september 27th

CLUB SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDSeptember 27th, 2013

For more information on any of the club teams, visit the website:clubsports.appstate.edu

email us [email protected]

or call us at theStudent Recreation Center(828)262-2100

Director of UREC:Joe [email protected]

Director of Club Sports:Erin [email protected]

Publicity Programmer:Marcie [email protected]

Executive Officers:Jessie [email protected]

Ashley [email protected]

Tyler [email protected]

THE SEpt 27th Edition of the Club Sports Illustrated

Edited by Jason SharpeDesigned by Marcie Ried

IN THIS

ON THE COVERThe Men’s and Women’s AHO Rugby Teams hosted their annual Rucktoberfest Tournament.

Photo courtesy ofSara Beeken.

ISSUE04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12-13

14

15

16-17

18

19

Men’s baseball

women’s basketball

triathlon

women’s soccer

swimming

cycling

women’s ultimate

men’s rugby

women’s rugby

snowboarding

equestrian

men’s ultimate

Executives’ corner

Upcoming events

Men’s baseball

women’s basketball

triathlon

women’s soccer

swimming

cycling

women’s ultimate

men’s rugby

women’s rugby

snowboarding

equestrian

men’s ultimate

Executives’ corner

Upcoming events

07

“We need to work on our fielding a little as well as our hitting. If we want to be a powerhouse team in this conference, we need to have our bats swinging and our gloves flashing.” 10

14

09

16

04 CLUB SPORTS ILLUSTRATED /// September 27th, 2013

It’s fall training for the men of the club baseball team. So far, they have played a total of five games in the past two weeks; three against UNC-Chapel Hill and two against Wake Forest.

In their first series of the fall against UNC, the Mountaineers proved they could be a threat in their new conference. In the first game, Appalachian State quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, winning the game 3-1. The second game became a pitching duel with the game tied 2-2 going into extra innings. The Tarheels prevailed, with a two-run eighth inning, defeating the Mountaineers

2-4. With the series tied at one a piece, both teams were looking into winning the rubber match. The Tarheels would take the game 11-6 after the Mountaineers committed six errors. Appalachian State would end the series with a 1-2 record.

After the series against UNC, the Mountaineers looked to bounce back and sweep the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. On a wet, gloomy day, Appalachian State took the first game 7-3, while only giving up four hits to the Deacons. The second game would be a little different. Even though Wake Forest could only amass two hits, they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. But the Mountaineers would not go down easily, as they bounced back with a one-run fifth inning to cut the lead in half, and then rallied with a four-run sixth inning to take the lead and eventually win the game 5-2. With the sweep, the Mountaineers’ record improves to 3-2.

The Mountaineers are very impressed on how they are playing right now. Club baseball president Ben Duncan says he is confident in the team’s pitching and bullpen.

“We need to work on our fielding a little as well as our hitting,” Duncan said. “If we want to be a powerhouse team in this conference, we need to have our bats swinging and our gloves flashing.”

The team’s next competition won’t be until November 1 when they compete in the Greenville Tournament.

BATS SWINGING &GLOVES FLASHINGBy Patrick Sekel, Team Member

Men’s baseball

September 27th, 2013 /// CLUB SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 05

After their first tournament of the 2013 season, the Appalachian State University Women’s Club Basketball Team believes they can only get better from here. The tournament was held at Wake Forest University this past weekend, and the team won their first two games – pulling ahead of High Point in the second half, winning by 2 points in the last 2 seconds, and winning a neck-and-neck battle against Richmond. The team unfortunately lost their last two games of the tournament versus Duke and East Carolina, but they were hard-fought losses, both being within a 10-point margin. The team will not forget these losses, and will use them as motivation for when they face Duke and East Carolina again.

The team is really proud of the new team dynamic and will use the team’s current 2-2 record as motivation to improve. Practices have been intense and the team has been working hard, trying new drills and workouts to find a groove that they can be successful with. The five new players have brought new skills, qualities and ideas that will help the team to win future games. The team’s focus during their next four practices is to work on communication, defense and team chemistry.

The team’s next tournament is HOME at the SRC on October 5-6, and would love to see support from the club sports community, family and friends!

