Club Sports Illustrated, October 9th Edition

CLUB SPORTS

ILLUSTRATED SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

For more information on any of the club teams, visit the website:

clubsports.appstate.edu

email us at:

club sports@appstate.edu

or call us at the

Student Recreation Center (828)262-2100

Director of UREC:

Joe Carter carterjr@appstate.edu

Director of Club Sports:

Erin Sanders sandersec1@appstate.edu

Coordinaters for Competitive Sports:

Chris Carr carrcp@appstate.edu

Heather Marshall marshallha@appstate.edu

Executive Officers:

Chad Deaver deaverce1@appstate.edu

Olivia Chason chasonom@appstate.edu

Patrick Sekel sekelp@appstate.edu

October 9th Edition of Club Sports Illustrated

Photo taken at the rock climbing wall at the SRC.

In This Issue Gearing Up

Alpine Ski

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Shooting For Success

Archery

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4

“What Really Do We Do?”

Equestrian

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5

First Game Jitters

Women’s Basketball ----------------------------------

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Let’s Meet Allie

Lacrosse

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A Moist Week in Ultimate

Women’s Ultimate

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Appalachian Archery Club

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10

Once AHO Always AHO

Women’s Rugby

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Appalachian State Racers

Alpine Ski

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13

Executive Corner

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Alpine Ski Gearing Up

The Appalachian State Alpine Ski Team is eager to bring in the Fall Season. Returning members and new members have been working to improve their skiing skills even before the snow begins to fall. At dry land training we have been working hard to improve our endurance, agility, and flexibility. Along with physical conditioning the ski team has been working on team building.

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One dry land event the ski team has participated in is using our faculty advisor’s Trikke. The Trikke is a tricycle which allows skiers to work on their form for making precise turns. Along with a Trikke session, we have been playing indoor soccer to encourage agility and team building. As we continue to prepare for this ski season, our eagerness grows for the first winter storm. We are only months away from our first event!

Shooting for Success Archery

Article By: Elizabeth ‘Echo” McMichael Traditional Coach

Archery Club has gotten off to an incredible start this semester!

Having just completed our second practice of the semester, our new recruits are starting to feel at home and truly appreciate the wonder of archery. Last year, Byron Burrell, our former president, took the lead in transitioning archery to a club sport status. This year, our current president, April Ormand will lead the team to graduate from a probationary status to an official club sport.

Our club is lead by several great student coaches that teach traditional archery and compound shooting. Every practice, new and returning members of the club learn proper shooting technique, as well as handy tips and tricks to improve stance and shooting ability. Our bi-weekly meetings primarily cover planning, the logistics of practice, and team-building activities. We focus on building camaraderie, trust, and sportsmanship between all members involved in our organization.

We have also, organized a Homecoming Committee to help plan and facilitate Homecoming activities such as the banner contest and the Homecoming parade. The Executive board is really proud to see everyone work together. We have a great team dynamic and it is exciting to see new members become leaders.

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As we move into a steady schedule of meetings and practices, we reflect on how much archery means to us.

Getting to learn about different styles and experiences of the people within the club and getting to teach what we know to people that want to learn makes our club involvement so much more meaningful. Every time we practice, we can see our members becoming better and more passionate about our sport.

Every day the connection within our team becomes stronger and every day we shoot, we feel a joy in our hearts we can’t find anywhere else. We are a team that is growing together. We are so proud to be Appalachian Archers!

The Equestian Team Article By: Savannah Mathis

Photo By: Sophia Twarog

“What Really Do We Do?”

When people think of the equestrian team, they generally assume that we are all just “a bunch of girls” who run a horse around a ring and jump things. And, if one did not know, than this would be a perfectly reasonable assumption! Though this is certainly a very large component of the equestrian world, there is much more to it. In fact, the equestrian team is subdivided into three different and completely unique teams: dressage, hunt seat, and western.

Each of these teams have their own unique styles that require specific saddles, horses, and coaching.

