club sports illustrated, september 25th issue
DESCRIPTION
Catch up on what some of the 21 App State Club Sports teams are doing!TRANSCRIPT
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For more information on any of
the club teams, visit the website:
clubsports.appstate.edu
email us at
or call us at the
Student Recreation Center
(828)262-2100
Director of UREC:
Joe Carter
Director of Club Sports:
Erin Sanders
Coordinators for Competitive Sports:
Chris Carr
Heather Marshall
Executive Officers:
Chad Deaver
Olivia Chason
Patrick Sekel
The SEPT. 25th Edition of the
Club Sports Illustrated
Cover Designed by Jessica Dixon
Volume 5, Issue 3
Inside this issue: Gearing up for Competition Fencing
4
News of nonads navigating Women’s Ultimate
5
A weekend at white lake Triathlon
6
Competition lies ahead Women’s volleyball
8
New faces, new season Women’s basketball
10
First game in review Women’s Lacrosse
11
Young ultimate team makes noise Men’s Ultimate
12
George mason and lees mcrae races cycling
14
What’s new with the equestrian team? Equestrian
16
Fall down seven times, stand up eight.
Women’s rugby
18
Executive Corner 20
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The Appalachian State Fencing Club is hitting the ground running this year with our new
President, Carleton Stuecker, and our new Vice President, Sean Cobb, leading the way! Our
new officers this year, represented in this photo, left to right, are; Suryaveer Singh, our Club
Sports Council Representative: Evan Zuercher, our Treasurer: Sean Cobb, our Vice President:
Carleton Stuecker, our President: Alex Steinert, our Secretary: and Leah Stanley, writing to you
now, PR Officer and Armor. (Due to some
last-minute changes, Eli is no longer with
us).
And our administration this year has made
some good headway! We’ve joined a new
league, called the Southern Intercollegiate
Fencing Association, and this means that
that we are going to be able to participate
in many more tournaments this year than
we have been in the past. To prepare for
this, we’re in the process of purchasing new
equipment, including, for the first time in the recent history of the club, electric sabre gear!
For those of who are unfamiliar with the fencing world, there are three types of weapons in
fencing: foil, sabre, and epee, each with their own set of rules, and to some extent, their own
equipment. Due to lack of having sabre equipment, the club has not been able to participate in
Sabre events; however, due to an increase in funds, we have now purchased the necessary
equipment to compete in Sabre.
We are very excited to branch out into this area of competition. It’s a whole new world for us in
the fencing club! To follow these changes in our competitive league, we’ve also made some
changes to the club’s structure. We’ve gotten more serious with our practices this year, creating a
competitive tier in the club for those who want to travel with us, and we have made plans to
start semi-frequent Saturday practices to gear up for competition. All in all, we’re prepared and
excited to get started in the competitive season!
Pictures and Article Submitted by: Leah Stanley, PR Officer and Armor
The Nonads are back and ready to rumble! We just had
our first tournament this weekend at UNC Charlotte, and
played gallantly. The rookies got a fresh flavor of
tournament life. A flavor filled with turf beads, sweat, and
the sweet taste of accomplishment. Drastic
improvements were made between each game, and the
stoke is very high for our next tournament at Liberty
University in two weeks.
Leading the team through Queen City was the sensational
Terran Tout, one of the Nonads two new coaches! Terran
played for the Nonads for four years (2010-2014),
captaining them for her last two. Last year her presence
was missed as the Nonads endured a building year, trying
to replace their five magnificent starting seniors from the
previous year. This year, Terran came back to light the
much needed fire under the Nonads and get them roaring
onto the field.
Terran’s co-coach George Ehrhardt has come in, brought
organization and thought to the life of the Nonad. He is
an associate professor at
Appalachian State, and a totally
rip-roaring ultimate player and
coach. He is a very experienced
player and father of two, and can be
spotted on any field in his bucket
hat and mad ultimate skill. George
has already brought an array of new
drills, strategies, and techniques to
the team. His goal is to have the Nonads running like a
well oiled machine.
With these two great new coaches, a wave of new and
amazing rookies, and a band of fierce returning veterans,
the Nonads have high hopes for the coming year.
Regionals are definitely a realistic possibility for the team.
Pictures and Article Submitted By:
Lindsey Rotche, Secretary
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There’s no better way to kick off a season than
spending the weekend in beautiful White Lake, North
Carolina sweeping the podium. September 11th - 13th,
we had the opportunity to compete in several races, as
well as volunteer at the White Lake Sprint.
