Friday, March 17, 2023

Friday, March 17, 2023

OSU’s CEAT partners with Air Force

Stephanie Landaverde Staff Reporter

OSU has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Tinker Air Force Base.

CRADA’s technology will have a direct impact on the readiness of the United States Air Force.

OSU students, faculty and staff will work alongside engineers and technicians at Tinker Air Force Base to research, develop and utilize technology that will provide maintenance and upgrade existing and new aircraft in a faster, safer, higher-quality and more cost effective way.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey King, commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, said this partnership will allow research to

help improve maintenance operations in the depot to advance the readiness of the Air Force.

“These aircraft provide no support sitting in the depot,” King said. “The faster we can accomplish maintenance on each aircraft, the faster we can get them back in operation for our men and women serving around the world.”

CRADA is part of a larger educational partnership agreement and addresses Tinker Air Force Base’s immediate need. It will provide OSU CEAT students and faculty an opportunity to directly impact the nation’s armed forces; specifically, this research opportunity will facilitate technology insertion and process improvement for removing the many and various aircraft and engine fasteners, an essential step in depot operations.

Kenneth Sewell, OSU’s vice president for research, said this CRADA

puts a real-world problem in the hands of students and provides them with experiential research training that they wouldn’t experience under normal circumstances.

“This agreement gives us a realworld, impactful way to exercise our research expertise in a way that benefits society almost immediately,” Sewell said. The research conducted under this CRADA will supplement each participating student’s educational experience and create a more knowledgeable, experienced graduate that is better prepared to enter the workforce and address the growing engineering needs of Oklahoma and the nation.

Kurt Rouser, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is serving as the University Technical Point of Contact for the CRADA. Rouser said students

benefit from understanding the engineering challenges facing the Air Force in sustaining aircraft and engines.

“This opportunity will enhance a pipeline of talent uniquely prepared for the aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul industry that has a national hub situated at the crossroads here in Oklahoma,” Rouser said.

The CRADA, as well as addressing a specific and immediate need, will provide a foundation for partnership among OSU, Tinker Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force. OSU leaders believe this partnership is their obligation.

“We, as a university, see it as our role to contribute, not only to our local community and our state, but to our nation, as part of our land-grant mission,” Sewell said.

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WASHINGTON

— Defense Secretary

Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart about a U.S. surveillance drone that crashed into the Black Sea after an encounter with a Russian fighter jet, as officials sought to keep the incident from further escalating tension already high over the invasion of Ukraine.

Austin told reporters at a press conference in Washington that he spoke to Sergei Shoigu about what he called Russia’s “dangerous, reckless, and unprofessional behavior in international airspace,” amid what was shaping

up to be a race to recover the wreckage of the MQ-9 Reaper drone. The U.S. said two Russian fighter jets harassed the drone over the Black Sea by dumping fuel on it and flying in front of it, before one of them hit its propeller and forced it to crash.

“The United States will fly and operate wherever international law allows,” Austin told a briefing. “We take any potential for escalation very seriously and that’s why I believe it’s important to keep the lines of communication open,” Austin said. “I think it’s really key that we’re able to pick up the phone and talk to each other.”

Russia said its jets didn’t come into contact with the drone and that the Reaper crashed “as a result of sharp maneu-

vering.” Russia’s Interfax news agency, citing the defense ministry, said the call between Austin and Shoigu took place at the initiative of the U.S. but provided no other details.

The episode led to fears of a broader escalation or even the possibility that the U.S. could be drawn directly into the conflict. But officials sought to steer away from that possibility, with Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying he didn’t know if the Russian jet intentionally struck the drone. He said the U.S. had video evidence of the incident and there was no doubt Russia’s actions were aggressive.

See Russia on 3A

Michigan leaders promise quick action to combat gun violence: ‘Now is the time’

to get reforms to the governor’s desk.

LANSING, Mich.

— Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan’s other Democratic leaders promised supporters of measures aimed at combating gun violence they would take action “in short order” Wednesday during a rally outside the state Capitol.

Thirty days after a gunman killed three students and injured five others on the campus of Michigan State University, Whitmer and former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a survivor of a 2011 mass shooting, bumped fists on stage as Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, vowed

“My pledge to you is that we are going to get these bills done,” Brinks told the crowd.

“Now is the time,” Whitmer said during her speech.

Democratic lawmakers have prioritized proposals to require criminal background checks for all gun purchases, to mandate storage standards for firearms in homes where children are present and to permit “extreme risk” protection orders, also known as a red flag law, to allow guns to be taken away from people deemed a risk to themselves and others. The House has already approved bills to require background

checks. The full 11-bill package in the Senate advanced out of committee last week. Votes from the full Senate are possible as soon as Thursday, Brinks said in an interview after Wednesday’s rally. “We’ll take them up as soon as they’re ready,” the majority leader added.

A national group led by Giffords, who’s become an outspoken advocate for gun safety policies, organized the gathering at the Capitol. A few hundred people attended with about 30 there to protest the event. The counter demonstrators shouted out from the crowd as speakers made their remarks on the Capitol steps.

Courtesty of OSU.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey King (left) and Kenneth Sewell (right) sign an agreement between the Air Force and CEAT.

Wong/Getty Images/TNS)

US defense secretary calls Russia

‘reckless,’ says drone flights will continue

Courtesy of Tribune

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a rally to demand action on gun safety at the Michigan State Capitol on March 15, 2023, in Lansing, Michigan. The rally comes after three gun safety bills passed the Michigan House last week and one month after three students were killed and five injured in a mass shooting at Michigan State University. (Chris duMond/Getty Images/TNS)

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Rowdy Review: ‘You’ untangles a web of secrets

Rowdy Baribeau Staff Reporter

Episode Six: “Best of Friends”

Part two is here.

Russia...

Continued from 1A

“As far as an act of war goes — I’m not going to go there,” Milley said when asked by a reporter about the possibility. “We do not seek armed conflict with Russia.”

Many questions remained about the drone, including where exactly it was before it crashed and what it was monitoring. Russia’s navy has a fleet based in the Black Sea, with its headquarters in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

In its initial statement about the incident on Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry said the drone’s transponder was turned off and that it flew into the airspace where Russia had declared a military operation. Moscow will try to retrieve the drone, according to Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Kremlin’s Security Council. He told a state TV reporter he wasn’t sure if that would be possible but “it’s definitely true that we need to and are trying.”

