Sports Editor David Warrington chronicles his time cheering on the Hawkeyes — and his aunt, Lisa Bluder.
OPINION PAGE 3
CAMPUS LIFE
UNI Out of the Darkness Walk surpasses goal of $10,000 for suicide prevention.
CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 5
At the March 27 UNI Faculty Senate meeting, it was announced that UNI will be taking the next steps to transition the UNI Bookstore to being operated by a third party.
UNI acquired the bookstore in 2018. The intention was that operating the bookstore as a not-for-profit entity through the university would allow them to offer the lowest textbook prices for students.
However, according to Director of University Relations Pete Moris, due to recent changes in the textbook industry, operating through a third party may now allow for lower pricing.
“There’s a handful of rather large players on the market, and they have an advantage in terms of the volume of [bookstores] that they do across a number of colleges and universities, which really puts them in a better position
to negotiate in terms of pricing, selection and a number of other items,” Moris said.
“The biggest thing that we’re trying to ensure is that we’re in a position as a university where we’re getting the power that some of these pro-
viders have in terms of their leverage, their access to the marketplace and their buying power in the marketplace,” he said.
The current timeline is to have a request for proposal (RFP) out in May, which
would allow different vendors to bid on operating the bookstore. Once a buyer is identified, the university hopes to have the transition complete by spring 2024.
See BOOKSTORE, page 2
SPORTS
Panthers sweep three-game series against Bradley Braves, stay perfect in conference.
SPORTS PAGE 6
Green Dot and ROTC to offer personal protection class
Green Dot, a Northern Iowan Student Government (NISG) sponsored gender violence prevention program, is partnering with UNI’s ROTC to offer a free personal protection class on April 17, from 2:45-5 p.m. at the Nielsen Fieldhouse. The idea for this class originated about six months ago when Major Maria Lawson, who is an active guard reserve soldier in the Iowa National Guard and is an assistant professor of military science at UNI, had lunch with her coworker, Major Jodi Marti. Marti brought up the topic of personal protection classes that she helps instruct in the Des Moines area, and asked if UNI and the ROTC program might be interested in doing something similar, and it took off from there.
See ROTC PROTECTION CLASS, page 5
de lo que esperaba inicialmente.
Nota de la editora: Lia Murillo y Luis Alvarez son estudiantes del curso SPAN
3159 Translation for Heritage Speakers, dirigido por el Prof. Juan Carlos Castillo.
La estudiante de UNI, Cassie Williams, siempre ha sabido que quería ser parte de una sororidad. Sin embargo, desde los primeros días de reclutamiento en su primer año, se encontró con una comunidad en UNI con vínculos más fuertes, raíces más profundas y vastas oportunidades más allá
“Correr hacia casa el día de selección fue probablemente la primera vez en la universidad que sentí que sabía dónde encajaba. Sé quién es mi gente”, dijo Williams. “Creo que eso me ha brindado el mejor sentido de pertenencia”.
Ese deseo de pertenencia es exactamente lo que trajo las sororidades a los campus universitarios en primer lugar. Ana Muell es la actual presidenta del Consejo Panhelénico de UNI, una junta estudiantil de seis miembros que supervisa la vida de las sororidades en general en el campus.
“Las primeras mujeres que pudieron asistir a la universidad son las que crearon las sororidades”, dijo. “Eran lugares donde las mujeres podían
estar seguras y podían reunirse y hablar sobre cosas de las que querían hablar en un lugar que no era un espacio masculino”.
La primera sororidad de UNI, Sigma Phi, se formó en 1896. Se fusionó con otra sororidad local en 1918 antes de afiliarse a nivel nacional con Alpha Chi Omega en 1968. Aunque Alpha Chi Omega es una de las cinco sororidades nacionales que ya no están activas en UNI, las mujeres hoy pueden participar en cualquiera de las seis sororidades existentes en el campus, incluyendo cinco sororidades de la Conferencia Nacional Panhelénica y una sororidad cultural, Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority
Al crear un espacio para la pertenencia, las primeras líderes de las sororidades también
crearon un espacio para el crecimiento. Williams ha progresado desde ser solo un miembro de la sororidad a ser co-vice-
BOOKSTORE
continued from page 1
UNI originally paid nearly $3 million in 2018 to acquire the bookstore, previously called University Book and Supply. While the university will no longer operate the store, Moris said that making textbooks affordable has remained a priority.