International, and Half-Iron Distance triathlons. On the
12th, we had six athletes compete in the International
distance race and one athlete, Alex Haugh, compete in
his first ever Half-Iron distance race. The rest of the
team was stationed throughout the course directing
traffic and handing out water to cyclists as they raced
past their stations. Although it down-poured for the
greater half of the races, we had five out of our six
International competitors place in their age groups
along with a 2nd place finish for Alex in the Half-Iron!
On the 13th, a lot of our members competed in the
White Lake Sprint triathlon. For a lot of them, it was
their first race. Those that did races the day before
were stationed all over the two-lap course directing
cyclists, making friends with law-enforcement directing
traffic, and yelling directions to competitors through
megaphones. All of our members had outstanding
finishes, especially those that finished their first race!
We are so proud of everyone for their individual
performances and volunteering efforts at White Lake,
and we can’t wait to attend the race again next year.
Overall we had five 1st place, seven 2nd place, and four
3rd place age group finishers. We look forward to our
races to come and continuing to stay competitive in our
conference throughout the season.
swim. bike. run.
Picture and Article Submitted By:
Abby Duffy, Vice President
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Other players such as, Priya Ford said,
“I am preparing for this tournament by
making sure our team is performing as a unit and
working well together. I think our main challenge is
going to be maintaining consistent, playing when
we are tired. Therefore, I am trying to incorporate
more conditioning throughout practice. This home
tournament is our first one of the year so we will all
be working out a lot of kinks but I’m hoping to
come out strong and win the whole tournament!”
Most teams seem to want to work on team unity
and a positive outlook on the Volleyball game itself.
As well as players wanting to practice to go well to
perform well in the tournaments the president and
some other members of the executive board have
others things to think about to get the home
tournament prepared.
The President, Priya Ford, said,
“As the President I am working on getting all
the logistics down, getting the teams signed up,
making sure everyone pays their fees, creating the
pools, and the play-off schedule; while the rest of
the officers work on contacting the schools that
might want to play in the tournament!”
Officer, Sam Creech as feels the same but wants to
emphasize that,
“Being a part of club volleyball not only as a
team do we strive to win but most importantly get
the responsibilities done and have fun with
teammates that will make memories.”
Currently, Women’s Club Volleyball is striving to
work together, get together a home tournament
and have fun as teammates, and of course strive to
win.
Starting in early September, Women’s Club
Volleyball started to prepare for tournaments
that lie ahead. From contacting schools, to
collecting dues, to having practice, the executive
board members have been very busy. However,
they are all very excited. Women’s Club
Volleyball will be hosting the first tournament of
the year at
home on
October
10th. The
officers, such as
Riley Dixon,
have already
started to
contact schools
such as Radford,
Clemson,
Virginia Tech,
Georgia Tech,
and many more.
The teams are
waiting for replies from these universities and
cannot wait for the tournament season to be
upon us. The captains of the three teams all are
preparing for the home tournament that is in a
couple weeks.
Captain Ashley Collins of the Club Regional
Black stated that,
“I’m working on bringing our team together to
prepare them for the ups and downs that all of
us will have, so that we can encourage each
other and fight in every match for a victory.”
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I am preparing for this tournament by
making sure our team is performing as a unit and
working well together. I think our main challenge is
going to be maintaining consistent, playing when
we are tired. Therefore, I am trying to incorporate
more conditioning throughout practice. This home
tournament is our first one of the year so we will all
m hoping to
come out strong and win the whole tournament!”
Most teams seem to want to work on team unity
and a positive outlook on the Volleyball game itself.
As well as players wanting to practice to go well to
perform well in the tournaments the president and
some other members of the executive board have
others things to think about to get the home
As the President I am working on getting all
the logistics down, getting the teams signed up,
making sure everyone pays their fees, creating the
off schedule; while the rest of
the officers work on contacting the schools that
Officer, Sam Creech as feels the same but wants to
Being a part of club volleyball not only as a
team do we strive to win but most importantly get
the responsibilities done and have fun with
s Club Volleyball is striving to
work together, get together a home tournament
and have fun as teammates, and of course strive to
Page 9
Article and Pictures Submitted by:
Ayron Walker, Secretary, Right Side Hitter on Regional 1 and Captain
The girls are back! After a long summer and
a first month of practices, the women’s club
basketball team has their first tournament
this weekend here in Boone. The team will
be inviting UNC, UNCG, NC State, Virginia
Tech, and Duke. App State is projected to
win, but not without some competition
from UNCG of course. Last year, App State
lost twice to the Spartans in two very close
games. The ‘Neers are prepared to bring the
intensity this weekend and not disappoint!
