Volume 126 | Issue 20

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

The Independent Student Newspaper of Sam Houston State University

REMINDER: Vote! Vote! Vote!

What’s happening at Sam ASSAULT LAW, P.2

OCTOGENARIAN, P.3

SOCCER, P.4

REVENGE PORN, P.3

PANEL, P.2

A law took effect that changes the way SHSU reports sexual assaults

Read about how The Octogenarian feels about being censored

Bearkat soccer will start second in the upcoming SLC tournament

Well-intentioned laws may not be helping the issue of privacy invasion

Guest speakers will offer advice to freshmen on how to choose a career

Volume 126 | Issue 20

THE HEA DL I N E S in br i e f

/HoustonianSHSU

@HoustonianSHSU

@HoustonianSHSU

HoustonianOnline.com

Kats, Hill take 89th BOTPW

Compiled by

Manny Jawa web editor

TERMINALLY ILL PATIENT TAKES OWN LIFE Brittany Maynard, 29, a terminally ill patient, chose to end her life though physician-assisted suicide on Nov. 1. The young woman and her husband purposefully moved from California to Oregon earlier this year to take advantage of the state law which allows terminally ill people to choose when to die. Maynard suffered from a type of brain cancer which caused her to experience seizures, severe head and neck pain and strokelike symptoms.

ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

A little over 13 years after the destruction of the Twin Towers, the One WTC opened for its commercial tenants yesterday. Magazine publisher Conde Nast, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are among the tenants that will occupy the 104 stories of the tallest building in the U.S.

KIA, HYUNDAI FINED

The EPA and Justice Department yesterday announced the largest ever Clean Air Act violation penalties totaling $300 million against carmakers Kia and Hyundai. The two companies will pay a combined $100 million in civil fines and forfeit $200 million in gas credits after a federal investigation found that they exaggerated efficiency ratings.

VIRGIN GALACTIC’S SPACESHIPTWO

NTSB investigators said that just about all of the debris from the craft’s crash had been found and the pattern indicates an inflight breakup of the craft. After successfully releasing from WhiteKnightTwo, SpaceShipTwo crashed into the ground last Friday. The accident killed co-pilot Michael Alsbury, 39, and severely injured pilot Peter Siebold, 43.

Alex Broussard | The Houstonian

SHAWN McFARLAND Senior Reporter

Senior running back Keshawn Hill rushed for four touchdowns in the Sam Houston State 42-28 win over rival Stephen F. Austin State in the 89th Battle of the Piney Woods at NRG stadium in Houston.

Hill rushed 14 times for 156 yards, including rushing touchdowns of 59, 31, 3 and 32 yards to solidify the ground game for SHSU. “I give [the offensive line] all the credit,” Hill said. “If you see some of those runs, it’s wide open.”

The Bearkats rushed a total of 36 times for 345 yards. Sophomore quarterback Jared Johnson rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore running back Jalen Overstreet added a 59-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

“Our offense is built on tak-

ing what [the defense] gives us,” Johnson said when referring to the SFA defense leaving the middle of the field open. “When we got guys like Keshawn that can take it 50 or 60 [yards], it just makes it easy on me and the rest of the offense.”

Hill is now one of four SHSU running backs to ever record four rushing touchdowns in a single game.

“Last year I had a good game and I wasn’t even a starter, and I scored twice,” Hill said. “Coming into this game I felt like there was something special I could do, and I scored four touchdowns.”

The Bearkat defense stood strong throughout the game, forcing two turnovers, including an interception by junior cornerback Mikell Everette to seal the victory for SHSU. Everette also had a fumble recovery that he returned 42-yards to set up a Bearkat touchdown on the very next play.

The Kat defense also had 19 tackles for loss for 40 yards, including five from sophomore defensive end Mouf Adebo.

“I feel like we just did what we were coached to do,” senior safety Michael Wade said.

The Bearkats’ game plan going into the game was to stop SFA senior running back Gus Johnson, who is the Southland Conference leading rusher. Although Johnson rushed for 148 yards, he only had one touchdown. SFA Quarterback Zach Conque rushed 18 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns for the Lumberjacks.

