warmer weather we are having today on my break, so hope to write again soon.

Erika Boeckmann
(about Erika)

Amber Dahlin's Women's XC Student-Athlete Blog #4

2009-10-14T20:36:00.003-05:00

We had our home meet this past Friday in the cornfields across the street, and lots of fans came out in the wet mud to cheer us on. A good 20% of the trail was deep, slushy, slippery mud which really slowed us down, but most of us had a lot of fun with it anyway.

I personally started out the race way too fast and then had a lot of trouble half way through, but I was really thankful for all the encouragement from the sidelines and was proud to be able to finish. Our top runners came in first in each race for the second time now, and both made it as SLIAC Runners of the Week!

Before practice yesterday we shared gratitude, and one of my teammates said he was grateful that we still have meets like the Cowbell Classic and hopes we always will. I agree. For those who don't know, "Cowbell" is what we call our home meet, and the tradition goes that visiting teams bring pie as their entry fee, and we get to eat the pie after we race! This year it had been raining for a solid couple of days beforehand, so the meet was very wet, but it was worth every minute, and as that same teammate pointed out, it just means we'll never forget it.

It continues to be pretty wet and overcast, but we've been doing lots of fun work-outs on the track and the less muddy trails around campus. When it's actually raining, we meet at our athletic facility that's got an indoor track, and on those days, every other team is in their too. It's one of the only times that we get to feel like a whole Principia team, instead of just our individual sport teams.

Amber Dahlin
(about Amber)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #7

2009-10-13T20:47:00.005-05:00

The inevitable has happened…I am sick. I woke up with a sore throat on Friday and it’s only gotten worse from there. The weird thing is I played the best game of my Webster volleyball career that night. We had a double header at Principia; we played Greenville first then Prin.

As a team we had a good week last week. We played Spalding for the first time and won in four games, with a come-from-behind win after being down about seven or eight points. Overcoming those odds felt like Webster volleyball for the first time in a long time. Our week continued with two wins on Friday night and then two losses to non-conferences opponents, Central and Elmhurst on Saturday.

I already felt much weaker Saturday from being sick, and now I’m not really sure when I’ll have time to get better. Fall break is coming up but we’re spending most of it in Ohio for a tournament and getting better before we leave doesn’t seem likely. Actually, at practice Monday it seemed like we’d all kind of been hit by something. One girl didn’t come to practice and at least half of the girls who did show didn’t feel right in one way or another. Hopefully we can find a way to get better; we have three more conference games this week.

I’m excited to go back to Jacksonville to play MacMurray Tuesday because my family will be there again. Then, after our games on Saturday, I was invited to go to the company weenie roast from the internship I had this summer. I can’t wait to go to it!

My life should get a whole lot better this week. One of my writing classes is over on Wednesday night, my last deadline for the magazine is Tuesday and my second to last short fiction story was due last week. That only leaves me with one more really big paper to write for the semester. Whew!

Catch ya on the flip side,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Women's Soccer Student-Athlete Blog #3

2009-10-12T20:05:00.004-05:00

These past few weeks have been total chaos! Poor Erika [Boeckmann] came down with bronchitis, and I'm starting to feel sick as well this past week. All of this cold weather is very unfortunate in all aspects of life; the soccer teams have been working hard despite all of the illnesses. We had a few practice cancellations this week and a game postponed due to rain. Hopefully this coming week will provide us with better weather!

Erika and I have been pretty stressed with classes. It makes me feel great once I finish a subject... then I realize I have six more to go! However, I have had a little less stress this week since I have completed and turned in three veterinary school applications... Only two more to go! =)

Today, specifically, I was able to be really productive. Unfortunately, since Erika journeyed home to get some rest, the apartment has been super quiet... which somehow distracted me from studying biochemistry. To remedy this, I popped in Bolt, my all-time favorite movie, and found some peanut butter. With some quiet noise and food, I was back to being productive! Needless to say, I'll be happy when Erika comes back so I don't have to make all of the noise!

On Monday the teams prepare to face Webster at their home field on Tuesday. So if any of you readers know a Blackburn or Webster player, make sure you wish them luck! I know everyone could use some luck in light of recent illnesses such as swine flu, mono, or even the common cold. Keep warm!