“As our team really evaluated it here, it became more and more apparent that going back to a third-party operator really might give us the best opportunity to sustain or even improve that level of pricing and selection service that we’re aspiring
SORORIDADES
extendida de página 1
“Nunca había sido una líder en la escuela secundaria o antes de la universidad, así que la vida en la sororidad fue la primera vez que siquiera consideré asumir un cargo de liderazgo, y fue porque mis hermanas de la sororidad y otras personas de la comunidad me dijeron ‘deberías postularte como co-VP de reclutamiento, creo que harías un muy buen trabajo’. Y esa fue la primera vez que realmente me sentí empoderada para hacer algo así”, dijo Williams.
Laura Harms, la otra co-vicepresidenta de reclutamiento, ha tenido una experi-
to provide to our students and faculty,” he said.
Operating through a third party has been a growing trend for college bookstores. Follet Higher Education Group is the largest campus store operator in North America with over 1,200 local bookstores under their management. Follet currently operates the Bulldog Shop at Drake University along with the University of Iowa Hawk Shop and University Bookstore. The partnership with the Hawk Shop came into effect in April of 2021.
Another key business is Barnes & Noble College, which operates stores at 11
encia similar a través de la vida griega.
“Si volviera atrás, nunca habría esperado obtener tanto como lo hice”, dijo Harms.
“Se me han dado infinitas oportunidades de liderazgo, y continúan surgiendo, y he crecido enormemente como líder desde que me uní a la vida de la sororidad aquí en el campus”, dijo.
Si bien las tres mujeres entrevistadas hablaron de sus experiencias ricas y positivas en la vida griega en UNI, tampoco ha sido sin sus luchas. Muell se unió por primera vez a su sororidad durante la pandemia de COVID-19, cuyos efectos todavía se sienten en muchas organizaciones estudi-
Iowa colleges, including Hawkeye Community College and Upper Iowa University.
Iowa State University’s bookstore is still university-owned and operated.
Despite the changes the future may hold, Moris assured that no matter who the operator ends up being, they will still need student employees to help serve the community.
He also stated that while operations will be outsourced, the university will continue to own the building the bookstore is housed in.
As this transition is still in its early stages, the coming months will reveal more details
antiles en el campus, incluidas las fraternidades y sororidades.
Según los informes académicos de UNI Fraternity & Sorority Life, en el otoño de 2019 antes de la pandemia, 309 mujeres estaban activas en las sororidades del campus, lo que equivale al 6,22% de las estudiantes en el campus.
En comparación, según Muell, a partir del 31 de enero de 2023, las sororidades de UNI tenían aproximadamente 147 miembros activas, lo que equivale a aproximadamente el 3% de la población de estudiantes universitarias a tiempo completo.
Además, el semestre pasado se produjo la salida permanente de la fraternidad Pi Kappa Alpha del campus de la UNI debido a la falta de nuevos miembros, lo que demuestra los grandes efectos que el bajo reclutamiento puede tener en las organizaciones griegas.
Como respuesta a la menor participación debida a los efectos de la pandemia y a la disminución de la inscripción en UNI, Muell dice que tanto ella como el consejo Panhelénico están tomando medidas para aumentar la participación.
“En este momento estamos trabajando en cambiar un par de cosas, especialmente internamente, porque hemos comenzado a darnos cuenta de que tanto el reclutamiento como la retención son un problema para nosotros”, dijo ella.
about what the future of the bookstore will look like.
“We’ve communicated with our faculty about this timeline, and students aren’t going
to see a change for a while,” Moris said. “Once we get more details, we’ll certainly be wanting to share that with the campus community.”