The drone crashed and sank in about 4,000-5,000 feet of water, making recovery efforts difficult. Milley, asked about the possible intelligence value of the drone should Russia recover it, said the

U.S. took “mitigating measures so we’re quite confident whatever was of value is no longer of value.”

The two countries’ relationship has almost completely broken down in the year since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine. The U.S. strategy for Ukraine has rested on sending weapons and other assets while avoiding direct involvement for fear that the war would spread beyond Ukraine’s borders. Experts and U.S. officials said the incident came after a spate of increasingly aggressive Russian actions in region. Such incidents sometimes resulted in the deaths of service members, as during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union shot down a C-130 over Armenia, killing 17 airmen.

“Aggressive intercepts of U.S. intelligence-collection platforms around Russia’s periphery have occurred in the past, including with manned platforms,” said Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corp., who studies arms proliferation, Russia and Ukraine. “What is different about this is the collision. That kind of thing is actually exceptionally rare. It’s manipulating the risk of collision that Russia usually does.”

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After “Hampsie,” Joe is regarded as a hero. After “saving” himself and Roald, Joe goes on with attempting to find a way to clear his name back in London. However, the blows keep coming for Joe. Just when he thought the bodies were behind him, a severed ear wrapped in a napkin is found in his apartment. Joe now has to find a person to plant the ear on to clear his “innocence.” He finds a likely culprit, but his good intentions sway him from planting the ear on Connie.

It is at this point when Joe’s student, Nadia, comes up to him claiming that the police are escorting Phoebe to a safe room. Phoebe was indeed taken to a safe room, but not by police… by an erotomaniac.

An erotomaniac is a delusional disorder in which an individual believes that another person, usually of higher status, is in love with him or her. Phoebe was brought to a room by Dawn, an erotomaniac, who claims she’s known Phoebe for years, but Phoebe doesn’t have a clue who she is. Dawn is carrying a knife and doesn’t Phoebe leave, which generates anxiety within Phoebe.

It is soon after that Joe finds the room and enters, trying to free Phoebe from Dawn’s grasp. Joe and Phoebe talk to Dawn, trying to bring some sense to her, which leads to an altercation between Dawn and Phoebe. Nobody dies because the police bust through the door and control the situation at perhaps the perfect time.\

They also happen to find the bloody ear in

Dawn’s bag. During the police raid, Joe dropped the ear in Dawn’s bag, planting one of the kills on her. Clever Joe.

After the party, Kate gets romantic with a man who she finds out was enlisted by her estranged father to get closer to her. Kate kicks him out and meets with Joe to talk about her father, Tom Lockwood. The two also talk about their relationship, which turns into another love story for Joe.

Joe goes back to his apartment where he meets with the killer, who is now proposing that he kill Lockwood, who has terrorized his daughter for far too long.

Episode Seven: “Good Man, Cruel World”

The episode starts relatively now it left off: with Kate and Joe. They are both officially the dreaded relationship title of, “a thing.” The two enjoy a cute, leisurely stroll down the streets of London. But he’s also wrestling with the idea of killing his current lover’s father throughout the walk. He goes back to the conversation he had with the killer, (whom I refrain from saying who until the end) and the two talk about the idea of killing Lockwood. The killer suggests that killing Lockwood would be the deed he needs to clear all the past blood from his hands. In his defense, Lockwood has been projected as a scumbag. In every kill, Joe tries to rationalize it. The death of one will lead to a better life for another. That has been his underlying motivation throughout the show. Killing a man like Lockwood would fit his pattern. After the conversations with the killer and Kate, the show pans to Joe’s area of work, the

university. Nadia goes into Joe’s office with inquiries and hunches. She actively tries to tie the kills to her professor, but it’s all just a hunch. They talk about the book Nadia is writing, and Joe claims he didn’t read it before backtracking and saying he did. Nadia poses a question to Joe about the book, to which he seemingly answers incorrectly based on her body language after the answer.

The show doesn’t circle back to what her demeanor meant in that very moment, but it cuts to a dinner that Joe is having with Kate and her dad, Tom. Somehow, Tom knows Joe is not Jonathan, but actually Joe. Joe goes along with the conversation, and it leads to the same one that Joe had with the killer. Tom wants Joe to kill a person that is threatening Tom in a political race.

The emphasis of the episode switches when the killer meets with Joe to discuss killing Tom. He shows Joe Marienne’s passport. How would the killer have Marienne’s

passport? He captured her. Joe instantly panics and tries to find where she’s being hidden. He struggles to find where, so he hunts down the killer at his home and subdues him before tying him up and interrogating him. The killer oddly acts confused. He doesn’t know why he’s tied up. He claims he doesn’t know who Marienne is, and he certainly doesn’t seem to know Joe.

Joe sees it as gaslighting and his rage takes over, strangling the killer in the chair. But, then, the same person in a suit walks in. Joe is beyond confused to the point where he thinks he’s hallucinating. Joe is seeing the killer, but he just killed him, so how can he see him alive? Did he have a twin? Did Joe kill the wrong person? No. Joe killed an innocent person. Rhys Montrose was never the killer. Joe Goldberg, also known as Jonathan Moore, has been—the entire time.

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‘Creed 3’ packs a punch

Michael Clark Staff Reporter

When “Creed 2” released in 2019, many fans of the series felt that the future of the franchise was uncertain. It was hard to tell whether Adonis Creed could hold his own in a feature film without the legacy of Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed lingering over the plot. Thankfully, “Creed 3” has proven itself as a valuable continuation of the Rocky franchise while remaining completely standalone.

The plot of “Creed 3” is a relatively formulaic, yet effective story. Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has retired from the world of boxing, yet is forced to step back into the ring when faced by the worthy adversary of an estranged childhood friend. Jonathan Majors does an incredible job in this role, but this was to be expected. He captures plenty of subtle nuances and details that give a great deal of depth to his character that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

In fact, the performances are a surprisingly strong part of the film. Every actor brings their A-game and makes this the best acted entry in the entire series.

Milla Davis-Kent plays Amara Creed, Adonis’ young and deaf daughter. The writers treat her hearing loss with respect and make her a strong, likable character regardless. Tessa Thompson, playing Creed’s wife, is given much more agency and character

development in this installment; in previous films she felt a bit flat. The deeper focus on Creed and his family perfectly fills the hole Rocky Balboa’s absence left in the series.