This was the first Piney Woods game for both SHSU head coach K.C. Keeler and SFA head coach Clint Conque. “[The rivalry] was well beyond what I thought it was going to be,” Keeler said. “I was really conscious

all week trying to keep our kids sort of level minded. We’ve probably got after them this week harder than any week we’ve coached them because we knew that going into this game there was going to be a lot of emotions.”

The Bearkats are now 52-35-2 all time in the BOTPW rivalry.

SHSU’s playoff chances are still alive as the Bearkats are tied for first place in the SLC with help from Abilene Christian defeating Central Arkansas on Saturday in Plano.

The Bearkats go on the road this weekend to face Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

Same-sex benefits on radar for COCJ dean ABIGAIL VENTRESS Staff Reporter

CLIMATE CHANGE

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of “severe, pervasive and irreversible” damage if humanity fails to adapt to climate change.

The group’s “Synthesis Report” published Sunday combines several other studies conducted in the past 13 months and concludes that climate change is real and almost entirely caused by human activity. which once held over 40,000.

Courtesy Adam Peck

WIN FOR A TIE. As part of an annual bet on the Battle of the Piney Woods, Stephen F. Austin Stat University’s Dean of Student Affairs Adam Peck dons a Sam Houston State University tie the Monday after their defeat.

Brynn Castro | The Houstonian

EQUALITY. Interim Dean of College of Criminal Justice Phillip Lyons, Ph.D, discusses his call for same sex benefits at Sam Houston State University.

Most professional jobs provide benefits for employees such as insurance and other financial perks.

Sam Houston State University provides many benefits to faculty and staff. However, not all benefits are accessible to employees and their partners who are members of the LGBTQ community, as in most of other professional workplaces.

Phillip Lyons, interim dean of the College of Criminal Justice, said he knows first-hand the effects of this issue.

“Since I am gay, I’m a little biased, but I think that all faculty members should get the same package regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” Lyons

Players of the Week

KESHAWN HILL, RUNNING BACK

Running back Keshawn Hill accounted for four of six touchdowns produced by Sam Houston State in their 42-28 win over rival Stephen F. Austin State.

Hill rushed 14 times for 154 yards, averaging 11.1 yards a carry. Hill’s touchdowns came off rushes of 59, 31, three and 32 yards. Hill became one of four Bearkat running backs to record four rushing touchdowns in a single game, only one away from breaking former Kat Timothy Flanders’ record.

The senior from Klein has 14 rushing touchdowns so far this season, averaging 73.9 rushing yards a game.

KYLIE HAMBLETON, GOALKEEPER

Goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton recorded two shutouts this past weekend to help Sam Houston State clinch the second seed in the Southland Conference. Hambleton’s shutouts included a 0-0 draw against Houston Baptist on Friday and a 2-0 win over Nicholls State on Sunday. She was forced to make spectacular one-handed saves in both matches to preserve the first-round bye in the tourney. Hambleton now has three straight shutouts and has only allowed one goal in SHSU’s previous six matches.

The junior from Katy has 61 saves going into SLC playoffs.

said. “I do know that we have gay and lesbian faculty, and the Faculty Senate is the appropriate vehicle to express faculty concerns.

Moreover, some faculty think this is an unfair inequity and finally, I think the Faculty Senate recognizes that it is more difficult to recruit faculty members when there are discriminatory policies in place. I recognize that there are rules and laws that have to be followed and perhaps it’s not surprising that the Interim Dean of Criminal Justice likes to follow rules. Although I would like to provide these benefits to my students and faculty staff, I can’t. As much as my hands are tied, so are my boss’ hands and his boss’ hands.”

Lyons is currently in his 20th year at SHSU and in his fourth month serving as interim dean of criminal justice.

Visit HoustonianOnline.com for more.

The Houstonian | HoustonianOnline.com/news | Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Page 2

University police already ahead of new law CONNOR HYDE Senior Reporter New federal regulations hold universities and colleges accountable to higher standards on reporting sexual assault and domestic violence cases, most of which are already met by Sam Houston State University Police Department.

The new regulations were handed down from the Department of Education on Oct. 20 and take effect July 1, 2015. All colleges and universities receiving federal funds are affected.

Schools are now being required to disclose investigative, disciplinary and reporting procedures and methods in the annual security report already required by law. University Police Chief Kevin Morris said SHSU’s methods have been included in its report since he took over at UPD.