EMILY EAVES/NORTHERN IOWAN Para responder al reclutamiento bajo, las sororidades de UNI todavía están trabajando a restorar el sentido de comunidad y el nivel de involucramiento presente antes de la pandemia de COVID-19.
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Al abordar la retención, Muell dijo que el actual consejo ha estado trabajando para organizar más eventos para todas las sororidades y así ayudar a unir a la comunidad.
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While the bookstore has seen a number of changes over the past few years, including a name change from University Book and Supply, Pete Moris assured that lowering prices for students remains a priority.
Además, los capítulos individuales han estado trabajando en abordar sus propios problemas internos.
“Es algo a largo plazo. Realmente lo es, pero creo que hay pasos que podemos tomar para intentar iniciar ese cambio y convertir a nuestra comunidad en una comunidad nuevamente, después del COVID”, dijo ella.
Sin embargo, las sororidades con poblaciones de miembros más pequeñas no siempre son algo malo. Para Harms y Williams, el tamaño pequeño de la comunidad de sororidades de UNI, en comparación con otras universidades, es parte de lo que hace que la experiencia sea tan especial.
“Creo que, a veces mirando desde afuera hacia adentro, ves todos estos diferentes capítulos, pero realmente la comunidad está muy unida y todas nos apoyamos constantemente”, dijo Harms. “Considero a todas en la comunidad como mis amigas de una forma u otra. Incluso si no hemos hablado cara a cara, hay algún tipo de conexión allí”.
Williams agregó: “Hay muchos estereotipos en torno a la vida griega, y entiendo de dónde vienen muchos de ellos, especialmente de universidades más grandes y universidades del sur especialmente. En UNI, en lugar de tener 200 personas en una sororidad, donde no hay forma de que puedas conocer a todo el mundo, tenemos alrededor de 30 miembros en cada capítulo, por lo que puedes acercarte mucho a todas”.
A pesar de cuánto ha cambiado la vida en las sororidades desde 1896, las líderes de hoy quieren mantener viva la visión de sus fundadoras.
A veces pienso en nuestras fundadoras y en todas las cosas por las que probablemente tuvieron que pasar, y estoy agradecida de que ellas hicieron esto”, Muell dijo. “Ni siquiera puedo imaginar cómo sería la vida si no hubiéramos tenido esos espacios seguros cuando asistimos a la universidad, y estoy muy agradecida de que pudieran hacer eso y crear esta cosa increíble de la que puedo ser parte ahora”.
Harms tomó una postura similar, diciendo: “aprecio todo lo que la comunidad de la vida de las sororidades ha hecho y todo lo que sigue haciendo porque cada día nos estamos desafiando a nosotras mismas y a nuestras ideas, y creo que eso es una gran parte de la historia de las mujeres, es seguir desafiando tus ideas y no solo quedarte cómoda. Creo que la vida de la sororidad es el trampolín perfecto para ello”.
“Hemos seguido sin quedarnos cómodas y continuamos creciendo y empujándonos a nosotras mismas y aprovechando esas oportunidades que a veces son incluso más difíciles de asumir porque pueden ser tan grandes”, dijo ella. “Pero cuándo te empujas a ti misma, llegas a estas posiciones increíbles. Empujarme a mí misma para entrevistarme para un puesto en Panhel fue aterrador, pero ha sido la oportunidad más gratificante y me estoy convirtiendo en la persona que soy hoy debido a eso”.
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Every child has things that they take for granted until much later, when they’ve matured enough to realize how special something truly is. For me, it was getting to attend Iowa women’s basketball games and sit in outstanding seats while cheering on the Hawkeyes. I have had this opportunity my entire life because Lisa Bluder, the longtime Head Coach at Iowa, also happens to be my aunt.
Bluder, a graduate of UNI and a three-year starter on the Panther women’s basketball team, began her coaching career at St. Ambrose. After a stint there in which she transformed the Fighting Bees into a perennial powerhouse, she accepted the head coaching position at Drake. In 2000, the position to be the head coach at Iowa became open, and Bluder was hired. She has been in this position ever since. I was born in 2001, so she has been Iowa’s head coach my entire life.