Traditionally, hunt seat is the most common area. As a tradition, it is based off of fox hunting! It is part of what is known as the English discipline. People who ride hunt seat are the riders who often go over fences, or jumps. There are two components to hunt seat: over fences and on the flat. Going over fences means that you are jumping, where as riding on the flat means without jumps. Both of these are judged typically on how well the rider executes the course and how the horse looks.

The saddle for hunt seat is much smaller than that of western but is much like a dressage saddle—with only a few subtle differences to the trained eye. When showing, hunt seat riders typically wear breeches (a type of fitting pant,) a white shirt, a jacket, and tall boots. Here at Appalachian, our hunt seat coach is Sarah Klassett—instructor at Foothills equestrian center in Taylorsville, NC.

Dressage: the discipline where horses dance, or so the perception is! According to the dictionary, dressage is “the art of riding and training a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance.”

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If you have ever seen the Lipizzaner horses at your local convention center, then you have seen one of the most high, spectacular levels of dressage that there is. Dressage requires very specific communication between the horse and rider. This will lead to skills such as moving diagonally and to the side (lateral movements,) trotting in place (piaffes), or pirouettes. The clothing for dressage is much like that of hunt seat, but traditionally, dressage riders where white breeches instead of khaki or grey. The Appalachian State dressage coach is Dana Dewey, owner of Foothills Equestrian Center.

Perhaps western is the discipline where there is the most grey area. Western riding encompasses many different activities: traditional trail riding, barrel racing, pole bending, calf roping, cattle sorting, western pleasure, western horsemanship, and even others! The western team here at school focuses solely on western horsemanship, however. In western horsemanship, the rider is judged on things like stature, placement of arms and legs, speed and control of the horse, and how well certain commands are executed (backing up, turning, etc.) In addition, western horsemanship riders are required to complete patterns on their horses that are memorized just a few minutes prior to going into the show ring.

Western saddles are much bigger than English saddles and generally have ornate patterns embossed into the leather. Western horsemanship riders generally wear cowboy boots, full western chaps, and a show shirt (which can vary from being plain to very elaborate with jewels and rhinestones.)

The AppState western coach is Crosby Reed—owner of Mimosa Hill Farms of Morganton, NC.

The dressage team is part of the Intercollegiate Dressage Association and the hunt seat and western team are part of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

Photo By: Larissa Jenkins

First Game Jitters

This past weekend, the App State women’s basketball club played in their very first tournament.

The stakes were high in the tournament, and App State came in second overall! Many fans surrounded the Student Recreation Center to cheer on the home team!

The girls played a count of two games on Saturday and three games on Sunday. On Saturday, the team played UNC and UNCG. They lost both games in two hard fought battles.

The girls were disappointed that they lost, but it only made them more ready and excited to get out there the next day and get back into the tournament. First game jitters definitely were apparent the first day of the tournament, but the coaches made alterations to change the luck on Sunday.

On Sunday, the girls played NC State first, and won within 10 points. It was a close game untill the last five minutes. NC State is not a stranger to the Mountaineers; it is always a nail biter every time these two teams meet. The girls had decided that at that point, losing was not an option for them. The next game they played was UNC again, and the team was looking for some revenge. At the final buzzer, the game was tied. The two teams went into overtime, and App State pulled it out with another victory to head to the championship game!

After playing two games in a row, it was time to play their third. The girls pushed through as hard as they could but came up short in their last game against Virginia Tech. They finished second overall and were proud of what they accomplished!

Go ‘Neers!

Article By: Jordan Cobb -Secretary

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Let’s Meet Allie!

Women’s Lacrosse Spotlight Player

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Article By: Emma Evans

It’s been a rainy week with little happening for women’s lacrosse; however, we have a new player we would like to introduce you all to. Her name is Allie Poust, and she transferred to App State this year from Fresno State, a University in California. She has quite an extensive background with lacrosse which has developed her into a great player.

Allie has been playing lacrosse since she was in first grade, which makes this her fifteenth consecutive year on the field. She is from Maryland where lacrosse is much more developed and popular compared to North Carolina. Just like residents in North Carolina may drive past a pickup basketball game, Maryland residents could easily drive by pickup lacrosse. This definitely helped her become really engaged in the sport.