“We’ve been actually doing that for quite some time,” Morris said.

“Since I took over, we’ve been doing that, they’ve just added some new language to it.”

Currently, SHSU has its annual security report from 2006 through 2013 available online. Under the new regulations, institutions are not allowed to withhold or remove “unfounded” reports from their statistics until after a full investigation has been fulfilled.

The new rules are updates to the Clery Act, which was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990 and requires universities and colleges to report an annual security report each October, institutional police or security departments to maintain an active public crime log, and for them to give warnings of crimes that potentially pose a threat to the safety of students, staff and faculty.

Morris said the Clery Act has produced a sense of transparency between educational institutions

and their students.

“The Clery Act identifies and creates policies and procedures for universities to let their students know what is happening on their campus,” Morris said.

Four on-campus sexual assaults were reported at SHSU residence halls in 2012 and 2013, according to the 2013 SHSU Annual Security Report. One forcible sexual assault case has been reported this year for SHSU’s main campus, according to UPD’s crime statistics.

Moreover, there have been six reports of stalking, seven reports of dating violence and three reports of domestic violence.

Institutions are also required to report incidents of stalking in their annual reports. In the final rule, stalking encompasses the use of “devices or tactics… including electronic means,” to intimidate, harass, kill or injure an individual.

Morris said the university has until July 15, 2015 to create policies and procedures to meet the new

definitions.

“Everybody is approaching sexual assault much different versus five to 10 years ago,” Morris said.

Institutions are also now required to develop programs for both students and faculty aimed at eliminating dating, domestic and sexual violence and stalking.

Huntsville’s Sexual Assault and Abuse Free Environment (SAAFE House) to provide off-campus resources for victims of sexual as-

sault in Huntsville and at SHSU. The new regulations also allow both the victims and the accusers to be accompanied by an advisor for any disciplinary hearings.

However, institutions can “restrict an advisor’s role” such as speaking during hearings or questioning witnesses, according to the final rule. Nevertheless, advisors can be an attorney, school administrator, family member or another advocate.

REGISTRATION ENDS TOMORROW! REGISTER IN HKC 104 BY 5PM

INTRAMURAL INTRAMURAL 2-PERSON 7V7 SOCCER GOLF SCRAMBLE $10 NOVEMBER 5TH NOVEMBER 7TH PER PERSON

Brynn Castro | The Houstonian

Students perform individual vocal pieces in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Recital at the GPAC Recital Hall on Monday.

The NATS regional conference begins Wednesday at Lone Star College– Kingwood, where collegiate students from across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico will audition and compete to move on to the national competitions.

Three competitors from the regional conference will continue to the national rounds, which include an online screening round, with semi-finals and finals held during the NATS Summer Workshop in summer 2015. Prizes for the top three finishers at the end of the contest will total $30,000.

Panel to inform freshmen about future career advice SAVANNAH WOODWORTH Staff Reporter

shsu.edu/recsports

As freshman in college, most students are not thinking about their future careers. It often takes all of a student’s effort to get into the swing of school, to find their group of friends and to make it past their first midterms and finals.

However, this results in students making it to their senior year with a lot of unanswered questions about what they want to do with their careers and lives after college.

To combat that problem, Sam Houston State University’s department of Career Services will host a series of events throughout the week to help freshman students think ahead and prepare for their future.

“What is Your Story?” will be presented by career services and will contain four different panels, each covering different major career areas where professionals will speak about their experience and roles in their fields.

“This is actually our third ‘What is Your Story?’ speakers panel,” Cenaiyda Carranza, SHSU career services career counselor, said. “One reason we are doing it is because November is National Career Development Month, and so we tie in this speakers panel event to really better inform students about different career paths when they are out in the work force.”

Tomorrow is the first day of the

event.

The Business and Community Relations Panel will be held in Lowman Student Center room 315 from 2 to 3:20 p.m. Students interested in government should attend the Public and Governmental Services Panel in the Criminal Justice Building room A260 from 3 to 4:20 p.m.

For students whose interests are different from business or government, the event continues Thursday. The Education and Social Services Panel will be held in the Garrett Teacher Education Center room 278 from 11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., and the Health Sciences Panel will be held in the LSC room 315 from 2 to 3:20 p.m.