When walking out of the theater, it was surprising to hear that Michael B. Jordan directed this film, furthermore, it was his debut as a director. While the editing felt choppy at times, the actual direction was on point, and the final fight is easily one of the best in the series. Many directors’ first films are usually hit or miss, but this is an extremely strong debut piece.

This film’s biggest issue is its pacing. While the plot of the movie is great, and most of the scenes are excellently made, certain plot lines feel rushed. One character suffers a terrible loss in the family, yet never seems to mourn this loss outside of a brief scene afterwards, followed by a funeral scene. It makes the loss feel more like a mandatory event in the film for motivation and development rather than a fully fleshed out plot line. There are a few other ideas in this film that fall a bit flat as well.

Despite that, “Creed 3” is an excellent addition to the franchise and proves that it’s in good hands with Adonis Creed and Michael B. Jordan. It may not be the strongest in the series, but with excellent cinematography, a strong plot and exciting fight scenes, it is certainly one of the best.

Courtesy of Tribune

From left, Shalita Grant, Victoria Pedretti and Penn Badgley in “You.” (John P. Fleenor/Netflix/TNS)

Courtesy of Tribune

An MQ-9 Reaper drone on Nov. 4, 2022, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. (John Moore/Getty Images/TNS)

Continued from 1A

“Our rights cannot be legislated away,” one of the counter protesters, John Parkinson of Macomb Township, said. “We have to draw the line somewhere. If they take away the Second (Amendment), they will take away the rest.”

State Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia, stood with Parkinson and the other demonstrators before the event. She said the Second Amendment was “non-negotiable.”

“I will never waver,” she said.

But speakers and supporters at the rally Wednesday said the counter protesters misunderstood the bills at hand. People have a right to be safe, said Jeff Kessler, who traveled from Traverse City.

“We’ve let our kids down,” Kessler said. “I think we’ve let that generation down.”

In less than 16 months, Michigan has suffered two mass shootings that gained national attention and calls for reform. In November 2021, a gunman killed four students at Oxford High School. Then came the Michigan State University shooting on Feb. 13.

Madeline Johnson told the crowd she lost her best friend, Madisyn Baldwin, in the violence at Oxford. None of the bills in the Legislature infringe on people’s Second Amendment rights, Johnson said.

“I was a child when I ran from bullets,” Johnson said, addressing the state’s elected leaders. “I was a child when I attended my best friend’s funeral. My childhood was ripped away from me.

“And I am tired of begging you to care. So today I am not asking you to do your job. I am demanding it.”

House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, promised to pass “life-saving gun safety policies this year.” And Attorney General Dana Nessel suggested the bills would be signed into law in two to four weeks.

“We are going to have it in short order,” Nessel said.

Whitmer said the days after the Oxford and Michigan State University shootings were the hardest of her time as governor.

“What can you say to a parent who has lost a child to gun violence?

What can you say to young people who are terrorized and terrified just to go to school?” Whitmer asked the crowd.

“The good news is we do not have to live like this, and we will not live like this anymore.” Giffords was the final speaker.

She was shot in the head at a constituent event in Tuscon, Arizona, on Jan. 8, 2011. That gunman killed six people and injured 12 others. Giffords said she’s been relearning how to walk and how to talk.

“Many, many people have helped

me along the way,” she said. “I have learned so much. I learned when people care for each other and work together progress is possible.”

Courtesy of Tribune

A woman sits at Berkey Hall while Michigan State University students return to classes for the first time since the Feb. 13 mass shooting there on Feb. 20, 2023, in East Lansing, Michigan. The gunman shot eight students on the campus of MSU, killing three of them, one of them at Berkey Hall. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images/ TNS)

Students at Florida university want to keep diversity programs and classes, survey shows

Ana Claudia Chacin, Nicholas Nehamas and Sarah Blaskey

MIAMI — Students at one Florida public university say that they have had positive experiences with diversity programming and classes at their university and feel that shutting them down would make them feel unsafe or hinder their education, according to recent survey results shared with the Miami Herald.

All within the past two months, Gov.Ron DeSantis announced a proposal to defund and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public universities, asking each school to submit a list of programs and classes related to DEI and critical race theory. He also required schools to submit detailed information on services provided to transgender people seeking genderaffirming care. Additionally, he overhauled the leadership of New College of Florida, a small liberal arts school in Sarasota. The public university’s Board of Trustees then got rid of the school’s diversity and inclusion office.

At the University of North Florida, the student government took matters into its own hands and asked students, through the survey, whether they felt classes and programs on UNF’s list were indoctrinating them or discriminating against them or others in any way, among other questions.

“If Ron DeSantis says students are being indoctrinated, let’s ask the students,” Nathaniel Rodefer, UNF’s student body president, told the Herald. Roughly 800 students responded to the survey, which the student government distributed through emails, flyers and in-person events. Some faculty and staff also responded.

The responses — shared with the Herald — highlight a disconnect between the governor’s claims about higher education and the students receiving it. Close to 70% of respondents said they’d had positive or somewhat positive experiences with DEI programming at UNF. Just 28 individuals said their experiences had been at all negative.

The survey asked specifically

about UNF’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Intercultural Center, Interfaith Center, LGBTQ Center, Women’s Center, and the OneJax Institute, an interfaith group, given those programs could be on the chopping block. It also asked about classes on race, gender and politics, as well as an introductory anthropology class and a diversity in education class, which were included on the list.

Lee Jordan, a junior studying sociology, chose to attend UNF in part because of its nationally recognized LGBTQ Center.

“I thought it would help me adjust to college life and being away from home for the first time as an LGBTQ person,” Jordan said.

The center, Jordan said, helped him find a community on campus and in Jacksonville, providing sexually transmitted infection testing and offering a bountiful library of LGBTQ texts. Staff there helped him deal with an incident freshman year when someone wrote homophobic messages on his dorm room door, Jordan said..

“The campus can be a hostile place,” he said. “The center is vital in giving students the resources to deal with these issues.”

Jordan, who is Jewish, has also worked with the university’s Interfaith Center on a campus Jewish Student Union. Neo-Nazi posters and swastikas have appeared around campus in recent years.

“It’s given me leadership skills that I need to take these kinds of things into my own hands,” Jordan said. “Without resources like these, I feel like UNF would be a much worse environment for students. It facilitates us to really learn from each other. ... That’s what American life is. It’s people from different experiences and beliefs and backgrounds coming together in one democracy.”

In one section of the survey, students were asked to write short responses on how the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and coursework would affect them personally.