Hermy
(about Sara)

Amber Dahlin's Women's XC Student-Athlete Blog #3

2009-10-07T21:52:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday proved to be the most amazing day. We left on Friday for the long drive up to Wisconsin, spent the night at a hotel and then arrived at the Warrior Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College on Saturday morning. I had been looking forward to running this race despite a problem that I'd been working through in my leg for quite a while, but just before the race, I decided that I shouldn't run after all.

One thing I love about our team is that our decisions are always supported, whether we decide to run or not to run. Even so, I was extremely bummed out not to be racing, and especially once it started, I wanted nothing more than to be out there with them. But not running turned out to be exactly the right thing for me.

So far, I've been one of the slower racers on the team, which has meant that I never get to see my teammates finish. Well on Saturday, not only did I get to see everyone finish, but I got to see all of them along the way too, and it was unbelievably inspiring. I had heard previously about how our top runners placed well, but not until this race did I actually see what that entailed. And it happened to be a race in which teammates of mine came in first in both the women's and men's races, which made it all the more inspiring to watch. It just goes to show that neither a single meet nor the whole season on the team is about just the running part, or any single part for that matter. Rather, it's all about the entire experience, and there's always a good lesson to be learned, no matter how you're supporting your team and yourself.

Before our meet, an elementary-age race took place with close to 150 girls and around 200 boys, if I'm remembering correctly. So as we were warming up, we got to cheer on these kids running their mile, and then they got to see what a college meet was like. It was everyone's favorite meet so far; the weather was great, and the site was gorgeous. And now I'm looking forward to running in our home meet on Friday!

Amber Dahlin
(about Amber)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #6

2009-10-07T21:45:00.004-05:00

When my alarm went off at 4:25am Monday morning, I was reminded of how much sleep I didn’t get last week, and I realized that this week was going to be the same…if not worse. We only had one game last week, but I still felt the most tired out of any week of practice so far. Coach even gave us Saturday off and I didn’t even have to work, but come Sunday I still didn’t feel rejuvenated. My weekend just flew by so fast I didn’t have time to recover.

On Friday night the team got a chance to spend some quality time together. We had a slumber party at Abby’s parents’ house in Wentzville. It was a lot of fun and we definitely needed it.

Then Saturday I spent a good portion of the day cleaning my house. I scrubbed every room and even got out my fall/winter clothes, that’s how intense my cleaning day was. I also made a big pot of chili and it was delicious. I’m pretty sure I even fell asleep before nine that night. But I got up early Sunday morning to go to work at PetSmart, and when I got home from work I spent the rest of the day doing homework. I only took one short break to bake some cookies, which were also delicious.

I have a lot of papers due this week but I still hope the next few days go by as fast as the weekend did. I’m excited for Saturday because Homecoming is this weekend, and I want to go check out the carnival that’s coming. Plus, a friend of mine from high school is coming down with his wife and their daughter to watch some volleyball and go to the zoo with my boyfriend and me. It should be a nice weekend; I just have to make it that far.

Peace,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Amber Dahlin's Women's XC Student-Athlete Blog #2

2009-09-29T20:39:00.003-05:00

As I sit alone in my dorm room, I'm thinking back on the reasons that I decided to run last spring and on the reasons I have now for continuing to do so as part of this team. When I first decided to try cross country back in May, I was mainly thinking that I'd like to try something new, that it would be fun to be on a sports team again, that it would help me get in shape and practice self discipline, and that I might as well get over my dislike of running and prove that I could do it.

Well...the reasons I have now for running are far above and beyond those initial ones. More than trying something new and getting over my dislike of running, I have overcome countless challenges and obstacles, and I've discovered--slowly, but surely--something that I never knew I love to do, and that I now plan on continuing throughout my life.

More than just being on a sports team again, I have gotten to know and love some of the most inspiring, encouraging, and hilarious people I have ever met. It's because of my amazing teammates that I've stuck it out, and I am in awe each day of the lessons they learn through running which they then apply to the rest of their experience. Finally, more than getting me in shape and allowing me to practice self discipline, running cross country has pushed me farther, longer, faster, and harder than I ever thought I could go--and it's clear that I have a long way yet to go--and it has built up my mental toughness and overall endurance to benefit everything that I do.