“They will be speaking about, number one, what their role is in the career that they are currently doing,” Carranza said. “Then they are also going to be talking about what challenges they may have experienced in their career as well as key tips to students on how to be successful in the workforce.”

By attending this event, students will be able to gain a better understanding of their prospective fields and become more familiar with their intended majors.

“Really giving students key tips on how to navigate [their prospective fields] from the academic side while they’re in university are some key things that they even need to be developing right now to help them be successful when they do graduate and transition into the work force,” Carranza said.

For more information, contact Career Services at 936-294-1713

Need a Tutor?

Friendly, helpful, one-on-one tutoring for all subjects taught at SHSU. Apply online at 99tutors.com or call 979-268-8867

HELP WANTED Tutors wanted for all subjects taught at SHSU. Pay starts at $10/hour.

Apply online at 99tutors.com or call 979-268-8867

The Houstonian | HoustonianOnline.com/viewpoints | Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Page 3

THE OCTOGENARIAN: A WRITER’S WOES

PAWS

up

The Octogenarian goes on the defense about being censored for the first time in his 32 years of writing experience. He continues by apologizing to the potential new readers and students he interviewed.

KENNETH LEVIN Staff Columnist I am going to explain in this column some of the things a writer must go through in pursuit of the field of writing for public consumption.

For instance, I have in my time submitted manuscripts to publishers and I was even once told that a submission needed 10,000 more words to be acceptable as a published book. On another occasion from another publishing agent, I was told to trim a submission down by about 2,000 words. The comedy of this is that both pieces of advice were about the same book.

Then there are the editors.

Thirty-two years ago, I submit-

ted my first article for publication to, as it turned out, the toughest, meanest editor with whom I would ever work. I believe I only submitted one article to her that she did not edit to my displeasure.

She even edited the captions on my photographs and once even a photo itself.

The unedited article was one where I photographed and wrote about her having an MRI. I was able to get pictures of the color brain scans coming up on the series of screens in the control room while showing her, my editor, on the gurney with her head inside the mechanism taking the pictures of her brain as she clutched a favorite stuffed animal in her arms.

I ended the article by informing my readers that I was shocked by the proof that editors had brains but still saw no evidence that they had hearts. She printed that one as written.

I thought I found a way to get even with that editor, but nine years after she edited my first story, I married her. Of course, I still couldn’t win, she is still editing (and mostly correcting) everything I do and now, I would not

change a thing.

And now, we get to the reason for this article. I owe an apology to a number of students on this campus. Although I never reveal my writings in advance of their publication as there would be no reason to read them, but last week, I promised a topic to be published in the October 28 issue of this paper. It did not get published and it is my fault. It was one of my Potpourri articles, meaning it was in three parts. Part one, I apologize to the eight or nine students and the one professor who thought I should become an advocate for not answering your request. In the third part of the article, I only interviewed two other students on campus and I guess our little inconveniences will not be addressed.

But, my real apology goes out to the more than three dozen students with whom I held interviews and discussed the general topic.

The funniest part of this is that, of the 38 students with whom I discussed my idea for a satire, only two ever read the paper anyway but this issue they picked up based on my erroneous message that the

article was about them. I naively thought we might have a chance to pick up a new readership.

What happened was that despite being told by one of the people in charge of our paper on the Friday that I submitted this article, that the students were in charge and had a history of writing what they want, I was censored, completely, for the first time in 32 years. My first reaction, knee-jerk, was extreme anger, but at my age and with my experience, that only lasted for about three seconds.

Then I realized that in the game of life, this little incident is only a ripple made by a small bug landing on the water. Still having no guidelines by which to submit my thoughts and ideas and getting some pleasure from the reaction I get from you, my readers, on and off campus, I will continue to share my thoughts and ideas with you.

And besides, if I am allowed to continue, I can’t afford to give up the big bucks I get for performing this work.

See you guys next Tuesday (I think).

WHEN REVENGE PORN LAWS BACKFIRE

PAWS UP to Texas finally deciding it should be fall.

We love that nice breeze that took over this past weekend, only in Texas would it take until Nov. 1 to finally feel chilly. Bundle up, Bearkats.

PAWS UP for November!

We are that much closer to Thanksgiving, where you can eat all you want without being judged…The turkey won’t be the only thing that is stuffed.