One student, who self-described as African American, described the isolation of being “the only Black person”

in many of their classes. The student said the programs have helped them connect with people of similar backgrounds and provided “an outlet.”

Other responses suggested students are concerned they will lose access to support from the university’s LGBTQ Center, Women’s Center and similar programs. “It would make me me feel unsafe and not supported as (a) Black queer student,” one wrote.

A smaller number of students expressed negative sentiments. About 14% of respondents said that the programs probably or definitely indoctrinated

students, while almost 13% said the classes in question did.

If DEI programs were eliminated, “I wouldn’t feel like a villain everyday I come to school,” one student wrote.

Another said that axing the programs would create a campus where “we view people as individuals with character instead of intersectionalities, races, and sexual orientations. ... These DEI programs want students to view each other as intersectionalities in the name of ‘equity.’”

Courtesy of Tribune

At the University of North Florida, a survey asked students whether they felt classes and programs were indoctrinating them or discriminating against them or others in any way, among other questions. A University of North Florida banner seen on campus, Nov. 23, 2013, Jacksonville, Florida. (Dreamstime/TNS)

With humor and Xanax earrings, she fearlessly puts Latino mental health on display

Lisa Boone Tribune

LOS ANGELES -- “I felt anxious before I came here today,” Rosa Valdes said as she arranged her Educated Chola T-shirts, totes and mugs inside the Cafe Girasol coffee shop in Boyle Heights. “Just because I take antianxiety medication, it doesn’t mean it’s gone.”

While friend and colleague Beth Guerra, a brand strategist she met at the Los Angeles Economic Equity Accelerator & Fellowship program at Cal State L.A., offers support and helps soothe her nerves for a photo shoot, Valdes takes a deep breath and forges ahead.

Valdes is used to living with anxiety. In 2018, the 33-year-old entrepreneur was diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder that left her with insomnia, little appetite and migraine headaches.

“When it’s bad, I ruminate in my thoughts more and I develop depression,” she said. “I don’t think nonneurodivergent people understand how much one has to fight with their own brain when they have a mental health condition.”

Today, she is funneling that energy into her own line of T-shirts, tote bags, stickers and jewelry, which range in price from $3 to $40 and are designed to inspire other Latinos to become more comfortable with talking about their mental health.

“It’s looked down upon to talk about mental health in my culture,” Valdes said as she folded T-shirts bearing the slogans “Tengo Muchos Feelings” and “Respira Profundo” (Take a Deep Breath). “The whole point of my business is to create awareness about mental health. There’s no shame in taking medication, although it has a huge stigma in communities of color.”

Guerra said she has experienced the same issues as Valdes, whose parents immigrated from Tijuana. “Our backgrounds are very different,” Guerra said of her friend. “I am a fourth generation Latina while Rosa is first generation, and yet it’s very much the same in both our worlds. Mental health is not something we talk about. Going to see a psychologist or a psychiatrist is

a very big deal.”

Despite surrounding herself with friends such as Guerra, Valdes knows that it’s easy to feel alone, especially as a woman of color who has been taught to internalize her feelings. “While the new age of Latinos may be more open about their mental health, there are still many who don’t want their families to know they are struggling or even getting help,” she said.

Valdes’ assertion is backed up by a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that Latinos do not seek out therapy at the same rates as other racial or ethnic groups.

Such feelings are what prompted Valdes to try to normalize mental health struggles by interlacing her products with humor. “I try to be as funny as I can,” Valdes said, “because if I’m feeling down and can bring some laughter to my day or to someone else, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.”

At the Unique L.A. makers event in downtown Los Angeles last year, Valdes elicited laughter among customers as she shared stickers printed with humorous slogans such as “Always Tired” and “Amygdala ¡Callate!” alongside serotonin-molecule bracelets and colorful pill-shaped earrings representing lithium, Cymbalta, Xanax and Prozac.

“I think it is a fun but subtle way of breaking the mental health stigma of taking medication,” Valdes said of the earrings. “I always love explaining them to people and am happy to do so if it helps.”

Valdes was born in Boyle Heights and grew up in southeast Los Angeles. After her father died when she was 5, she and her two sisters were raised by her mother, who encouraged Valdes to “take a breath” when times were hard.

“It works,” she said with a smile.

Valdes’ crusade to get people talking about mental health is based on her experience with life-long anxiety.

“I clearly remember being depressed at one point but not knowing what it was,” she said of her youth. “In regards to anxiety, I have always been very ambitious and a perfectionist, to the point where it would just exhaust me. So I was always trying to get the best grades since I was in third grade because I felt that if I didn’t get into

the honor roll, in honors or AP classes, that I wouldn’t get into college. Now we know that is not exactly true, but that’s something you do with anxiety: You catastrophize and assume the worst. I did everything I could to potentially prevent failure.”

While attending graduate school at New York University, where she received a master’s degree in public administration, Valdes felt like she didn’t measure up to the other students.

“I think myself and other students of color have impostor syndrome,” she explained, “but we are so good at hiding it, or acting like we know what we’re doing, that it usually just gets suppressed so that we can continue to move forward.”

After graduating from NYU, she took a job working for a nonprofit, where she found it difficult to advance.

“I learned that nonprofits are not a healthy place for people of color,” she said. “I had my master’s degree, and yet I got a job at the same rate of pay as before. Many institutions aren’t built for

people of color to succeed.” Also, the job did not help her mental health. “I already have impostor syndrome,” Valdes said quietly. “It exacerbated that.” When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Valdes decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning her own business. Using her savings and continuing to work full-time as a leasing agent, she started Educated Chola, inspired by the things she felt deeply about. “‘Always Tired’ came from the fact that my brain is always going,” she said. “With anxiety, it’s constant. You’re thinking and worrying all the time. You have to interrupt yourself, which is probably why I’m always tired. If I can catch it, then I don’t spiral and worry about things that I don’t need to worry about.”

Inspired by her transparency and vulnerability, Valdes’ TikTok and Instagram accounts are often jammed with direct messages from followers who want to try therapy and are curious about her experience.

Courtesy of Francine Orr

Rosa Valdes, who has generalized anxiety disorder, is trying to create awareness about mental health issues through her Educated Chola line of totes, jewelry, mugs and T-shirts. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

‘I think it is my year’

Luke Surber’s dedication brings him to All-American potential

Rowdy Baribeau Staff Reporter

Luke Surber stood up on the mat, pointed a finger to his chest and yelled to the crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“I’m number one.”