As mentioned, I have been going to Iowa women’s basketball games for a very long time. For years, the norm was a team that was fundamentally sound, very well coached and put a solid product on the floor, but could never quite break into the upper echelon of women’s basketball teams. These teams would play in front of a crowd of passionate fans, although those crowds generally weren’t particularly large, averaging between 3,000 and 6,000 fans for most games.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena even had curtains hanging a little over halfway up the stands in order to hide seats that were left empty. However, things began to change in the 2018-19 season. Megan Gustafson was named the National Player of the Year, Bluder was named National Coach of the Year and the Hawkeyes reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Now enter Caitlin Clark.
The fourth ranked recruit in the class of 2020, Clark has led the Hawkeyes to unprecedented heights. This season, the aforementioned curtains were raised, as was required to hold the average of over 10,000 fans per home game. The Hawkeyes lost only one home game the entire year, including a buzzer beater to take down No. 2 Indiana in the regular season finale. Clark was named National Player of the Year and the Hawkeyes ended up reaching the national championship game for the first time in program history. Throughout all of the games I attended, I always made sure to spend time during the intros looking into the packed stands filled with fans on their feet cheering on the Hawkeyes and women’s basketball in general. More than once I became a little emotional thinking back to the much more sparse crowds that previously made up most of these games.
When the Hawkeyes reached the Final Four, I knew I couldn’t miss it for anything. The plan was to drive with my mom. However, she became unable to go, leaving me to transport myself. Therefore, my girlfriend and I packed up my car and hit the road for Dallas. 26 hours on the road later, 13 hours each way, I know I made the right decision. The drive down had a special moment in it’s own right. We saw several Iowa license plates well after we had left the state and assumed many of them were also headed to the game. We got confirmation from at least one of these vehicles in Oklahoma when, in the middle of passing my car, and having seen my Iowa license plate, the woman in the front seat took off her hat, waved it towards the window and yelled ‘Go Hawks!’ as they passed by.
In Dallas, the red carpet was out in full for women’s basketball. I was able to stay at the team hotel, which was decked out in black and gold with the Tiger Hawk placed all over the building.
Team personnel could be seen throughout the hotel, with an assistant coach here, a player there, and family members of the team all around the building. It was special to see an entire building filled with people there for a single purpose and committed to a single goal.
The Hawkeyes were huge underdogs against South Carolina, with the Gamecocks favored by 11.5 points. However, the Hawkeyes led nearly wireto-wire, defeating the 36-0 South Carolina team, ending their 42-game win streak and advancing to the national championship for
the first time ever. To list this moment as emotional would be an understatement. My Uncle Dave, Lisa’s husband, and my cousins David and Emma took to the floor shortly after the game to hug and congratulate my aunt.
The section I sat in was comprised almost solely of people with familial relationships to the program. To say some of these individuals shed a tear would be an understatement, myself included. The Hawks may have fallen short in the championship, but watching my aunt, after decades in coaching, celebrate a Final Four victory over the nation’s top team was a
moment I’ll never forget. The point of this column is perseverance. It took my aunt 14 years to get the job at Iowa. After getting there, it took another 15 years before she reached the Sweet 16. Since then, she has led her team to the Sweet 16 four times, including two Elite Eights and a national championship game. Don’t give up on your dreams just because of barriers that are presently in your way. Keep working and keep believing, but most importantly of all, never forget to take a moment to appreciate things along the way.
The Petrichord Quartet is a string musical ensemble at UNI that started in 2021. They are available by request for gigs both on and off campus. Emma Becker plays violin, Julian Perez is on viola, Turner Sperry plays cello and Lauren Geerlings rounds out the group as another violinist.
Emma Becker, the group’s public relations and social media manager, grew up with a love for music. Like her other quartet members, she discovered a talent for music at an early age.