When she got to high school, she made the varsity team her freshman year. As she went on to be a junior, she became a team captain for that year as well as her senior year. By her senior year, she had also been playing for the Greene Turtle Lacrosse Club for six years.

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Photos By: Allie Poust

Club teams are a great way to get noticed by colleges looking for players to recruit because huge tournaments are held. These tournaments place many good lacrosse individuals all in one area, which was helpful for giving her an opportunity to continue lacrosse in college.

Allie did get noticed by recruiters during her time in high school, and committed to play for Fresno State, a Division 1 school in athletics. She spent her freshman year there, and started as an attack player in all thirteen games of their season. Although she excelled in her time at Fresno State, she wanted to be a fermentation science major which she didn’t see much of an opportunity for at her current school.

She became interested in App State’s program, and soon fell in love with the people in Boone as well.

She transferred here to finish up her schooling, and decided she wanted to play for the club team here along the way to enjoy some easygoing and fun lacrosse. We have loved having her play for us, and we hope to enjoy another successful year with her along with the rest of our team!

A Moist Week in Ultimate Women’s Ultimate

Moist, soggy, damp, soaked, drenched, saturated, wet, sopping …whatever floats your boat. Ultimate Frisbee and whichever of those words you decided upon have pretty much been synonymous for the Nonads for the past ten days. The rain started during the late game of league (where the Nonads and Nomads come together to play with people from all over Boone), and never really stopped; but neither did the Nonads. Since our practices have been moved to Kid Brewer Stadium, which just so happens to be covered in plastic pretending to be grass (turf) and little turf turds (those annoying black rubber beads that get everywhere), Photo by: T-Money there was no need to cancel. We pushed out long and hard practices in the rain.

Appstate Women’s Ultimate was super stoked to play in a tournament at One thing that the Nonads tend to have Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA this weekend, but unfortunately they had on their side as an advantage over other to settle for dancing around in the rain in Boone. The tournament was schools we compete against, is the ability to play in pretty much any condition. We canceled due to high winds and rain. The disc is very susceptible to going in the complete opposite direction you wanted it to in wind. Since winds play in snow, ice, rain, wind, and pretty were supposed to remain above 15mph with the addition of pouring rain much anything else, because you don’t really have any other choice when you live (which makes the disc as easy to catch as a pig covered in lard), Liberty decided to cancel in order to preserve player sanity. Even though we in Boone. missed this tournament, the team is working hard, and getting ready for the Wolfpack tournament at NC Sate during fall break. Appstate is going Article By: Lindsey Rotche to show all those teams what these Boone kids are really about. Be ready for some upsets as the Nonads take the field and show what all of these practices in the rain have amounted to.

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Appalachian Archery Club Article By: Rebekah Knight

Last year was my very first year at Appalachian State; I was a transfer student frantically looking for something to get involved with, and my saving grace turned out to be something I didn’t expect: the Appalachian Archery club.

Upon inquiry, I discovered that I didn’t need any equipment or experience to be a part of this organization (which was great because I had neither of those things). I went to a few meetings, then a few practices, and it quickly became apparent to me that this club was playing a bigger role in my school career than I would ever have expected. By the time the 2015 spring semester rolled around, I had become secretary of the archery club, was helping the club apply for club sports status, had travelled to a shooting event with my club, and had even become skilled enough to not miss the target every time I released an arrow.

Since being accepted into the Club Sports organization, so many new doors of opportunity have opened up for us. With our new (albeit probationary) status, we can now compete against other collegiate archery teams and represent our school! We’re so excited and honored to be able to compete for and represent this school we love so much, and we hope to do this institution proud.

This is an accomplishment we worked very hard for last year, and we hope that this achievement will create an even better club and environment for all future archers in Appalachian Archery.

The people I have found in this club have simply been the most amazing people.