After defeating then-No. 1 Rocky Elam on Feb. 5., in Surber’s mind, he was the best. Coach John Smith said Surber’s win against Elam should propel him to achieve greater accolades.

“Hopefully (Surber) will kinda grow from this and make a run at some things,” Smith said. “Like AllAmerican honors, those type of things when you have nice victories like this.”

Surber finished third in the Big 12 tournament in the 197-pound bracket, his lone loss coming to Tanner Sloan from South Dakota State. Surber had two major decision victories.

Surber, in his first year back at 197 pounds, earned the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Championships. Surber will face off against No. 18 Tanner Harvey from Oregon State in the first round of the tournament. Harvey defeated Surber, 14-9, in January.

Fix focused on ending finals frustration

seasons.

“It’s hard,” he said. “It had the potential to be a really good night where I could spend it with my family and celebrate a good season. It’s three times in a row that it’s kinda been the opposite.”

and determination to the mat Thursday-Saturday in Tulsa, where his quest for a national title continues at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in the BOK Center.

Surber’s redshirt sophomore season resulted in a 21-8 record. It is a far superior record than the 14-10 mark he held as a heavyweight last season. He has also put

together more bonus point victories than he did the season before.

Surber’s success at 197 shouldn’t be a surprise. Surber was a top-100 recruit in the class of 2020 and the No. 10 174-pounder. He also came in the same class as Dustin Plott and AJ Ferrari. For Surber, it became a waiting game. He sat behind Ferrari, Plott and Dakota Geer at the light heavyweights.

When his time came to be a heavyweight, Surber said he constantly bulked to keep his weight up. He wasn’t a true heavyweight and said he weighed about 230 pounds.

Not anymore. Surber slimmed to become 197-pounder and has flashed facets of his game that were locked as a heavyweight. He has competed at a higher level and defeated opponents he was supposed to, and even some he was unfavored against. He’s flipped the script from his heavyweight year.

Surber, after pinning Oklahoma’s Keegan Moore in December, said the belief that Smith has in him has kept him going, especially through the taxing season he had at heavyweight.

See Surber on 4B

Daton Fix can’t stand being a national runner-up.

He boasts a 98-4 record spanning four seasons as one of college wrestling’s most dominant and recognizable wrestlers. The poster boy of OSU wrestling.

But, oh, those four losses. In particular — three setbacks in NCAA Championships finals, leaving disappointment as the final mat memory to each of his three previous

Failure runs rare for anyone with a lengthy resume of reaching the NCAA finals. There are four four-time champions.

No four-time runners-up. Not that Fix, OSU’s 133-pounder, wants any part of that distinction, which is why amid so much success, he forced himself to make strategical changes in an effort to win an elusive crown, for sure, but also to avoid becoming the dubious answer to a trivia question. Fix carries that focus

The drama is rich, too, for seedings point to another chapter in a trilogy in the final: Fix, OSU’s curly-haired prodigy against Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young, a chiseled speedster known for gymnasticslike athleticism and UFC-worthy footwork.

The man Fix lost to in 2021 and 2022. A 4-2 sudden victory final in 2021 and 3-2 in 2022. ***

After the past two years, some keyboard-

happy Twitter users and wrestling message board regulars theorized a weight change for Fix, a staple at 133 pounds.

A move to 125 would not be new. That’s his Olympic weight. He could bulk to 141, too, possibly win a title against a guy not named Roman Bravo-Young, aka RBY.

Nah.

“That’s just who I am,” Fix said. “You can knock me down however many times you want but I’m gonna stand up and I’m gonna be right there waiting on you. This is what I love to do. I don’t get discouraged.”

He said RBY’s return for another year overruled any thoughts about a weight change.

Boynton disappointed in NCAA Tournament exclusion, shares fans’ frustrations

Braden Bush Assistant Sports Editor

OSU was hoping to hear that it would be playing in Ohio this week.

And it is. But in Youngstown at the NIT, not on the other side of the state in Dayton, where the NCAA Tournament First Four games are held.

When the Cowboys saw their logo flash on the screen, it wasn’t as a team in the field, but the last team out.

“Obviously, the disappointment of not getting

in, but probably even more excruciating maybe – if that’s the right word – to know (we’re) the last team considered, I guess,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said on Monday.

The team wasn’t together for the selection show but practiced together later Sunday and Monday morning. Boynton said the disappointment was real.

He said he felt good about their chances and said last week that he thought they had done enough for an at-large bid with eight conference wins. Boynton referenced West Virginia, which won seven Big 12 games and is a No. 9 seed, and last year’s Iowa State team, which had seven Big 12 wins and made the Sweet 16, as a reason why.

West Virginia and

OSU both had six Quad 1 wins this year, but Iowa State had 11 when it made it in last season. Boynton also mentioned his 2017-18 team,

which went 8-10 in the league and ended up on the wrong side of the bubble.

See Boynton on 6B

Carson Toulouse

Daton Fix, OSU’s 133-pounder, seeks his first national championship in four tries this weekend at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

Adam Engel

Editor-in-Chief

Andy Crown OSU coach Mike Boynton said missing the NCAA Tournament was a disappointment, but he hesitates to call this season disappointing.

“If I want to win against anybody, that’s who I want to beat in the national finals,” Fix said.

He will take the challenge against a guy dozens haven’t solved. Fix isn’t the only one with issues against PSU’s three-time All-American. RBY hasn’t lost since the 2020 Big Ten finals. Fifty-straight wins. A two-time champion. He scored 92 takedowns and allowed two this season. What is it about RBY that makes him so tricky to wrestle?

Big Ten coaches said they understand the cause of his domination.

“His athleticism sets him apart from a lot of different guys at that weight,” Northwestern coach Matt Storniolo said. “I think see you that against some of the top-level guys that are good wrestlers. When you have a guy that’s just as good of a wrestler but more athletic, nine times out of 10, that guy is gonna come out ahead.”

RBY prances side to side with his hands rolling and faking. A rhythmic step sequence, before he pops the opponent with a fake or hard club to the headgear.

His split-second maneuvers can lead to a lunge and of course, a quick counter. Opponents try to attack. It usually results in being on the wrong end of a takedown highlight reel.

Fix found a similar athlete as his newest training partner. One of the few things different for Fix in his quest for the title.

Rutgers’ Sammy Alvarez survived a few years in the Big Ten wringer, entered the transfer portal in early January and landed at OSU a week later. He battled RBY twice and lost, 4-2 in sudden victory and 5-2.