Of course, in order to play together on the
court as one, the team must be as one off
the court as well. The girls get along with
each other very well and love to group
message everyone. They will be having their
first team dinner on Friday to spend time
together before the big weekend.
In way of officers and coaches, we have a
couple of new faces. This year’s President is
Madison Thomas, who is a senior majoring
in health promotion with a minor in
nutrition. The Vice President is Alyssa
Horan, who is a junior majoring in exercise
science. The Treasurer is Kelly Beasley, a
junior majoring in nursing. And lastly for the
officers is the Secretary, Jordan Cobb, a
freshman majoring in chemistry. The coaches
consist of last year’s head coach Dylan Eppley
and a new assistant coach David McAdams.
With only 4 returning players from last
season, the App State Women’s Club
Basketball team is full of fresh new faces.
Everyone is excited for the first tournament
that is coming up this weekend on September
26th, but the most crucial and important parts
of the upcoming tourney are the practices.
Everyone has to be focused and in game
mode. The practices that the players go
through are filled with offensive and defensive
drills, conditioning drills and running through
plays. The team does fast paced scrimmages
as well to get a feel of what they will
encounter this upcoming weekend. Everybody
pushes each other to be theie best so that
they can be just that in the games.
The tournament will be held in the Student
Rec Center, and everyone is welcome to
attend and cheer on the ‘Neers!
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Pictures and Article Submitted by: Jordan Cobb, Secretary
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Our first scrimmage against High Point University was held this past
Sunday, and it was a huge success! It was great to play some high-level
competition, and to mold together more as a team. Although the
weather was a little toasty for Boone, NC, we held our ground and
powered through two twenty-five minute halves.
Within a few minutes after the first blow of the whistle, HPU had really
started off strong with two points. It was a good wake up call because all
of us realized that we needed to step it up as a team. Soon enough, we
had come back and had four goals on them. It was awesome to see
everyone on the field and on the sidelines begin to work together more
cohesively. Even the fans gave us an extra push. These together gave us
the momentum to work past the heat, past the mistakes, and hold on
until the end. We ended the game with a tie of 10-10, and although the
score may not show it, we played so well as a team. We don’t have
another game until our big Yosef home tourney which will be towards
the end of October, but for now we can go back to practice, address
things we can improve on, and continue to solidify as a team.
Our Yosef home tournament is our big event for the year, so it will not
disappoint! We will tentatively be playing UNC Charlotte, East Carolina
University, Richmond, Duke, UNC Greensboro, Elon, and Western. The
fans who came out to support our HPU scrimmage were game changers
and brought some much needed encouragement, so fans at our home
tournament will be even more so. Get ready for some good lacrosse
because we’re only going uphill from here!
Pictures and Article Submitted by: Emma Evans, Club Sports Council Representative
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The Men’s Ultimate Team traveled to UNC-Charlotte this weekend for the Bank Run
tournament. Although focused first on rookie development, the Nomads were able to win
their pool on Saturday, and earn a much-deserved first round bye for Sunday. After sleeping
in, the team edged the University of South Carolina during the final point of the game to
advance to the semifinals, where they were defeated.
The Nomads were not sure what to expect from this tournament because the team lost a lot
of talented seniors last year, and are working to build a program from the ground up. The
focus of this tournament was to introduce new players to game and build team chemistry.
Not only were the Nomads excited to see the rookies enjoying themselves, but also were
crucial to the Nomads success.
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Despite the 90-degree temperatures and hot turf fields, the Nomads rookies and veterans
alike were able to make big plays on offense and defense, and surprise teams with quick
moves and calculated throws. By playing all players similar numbers of points, the team was
able to keep the player’s cooled off, and not too exhausted. It became apparent that the
Nomad’s high energy is what led to many of their victories this weekend.
This years Men’s Ultimate Team is the beginning of a program to be reckoned with. The
Nomad’s surprised the East Coast last year with their 6th place finish at Regionals, and
although they may be the underdogs again, hope to make a similar ruckus this year, and in the
years to come.
Article and Pictures Submitted by: Otto Solberg, Secretary
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Last weekend was a busy one for the cycling team,
with two separate race events held in both the ACC
and SEC conferences. Some of the team made the
long trip up to the DC area to race in George Mason
University’ s “Wolf Bouncer All Mountain Event,”
while others stayed closer to home to race in Lees
McRae’s gravity weekend.