NEW TEAM DYNAMIC | By Elena Kacan, Team Member

WOMEN’s Basketball


The Triathlon Team has had a very busy practice and race schedule the past couple weeks with races in two consecutive weekends. The practice attendance and competition spirit have not been higher. The Liberty University Triathlon took place on Saturday, September 21st.

This was the first time ASU has had a showing in this race and what a showing it was! The record number of female competitors for the triathlon team was in attendance, all 6 girls started the race and all six finished. Some of the team were either competing in their first triathlon with the team or competing for the first time in the sport of triathlon. Club President, Anna Gannett, placed 3rd overall for the women. The men had a strong showing, bringing out 4 members all of which finished the race in respectable places.

The team has one final race for the fall season which is the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship in Columbia, MD, on October 6th. This race culminates the efforts of the team for this semester. It will be the first Olympic distance triathlon that team will compete in this season. The team is very excited to be the first ASU triathlon team to compete on this elevated stage. The distances will be longer but that just means the fun will last longer.

The test of training endurance and display of athleticism is what draws a particular type of person to triathlon; we, in the triathlon club, strive to achieve personal goals as well as be competitive in the conference. Train hard, race harder.

TRAIN HARD,RACE HARDERBy Teagan Miller, Team Member

TRIATHLON


By Bailey Pages, VIce President

The Appalachian State University Women’s Club Soccer Team saw some big changes last week. They officially named their new coach, Scott Smith, who has been able and willing to step in and save the day for the team. Since beginning coaching the team’s practices, the team has significantly improved, team’s overall attitude and engagement has changed as well. Women’s Club Soccer vice president, Bailey Pages, says she is excited for the rest of the season, and considers the coaching change a new beginning for the team.

The team will be able to test their improvement, since naming Smith as coach, kicking off the new era with the Hokie Classic tournament this weekend. The team’s first game is actually the most important this weekend, as it counts as a tournament game and a conference game against the University of Virginia.

The team asks for luck and support for them by attending the team’s fundraiser this Thursday at Chili’s. Contact one of the team’s officers from the ASU women’s club soccer website to receive a coupon for Chili’s that notifies employees that you are eating to support the Women’s Club Soccer Team, so that they will receive some of the proceeds.

The team also just ordered their new jerseys, and members are excited to represent the university with a fresh new look!

Photos courtesy of Alexandra King

NEW BEGINNINGS

Women’s soccer


The swim season has begun, and the team is excited! Returning swimmers, along with new members, are jumping in the pool, gearing up for a great year! The team has been holding nightly practices with awesome attendance, and expects this to be one of the team’s best years yet!

As the practices begin to get more challenging, the team is working towards winning big at the team’s Halloween

DIVING IN WITH A SPLASHInvitational that will be hosted in October, as well as winning big when participating in away meets.

The Halloween Invitational already has 12 teams signed up to compete, and with all the teams are expected to come out in their best costumes to celebrate Halloween, it is expected to be a lot of fun! Anyone interested in the team is invited to come to meets and check out the team!

By Callie Strachan, Secretary

SWIMMING


The Cycling Team has continued its dominance of the ACCC mountain bike season. Two weekends ago, the team headed to Williamsburg for a race hosted by William and Mary. In cross country, John Michael Gorum finished second in Men’s A, followed by Alex McMahon in 8th, and Matthew McCarter in 9th. They finally had a lady come along, with Lauren Macdonald finishing in 2nd place in the Women’s A. For short track, John Michael finished 2nd, and then Alex McMahon in 6th and Matthew McCarter in 9th.

This past weekend, the team headed up to West Virginia for West Virginia University’s race. The trails lived up to the state motto, “Wild and Wonderful”. They were, by far, the most technically challenging trails this season. There was heavy rain, that started Saturday around noon, and was paired with falling temperatures that didn’t make cycling any easier.

Saturday was a long day with cross-country and short track. In the cross country races, Zeb Ramsbotham won Men’s C. Gabriele Romano and Alex LeSueur placed 2nd and 3rd in Men’s B. Matthew McCarter got 3rd in Men’s A. Later that day in short track, Zeb placed 2nd for C’s, Gabriele and Kevin Quillan placed 1st and 2nd for B’s, and Miles Hubbard got 1st in A’s. Sunday had the longest race of the weekend, and lucky the rain stopped. Zeb won again in Men’s C and Miles took 2nd in Men’s A.

