In This Issue Executive Corner
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Women’s Lacrosse
15
Officer Profiles: Nikko
Charleston Chillin
Alpine Ski 4
Snowboarding 16
Trikke Sessions
Road Trip
Women’s Basketball
6
Tennis 19
Next Stop UNCG
Nationals At Hilton Head
Cycling 9
Triathlon 20
Nationals At Snowshoe
Ambitions
Equestrian 10
Men’s Ultimate 23
Say Hay
Rome Wasn’t Built In One Day
Fencing 13 Officer Sportlight
November 4th Edition of Club Sports Illustrated Designed And Published by Ian Hensley, Edited by: Kristen Pool UREC Publicity Programmers Articles by App State Students
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
EXECUTIVE CORNER
Nikko Weeman
OFFICER PROFILES: NIKKO My name is Nikko Weeman and I am one of the three Executive Officers for the 2016-2017 academic year. I am a junior psychology major, making me the youngest of this year’s executive officers. Aside from working in the Club Sports office, I am a member of the AHO Men’s Rugby team. Within AHO, I play flanker and hook and, administratively, I am a former Club Sports Representative. At the moment, I don’t hold any other officer position on the team so I can focus on my role as an Executive Officer; however, in the future, I aspire to be elected Vice-President of the team so I can put my knowledge of the program to good use. As I previously mentioned, I am a psychology major with a concentration in natural science. In the future, I hope to get a doctorate in Clinical Psychology or do some work with behavior science, but not after I take some time to gain some work experience prior to graduate school. It’s my hope that, with my experience, I can help my future patients cope with their issues and, intrinsically, find
a solution to better their lives. In addition to being a full-time student, I am also a member of the North Carolina National Guard. Currently, I have been in the Guard for just shy of two years. In the Guard, I serve as a supply specialist (92Y), where I am in charge of maintaining, inventorying and resupplying equipment. Personally, I see being in the Guard as a smaller detail in the grand scheme of what my life turns out to be; however, the Army has taught me a lot that has helped me along the way. For example, at the core of the Army’s values is duty, which is essentially completing whatever task I’m given in a timely manner and to the best of my ability. Just for fun, a random fact about me is that the word “y’all” freaks me out. I’m not sure what it is about the word, but I cringe a little every time I hear it.
Article By: Nikko Weeman
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Alpine Ski
Willis
Dr. Witold Kosmala
Dr. Witold Kosmala
Dr. Witold Kosmala
TRIKKE SESSIONS Being a member of the Alpine Ski Team here at Appalachian State means having to wait until January for our season to begin. That means a whole semester of looking out your window just waiting for the first snowflake to fall. As a team we have figured out numerous ways to pass this time, the most popular of them being Trikke sessions with our faculty advisor, Dr. K. We incorporate these sessions into our dry land practices that we have every week. A Trikke is a three-wheeled scooter that is powered by a motor or through a person’s own body power. Instead of turning the handlebars to steer you lean into the turn causing the scooter lean with you while also propelling you forward. The Trikke is not just a fun scooter that we get to play on as team, the movements that we do while riding the scooter translate to the slopes and help us with our turns during our races. The angle that our legs are at when we are turning the Trikke is a similar motion and angle that is used when we are racing on the slopes.
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Dr. Witold Kosmala
Dr. K sets up cones that resemble the way that a slalom course would be set up. All this happens on a flat surface but because of the way we move our legs we are able to pick up speed and propel ourselves forward without actually pushing off the ground. Skiing is a lot of muscle memory, so doing this in the off season helps our muscles know the form that we need to have when we are actually skiing. Although the ski team cannot actually do any skiing until January, we find a way to practice and keep our skills up so we do not fall behind in comparison to the other teams in our conference.