Alvarez, a 141-pounder, trains with Fix twice a day and compared his style to a familiar name.

“More of the Roman BravoYoung feel,” Alvarez said.

Both use quick footwork and length to their advantage. The same type of guys, RBY or not, Fix said he could see this weekend.

“Listen, this guy [RBY], he doesn’t [mess] around,” Alvarez said. “This year, I think it’s Daton and twothree other guys you can never really sleep on but it’s one of them two. I’m looking forward to it.”

He added that RBY remains more athletic than 85-90% of his competitors.

RBY never earned bonus points against Fix. The collective elite status neutralizes any lopsided affair.

“I don’t know any other way to say it besides that’s always gonna be a tight one in my mind,” Minnesota coach Brandon Eggum said. “Win or lose, it’s probably a narrow difference between the two of them. I think the margin of difference between those two athletes is small.”

That’s what folks said they could see Saturday night. It’s as Alvarez said, a battle of the 1%.

“I think if you ask anyone with an operational brain cell, Daton Fix and RBY, it’s the top of the mountain,” he said. “…Because those guys are so good that they wrestle 100 times, it could be 40-60. It could 50-50. You never know. It’s really about who is prepared on that day.”

Duane Goldman, in the heyday of

Iowa’s mid-80s dynasty, accomplished what Fix could do Saturday — win a national title in a fourth finals appearance.

The results prove similar, too.

As a freshman in 1983, Goldman lost 4-2 to Oklahoma’s Mark Schultz. Then came a loss to Nebraska’s Jim Scherr, 3-2, at 177 pounds in 1984. Goldman bumped to 190 for his junior year. His body outgrew his weight class and the Hawkeye’s depth avoided a drop in production at 170. OK…. Maybe he could finally break through in his third chance?

Goldman found the finals again, running up against Oklahoma’s Dan Chaid at the 1985 NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City.

Goldman beat him in the regular season, too. “I was just like, ‘You have to get this done now,’” Goldman said. “You have been runner-up twice. This is a guy you can beat. Just go win, win, win and go get it done.

Chaid stopped Goldman, 5-3. The win-at-all-costs mindset appeared too much. He said he concentrated on the outcome, not the process.

“I got caught up in that, I think my mindset was more just so much that I have to win,” Goldman said. “I gotta win. I gotta do this now that I wasn’t really thinking about the process of how I needed to do that. I think my mindset wasn’t right. It wasn’t a bad mindset. It wasn’t overly confident. It wasn’t a lack of confidence.

“It was just my mind wasn’t on so much the wrestling itself as much as it was, ‘All right, you gotta get this done.’”

Goldman stomped off the mat and reportedly chucked a trash can through a window at the Myriad Convention Center, according to Sports Illustrated. The impulsive reaction cost him $65.45 and required a letter of apology.

“You start to feel like you’re snakebit a little bit,” he said. “You kinda feel like it’s just maybe not in the cards for you.”

Last season at the NCAA finals, Fix yanked off his headgear as the buzzer sounded and sat motionless. He gathered himself seconds later and

retreated to the tunnel. No celebration. Just disappointment.

“At that moment, I don’t know if there were a lot of things that you can say to him that can ease the pain,” OSU assistant coach Zack Esposito said.

Minutes later, Fix, with his hoodie tied tight and signs of recent tears, accepted his runner-up trophy. His face sported a permanent frown. Thin margins each year. The 365-day pursuit for glory soon began. Goldman remembered.

Losing in the finals became an annual event. No celebratory dinners with his family and teammates. Only sulking sessions at the team’s hotel.

What changes after a year’s worth of preparation led to the same results?

A different approach.

In 2021, Fix returned to the room fewer than 24 hours after his first loss to RBY. An immediate transition into folkstyle followed in preparation for the Olympic trials. He needed to cut to his Olympic weight (57 kg or about 125 pounds).

Not in 2022. Fix finally took a break after the college season. Twice or more daily visits to the wrestling room stopped. To first improve in his wrestling, Fix needed to stop. Self-reflect.

That’s what Goldman said he did as he entered his senior season. He said he had to get out of his head. Forget about the outcomes. Control what he can control.

“Winning that national title didn’t become any less important.” Goldman said. “It was extremely important. I tried to internally not make it all about that.

“I kinda made it more about if you wrestle the way you can, you’re gonna win and if you’re gonna wrestle the way you can and you don’t, you’re gonna have to live with that.”

Fix lists two differences in his wrestling compared with previous years.

No. 1: A mental prioritization on progress rather than outcomes. A growth mindset that Fix said helped him find the right mindset for the postseason.

Fix said he can overcome the emotional impact of losses and return to training. This season though, he wanted to experience a full perspective. Fix linked with Brian Cain, a mental performance coach who assists several notable athletes such as former UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre and baseball star Alex Bregman.

“My goal every day is trying to make myself better so just constantly trying to improve,” Fix said.

He said losing never severely deters him. He can brush a loss off and return to training. He won’t dwell for long. It’s a characteristic that coach John Smith said he attributes Fix’s suc-

cess to. Fix credits his faith as part of that but wanted to exhaust his resources in the offseason.

“I think that’s really the reason I wanted to work with somebody,” he said. “I think it’s worked pretty well so far.”

Many Cowboys use similar coaches and praise the benefits. Something Goldman said he didn’t have when he scrapped.

No. 2: An emphasis on riding opponents, not cutting a guy loose and a reset to neutral. Exhaust guys with hundreds of pounds of force pushing humans into the mat. This limits an opponent’s offense and can disrupt momentum.

Fix said he remembered riding was a strength in his redshirt freshman season. He lost in the overtime of the finals to Rutgers’ Nick Suriano. A match where Esposito said Fix was in position to win because of riding.

“I think that I needed to get back to that a little bit,” Fix said. “I knew I had the ability to ride. I just would rather wrestle on my feet. I like wrestling on my feet but it’s not easy committing to ride.”

To maximize riding time in a potential Fix-RBY final, Fix must take down RBY, something he has never accomplished.

Fix started the third period of 2022’s final on top. RBY rose to his feet, untangled his arms from Fix’s grip and escaped in 21 seconds to score the eventual winning point.

Fix won’t say his tactical change is solely targeted at conquering RBY.