“I got involved in music in fourth grade, which was also when I started playing the violin. My status in music is also a little different from the other members because I am the only one who is not a music major. I’m actually a public relations major, so while my career goals are a little different, I knew that staying involved in music was something that I wanted to keep up with after high school,” Becker said.
The group started out through the inspiration of a mutual professor, Becker mentioned. “We initially started as a quintet through the idea of Dr. Julia Bullard who used to teach as the viola professor at UNI. She thought we would
be a great group of musicians to perform together and we formed in the fall of 2021,” Becker said. “However, we started performing for gigs and while we did our first one as a quintet, we eventually started performing as a quartet more regularly and that’s how we got started.”
From Vivaldi to Maroon 5, the group plays a wide variety of genres. A full list of the group’s repertoire is available on their website. As the group covers a lot of material, they keep to a rigorous rehearsal schedule to ensure they are ready to perform.
“As a group, we practice twice a week for a total of three hours, sometimes more on the weekends if needed, and then we also have a coaching with Dr. Steve Koh for an hour each week as well. Practice for us is a lot of detailed work. It mainly consists of working on playing as if we have ‘one brain’ like we are a single unit,” Becker said. “A lot of what we do to help with this is knowing what musical passages we share with each other, using eye contact to acknowledge other members, and making sure to communicate on how
to interpret the music so that we all can work together to bring it into fruition and maintain our connectedness with each other.” Becker credits the group’s closeness for their musical cohesiveness.
According to Becker, the Petrichord Quartet’s mutual love for music blends into a seamless four-person music machine. “I was talking to the other members about masterclasses we have done with the Elias String Quartet who visited UNI last week. We have been lucky to perform for them in a masterclass twice now. One of the things they
critiqued us on the first time we played for them last year was regarding our ensemble communication. They said we needed to be more present with each other and acknowledge one another when we were playing. Just last week, we were told that our communication and understanding of one another was really solid. Knowing that this was something that we took a long time to get better at, it is incredibly rewarding having someone else acknowledge the hard work that was put in,” Becker said.
The Petrichord Quartet spends hours practicing and perfecting their craft. Their closeness has allowed them to excel on campus. “My favorite part of being in the quartet is that it has really taught me more about music than anything else I have experienced. I have grown so much as a musician because of working with my colleagues and every rehearsal allows me to think critically about musical interpretation which is something I really struggled with before joining the group,” Becker said.
Those interested in booking the Petrichord Quartet, or want to learn more about their group can visit their website: https://thepetrichordquartet. wixsite.com/petrichordquartet
LAUREN MCGUILL Staff Writer
UNI gave a positive start to April as it hosted its annual Out of the Darkness walk for suicide prevention on Saturday, April 1st. The walk is one of many across the country that helps fund research on suicide prevention, suicide prevention programs, advocating for public policy, and supporting survivors of suicide loss. The walk also allows those who have been affected by suicide to connect with each, along with helping to reduce the stigma around suicide and mental health.
Chelsea Eilers is a second year masters student in the School Counseling program here at UNI, and was one of the walk coordinators for the Out of the Darkness walk this year, alongside Jessie Harder, another second year master’s student in the mental health counseling program at UNI. Eilers and Harder are both members of Chi Sigma Iota, or CSI, a counseling honor society that has been in charge of putting on the Out of the Darkness walk at UNI in the past, yet this year, Out of the Darkness became its own student organization –and their first walk went great. “The walk was such a success! I’m not going to lie, on Thursday and
continued from page 1
“When [ROTC] partnered with Green Dot, I wanted to make sure we got their take on it, so I asked Green Dot employees what we should focus on. If college students are walking home from the bars, if they’re in a relationship of any sort and it becomes abusive, this class will focus on a lot of those types of things, giving examples of real world situations and how to handle them,” said Lawson.
“[Marti] brought it up that this is a good class for anyone who wants to be aware of their surroundings. So it’s not necessarily a self defense class, they might throw a little bit of that in it, but it’s a class to inform people to look up from their cell phones, or if you have your airpods in, to still be looking around and being aware of what’s going on around you.