PAWS UP to our Bearkats for defeating the Lumberjacks for the fourth year in a row and for covering most of the stadium in orange.

PAWS

down

Revenge porn has become a way for exes to get back at their lost loves but many states are starting to take notice and enact laws to protect the victims. However, the laws are too broad and violate many First Amendment rights.

DHARMESH PATEL Viewpoints Editor Love, or what we think is love, can make us do stupid and spontaneous things. What started as selfies has quickly progressed into nudies and pornographic material racing across cyberspace. People think they are safe by using apps such as Snapchat and Grinder to cover their tracks, but once you create a digital copy of anything and post it somewhere online, it is there forever. Not even deleting the content in question will make it truly go away.

Snapchat recently admitted that photos taken and sent using their app do not disappear within 1 to 10 seconds as promised but in actuality are stored in a server making them vulnerable to hackers and online leakages. The same concept can be applied to relationships and flings as one person can fall out of love while the other can seek the ultimate revenge by posting that racy nude photo or (even worse) the sex tape he convinced you to make with promises of nev-

er-ending love.

Revenge porn has unfortunately become a quickly growing trend, and women are the majority of those being victimized. It is meant to humiliate and shame them online. Their ex-boyfriends, exhusbands or ex-significant others become scorned and seek a way to hurt the women they were once in a relationship with.

Countries like England have already taken steps to protect victims of revenge porn by passing laws to prevent these kinds of crimes from happening. When dealing with digital and cybercrimes, the law is still evolving to deal with the relatively new form of media.

According to USA Today, the heinous act has become so prevalent that 13 states have enacted laws to address the issue with many more gearing up to follow suit. However, the law has not been able to keep up a consistent stance, and many states’ anti-revenge porn laws have the news, media and publishing outlets fighting against it as a violation of their First Amendment rights.

The laws are too broad in that they encompass too great of a spectrum to cover revenge porn on its own and encroach on several First Amendment and free speech protections.

For example, the American Civil Liberties Union has taken a strong stance against these laws, challenging that they fail to protect

Editorial

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jay R. Jordan ........................... 936-294-1505 STAFF Hannah Zedaker .................... Associate Editor Dharmesh Patel .................. Viewpoints Editor Jeremy Villanueva ...................... Sports Editor Sean Smith ................... Campus Culture Editor Manjot Jawa .................................. Web Editor

STAFF, cont.

Brynn Castro ................................ Photo Editor Parbattee Maharaj ..... Asst. Viewpoints Editor Ryan Reynolds ........................... Layout Editor Jasmine Rangel ......................... Layout Editor Connor Hyde .......................... Senior Reporter Shawn McFarland ................ Senior Reporter Lillie Muyskens .................. Graphic Designer

photos and videos with artistic, historical and educational value by criminalizing them. As terrible as revenge porn is, these laws are too broad and undermine the value of our constitutional rights of free speech, especially with material that includes nudity.

As states rush to pass laws protecting the victim, they do not look at laws already in place such as invasion of privacy, stalking and harassment. A recent string of celebrity nude photo leaks have brought this issue to the forefront and started the conversation on revenge porn despite the fact that it has been happening for years now.

As the fight to protect themselves continue, potential victims can take steps to prevent this from happening to them. The most important and obvious thing to do is not engage in any activities that will have you recording yourself in the nude in any way, shape, form or fashion.

By recording this kind of content, you automatically make yourself a potential victim and it may not affect you immediately or even next week but will come back to haunt you one day when you are least expecting it. It is important to remember that you have to only do things that you are comfortable with and not let peer pressure make you do things you do not want to do like take sexy photos or worse make a sex tape.

Hollywood even addressed the issue of revenge porn in the mov-

Editor’s Note Subject matter in this newspaper and on www.HoustonianOnline.com does not reflect the opinion of The Houstonian unless otherwise noted. Staff editorials are subject to the approval of listed Houstonian staff members. For more information, call 936-294-1505.

Faculty Advisor Marcus Funk ......................... (936) 294-3553

ie “Sex Tape” starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel about a couple that gets blackmailed when a copy of their sex tape falls into the hands of a teen. It goes on to show how this kind of thing happens all the time and how people can deal with it if it happens to them.