When I was struggling a couple weeks ago and having a lot of doubts, my brother--a long-time runner--suggested that I examine my motives for doing this. I now examine these motives everyday and am so grateful that I decided to stick with it.

All the best,
Amber
(about Amber)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #5

2009-09-29T20:34:00.003-05:00

Last week wasn’t too bad of a week for me. School wasn’t too overwhelming for the first time since the semester started, and even though we lost our game to Aurora on Friday night, we bounced back with two conference wins on Saturday.

I did feel pretty low though after our loss on Friday night. The same thing keeps happening to my team this year and it’s frustrating and disappointing. I don’t believe our problem is skill or endurance; it’s mentality and attitude. For whatever reason we seem to be struggling on a psychological level this year. As a whole we haven’t felt the “love” that a solid team feels. We’re not clicking with each other, in other words there’s no team chemistry. It’s almost been painful to play at times, because there’s so much friction between us. I don’t mean friction like we don’t like each other or we don’t get along as teammates, I mean our play isn’t smooth. It feels forced all the time. For some reason known only to God our core players just aren’t in the groove like we should be.

The varsity players sat down after Friday night’s game and had a little chat. We got things out in the open and we made some goals for ourselves as teammates and players. Our plan of action kick started the very next morning at MacMurray, and it could be seen that the promises we made to each other the night before were holding true.

Even Monday at practice we held each other accountable for things we said we were going to do. We face Westminster on Tuesday this week and it will be another test for our new plan of action. Tuesday is the only competition day we have this week, which is a bummer because I love game days. But I have so many papers due again, I am almost relieved we have such a light schedule. I’ve been interviewing people for two weeks to make various deadlines for the school magazine. I have three articles due by 9 p.m. Tuesday night, but the bus leaves at 3:30 p.m., plus I have class from 1:30-2:50, so I just lost about eight hours of work time. Yea…can I just say my time management skills are amazing.

I spent a little time in our university center Monday, which was the first time in a long time. I just sat down at a table in there. It was kind of weird, and I was there during lunch so it was busy. I’ve become sort of oblivious to what’s going on around campus; I have tons of other things on my mind. I do know the Twitter guy, Jack Dorsey, is coming to speak soon and that Homecoming is two weekends away. My roommate is in charge of all the Homecoming plans and she’s bringing a carnival to Webster this year. That will be a nice change of pace from the usual concert in parking lot “L” or whatever letter it is.

T-T-F-N, Ta-ta for now
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Amber Dahlin's Women's XC Student-Athlete Blog #1

2009-09-23T21:04:00.002-05:00

As we begin our second week of classes, cross country practice is a refreshing and energizing break from schoolwork. It allows us to completely let go of everything for two hours every afternoon, creating a routine little haven in which to progress, learn and laugh together. Though its only the beginning of the term, we've been missing all of the free time we had during sports camp. At the same time, though, having practice each day, on top of of our other activities, encourages us to use our time well and get things done.

During our second meet this past Friday, a large number of my teammates ran much faster than in our first race and/or set a PR. Off to a good start! As a team that practices and demonstrates Christian Science, we have the privilege of a spiritual alternative to medical aid. Each day, we share prayerful ideas and progress during and in between our work-outs and runs.

For me, every run is a prayer, and I overcome physical problems each and every day. Perhaps our hardest work-outs have been the 1-Kilometer, hilly intervals that we've done several times so far. They have also been my favorite ones. Each time we're faced with them, we encourage each other to take each interval one at a time, and that is exactly what we do, finishing faster and stronger with every loop.

As a new runner, I have been and continue to be wonderfully impressed and uplifted by the sheer supportiveness of my coaches and teammates, both of themselves and of everyone else. I've learned very quickly that cross country is hardly an individual sport, but rather an extremely team-and community-oriented one.