Friday before the event I was watching the weather and I was so nervous that no one would show up because it was incredibly cold and windy. But we had a great turnout! I would say about 225 people were in attendance. I think it speaks to the dedication that our community has to suicide prevention and the impact that we want to see in suicide prevention,” said Eilers. Last year UNI’s Out of the Darkness walk raised $9,500 and this year they knocked their $10,000 goal out of the park by raising almost $16,000. The walk also helped to raise people’s spirits about a topic that typically causes much grief and heartbreak.
“One of the phrases best used to describe Out of the Darkness is ‘you are not alone.’ This event showed me exactly that. So many people coming together for suicide prevention reminded me of that message. The whole event was great to be a part of but most importantly was the reason why we were all there. At the end of the walk, we all wrote on a blue flag why we walked then lined the remainder of the sidewalk with the flags. It was such a cool visual of our shared mission and individual stories coming together,” Samantha Phab said, who was a part of the walk at UNI.
The start of Iowa has three more walks planned, the first at Iowa State University in Ames on
This class helps you focus on what to look for in terms of your surroundings so you can get yourself out of a potentially threatening situation.” explained Lawson.
Major Jodi Marti will be one of the instructors of the class, along with Ray Boyer, who instructs personal protection classes in the Des Moines area with Marti. Boyer has an extensive history with law enforcement and protection classes.
Along with the classes in Des Moines, Boyer is an associate and lead instructor with Sharkey’s Karate Studio in Chicago since 1998, is a firearms instructor and a corporate security and safety advisor. Boyer will share statistics and experiences from his time as an Urbandale Reserve officer, as well as the information he’s acquired from interviewing multiple inmates about who they tend to target and why.
Boyer will ask for male
April
and female volunteers and show them how easy it is to be a target, and also how strength and size isn’t a sure way to get out of a situation. Since this is the first class, it is being targeted specifically for ROTC cadets to take, but if the class goes well, Lawson plans for it to be open to campus either annually or once a semester, starting next fall. “In the future I want it to be campus wide for everyone to come, so that they can have the training from Green Dot that they can use and they have this personal protection class,” said Lawson. April is the official month for sexual harassment and sexual assault awarness and prevention, and the next Green Dot training session will be April 13, at 3 p.m. in Rod Library.
BEN LAHART Sports Writer
After winning their first matchup with Bradley on Saturday afternoon, the UNI Panthers looked to finish the job with two wins on Sunday, April 2, and they did just that. The Panthers closed out the weekend scoring 23 straight runs over nine innings across the two games.
In the second game of the series on Sunday afternoon, UNI got out to a slow start. Luckily for the Panthers, Bradley also took the first few innings off as well. A three-run inning by the Braves broke the tie followed by a one-run seventh inning to pull away with a 4-0 lead.
While looking up at their deficit, the Panthers found the will to fight back with a four-run seventh inning of their own. Three Panthers; Daryn Lamprecht, Kylee Sanders and Alexis Pupillo, combined for four RBIs in the inning to tie the game. Finally, a Taylor Hogan walk-off home run in the
bottom of the eighth inning gave UNI the 5-4 victory.
A short time later, the two teams met up for the third and final game of their series. At this point, UNI unleashed as dominant of a performance as possible, scoring 18 runs in just four and a half innings.
The first inning featured RBIs from Mya Dodge, Brooke Snider and Hannah Kelley to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. Two second inning home runs from Pupillo and Dodge totalling four runs gave UNI a 7-0 lead.
A high scoring third inning for the Panthers extended their lead even further. Two UNI batters were walked with the bases loaded in back-toback at bats to score two runs. Snyder, Hogan and Addison McElrath combined for four more RBIs in the inning to boost the UNI lead to 13-0.
Following a fourth straight scoreless inning for Bradley, UNI continued their scoring. Hogan and McElrath combined
for three RBIs before Ellie Owen capped off the weekend’s scoring with a two RBI shot of her own. The top of the fifth proved to be scoreless again for Bradley leading to a mercy rule victory for the Panthers as they won 18-0.