Article By: Courtney Forbis Secretary
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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WoMen’s Basketball
Jack Kane
Alyssa Horan
Jack Kane
NEXT STOP UNCG We’ve been practicing the past few weeks working on techniques to get ready for our next tournament at UNC Greensboro. After our experience at the past 2 tournaments, we are able to assess strategies for UNCG and are more confident in the on-court chemistry and methods now more than ever. As a team, we noticed that in order to play together the way we knew we could, we would have to go back to the basics and fundamentals. Our main weakness seems to be on the defensive end, so we have been putting forth time and effort to help each other get better in that area. We have also worked on running through our plays, and executing them perfectly. This week we planned an alumni practice so we’re excited to have some older girls come back to play with us again for a practice! This should be very beneficial because it will challenge some of our newer and younger players with the experience of recent graduate play that is often times quicker and more intense. Many of the friendships from prior years are still very much prevalent and we’re excited for newer players to see and experience the relationships crafted from this club.
semester! UNCG has always been an extremely skillful team and is always great competition for our girls. President Erin Kane mentioned that “It has been so great to see how everyone has grown throughout the semester and I can’t wait to see how we do at Greensboro. It has been a fun semester on and off the court and I am excited for the rest of the year!” When asking our coach Cole Huskey about the upcoming tournament he expressed, “The hard work has been very evident and I feel we are much more prepared for this tournament than previous ones. We’ve gotten our feet warm and are ready for good competition.” With just four practices left, we will hit the ground running this week and spend a lot of preparation time next week. We are all very excited for this time to travel and spend time together and a break from the hard scholastic pressure of November. Greensboro here we come!!
We will be heading to Greensboro November 12th to play against some competitive teams and we couldn’t be more excited for our last competition until next
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Article By: ERin Kane President
Jack Kane
Rosemary Mosher
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Cycling
Matt Jones
Matt Jones
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Yates Pharr
NATIONALS AT SNOWSHOE Recently the cycling team sent 9 of our top mountain bikers to represent Appalachian at the national level. Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals were held at Snowshoe Park in West Virginia for the second year in a row, but this time with much harsher conditions. The racers battled through rain, mud, and even snow, but in the end their efforts were worth it. Races began Friday morning with the Short Track event, where riders went as hard as they could in a 25 minute sprint around a short loop with technical rock gardens and long stretches of mud. The club men went first, with Miles Hubbard finishing in an impressive 9th place, Hayden Miller taking 16th, Jacob Richard taking 25th, and Zeb Ramsbotham and Jordan Bouldin rounding out the top 30. Club women were to follow, and Annie Pharr came out with a 4th place finish and Maryann Riley holding her own in the top 25. The theme of mud continued in the downhill seeding runs that afternoon, but the trails were covered with a layer of snow by Saturday morning. Riders were bundled at the snowy Cross Country start line early Saturday morning, and even though the length was shortened due to the conditions, the races were brutal. Despite this, Miles fought hard against the mud and roots for an 8th place finish, with Hayden right behind in 12th. Jordan, Jacob, and Zeb took 28, 30, and 33 consecutively. In the women’s race, Annie took 6th and Maryann came in 16th against stout competition. That afternoon were downhill finals, and the course tested even the best riders under the peanut-butter-like conditions of the trails. Huge road gaps, root sections, rock gardens, and jumps filled the course. Despite this, Jordan came in 17th,
Hayden got 25th, Johnny Stamey got 40th, and Riley Parr took 43rd. For women, Annie came in 11th. The final day of races started with Dual Slalom qualifying, an event where two riders go head to head in a bracket elimination system. Riders race down a short dirt track with berms and jumps to see who can make it through the fastest without missing any “gates” or flags. The conditions finally warmed up and the racers were relieved to be on the start line with blue skies. The team relay was next, and teams went as hard as they could for one lap each to claim the title of fastest team. We entered Miles, Jordan, Annie, and Maryann as our four relay riders, and our team worked hard for a third place finish. In the Dual Slalom finals that afternoon, Hayden made it through qualifying and finished 12th, while Annie finished 9th for women. Hayden and Annie placed 3rd and 4th in individual omnium, which is tallied from total points when a rider competes in every race offered. The most exciting news of the weekend was that as a whole, the team placed 3rd out of all 51 club teams that attended. All the hard work is worth it when you get to stand on the podium with your teammates, and we can’t wait to see what kind of strong results our team will be able to bring in the seasons we have to come.