“Not necessarily,” he said. “Not just for him. There are a lot of matches last year that I didn’t ride nearly as much as I needed to.” ****

Goldman finally earned his title in 1986. He defeated Chaid, 5-4, and called it a relief to win.

“In that match, it was just wrestle hard, wrestle smart, take your opportunities and just relax,” he said. “Just get it done. Don’t beat yourself.”

He won it in front of Hawkeye fans. Iowa City, Iowa.

Sound familiar? Just wait until Saturday in Tulsa.

“Maybe this was the time that it was supposed to happen, God willing,” said Derek Fix, Daton Fix’s dad. “Maybe the stage can be even better than it already is.

“For him to do it in Tulsa, for him to win his first national title in front of his hometown, that would be a special time for sure.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Courtesy of Mark Selders, Penn State Athletics

Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young, No. 1 seed at 133 pounds, could meet OSU’s Daton Fix in the NCAA final for the third time. Fix lost the two most recent meetings.

Molly Jolliff

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

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Daily Horoscope

Nancy Black Tribune Content Agency

Linda Black Horoscopes

Today’s Birthday (03/17/23). Develop rising prosperity this year. Regular self-care routines recharge and revitalize. Resolve a challenging intellectual puzzle this winter, before a busy springtime rains down silver. Summer adventures take new directions, leading to a lucrative autumn phase for your family. Save and invest for maximum benefit.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Aries (March 21-April 19) — Today is an 8 — Collaborate with friends to get farther. Disciplined efforts attain lasting value. Don’t worry about the past. Clear space for the next phase. Teamwork wins.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is an 8 — Discuss professional dreams and possibilities. Test your theories before committing. Your work is gaining respect. Friends provide a boost. Do what you love.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) — Today is an 8 — Your investigation is getting interesting. Find useful applications for what you’re learning. Don’t rely on an unstable source. Expect the unexpected. Long-distance connections flower.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Today is an 8 — Manage financial obligations, taxes or legal affairs. Put together presentations, reports or statements. Invest for the future. Shared accounts grow with dedication and care.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is a 7 — Review long-term plans with your partner. Imagine fun to have together. Talk about dreams, passions and possibilities. The future is a blank canvas.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is a 9 — Exercise gets your heart pumping and clears your mind. Physical action gets satisfying results. You’re building strength, endurance and energy. Pursue goals and dreams.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is a 7 — Relax. The gap between desire and reality becomes apparent. Have fun anyway. Enjoy your favorite games, sports or diversions with interesting people. Tap into creative passion.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is an 8 — Beautify your home and surroundings. Share stories, treats and diversions with family. Encourage each other. Find new uses for old stuff. Align on solutions.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is an 8 — Write and sketch your ideas. Participate in a larger conversation. Do the homework. Your creative muses serenade you, when you’re quiet enough to listen.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is a 9 — The next phase is ripe with lucrative potential. Have faith in your own capabilities and imagination. Don’t chase a fantasy; stick to practical objectives.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is a 9 — Energize a personal dream. Tap into personal inspiration, motivation and passion. Imagine who you could be. Dress for long-term success. Make it happen.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is a 6 — You’re especially sensitive. Recharge, rest and consider options. Put away old things. Plan for the future. Savor your favorite peaceful rituals. Nurture yourself.

6

Jess Shulman & Max Woghiren

Solution to Thursday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk

Cowgirls looking to break out of offensive funk, embrace last ride for seniors in NCAA Tournament

The Cowgirls walked off Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium court Saturday with the feeling of defeat, but Sunday brought a gift no one outside the program expected. Says who?

An NCAA Tournament bid.

On Saturday, the eighth-seeded Cowgirls play the ninth-seeded Miami Hurricanes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana, at 1 p.m.

For OSU, losses have been common the past three weeks, dropping four of its last five and not playing as well as it once was. This season, OSU averages 75.8 points per game, 36.7% from 3-point range and has 21 wins, a significant uptick from last season’s 9-20 finish. What were the stats last season?

But, the last five games haven’t been too characteristic for the Cowgirls, averaging 62.8 points per game and losing four. If Terryn Milton’s gravity-defying shot rolled the opposite way, the Cowgirls would be walking into the tournament on a four-game skid.

It’s not known what the issue has been, but injuries and the Big 12 figuring out the offense doesn’t help.

Multiple players dealt with ankle injuries last week, and forward

Claire Chastain did not attend last Friday’s win

versus West Virginia because she was sick but returned against Texas on limited minutes.

Chastain said she feels great and ready to go for Saturday’s game, and OSU coach Jacie Hoyt said she feels the same about the preparation and practice her team has put in this week.

“It’s the most prep we’ve had in a really long time,” Hoyt said. “You always forget this time of year you go from playing in-conference, you know, scout, scout, scout and never get to work on yourself. This has been a good week for us to just be able to get back to us a little bit and work on us.

I think our execution of details, little things within our offense (are things we’ve worked on). We’ve gotten away from running in transition the way that we were early in the season. Just a lot of offensive stuff for us. We’ve had people in and out of rotations and we’re all healthy now. So, that’s

been good to just get that continuity back.”

OSU is staring down a different beast that varies from the Big 12 gauntlet it endured. The Cowgirls get to play in The Dance.

Even though this group has been together for less than a year, there’s a good mix of players with and without NCAA Tournament experience.

“I think we have a cool blend,” Hoyt said.

“Because we’ve got some that have been to the tournament and haven’t won, so they’re really hungry to get a win. We have some who know how to win in the tournament. Kassidy (De Lapp), Lexy (Keys) and Taylen (Collins), they all got a taste of winning and have that experience. Then, we’ve got some who’ve never been and so they’re just excited.”

Hoyt said the players who have been and lost have a hunger to win, but there’s also another hunger for the seniors – to continue.

For the Cowgirl se -

niors, it’s the last go. Last chance to win. Possibly the last time they lace up the sneakers and throw on an OSU jersey. With a loss, it’s over.

Chastain decided to pursue a fifth year following her career at UT Arlington, but now it’s about to end.

Chastain said there is an elevated intensity for the seniors’ last shot, but there’s also a great amount of composure.

“The urgency level is very high,” Chastain said. “I feel we’re very antsy to just get there again, especially those of us who’ve already made the tournament and know what the atmosphere is going to be like, and just having it be our last go as seniors I think is such an important experience that we’re about to go through. But also, being able to soak it all up, and staying the course is really important.”

Surber...