Amber Dahlin
(about Amber)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #4

2009-09-22T19:54:00.004-05:00

We’re half way through the first term, which only means 4 weeks of school is over but saying “half way through the first term” sounds a lot better. Obviously I’m still feeling overwhelmed with school this semester. I’m just taking it day by day though to make it through each week and then relaxing at least one day out of every weekend. Well at least relaxing one day out of the weekend AFTER I get done at work. That is the one perk about working early mornings, I’m done working by 11 or 12, I’ve got a good five or six hours in and the whole day is still ahead of me.

I didn’t work this past weekend because we had a tournament in Bloomington, Illinois at Illinois Wesleyan. We lost both games there, which I credit to our still inconsistent play. We have time to get things together but it would’ve been nice to have a few more non-conference wins.

Even though Bloomington was about three hours away I didn’t mind the bus ride at all. I knew I was going to go home after our games were over and that made me happy. My grandparents got to come to my game along with my mom, dad, sister, brother and my brother’s girlfriend. It was nice to see everyone and spend a day at home. I’m not sure if I’ll be back there again until Thanksgiving.

As for the rest of our play last week, we won our first two conference games; Tuesday against Greenville and Thursday against Eureka, both away games. It felt good to get some wins under our belt, but not as good as it has in the past. I personally am disappointed in the way we are performing this year. It’s hard making the adjustment from the team we were my first three years at Webster to the team we are now, my senior year.

We have three competition days this week. One Tuesday and one Friday; home games finally, and then one at MacMurray. Yep…it’s back to Illinois.

Before I go, I actually have a little on-campus news this week. I found out from one of my professors that our new president is taking the H1N1 virus very seriously and if any students feel the slightest bit sick they don’t have to go to class and their teachers can’t penalize them for it. Seems like a good idea, but it also seems like that privilege could be abused. I hope a doctor’s note is somehow involved otherwise there will probably be a sudden H1N1 “breakout” when the word finally gets out to students.

10-4 Good Buddies,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Coree Woltering's Men's XC Student-Athlete Blog #2

2009-09-17T20:22:00.006-05:00

Another busy week has gone by. Monday is by far my busiest day of the week. I have class 10:30-11:20, 12:30-1:20, and 1:30-2:20. I have an hour break between my last class and practice. At 3:35 we have a team meeting then we do our weekly long run. I usually end up having 30-40 minutes to shower and eat after the run, before I go to Chemistry lab from 6:30-9:20. At 9:30 the first floor of my dorm has Bible study. Bible study gets over around 10:15. By that time, I am ready for bed. Tuesday morning practice comes too soon!

During the first Chemistry lab my partner and I were the last group done. We were so far behind that the professor had left, and the lab assistant was the only person there besides us. We were a good 30 minutes behind. This week we did much better. We were one of the first groups done! Hopefully we will be able to continue to be successful in completing our labs in a timely fashion.

Wednesday was the All College Hike. The All College Hike is a 5 mile walk to Camp Durley for a time of school bonding. At 9:30am the students of Greenville College will gather outside the chapel and they begin the 5 mile run/walk to the camp. As part of the cross country team I ran a little bit more than 5 miles.

At the camp there are many activities to do including volleyball and basketball tournaments, ultimate frisbee games, and if you really want to you can bring your fishing pole and go fishing. Inside the main building there are many booths set up, and the different clubs of the school try and convince you to join their club. This is also the time freshmen vote on their class officers. Lunch is served around noon or so, and then in the afternoon there is a chapel service. Students then have the rest of the day to hang out, or do whatever they want.

This Friday we are racing at Illinois State University. I am very excited for this meet. I love going to big meets, and this is definitely a big meet! Then 2 weeks from Saturday we will be at Louisville, Kentucky. I am excited to see how this meet turns out for us since this is our first 8k race of the season. This is the first year in a few years that Greenville is going to this meet, so it will be a new experience for all of us. For the returnees it will be a chance to see where we were compared to last year at this time. For the freshman this will be interesting to see how they do in their first 8k.

Last year was my first 8k, and it was...interesting. I remember finishing the race and wanting to never run cross country again. It definitely gets better as the season goes on. Good luck to everyone who is racing this week!