Article By: Annie Pharr President
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Equestrian
Employee
Olivia Moran
What do Equestrians say? Hay It is the magical time of year when the air becomes crisp and the Blue Ridge Mountains transform into a breathtaking array of reds and oranges. Fall is here, and those at Appalachian take this season way more seriously than most other schools do. The changing colors create a picturesque setting that one can only take advantage of and the local farmers do all they can to add to the Halloween mood. This means hayrides, pumpkin patches, and corn mazes and naturally the Equestrian team did all of these things. While it may have been hotter than usual, the sun and scenery made for a wonderful afternoon at Harvest Farm located in Valle Crucis. Around 20 members of the team joined in on the festivities which were kicked off with a hayride. The hay ride took us through a river and around the property down to the massive corn maze. The team split up into three groups and were tasked with finding six pieces of a map hidden throughout the maze. The team that won would be able to individually pick whichever
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pumpkins they wanted. The stakes were high and the groups ran through the maze in search of the map pieces. The maze was way bigger and more difficult than expected and after about 45 minutes the groups came together as one and completed the maze. As one big group, everyone became a winner and was able to pick their pumpkin of choice. With pumpkins picked and a setting sun everyone relaxed and took pictures beside the old barn. The farm served as an excellent way for the team to bond and grow closer together. Everyone had a blast and got to hang out with friends who share the common bond of horseback riding. Team bonding at its finest. Now, the team looks forward to continuing practicing and competing in the near future, and for sure some pumpkin carving!
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Article By: Hampton Kennedy Vice President
Olivia Moran
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Fencing
Trevor Moody
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Patrick Arsena
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
SIFA
OFFICER SPOTLIGHT This week, I thought it would be fun to dedicate our article to the officers, who work so hard to make our team a success! Suryaveer Singh, our President, is a junior biology major from Cary, North Carolina. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and exploring Boone. He fences sabre and is also a member of the Mountaineer Rowing Team. A fun fact about Suryaveer is that he used to live in Switzerland. Originally from Livingston, New Jersey, our Vice President, Maria Cilenti, is a sophomore exercise science major. Outside of the fencing team, her campus involvement includes playing the piccolo for the marching band. She fences épée and also speaks Italian.
Patrick Arsena is our Club Council Representative. He is from Durham, North Carolina and majors in computer science. Some fun facts about Patrick are that he began fencing in high school and is also a member of App’s Ultimate Frisbee team. You can also find him working as a dishwasher at Pepper’s. Lastly, my name is Lauren Brackett and I am the Public Relations Officer. I’m a sophomore foilist from Charlotte, North Carolina and my major is elementary education. Some fun facts about me are that I have a twin sister and my favorite food is sushi. I’m also a Chair of Public Relations for the Appalachian Educators. Overall, we have a great group of officers and I’m excited to see what the rest of our year holds!
Trevor Moody, our Secretary, is a sophomore sabrist from Morganton, North Carolina. He is majoring in journalism. A fun fact about Trevor is that he is a member of App’s debate team.
Article By: Lauren Brackett Our Treasurer is Evan Zuercher, a senior accounting Public Relations Officer major. Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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WoMen’s Lacrosse
Marg Griggs
Emma Bouma
Laura Smith
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Rachel Long
CHARLESTON CHILLIN The Women’s Lacrosse team spent the weekend of October 21-23rd enjoying the city of Charleston! We competed against the college of Charleston on Saturday - the game resulted in a Charleston victory: 14-12. What the score did not show was the excellent communication, proficiency in groundballs, and amazing transitions. We have already turned this loss into a win by working on mistakes made during the game. I know all of the officers are so proud of this team for working so hard and not letting the fact we did not have subs get in their way. A huge shout out to Michelle Zaremba who stepped into the goal for the first time as our goalie, after our usual goalie, the lovely Sam Yantz was injured. Amazing job Michelle! Mad props yo!! Aside from playing lacrosse, our team had the chance to explore the city of Charleston. We enjoyed a team dinner downtown, and nights at the hotel brought plenty of time to bond as a team. We splurged at Forever 21, befriended locals, enjoyed late night
Jimmy Johns, made memories from simply finding new cobblestone streets to explore, and even found a treehouse to enjoy! We head to East Carolina University on November 4th to start another fun weekend of lacrosse and team bonding!! Our game schedule includes playing North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and James Madison University. These teams will all bring tough competition and we look forward to playing hard and having fun. In preparation for this fun-filled weekend we start our competition week with a Halloween themed practice! Let’s go lady laxers!