Continued from 1B

“Coach Smith—

he’s helped me a lot and he sticks with me a lot of times, like when I lose a match I probably shouldn’t, but he sticks with me,” Surber said.

“He gets on me, just stuff like, ‘That can’t happen again.’ But he sticks with me through it all. He doesn’t get enough credit sometimes. Obviously, he’s one of the best coaches, but (he is) just sticking with (me) no matter what.”

It is March. The time is now for Surber. With the success Surber has found, Smith said the best is yet to come for Surber.

“I think for Luke, his best matches can be ahead of him,” Smith said. “If you look at this

weight class, I think we got two, three, or four guys that can be an AllAmerican and that means there’s eight of them. Luke is ranked 18, 19, or 20. So, let’s raise your expectation and raise your level, up. Wrestle better than you’ve wrestled all year.”

Throughout the season, the message from the coaches has been the same to Surber. It comes from the belief in his abilities from not just the coaches, but Surber himself.

“Keep doing what I’m doing,” Surber said. “I think I’m one of the hardest workers in my weight class, nation, everything. I just know that If I just keep putting the work in, come March, I’ll get what I want.”

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128 N Main St.

Stillwater, OK 74075

Andy Crown

The Cowgirls play Miami in the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 1 p.m. in Bloomington, Indiana.

Davis Cordova

Staff Reporter

Changes at plate sending Cowboy bats surging into conference play

Braden Bush Assistant Sports Editor

Roc Riggio had to make a change. He entered Saturday’s doubleheader against Utah Tech with his batting average nearing a season low. Something wasn’t working.

File Photo

Cowgirls softball will soon have a new stadium, OSU Athletics announced on Monday morning.

OSU softball schedule changed

Sam Hutchens Staff Reporter

The No. 2 Cowgirls’ are adding an opponent to their schedule.

OSU will play Minnesota (16-9) on Saturday in Cowgirl Stadium. It will be part of the OSU Mizuno Classic. First pitch will be at 2:30 p.m. and the ESPN+ will broadcast the game.

OSU (21-2) will now play four games this weekend.

To plan around potential inclement weather, game times have been changed.

OSU will play a

double header on Friday, facing Arizona State at 2:30 p.m. and Central Florida at 5.

After playing Minnesota on Saturday, the Cowgirls will face UCF again at noon on Sunday.

Tickets previously purchased will be honored, per OSU athletics. Fans who purchased tickets to a game with an opponent change can exchange for their desired opponent.

If fans who purchased tickets can no longer attend the game at its new time, tickets can be exchanged for an SRO to any game of equal value.

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Robin Ventura, an OSU volunteer assistant coach, noticed something. Balls were coming off the end of Riggio’s bat, so Ventura told him to change switch it up. Riggio had been using a 32-inch bat, but Ventura told him to switch to a 33 ½-inch bat.

“I was like, ‘You’re Robin Ventura. Whatever you say, I’m gonna do,’” Riggio said.

Three days later, Riggio’s average hit .344, its best mark since opening weekend. Because of changes at the plate, the Cowboys’ batting lineup is surging into conference play against Texas Tech on Friday, averaging more than eight runs with a .323 batting average.

It was something Riggio, OSU’s second baseman, hadn’t considered. He’d always used the 32-inch bat. But the results were hard to argue against.

Later that day, he hit four doubles in a game. On Sunday, a home run. Tuesday against Dallas Baptist, Riggio went 3 for 5 with three RBI.

“I did that, and

things fell that wouldn’t have fell with my other bat,” Riggio said. “And so, I trusted him, trusted this coaching staff, and they’re putting me in a good spot.”

OSU catcher Chase Adkison struggled at the plate at times last season. He batted .240 and didn’t hit a homer in the final 33 games of the season.

This season hasn’t looked the same. Adkison sits third on the team with a .383 batting average.

“I think, honestly, my timing, I just felt like I wasn’t getting started on time (last season),” Adki-

son said. “So, I’m working on getting loaded a little earlier. I want my barrel to get out front.”

But entering his 14th start of the season, Adkison still hadn’t broke through the home run slump. He had been a reliable batter in the ninth hole, which Holliday said he kept him there to have a good hitter at the bottom of the lineup, but no deep shots.

Then came Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, where Adkison broke through and hit two homers in the fifth inning – the first time he’s hit two home runs in an inning, Adki-

son said.

Same remedy. Adkison knew he needed to change something to become consistent at the plate. For Adkison, it was his timing. And found some of the advice from someone familiar with making a change at the plate. “Roc, he talked about just getting back to loading slow and early,” Adkison said. “But I mean, the whole staff –you talk to Rob Walton, you talk to anyone on the staff about hitting and they’ll help you out.”

Andy Crown

Sophomore second baseman Roc Riggio switched to a longer bat to improve his results at the plate.

Boynton...

Continued from 1B

“From my perspective, winning eight games in this league, which is usually a magic number, unless you’re Oklahoma State,” Boynton said.

Still, OSU had home games against Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor in the final two weeks to bulk up their record, but turnovers and poor shooting resulted in three losses.

Boynton said they have to be more efficient and consistent on both sides on the ball.

“Really, there was some opportunities where we just didn’t capitalize,” Boynton said.

But Boynton doesn’t want to call this season disappointing because of it.

The end result was disappointing, but the Cowboys were in contention for a tournament berth and put together a winning stretch in the middle of the season.

“I don’t want to say (it was a disappointing season) because I don’t want these kids to feel like failures,” Boynton said, “because they’re not.”

But Cowboy fans want to make the tournament. The Cowboys have made just one appearance in the NCAA Tournament in six seasons under Boynton’s leadership.

Boynton had a message to fans.

“I don’t want them to lower their expectations,” Boynton said. “I certainly am not going to lower mine. And this year we fell short of a goal – a goal that our program will always strive to be playing in the “big tournament,” if you will. So, I understand and respect your frustrations. I’m gonna be as committed as ever to making sure that we don’t have this feeling moving forward.”

Moving forward starts with a trip to Youngstown State at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the NIT. It isn’t what the Cowboys wanted, but Boynton said his team is focused on ending the season as best they can.

“Do we need to be better? Yes. No question we gotta be better,” Boynton said. “The goal isn’t going to change. We’re not gonna start saying, ‘Let’s celebrate going to the NIT,’ but we are gonna go try to win the NIT since we’re in it.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Mackenzie Janish

Boynton said making the NCAA Tournament should be expected at OSU, and that fans shouldn’t lower their expectations.