Well that’s all til next week,
Coree Woltering
(about Coree)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #3

2009-09-17T20:18:00.003-05:00

Last week was an all around rough week for me. I had a ton of writing deadlines, and I was literally making each of them by the minute. Needless to say my third week of school was pretty overwhelming and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down anytime soon.

As for volleyball last week, we only had one game against McKendree, and we lost in three. Something still hasn’t clicked with our team. I feel we played better during our pre-season scrimmage at Wash. U. than we have been for the past two weeks. We’ve been working on getting the kinks out though, and I think practice last Friday and this Monday really helped. We have three days of competition this week, Tuesday was against Greenville, Thursday is against Eureka and Saturday is at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Illinois.

I’m excited to play at Eureka on Thursday because it’s close to my hometown. I know my family will come watch me play and there’s a good chance some of my friends from back home will too. The down side of playing so far away is we won’t get back until midnight or after and I have to be at work at 5a.m. the next day. I’m even more excited about Saturday though because Bloomington is also very close to Delavan so I’ll be heading home with my family when our games are over. This weekend will be the first time I’ve been back home since the 4th of July. I guess sometimes life gets in the way of living.

Adios amigos,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Erika Boeckmann's Women's Soccer Student-Athlete Blog #2

2009-09-15T20:17:00.006-05:00

This past week has had many ups and downs but today definitely ended on a high note! The Blackburn Women's Soccer team won their match against Lincoln Christian College, 3-0. I was very excited to see our team working hard and it finally paying off with a victory.

I am optimistic about the rest of our season because I see us improving our passing and control every game. Some games our communication is excellent and that has also been a key factor in our improvement. My biggest concern is for the team to stay healthy; many of us are battling relatively small, but cumbersome injuries that will hopefully be worked out.

School has been crazy lately. I have three Analytical Lab write-ups and calculations to do. I also have 3 Biochemistry lab write-ups to finish, as well as a test in each class Friday. My biology courses, Microbiology and Ecology, are moving right along as well.

Last Friday I was excited to have my seminar topic approved; it will be based on a paper titled "Biosynthesis of Aromatic Polyketides in Bacteria". I have until Nov. 13 to prepare a paper and a one hour presentation based on the subject that I chose.

This past weekend was filled mostly with work and homework. After practice Saturday morning I worked a few extra hours at the Prairie Farms Dairy Lab here in Carlinville. I have an intership with them, and I am a lab assistant. With so many class hours and games, I haven't had much time to work there this semester yet. After that I went to campus to work in the labs for lab prep and cleaning for my on-campus job.

Saturday evening I spent a few hours volunteering with a friend at the Lion's Club Festival on the square here in Carlinville. We worked in the Balloon stand blowing up helium balloons. The rest of the weekend was homework and a few hours of work in the labs on Sunday too. Tonight I am concentrating on laundry and lab write-ups after I go out for a celebritory dinner with my boyfriend, Chris.

Erika Boeckmann
(about Erika)

Erika Boeckmann's Women's Soccer Student-Athlete Blog

2009-09-10T21:15:00.003-05:00

I’d like to take my first entry to introduce myself and the events leading up to my career at Blackburn College. My name is Erika Boeckmann and I was born and raised in the small town of New Baden Ill. I come from a family of three kids, and was lucky enough to grow up living out of town and in the country. I grew up playing all kinds of sports, sometimes in little leagues and others with friends, cousins, and mostly my mom and older brother. When younger my main focus was softball, volleyball, and basketball, mostly because I was very tall for my age. I would play hockey with my brother and cousins, and being the only girl and youngest, I always ended up playing goalie (without pads of course, and sometimes I would get to use an old baseball glove).

In grade school I started playing soccer at recess, and some of my classmates and especially my friend, Stormy Hatt, encouraged me to play in the town league soccer. That Fall I decided to give soccer a try instead of playing basketball. From the start it was discovered my goalie skills outweighed my field skills, and I played each about half and half. I stuck with soccer and played it the next few years and decided to play soccer instead of softball in high school. I also played two years of volleyball and ran two years of cross country at Wesclin. My career at Wesclin High School included starting every varsity game played, still I never pictured myself playing soccer in college.