Article By: Maddie Marcellino Club Sports representative
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Snowboarding
Stephanie Shapiro
ROad Trip The year has finally kicked off for the App State Snowboard Team! Although there isn’t any snow quite yet, our team has been proactive in our quest to hit the slopes. Earlier in October, the team took its first road trip. Heading north into Virginia, we found Liberty University. Snowflex has a unique base of artificial snow, misted by water and a high performance synthetic system to help snowboarders practice terrain-park in the off season. Initially, the teams struggled, but after a few trial runs we began to catch on to the strange AstroTurf-like slope. We got to practice our gnarly tricks in preparation for the upcoming season. The team is looking solid in the park and we will soon be giving the other schools a run for their money!
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The team is biting at the bit in the hopes that snow will shower down. In the meantime, we have been having weekly meetings. They provide social events to help ensure all our gnarcats go into this season with strong support for each other. Our competitive prospect for this season is promising and we are ready to show the other schools just how talented our Mountaineer family really is. Until the snowfall‌.
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Article By: Gabriel Duff Vice President
Jonathan Williford
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Tennis
kyle Kennedy
kyle Kennedy
kyle Kennedy
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
kyle Kennedy
Nationals At Hilton Head The club tennis team traveled to Hilton Head this past weekend to compete in the Tennis on Campus Fall Invitational. Tennis on Campus is our national organization that organizes local, regional, and national tournaments for co-ed club tennis teams. The Fall Invitational we competed in was a national tournament that hosted 36 teams from across the country. This was the first time our team has played in the Fall Invitational, which is a huge accomplishment for our club by itself. We competed extremely hard throughout the weekend, but suffered some tough losses to Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, Virginia, and Colorado School of Mines. However, we ended the tournament on a strong note with wins over UNC Charlotte and Western Kentucky, posting an overall record of 2-4. This tournament was also an incredible bonding experience that brought us closer as a team. Hanging out with each other all weekend, taking a trip to the beach, going out for team dinners, and socializing with other teams all added up to be an amazing time, regardless of the results. That is one of the
reasons why we all enjoy playing a club sport so much. Not only do we get to play the sport we love competitively, but we also get to spend time off the court with some of our best friends. The club tennis team became a part of the Club Sports program at App State just this year and had only been a club on campus for one-year prior. We proved this past weekend that even though we are a new team, we could compete with and even beat the more established teams. Our next tournament is the North Carolina Tennis on Campus State Tournament on November 19th-20th in Greensboro, NC. We are very eager to compete in this event and hopeful that we will do well against the other teams in the state.
Article By: Kyle Kennedy president
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Triathlon
Ambitions I set a goal for myself when I first started triathlon. My goal was to complete a longer triathlon each year for four years. This was three years ago. At the time, people thought I was crazy (some still do). I had very little swimming or cycling experience. I didn’t even have a bike at the time. Not to mention my fitness. I was two years into college and hadn’t been exercising to the same extent that I had been in high school when I was playing sports year-round. And I was talking about completing a 140.6-mile triathlon, one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world, in four years? Regardless, I saw it as an opportunity to build up to it, so I set the goal. Since then, triathlon has developed into a passion of mine. My first year I completed a Sprint triathlon, my second year an International triathlon, and my third year (this year) a Half-Ironman triathlon. Three years ago I would have laughed at myself to think that I could complete an Ironman triathlon, but by setting bigger goals each year I am almost there.