Up in Virginia, Saturday was a muddy, rainy day on
the course. The trails were flowy with some root
sections and short, fast climbs. Van Hubbard came in
4th in his first mountain bike race with Men's C,
starting the weekend off with a 7 mile race. Jordan
Bouldin and Annie Pharr both took first place for
Men's B and Women's A races next in a 14 mile race.
Hayden Miller came in at a solid 6th place for Men's
A, finishing strong in the 21 mile race. The cross
country races were followed by super-d/individual
time trial races where everyone tried to complete a
short trail loop as fast as they could with 2 minute
gaps in between riders. The pouring rain kept things
interesting and was an added obstacle to the roots
and sharp turns of the course. Hayden finished 6th,
Jordan and Annie got 1st, and Van got 3rd to finish
out the day.
Sunday’s race was held nearby on old prison
grounds. The first race was another Super-D time
trial that wove around the woods, finishing by the
old prison buildings. Hayden took 2nd in Men's A
against stiff competition, and Jordan took 2nd as well
for Men's B, despite being on a single speed bike.
Van and Annie both got 3rd for Men's C and
Women's A. The second race of the day was a
Short-Track race that was a fast circle of gravel,
grass, and a paved climb. Men's B raced for 25
minutes and Jordan came in an impressive 2nd
place.
Back at Lees McRae, App racers also pulled off
some quick finishes. The weather held out there,
so conditions on the track were good for the
Dual Slalom event to start off the day on
Saturday. In Dual Slalom races, two riders go
head to head on a short, downhill track with a
lot of little jumps and berms to pump the bikes
over. The finishes are ranked on a bracket
system, and riders race each other until the
fastest is left. Spectators lined the course the
whole way down and there was a huge field of
34 racers who started the Men's A race. Alex
Jerome finished 10th and Levi Rose finished 4th,
both impressive results.
The next day was the Downhill race, and with
the mud from the trails being tracked into the
rock gardens, the racers were in for a challenge.
Hecklers lined both sides of the rock gardens
however, to cheer racers through and see if
anyone would make it past clean. Levi smoked
the competition again, getting 4th place for
Men's A, with only 4 seconds of separation
between 3rd place and him. Francesco Marifino
came in second for Mens C in his first race for
App State. Overall, it was an eventful and
successful race weekend and we are all proud of
our racers.
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Women's A. The second race of the day was a
Track race that was a fast circle of gravel,
grass, and a paved climb. Men's B raced for 25
minutes and Jordan came in an impressive 2nd
Back at Lees McRae, App racers also pulled off
some quick finishes. The weather held out there,
so conditions on the track were good for the
Dual Slalom event to start off the day on
Saturday. In Dual Slalom races, two riders go
head to head on a short, downhill track with a
lot of little jumps and berms to pump the bikes
over. The finishes are ranked on a bracket
system, and riders race each other until the
fastest is left. Spectators lined the course the
whole way down and there was a huge field of
34 racers who started the Men's A race. Alex
Jerome finished 10th and Levi Rose finished 4th,
The next day was the Downhill race, and with
the mud from the trails being tracked into the
rock gardens, the racers were in for a challenge.
Hecklers lined both sides of the rock gardens
however, to cheer racers through and see if
anyone would make it past clean. Levi smoked
the competition again, getting 4th place for
Men's A, with only 4 seconds of separation
between 3rd place and him. Francesco Marifino
came in second for Mens C in his first race for
App State. Overall, it was an eventful and
successful race weekend and we are all proud of
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Article and Picture Submitted by: Annie Pharr, Vice President
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The Equestrian team is excited to share that we now have a new western coach named
Crosby Reed. Her barn is called Mimosa Hills Farm in Morganton, NC. The team still has to
drive an hour to the barn, but it is well worth the drive. We are able to ride in a covered
arena, so that when Mother Nature is not cooperating with us we can still ride horses. Also
for the first time we are able to have practice rides this allows us to have two hours a week
to ride horses instead of just one hour.
We are also really excited that she will be traveling with us to our horse shows. This is going
to help us excel in being more competitive with other teams. Being able to have a coach on
the rail helping to coach us along will be great. Also she will be able to see what we are doing
wrong in the show arena, so she will know what we need to work on the most.
Our first show was supposed to be this past weekend, but Saint Andrews horse got an upper
respiratory virus so it has been reschedule to October 24-25th. This has allowed us to have
more time to practice and get acquainted with our new teammates although we are all
anxious to get it the show ring again.