UNI finishes the weekend with three straight victories over Bradley and now holds a record of 20 wins and 10 losses. However, they are still undefeated in conference play with nine wins and zero losses.
The Panthers were scheduled to play the Cyclones of Iowa State on Tuesday, April 4, but, ironically, due to the possibility of tornadoes the game was canceled. The next action for the Panthers will take place in Terre Haute, Ind. to play three games against the Indiana State Sycamores on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 7, 8 and 9. The games are also available to be viewed on ESPN+ and ESPN3.
The UNI tennis team split its two Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) matches at home this weekend against Valparaiso and Missouri State. The Panthers were victorious
on Saturday as they beat Valparaiso by a score of 4-3. On Sunday morning, the Panthers had a fast turn around, resulting in a tightly contested defeat, 4-3.
The Panthers opened the weekend of play by winning two of the three doubles matches against
Valparaiso. Darta Dalecka and Lorena Cardoso earned their 11th win as a duo as they defeated Amanda Tabanera and Elizabeth Sobieski, 6-2. Issa Sullivan and Thaissa Moreira followed that up with a 6-3 victory over Eleanor Chapman and Demi Jhaveri.
In singles play, Dalecka got it going early for the Panthers as she beat Moira Silva in the No. 2 singles match, 6-2, 6-3. Andrijana Brkic was able to secure a second singles match victory for UNI as she defeated Olivia Czerwonka 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. The win for Brkic was her 24th singles victory on the year.
Moreira was the hero of the day, as she battled back from a 6-1 first set loss to beat Valparaiso’s Mia Bertino 6-4 in the next two sets. The victory for Moreira secured UNI’s fourth point and gave the Panthers their first win against Valparaiso since 2019, and their first conference victory of the year.
The Panthers woke up on Sunday morning looking to repeat success as they faced Missouri State. UNI found success in the doubles matches, but were unable to seal the victory in their singles matches.
Kim Zizek and Brkic were able to get the Panthers started by beating Diana Cabera and Alyson Piskulic, 6-4. Sullivan
and Moreira got the second doubles victory for UNI as they defeated Silva Avaikan and Tiera Jarmon in a tiebreak to secure a 7-6 victory.
Dalecka was able to give UNI their first singles victory of the day as she beat Missouri State’s Jarmond 7-5, 6-0. After losing the next three singles matches, Moreira gave the Panthers some life as she defeated Piskulic in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
In the No. 6 singles match, Kanyanut Sudsaard was able to push the match to three sets, but ultimately fell to Missouri State’s Silva Avakian 2-6, 7-5, 1-6. The Bears were able to exit Northern Iowa with a 4-3 victory, their first conference victory on the year.
The Panthers will be on the road next week for their final regular season MVC road trip. UNI will play a pair of newcomers, Belmont on Friday, April 7, and Murray State on Saturday, April 8.
The UNI track and field team traveled down the road to Waverly as they competed in the Wartburg Outdoor Select this weekend. Many Panthers excelled in this meet with 10 different athletes getting first place in their events. This meet was the official kickoff to the Panthers’ outdoor track and field season.
Makenna Wilson kicked off the day with a first place victory in the women’s hammer throw with a distance of 201 feet, 4.5 inches. Mari Shavers was right behind her in second place with a distance of 192 feet, 6.25 inches. Wilson also went on to get first place in the women’s shot put later in the weekend, throwing 47 feet, 9 inches. Sarah Byrd got bronze with a distance of 45 feet, 5 inches, and Shavers followed in fourth with a distance of 44 feet, 5 inches. Wilson finished the day by placing fourth in the discus with a throw of 139 feet, 7.5 inches.
GOLF
Paige Kisley was the victor in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.54 seconds. Jack Sumners took the gold in the men’s 110meter hurdles with a final time of 14.10, setting a personal record in the event.