The Cycling Team is half way through the season with many solid results. The team is focused on winning conference. Next weekend is a race at Virginia Tech!

By Charles Ramsbotham, Team Member

CYCLING

SOLID


The Appalachian State Nonads competed in their first tournament this weekend, traveling to Charlotte to compete against UNC Asheville, Clemson, University of Virginia, and NC State.

The team brought sixteen girls to the tournament, six of which were new to the team this semester. They started off Saturday with a very close game against Clemson, resulting in a 10-8 win for the Nonads. The day progressed with each game resulting in a wider point differential than the previous one. The Nonads ended the day with an undefeated 4-0 record.

On Sunday, the Nonads started play in the second round of games, beating UVA. In the semifinals round, they lost their first and only game of the tournament in a close game against Clemson, with a score of 10-8. Overall the team took second place and did incredibly well, especially considering this was the first tournament ever for a third of the players.

One first year players stood out this week, and she should be recognized for this. Freshman, Taylor Bonds, showed incredible improvement in the past three weeks of practice and this was evident both days of the tournament, she was a great defensive asset to the team.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECTWomen’s ULTIMATE

By Ingrid Humphrey, Team Member

Men’s rugbyTOTAL DOMINATIONThe preformance of the Men’s AHO Rugby Team

while hosting Rucktoberfest.

Photos courtesy of Taylor Cross


RUCKTOBERFEST


Women’s rugby

By Kasey Furphy, Vice President

RUCKTOBERFEST


AHO Women’s Rugby had a tremendous amount of success with their matches two weeks ago. This year Rucktoberfest was the earliest it has ever been and brought twelve women’s teams together to play.

With a great deal of support from family and fans, AHO Women’s Rugby took the field against UNCW for their first match of the morning to kick off Rucktoberfest. Showing exceptional skill for only two weeks of practice, AHO came out with a win. Later they took the field against College of Charleston and successfully defeated the Lady Cougars.

The last game of the day was against UT and proved to be the toughest of the day. Tired, a little beaten and bruised, AHO Women’s Rugby won the match. This third win places AHO as undefeated and ranked number one in the tournament.

The next morning AHO hit the pitch against JMU in the semifinals. Winning against JMU brought AHO to the finals against ECU where the test of strength, endurance, and heart would be met. Not only did AHO have to play a standard match of two twenty minute halves but they also had to take the field for overtime due to a tied match. Tired, even more beaten and now definitely bruised from the five full matches, AHO took the field for ten more minutes, which felt like an eternity. In the last thirty seconds of the match, Bonnie Nguyen dove through a group of ECU players to place the ball on the ground in the try zone for the win!

After two long days and very, very competitive rugby, AHO holds the Rucktoberfest trophy up above their heads for the second year in a row. The ladies are on the move this weekend hoping to continue their winning streak at VT.


By Shannon Hildebrandt, Secretary

Although autumn is beautiful, all the Snowboarding Team can do is think about snow. Anticipation of the upcoming season is hard for any winter sport enthusiast. With many of the other leading teams posting videos of their new riders and equipment, it’s difficult to stand by, wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Even though there is not a lot of practicing, the Snowboard Team did have a BBQ to get to know some of our possible new members. There is a lot of enthusiasm for the team! There has been quite a few new people that are just as excited about the team as the returning racers are. It’s easy to get to know the new kids because snowboarding has such a universal language. The sport looks so basic from the outside but there is a lot that goes into carving down the mountain or hitting a jump. The smallest of motions make a big difference.

Talking about dues, officer meetings, and collecting paperwork sometimes makes it hard to remember how much fun the season will be. Reflecting on the past year, the graduated seniors are going to be missed. The new class is from different places with varying levels of experience. Hearing a story from something epic a rider did is always a ton of fun, but it’s also cool to get a person who has never ridden but can’t wait to learn.

DESIRES TO HIT THE SLOPES

Basically what it comes down to for the team right now is watching technique videos, talking a lot of smack, learning some new names, and getting gear tuned to be ready to hit the slopes when the snow returns.