It wasn’t until the summer before my senior year when I was looking for schools to apply to when I came across Blackburn College’s brochure in the mail one day. I liked the style of the college and was intrigued about the thought of playing soccer. The next spring I earned the Presidential Scholarship to Blackburn College and was sold on the science department. I committed to attend and agreed with the women’s soccer coach that I would play soccer.

Coming in as a freshman I expected to do a lot of sitting the bench (a rest didn’t seem too bad at that point) because the team had a senior goalkeeper. In our first game my coach decided he wanted to get me in for at least a little bit, and he put me in with about 5 minutes left in the first half, he laughed at me when I said I’d play anywhere he put me. He put me in at forward, on the account that I couldn’t really mess up up there. When I came off the field he chuckled at me and said I did something awful foolish...'I did good, and I’d play out there again.' I played much of the second half as wing, and played the rest of the season as a stopper. I absolutely loved the new experience, but come sophomore year I was back in goal and with the help of some experienced goalie trainers, I was doing much more than I ever imagined in high school. My soccer career at Blackburn has been a turbulent one, but as my senior year is right in front of me I am still excited to go and compete and give my best athletic performance.

Blackburn College is a very unique place. Most schools in the conference know about Blackburn’s work program, but over the next few weeks hopefully more people will get an in depth look at how it works and how it is a part of each student’s life here. This year I moved off campus into an apartment with my friend, classmate, teammate, and fellow captain Sara Hermanson. My classes this semester are very intense. I have 17 hours, Microbiology, Ecology, Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry and Senior Seminar. Right now it feels like more than I can handle, but I’ve found that when you forget the feelings of being overwhelmed and take one thing at a time, it usually works out ok.

Erika Boeckmann
(about Erika)

Coree Woltering's Men's XC Student-Athlete Blog

2009-09-10T21:02:00.003-05:00

Wow! We have been back in school for about two weeks now, and it has definitely been an interesting transition from summer to school. I decided to change my major from Physical Education to Biology Education. Let’s just say that the start of this year and the start of freshman year have been totally different. Last year I had some general freshman classes, a soccer skill lab, and a few other sports related classes. Now I have Biology, Bio lab, Botany, Botany lab, Chemistry, Chemistry lab, and a religion class. The start of this semester has been way more intense. Not only has it been more intense in the classroom, but with running too.

Right now I love cross country. I have always thought of myself as more of a track runner than cross country runner, but that may be changing. This summer I had one of my best summers of training and now I am excited for this season. Right now I am enjoying putting in the weeks of mileage; it is fun to do when you have a team to run with. Summer training is rough, but when we come together again in the Fall, it’s not so bad. The first 2 weeks are always the most challenging, and then it gets better.

We had our first meet at Millikin on September 1. It was a 5k for both the guys and girls. The Millikin course had more hills on it than I have ever seen. I swear it was uphill the whole time. Okay, so maybe not the whole time, but there were a lot of hills. I thought we ran well in the meet. It was only a small meet that we used as a workout, but we saw some encouraging things from it. Our first real race is Friday, September 18, at Illinois State University. I know we are all excited to finally get out there and race.

This season should be a lot of fun. We have a very young but talented team. We have 2 seniors, 2 juniors, 9 sophomores and 9 freshmen on the men’s team. I am excited to see what our team can do this year. I found a quote I really liked this week, and I thought it would be a good ending quote.

“People don't play sports because it’s fun. Ask any athlete, most of them hate it, but they couldn't imagine their life without it. It is part of them, the love/hate relationship. It’s what they live for. They live for the practices, cheers, long bus rides, invitationals, countless pairs of different types of shoes, water, Gatorade, & coaches you appreciate. They live for the way it feels when you beat the team next to you by 1 point, & you know those 2 extra sprints you ran in practice were worth it. They live for the way you become a family with your team. They live for the countless songs you sing in your head when you're running ALL those intervals They live for the competition, they live for the friends, the practices, the memories, the pain, it’s who they are. It's who we are. WE ARE ATHLETES!” –Anonymous

Well that’s all for this week,
Coree Woltering
(about Coree)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog #2

2009-09-09T21:11:00.004-05:00

In the past, Labor Day weekend has been a rather leisurely weekend for me. I usually go back to my hometown, Delavan, Illinois, to hang out with friends and family and enjoy the small town Delavan Fall Festival festivities. This year was the first year in my life that I didn’t make it to that festival, not even for a single day.