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Photo By: Byron Burrell

We have every different skill level all in one place: some of our archers can consistently shoot bulls-eyes at 40-50 yards, and some of our archers have never before picked up a bow. We’re all incredibly diverse, with differing opinions on everything from politics (although anyone caught supporting Donald Trump will be politely asked to leave) to our favorite fast food restaurants (rumor has it that the cool people prefer Taco Bell, but you didn’t hear that from me). The point is that we don’t let the differences divide or define us. We all shoot different kinds of bows (traditional and compound), with different kinds of draw lengths and weights, shooting styles (left handed vs. right handed), and skill levels. But we all treat each other the same: encouraging, supporting, and giving constructive criticism here and there (advising someone to not lose your arrows counts as constructive criticism). We have some of the most patient coaches, some of the most dedicated executive board members, and some of the most passionate club members you’ll ever meet, and I can honestly say that joining archery club is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my school career. If you’ve ever wanted to try archery, or even if you just want to meet some of the most amazing people ever, come on out and give it a shot.

Once AHO Always AHO Women’s Rugby

This past weekend AHO celebrated homecoming with our alumni. As a team we were quite excited; despite the rain we got to see many of our old friends. We had a great time catching up and recounting old stories.

We have always appreciated our alumni, but this year we have agreed to move forward with the establishment of an AHO Women’s rugby Alumni Association. Having asked around for interest throughout the weekend, the executive team members feel that this is our clubs next step. A quote from one alumni is “AHO was my family, and I just want to fund that experience for someone else.”

Showing from this past weekend, there isn’t enough that any member of AHO can say about how they care for this team. By evidence of how strong we are as a family, on and off the field, despite rain, injuries, backgrounds, and aspirations, we know we always have something to come back to.

By: Mikhala Dougher Secretary

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Pictures Submitted by: Melissa Manderbach

This weekend, weather permitting, we hope to play UNCC and Virginia Tech. The games are each 60 minutes long, so this week the focus is on fitness and strong defense. UNCC will be a good rivalry. After having beat us last matrix season, we are excited to play them again stronger than ever. For V-Tech, they will be the second DI school that we have the opportunity to play against. They play a very physical offense, so making our tackles and holding strong on the defensive line will be most important.

AHO Women are going into this weekend undefeated, and the plan is to keep it that way. Games start at 12:00 p.m. at State Farm Fields, Saturday October 10th. If you have an interest in playing, please contact ahowrfc@gmail.com

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Appalachian State Racers Alpine Ski

Article By: Dylan Cross Club Sports Representative

When the competitive ski season starts, the Appalachian State racers will be competing in two types of events; Giant Slalom and Slalom. Members of the team are often asked what the differences between the two are. In some ways the two events are similar, but they also have their differences.

When competing in a Giant Slalom event, often referred to as GS, the racer has more momentum then in a Slalom event. This is because the gates are spread further apart compared to Slalom. With gates spread further apart, the skier has a faster line and can make turns earlier. It is important to continue to start turns early. Making late turns will result in a longer run and will effect the racers place. Giant Slalom racers often use longer skis, which helps to maintain momentum down the slope.

Slalom is much more technical then GS. In Slalom, the racer must make sharper, faster turns. People who have watched ski racing before often identify Slalom as the event where the racers hit and knock down the gates.

That is a correct identification, but it is important that the racer does not reach for the gate, but picks a line which allows them to ski close enough to the gate that they must hit it. When racing Slalom, racers often ski on shorter skis which allows the racer to carve sharper turns.

As soon as the mountains open all members of the Appalachian State Ski Team will be practicing for both Giant Slalom and Slalom events.

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Executive Corner Article By: Chad Deaver- Club Sports Executive Officer

The executives continue to work hard to help teams with any issues that come up, and help teams prepare for travel and competitions. Chad has been communicating with WASU radio and The Appalachian to get more publicity for teams and Club Sports as a whole. The goal is to have Club Sports featured both on the radio and in the newspaper every week. Olivia has been working on an incentive program to get teams to go out and support each other. Some potential ideas she has brainstormed are T-shirts, budget points, or an end of the year award to the team that attends the most events. Patrick continues to evaluate the budget point system to make it more fair and easier to understand for every team. The executives continue to learn and grow with the Club Sports program here at App, and are enjoying their opportunity to help and improve the App State community through Club Sports.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT CLUB SPORTS GO TO CLUBSPORTS.APPSTATE.EDU follow us on twitter: @asuclubsports like us on facebook: facebook/appstateclubsports