The western team is very excited and ready to get our season started. We are excited to see
how our first show goes with our new coach. We are also excited that our western team has
grown! We have a competitor in every class. These are the different levels of classes at our
shows: beginner, intermediate A, intermediate B, novice, advanced, open horsemanship, and
open reining.
I would like to wish the best of luck to our Hunt Seat team as they kick off their show season
at Averrett University. So if you feel like taking a road trip this weekend go support our Hunt
Seat team and see what we are all about.
Article and Pictures Submitted by: Corinne Bregman, Treasure
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After the outcome of last season’s matches, AHO Women’s rugby was ready for a
comeback. We were eager to start the season strong with returning players back at
100 percent and the addition of some pretty incredible rookies. We were excited to
say the least to open the season in Greensboro.
We traveled to UNCG on September 12th for our
first game of the year. After about just two weeks
of practice we went into the game uncertain of
how we would perform as a team. There were
quite a few rookie players in the starting lineup,
making it slightly nerve-racking concerning
overall safety on the field. The amount of pride
and excitement after we scored the first try to
take the lead was something to remember. It
came in the first minute and we knew that we
could seal the win if we kept up our momentum.
The game finally ended with a score of 41 – 0.
That game showed us that while we had a lot of
work to do when it came to fitness, we were
strong at the fundamentals. We had three players
score their first try, Emerci Jones, Sadie Lagle, and
Mikhala Dougher. It was important to celebrate
that win but even more important to recognize that playing NC State, a D1 team,
the next weekend was going to be much more difficult.
The NC State game was going to be a full 80 minute match against a seasoned
Article written by: Mikhala Dougher, Match Secretary
Pictures submitted by: Melissa Manderbach, Club Sports Council Representative
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team. The Wolfpack showed up Saturday to play with 34 girls and 2 coaches, while AHO
had only 20 players. With the fall season allowing unlimited substitute players to cycle in, we
knew fitness would need to be the key to our success. NC State cycled in players every
chance they got while we knew we had to use our
substitutes wisely with our small team.
The whole first half was neck and neck. NC State
scored first but it was quickly answered with a Try of
our own. It played out like this throughout the match
as they would score and then we would also. The first
half was marked with try’s by Senior back captain
Rachel Baker, and Sadie Lagle, then Angena LeBarre
with the conversion kicks, we went into the half one
try ahead of the pack.
We came into the second half tired but just as driven
as when we started. We pulled ahead and took the
lead and held it to the end. We stayed strong on
defense with a full team effort. Together we pushed
through fatigue and with key scores made by pack
captain Megan Campbell, and Rachel Baker, AHO
pulled out a win on September 19th. A win that we
could not be happier about.
A team tradition of ours is to wear a rubber band around our cleats with a quote on it. The
title of this article is the quote we wore for the NC State game and expresses our dedication
not only to the sport of rugby, but to our team. If you are interested in joining the team,
please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
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The Executive Officers continue to work hard on their long- and short-term objectives
this semester. They have been working hard on their destinations every day, making the
club sports program bigger and better. Chad is now in contact with 90.5 WASU radio in
order to help get the word out about results and events going on around the club sports
program. Chad explains that it will start with a small bit during the Mountaineer
Monday Sports Pod Cast, but plans to try and have a section during the live broadcasts.
Olivia continues to look at different opportunities to boost team unity inside the
program. She is currently looking at the logistics of different types of systems that might
work for the program. Patrick is still attempting to revise the budget point section of the
Club Sports Manuel. He is trying to understand what each section means in relation to
all the different teams and tiers in order to get a better understanding of the system.
A Club Sports Council meeting was held on Wednesday, September 23. Council
Representatives continued to update the council on their games and practices. Many
teams have begun competition in Boone and across North Carolina. A big
announcement that was made at the council meeting was our participation in the First
in Flight Fight Against Hunger: NC Canned Food Competition. Schools such as UNC
Wilmington, Davidson, Duke, UNC Charlotte, NC State, Western Carolina, UNC
Greensboro, ECU, UNC Chapel Hill, and UNC Asheville will be competing against each
other to see which program can donate the most pounds of canned food per athlete in
a 30 day period. Along with pride, glory, and bragging rights, a trophy will also be given
to the winner. The 30 day period will be determined by Club Sports at a later date. The
council is looking forward to competing in this and hopes to win!
Article written by: Patrick Sekel, Club Sports Executive Officers
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