The women’s 400-meter dash saw a host of Panthers make the podium. Libby Wedewer finished in first with a personal best time of 58.09. Jill Bennett finished with a silver medal with a time of 58.32, while Eden Barrett placed in fifth with a time of 1:00.03. Kisley also made the podium in eighth place with a time of 1:00.93, while Olivia Hubler just missed it with a time of 1:01.02.
The Panthers took home gold in both the women’s and men’s 400-meter dash with Andrew Ferguson finishing in first place with a career-best 47.98. Tinashe Chigudu finished in fourth place with a 49.76.
Carter Morton topped the podium in the men’s triple jump event with a distance of 48 feet, 11 inches. Drew Bartels took home gold in the men’s long jump with a
jump of 23 feet, 0.5 inches. Zack Butcher took silver in the event with a distance of 22 feet, 11 inches, while Brody Lovell finished right outside of the top 3 with a personal-best distance of 21 feet, 3.5 inches.
Rylie Todd was the champion in the women’s high jump, jumping 5 feet, 3 inches. Isabelle Holtzen finished in third place in the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet, 4.5 inches. Alivia Silvestri took fourth in the vault at 10 feet, 10.5 inches.
The final race in which UNI was victorious was the women’s 4x400 meter relay. The team of Kisley, Lauren Klein, Makinley Levin and Amanda Lietz ran a 3:59.45 to obtain the gold. The men’s 4x400 team of Drake Hanson, Luke Myers, Chigudu and David Holesinger II ran a 3:20.99 to get second place in the event.
The track and field team will return to action this weekend as they travel to Champaign, Ill. to compete in the Fighting Illini Challenge, hosted by the University of Illinois.
ADAM JOHNSON Sports Writer
UNI’s men’s and women’s golf teams participated in the WIU Invitational in Silvis, Ill. at TPC Deere
Run on Monday, April 3
and Tuesday, April 4. On the men’s side, each team had five players that got to participate towards their own and team score, and one player who only accounted for himself.
The Panthers had Tommy
Doyle, Griffin Parker, Thomas Storbeck, Connor VanWeelden and JD Pollard competing for the team and individually. Ben Bermel was competing as an individual.
In the first round, the
Panthers shot 295 as a unit. Parker led the way with the best round anyone had in the whole tournament with an impressive 68, Pollard with a 75, Storbeck and Doyle at 76, VanWeelden at 80. Bermel shot 81. In the second round, the Panthers were not quite as good. This time they shot a 300. Doyle had a 73, Storbeck and VanWeelden at 75, Parker a 77 and Pollard at 78. Bermel shot a 77. In the third and final round of the tournament, the Panthers shot 302. Doyle led the way once again with a 71, Parker and VanWeelden at 76, Pollard 79 and Storbeck at 80. Bermel finished the tournament with a 79.
Doyle finished the tournament tied for sixth, Parker tied for eighth, Storbeck and VanWeelden tied for 30th and Pollard tied for 33rd. Bermel tied for 46th. The Panthers finished as a team in fifth, at +45 on 897 strokes.
On the women’s side the setup was the same. Victoria Hualde, Anna Jensen, Lily Bredemeier, McKenna Mallow and Rylie Driskell
competed towards the team total, and Madison Humke was competing individually.
The Panthers shot a 318 in the first round. Hualde led the way with 75, Jensen 77, Bredemeier 82, Mallow 84 and Driskell 85. Humke shot an 81. In the second round, the Panthers shot a better score with a 313. Jensen and Bedemeier both shot a 76, Hualde a 79, and Mallow and Driskell shot 82. Humke shot an 80. In the third and final round, the Panthers shot a 319. Hualde shot a 77, Mallow 78, Jensen an 81, Bredemeier an 83 and Driskell shot an 85. Humke shot an 84.
Hualde and Jensen had top 10 finishes. Hualde finished in fourth and Jensen in seventh. Bredemeier tied for 14th, Mallow 17th, Humke in 18th, and Driskell 23rd. The Panthers finished in third at +98 shooting a 950 throughout the whole tournament.
Both the men and women will get back to it on Monday, April 10, competing at the Stampede at the Creek in Elkhorn, Neb.