Instead, the Webster volleyball team had a two-day tournament Friday and Saturday at Washington University. Our team went into the tournament with high hopes, which were abruptly brought back down to earth by our first loss on Friday against Hope College. We played Wash U. less than an hour later and lost to them in three games, but only losing the first one 23-25.

As we continued through the weekend we lost to Millikin and then beat Augustana, two teams that were pretty evenly matched in talent and skill. Why then did we lose to one and beat the other? …because our team continues to face consistency issues. We hang with a team ranked 5th in the nation one minute and in the next get defeated by a team not even mentioned in the pre-season top 25! If we are going to break the mold this year we need to find the thing that causes our imbalanced play and get it straightened out.

After ending the tournament with a win on Saturday I spent the rest of the weekend with my dad, mom, younger sister and our family dog, a min pin named Roxie, who came down to stay at my house. I don’t get to see them very much anymore because of school, work and volleyball so I always have a great time with them when we do get together. And thanks to my amazing dad, I finally have a washer and dryer after living in my house for over a year!

Unfortunately though, the weekend couldn’t just be hang time with the fam. I had to work for five hours on Sunday and four hours on Monday. Plus, I spent a couple of hours each day on the ten page paper that’s due Tuesday.

I don’t know if I mentioned this last time but I’m an Advertising/Marketing major and I’ve chosen to become a copywriter. When I chose that as an emphasis I decided to pursue a professional writing minor. So I am currently taking three writing courses at once, fiction writing, professional writing and a magazine production. Needless to say I have over 20 pages in papers due this week.

Cheers,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Stefanie Larson's Volleyball Student-Athlete Blog

2009-09-03T16:15:00.006-05:00

School is back in session…without a doubt. One week down and I’m already wondering how I’m going to survive this semester. Thankfully I became a pro at time management a while ago, although I do forget to factor in the need for sleep sometimes.

This year I enrolled in my first 8:30am class at Webster. I figured I would be used to getting up early since I had an internship and an early morning stocking job at PetSmart all summer long (and by early morning stocking I mean I clock-in by 5:00 am every Monday and Friday morning and 6:00 am on Saturdays and Sundays) so one 8:30 morning class wouldn’t kill me.

When it’s time for practice in the afternoons though my body takes the toll for my ridiculously early mornings. I always look forward to practice though. I love our team and I love the game of volleyball. I feel more excited to go to practice this year than I have in my three previous years on the team. Maybe it’s because I know after this season my life with volleyball will never be the same, or maybe it’s because I have higher hopes for our team now than I ever have before, or it just might be that I have a leadership role on the team this year not only as one of our captains but also because I stepped up to become a middle hitter which our team so desperately needed.

The loss of some key players on our roster from last year has been one of the greatest obstacles the Webster volleyball team has had to overcome early on in the season. Between the loss of two talented seniors and the disappointing news that three other starters would not be returning, the team has had to make some major changes. We got a little taste of just how well these changes were going to work at the Wash U scrimmage this past Sunday, August 30th, and I think it’s safe to conclude we’re going to be just fine.

Since my freshman year at Webster we have lost so many amazing players whether to personal conflicts or graduation, and I am always amazed at the way the team is able to bounce back and how someone new or unexpected is able to step up and fill the void that the success of our team was threatened by.

Until Next Time,
Stefanie M. Larson
(about Stefanie)

Meet the Bloggers

2009-09-02T13:26:00.033-05:00

The following student-athletes will write a blog entry once a week (or thereabout) throughout the fall sport season. We hope you enjoy the insight into the life of Division III student-athletes that their journal will offer.