As a team, we’ve trained together, traveled together, eaten together, laughed together, and encouraged one another. It doesn’t matter if it is your 1st sprint triathlon or your 5th Ironman triathlon. Experiencing triathlon with friends makes it so much more exciting.
For those interested in getting involved in triathlon but don’t know where to start, I give you two pieces of advice: First, set a goal. I hear people all the time saying, “Oh, I could never do that” or “That’s impossible.” The only way you can ever know for sure is if you try. I think that you would be surprised at what the results of a little bit of confidence and a little bit more of discipline can do. And second, find a team. I’ve done triathlons by myself, and they aren’t as exciting as the ones I’ve done with others. It can be an organization, a club, or even a small group of friends, but find others that will encourage you to accomplish your goals and struggle alongside you. This will also challenge you to exceed the limits of what you I attribute my success to the support of a great team thought was possible. Setting goals and finding a and community of triathletes. I would say that my team to help you achieve those goals will pay off and team is one of the best parts about triathlon. I came to be well worth it in the end. I challenge you to give Appalachian State University wanting to get involved triathlon a shot. in a club sport, so I considered my options while scanning through the list of 20+ club sport teams. I knew I liked triathlon, but I also liked other sports. I decided to try out the triathlon club, and I’m glad I did. Over the next year I got to know the people that would soon become some of my best friends.
Article By: Ryan Blount President
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
Ryan Blount
Judith Medrano
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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Men’s Ultimate
nick simpson
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Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
nick simpson
nick simpson
Rome Wasn't Built In One Day They say Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. If that is the case, then call us the whole pasta salad bar. The Nomads traveled to Richmond, Virginia to face off against some of the toughest teams northwest of present day Spartanburg, South Carolina. The squad rolled in five cars deep with some key drivers stepping up and willing to make the drive. Shout out to Logan Murrow for leaving at two in the morning on Saturday to be on time for the warm up at seven! The first game of the tournament was against the always groovy Virginia Cavaliers. With the sun rising up over the tree line, lighting Benj Thomsen’s hair like a fiery halo, we took a tough loss but not without a good fight. The second game of the day was won in classic Nomad style, high energy and high fives. The third game was a clinic, not much more to add. The fourth game hit us like a ton of bricks, no renovation. On the first day we went a meager 2-2. Second day though, my heavens don’t get me started. You just don’t go broke putting
money in the bank kids. First game on Sunday was against George Mason. Nomads come out on stifling defense, knocking down any flying discs in range. W. Second game we faced Floodwall, a local club team with some not so local talent. Took the L, but hey, you have to take an L once in awhile or else there wouldn’t be 26 letters in the alphabet. Last game of the day was against VCU. Yeah, that VCU, the one that made it to the final four a couple years back in the inferior sport of basketball. I think two words can sum up that game: dominance and precision. The Nomads wound up taking 3rd place overall and definitely had the most fun for the weekend. Now we rest up for a few weeks before we host our home tournament, the “Boone Blowout”. It should be legendary so all you reading this make sure to come out and support. Thank you for your time and it has been an honor to report this to you.
Article By: Myles Grady Secretary
Club Sports Illustrated | November 4th, 2016
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LEARN MORE ABOUT CLUB SPORTS GO TO CLUBSPORTS.APPSTATE.EDU
Executive Officers
Nikko Weeman weemannk@appstate.edu
Angena LeBarre lebarreac@appstate.edu
Sophie Twarog twarogsr@appstate.edu
Coordinators for Competitive Sports:
Chris Carr carrcp@appstate.edu
Eric Horth horther@appstate.edu
Director of UREC: Joe Carter carterjr@appstate.edu
Assistant Director for IM + Club Sports: Erin Sanders sandersec1@appstate.edu
@AppStateClubSports
@AppStClubSports
Club sports@appstate.edu | (828)262-2100