In the age of technology that we live in, revenge porn is not going away anytime soon, but you can take the proper steps in the right direction in order to prevent and stop others from exploiting you and making you into a victim.

The Associated Press

EXAMPLE. Actress Jennifer Lawrence recently fell victim to a nude photo scandal.

PAWS DOWN to struggling to make it to the Piney Woods game on Saturday because Halloween was the night before…Your body is telling you no, but your pride is telling you yes.

PAWS DOWN to having a wonderful weekend, only to be crushed by the Texans and Cowboys.

Our two Texas teams let us down and finished our week of excitement in disappointment.

PAWS DOWN to professors being the scary ones for Halloween this year, as in, do not give us three tests and four papers due after the week of Halloween.

You know our minds are recovering from all the partying.

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The Houstonian | HoustonianOnline.com/sports | Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Page 4

Kats seeded second in SLC tourney JEREMY VILLANUEVA Sports Editor

Chris Winfield | The Houstonian

HISTORY MADE. Junior forward Katie Ferrara beats Nicholls State junior midfielder to a ball in the air. Ferrara and the Bearkats defated the Colonels 2-0 to clinch the second seed in the Southland Conference tournament and receive a first-round bye.

History was made as the buzzer rang for the last time at Pritchett Field for the 2014 Sam Houston State soccer season Sunday.

As the Bearkats squeezed out a 2-0 win over Nicholls State, SHSU clinched the second seed and a first-round bye in the Southland Conference tournament.

“The biggest bonus is the day off,” head coach Tom Brown said.

“Now it’s a new season. We’re going to have to play a game, and the winner is going to move on.”

The 8-2-1 record and second seeding is the best finish for SHSU soccer in its short history.

Last season, the Bearkats knocked off the Colonels in the first round of the SLC tournament to advance to the semifinals against Stephen F. Austin State.

SHSU saw its season come to an end when the Ladyjacks took a 2-1 win over the Kats.

With the first round bye this season, SHSU will await the winner between Houston Baptist and Southeastern Louisiana for its semifinal match. The Kats tied HBU 0-0 on Friday and defeated the Lions 1-0 the game before the

Huskies.

The Kats headed into last match of the regular season needing an equal or better result than HBU in its match against SELU. The games were played simultaneously Sunday.

HBU topped the Lions 2-1 in comeback fashion, so SHSU needed to get the victory over Nicholls State.

After 45 minutes of play Sunday, the Bearkats were even at nil with the Colonels.

It was an even back-and-forth match until Nicholls’ forward Lauren O’Brien received a straight red card for retaliating against sophomore defender Megan Bennett early in the second half. Bennett was on the ground after a foul from O’Brien in the Bearkats’ defensive third.

“I think there was a little more space for us to play,” Bennett said.

“I was worried just a little, because I think sometimes a team that plays with 10 plays a little harder.

I think it opened up the space, and we were a better technical team.”

As Nicholls was forced to only play with 10 on the field, SHSU began to see a spark upfront. In the 67th minute, senior midfielder Madison Bible was able to break the tie and score her third goal of

the season when she got a touch on a firing shot from teammate junior midfielder Mariah Titus.

Bennett then added the nail on the coffin in the 84th minute when she finished a ball off a Bible corner kick. Bennett said she knew she had to find a way to make up for a missed penalty kick she had in the first half.

“I knew after [missing the penalty] I was like ‘I have to make up for that’,” Bennett said. “Whether that was saving a goal, scoring a goal, I got to get it back somehow.”

Bennett got the start on the backline alongside freshman center back Caitlin Schwartz and senior outside backs Ashley Fluty and Megan Manis. The four provided junior goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton with her third consecutive clean sheet.

“The backline was one of the places we had to do the most work as far as trying to get players coordinated and new players in the mix back there,” Brown said. “I think that group has gelled together. I think they are confident because Kylie is playing well right now.”

SHSU will play the winner of the Colonels and Lions on Friday at 4 p.m. in Beaumont for the semifinals of the SLC tournament.

Women third, men sixth at XC championships RYAN REYNOLDS Layout Editor Sweat, pain and large amounts of effort were poured into this years’ cross country season, all leading in preparation of the Southerland Conference Championships.

The Sam Houston State men’s and women’s cross country competed in the SLC on Monday in Natchitoches, La. for a chance to

call themselves champions.