Men's Cross Country
Coree Woltering
Greenville College
Sophomore
Ottawa, Ill.
Major(s): Biology Education

Women's Cross Country
Amber Dahlin
Principia College
Sophomore
Holyoke, Mass./Hartsbrook HS (a Waldorf School in Hadley, Mass.)
Major(s): Environmental Studies
Career Goal: Sustainable developer and photojournalist

Women's Soccer
Erika Boeckmann
Blackburn College
Senior
New Baden, Ill./Wesclin HS
Major(s): Biochemistry
Minor: Biology
Career Goal: “My future career goals include the possibility of research or quality testing in a laboratory or field setting. After I graduate Blackburn, I hope to enter a master’s program in toxicology, biochemistry, or microbiology/immunology. I am not completely certain what I want to do with the rest of my life but I love the idea of having a versatile, throughout education that may allow me to pursue a variety of scientific endeavors.”
Athletic Achievements: First Team All-Conference Goalkeeper (2008); Honorable Mention All-Conference Goalkeeper (2007); Academic All-Conference (2007, 2008); Team Academic Achievement Award (2007, 2008); Team Most Valuable Player (2008)

Sara Hermanson
Blackburn College
Senior
Beecher, Ill./Beecher HS
Major(s): Biology/Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Minor: Chemistry
Career Goal: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
Athletic Achievements: Team Offensive MVP – 2007; Defensive MVP - 2008

Men’s Soccer
Kevin Vonarx
Fontbonne University
Senior
St. Louis, Mo./St. Mary’s H.S.

Women's Volleyball
Stefanie Larson
Webster University
Senior
Delavan, Ill./Delavan H.S.
Major(s): Advertising/Marketing
Career Goal: “I would be happy copywriting forever, but moving to a big city and owning my own agency would be pretty awesome. Or you know...creating a slogan or tagline that goes down in history!”
Other Intercollegiate Sports: Played softball as a freshman
Athletic Achievements: Recognized for three consecutive years for maintaining over a 3.5 GPA as an athlete

Kicking off the new year

2009-08-27T11:30:00.002-05:00

The SLIAC released preseason coaches’ polls earlier this week and that can only mean one thing…competition is right around the corner. September 1 is the first permissible date of competition for the Conference’s five fall sports and the vast majority of our teams waste no time getting their seasons started with 10 soccer teams (six men, four women), four volleyball teams and eight cross country teams (four men, four women) in competition on that date.

Back to those aforementioned coaches polls. Fontbonne and Greenville were selected as co-favorites by the men’s soccer coaches, Webster is the preseason pick of the volleyball coaches and Principia gets the nod from the women’s soccer coaches. The men’s soccer co-favorites both took home championship plaques last season as Fontbonne won the regular season title and Greenville won the Tournament title. Webster and Principia are both in the hunt for their third straight regular season title.

With the start of the 2009-10 academic and athletic year, the SLIAC welcomes Spalding University in Louisville, Ky. to the Conference. The Golden Eagles sponsor 11 sports in which the SLIAC sponsors a Championship as well as women’s golf and women’s bowling. Spalding teams and student-athletes are eligible for all SLIAC regular season titles and awards. However, as a second-year NCAA provisional member, it is not eligible to compete for the SLIAC’s automatic bid to NCAA Tournaments and therefore will not participate in Conference Tournaments except in sports in which the Tournament also determines the Conference Champion (cross country, golf and tennis).

Also new for 2009-10 is the Conference’s recent announcement of its use of Twitter and a Blog as additional avenues to deliver news and information, to provide a unique look into the SLIAC and to attract more visitors to the SLIAC website.

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference looks forward to another great year for our student-athletes, teams and institutions. We thank you for your continued support of the SLIAC and hope you will return here regularly to read inside stories of what is going on with our student-athletes, teams and institutions.

SLIAC Launches Blog and Twitter

2009-08-18T21:38:00.003-05:00

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will be launching a blog this Fall and has joined Twitter. These additional avenues will deliver Conference news and information to our fans, student-athletes and their families, provide a unique look into the Conference and attract more viewers to the SLIAC website.

The SLIAC blog will feature regular entries by student-athletes at member schools and will give fans an in-depth look into their experiences during each season. The blog can be found at sliacathletics.blogspot.com.

The SLIAC's Twitter feed will focus on week-by-week happenings within the league, including player of the week awards, conference tournament details and more. Follow the SLIAC on Twitter by going to twitter.com/sliac or searching the username "@sliac".