SNOWBOARDING


Three weeks of practicing in the books and the equestrian team is on a roll! On Saturday, September 14th, the Dressage team traveled to the first horseshow of the season, hosted by Wake Forest University. Teams competing were Appalachian State, Virginia Intermont, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University. All riders had exceptional rides on their horses, including Kaitlin Booe and Marisa Bumgardner, who made their IDA debuts at Lower Training Level and Introductory Level, respectively. Upper Training rider, Alex Jonker, received 3rd place in her division, while Lower Training rider, Cassie Strobel, won both her division and High Point Rider of the Show with a high score of 71%. The Dressage team will be showing October 13th and 20th at

Dressage Captain Nikka Hronis competing

Virginia Tech and Virginia Intermont, and will be hosting a show on Sunday, October 27.

In addition, the IHSA Hunt Seat Team is heading to Virginia Tech Sunday, September 29th to bring home some blue ribbons! In the equestrian world, placing works by receiving ribbons which equates to a certain number of points. For example, if you win your class, you receive a blue ribbon, which in IHSA, equals 7 points. The goal is to reach 32 points in your level, then you can move up into the next division. Our Hunt Seat Team consists of these 8 riders: Morgan Erlenbach, Ali Ranson, Haley McCune, Chloe Paddison, Alison Davis, Lex Lott, April Kaiser, and Miranda Horton. We wish these ladies luck as they begin they kick off their show season!

ON A ROLL

Equestrian

By Pressley Laton, Team Member


MEN’s ULTIMATE


By Austin Olive, Team Member

The first tournament of the Nomads’ season has come and gone. This past weekend, the Nomads traveled to Clemson, South Carolina to play against regional opponents. With a whopping 30-man roster attending, the team split up into two teams, X and Y. Both teams had their ups and downs throughout the weekend, laying out and making huge plays. The Y team ended up finishing in fifth place out of sixteen teams.

This tournament was a great learning experience for all those involved, and the team learned a lot about what they need to work on and what we need to expect from other teams this season. All of the first year-players and rookies were beyond excited to participate in their first tournament with the team, and the team named freshman Mikko Rich-Voorhees most valuable player for the weekend for his outstanding and consistent performance.

The Nomads’ next tournament, the Virginia Yeti, is two weekends away in Axton, Virginia. The team will most likely send split squads to this tournament as they did in the previous tournament in order to get everyone as much playtime as possible. During the fall, emphasis is placed on developing the new players and getting them into the game. The Nomads are looking forward to what the next few weeks have to offer the growing program.

LEARNINGFROM X & Y

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Executives’ CornerA WORD FROM ASHLEYBy Ashley Cutrell, Alpine Ski Team

Wednesday, September 25th, marked the third Club Sports Council meeting of the year! The Club Sports Representatives and the Club Sports Executives have been working hard and have made important decisions early in the year. On Wednesday, the Council discussed the updates of every team. All 20 teams are well into their season and doing very well in practices and games! We spoke about Strategic Plan Priorities regarding how to make our Appalachian State campus more accessible for educational purposes, student involvement, resources, and etc. We also broke into committees and continued the progress of the committee projects. The committees are Fundraising, Updating Budgetary Allocations, Publicity Events, and Team Unity. Club Sports has over 700+ student athletes and is still growing because of our Council meetings!

CLUB SPORTS ILLUSTRATED /// September 27th, 2013

Upcoming eventsMark your calendars + support

your fellow mountaineers


SEPT 29:WOMEN’S LACROSSE Home Tournament, State Farm FieldsWOMEN’S RUGBY Game at Virginia TechMEN’S RUGBY Game at State Farm FieldsCYCLING Race at Virginia Tech

OCT 5:WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Home Tournament at the SRCMEN’S RUGBY Game at State Farm Fields

OCT 6:WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Home Tournament at the SRC TRIATHLON Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship at Columbia, MD

OCT 13:EQUESTRIAN Showing at Virginia TechMEN’S + WOMEN’S RUGBY Alumni Match at State Farm Fields

OCT 20:EQUESTRIAN Showing at Virginia Intermont

OCT 27:EQUESTRIAN Hosting the Intercollegiate Dressage Association Show at Foothills Equestrian Center, Hickory, NC

NOV 1: EQUESTRIAN Show in Greenville, SCMEN’S BASEBALL Greenville Tournament

NOV 9-10: ULTIMATE Blue Ridge Blowout at State Farm FieldsFENCING Tournament at the Quinn Recreation Center

september 27th

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