However, Lamar would claim the honors for the second straight year on both the men’s and women’s side of the meet.

The Bearkat women competed in the 6000-meter race held at the Northwestern State Golf Course.

The SHSU women finished third as a team, which marks only the fourth time the Bearkats have placed among the league’s top three cross country squads.

Senior Anna Moreno was the

first Bearkat to cross the finish line and placed ninth individually with clocked a time of 21:13.

Sophomore Olivia Olguin followed after Moreno and finished in 11th place with a time of 21:27. Junior Nicole Aponte finished 23rd with a time of 22:03. Sophomore Miranda Prado came close to Aponte in 29th place, clocking a time of 22:20.

Freshmen Nina Gonzales and Briana McCall were the last Bearkats to finish. Gonzales finished

Chris Winfield | The Houstonian

JOHNSON JOYS. Sam Houston State volleyball continued its undefeated streak at Johnson Coliseum with a three-set win over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Saturday. SHSU is now 9-0 at home on the season with three games left at home to be played all this week.

Kats stay undefeated at home AMSHI STEPHENSON Staff Reporter Sam Houston State secured a 3-0 win over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Saturday 25-17, 25-21 and 25-20.

The win continues SHSU’s undefeated home record of 9-0 this season.

Senior outside hitter Deveney Wells-Gibson single handedly took over the match with 24 kills, nine digs, and one block.

Going into the match, Corpus Christi was seated higher than SHSU. However, the Southland Conference standings did not faze Wells-Gibson, she said.

“My mindset was just to play,” she said. “I always have the thought of ‘this is my last year’ in the back of my mind, which can hinder me mentally when playing.

So this game, I just focused on enjoying the moment, and enjoying the girls and playing for them.”

The second leading scorers for the Bearkats were sophomore middle blocker Shelby Genung and freshman outside hitter Brooke White who totaled six kills

each. Sophomore setter Michelle Griffith had 42 assists for the match.

Senior outside hitter Brianna Brink led the Islanders with nine kills and freshman setter Kristyn Nicholson totaled 23 assists and five digs.

SHSU took control from the start with a 10-6 lead in the first set. The Islanders rallied back and forth and managed to stay within two points until the Bearkats built a 22-16 lead. The Bearkats ended the first set with a kill from WellsGibson.

The Islanders started off the second set strong with an early 8-5 lead. The Bearkats struggled to get a rhythm going momentarily until they tied the score at 9-9.

Both teams went on fourpoint runs halfway through the match, but it was the Bearkats who ended up on top 18-15. Although the Islanders tied the score 1818, the Bearkats went on another four-point run to win the set.

In the third and final set, SHSU never settled with a 2-0 set lead. Instead of allowing the opponent to

dominate in the third and push the match to a fourth set, the Bearkats took off with an 11-5 start. The score was tied at 13-13 and from then on it was a race to the finish line. There were four tied scores late in the set, but SHSU stayed focused and aggressive and never let up. The Bearkats went on an 8-3 run to defeat the Islanders.

This three straight set win was rewarding for the Bearkats. Griffith said that everyone stepped up which allowed them to spread out the offense and not have to depend on just one or two hitters to get the job done.

The Islanders are now 8-4 in SLC play (15-24 overall). The Bearkats move up to 8-3 in the SLC (15-9 overall).

SHSU has a full schedule ahead of them this week with three home games.

The Bearkats will take the court on Tuesday to play host to Northwestern State at 6:30 pm.

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34th with a 22:53 time, and McCall finished in 61st with a time of 24:05.

Lamar had runners sweep first, second and third to score a total of 20 points. SHSU’s rival Stephen F. Austin State was the runner-up with 50 points, and SHSU finished third with 106 points.

Only twice in SHSU’s 27 years in the SLC has a Bearkat women’s team finished higher than the 2014 team. The Kats were runners-up in 2000 and 2012, and the only

other Bearkat team to finish third was the 1991 team.

“I think the SLC meet went really well,” Olguin said. “Sure we didn’t get the place we wanted overall, but we each ran with all we had and that’s all that matters.

Individually, we came through and ran an excellent race.”

The SHSU men’s cross country team raced in an 8000-meter race and finished sixth overall Visit HoustonianOnline.com for more.