Western Courier| April 29th, 2019

Sports: Softball comes out on top on Senior Day.

WesternCourier.com

Opinions: Should Western have a competitive gaming club?

Monday, April 29, 2019 - Vol. 119 Issue 84

@WesternCourier

Khalen Saunders drafted 84th

overall to Kansas City Chiefs

By Bradley Piros sports editor

With the 84th pick overall in the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected defensive tackle and former Western Illinois starter, Khalen Saunders.

The 6-foot, 324-pound senior was the Chiefs final pick in the third round of the draft on Friday night.

Sanders became the first player from Western to be drafted since 2009 when Jason Williams was drafted as the sixth pick of the third round to the Dallas Cowboys.

During his time as a Leatherneck, Saunders played in 47 games completing 204 tackles, 72 of those coming in his senior year. He also recorded 18 sacks over the course of four seasons and added 13 TFL’s for 57 yards lost his final season, which ranked him fifth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. He recorded a career high 11 tackles against the reigning MVFC Champions back on Oct. 13. Though he ended his career as a Leatherneck in a frustrating 15-13 loss on Senior Day, he has so much more to look forward to now.

Saunders raised eyebrows in the NFL Combine with a 5.01 40-yard dash, one of the fastest times for a defensive tackle. He also took on 27 reps in the bench press and had a 30.5-inch ver-

tical jump.

He put up a phenomenal performance in the

It was a video of him do- There were multiple vid- for his home state team. ing a backflip that went eos of him back flipping, That’s right; Saunders is viral that really changed but it wasn’t until ESPN’s a St. Louis native and a graduate from Parkway Central High School.

With the departure of the St. Louis Rams most Missourians transitioned into becoming Chiefs fans, including Saunders’ parents. That’s because STL is only about a three and a half hour drive to Arrowhead Stadium, so surely his family will be in attendance for most of the home games.

Speaking of Saunders’ family, he recently had a new addition when he welcomed his daughter into the world. One day after practice, Khalen was notified that his fiancé was going into labor.

He wasn’t able to make it in person because he was down in Mobile, Ala. competing in the Senior Bowl. Oh yeah, he was also the first Leatherneck to even get an invite to that game as well.

Between viral backflips, becoming a father and getting drafted into the NFL, Saunders has had one crazy year, a year he’ll never forget. Come October, I’m excited to see the number of students walking around campus with a red KanCOURTESY OF GOLEATHERNECK.SCOM sas City Chiefs No. 99 Khalen Saunders (above) gets drafted third round to Kansas City Chiefs on Friday. jersey. The whole school combine, raising many his life forever. Sure, he Adam Schefter shared it will be rooting for him eyebrows and attracting had some good stats and that it really gained pop- no doubt, as Saunders a lot of attention. But it a stellar combine perfor- ularity. looks to take his talwas what was going on mance, but it was that Not only will Saunders ent to the next level and off the field that really video that got him trend- be playing in the NFL, continue making a name put him in the limelight. ing in the right direction. but also he’ll be playing for himself.

2

NEWS

WesternCourier.com

Monday, April 29, 2019

Calle Murray returns to Western's campus

By Steven Barnum news editor

The Calle Murray event celebrated its fourth year of bringing cultural awareness to Western Illinois University on Saturday.

For four years, the event has been providing food, dance and culture to the campus and community in the multicultural center. Sodexo from Western’s Union and Guadalajara from nearby Monmouth, Ill. provided food for Saturday’s event. Karneil Smith, one of the hosts of the event, said that it’s a positive cultural experience.

“I feel like it really speaks

on the diversity that we have here on campus,” Smith said. “We’re celebrating world culture to bring the whole community together as one and that’s what it’s all about."

Smith has been helping with the event since its inception and he views it as a chance to enjoy himself, especially when it comes to the dancing.

“It’s always fun to be on the dance floor,” Smith said.

“Dancing is another form of communication and to be able to go out there and do these cultural dances is something I won’t forget. I love being part of events like this and being surrounded by all of these

supportive people.”

Organizers moved the event indoors to avoid dealing with inclement weather, but that didn’t discourage anyone from attending, according to Smith.

“We still found a way to conquer through it and put on a great event for the community. It’s all about giving back to the community and celebrating culture and diversity and showing what the Western campus can offer. The biggest thing that we can do to help this campus is support these events and support cultural diversity.”

With the food and music from Crooked Cactus and DJ Reckless, the event pres-

ents an opportunity for the public to share the cultural experience, according to graduate student Jenissa Nino.

“It’s definitely important that our Latino students and Latino population feel like they have a place here in the community,” Nino said.

“It’s also important for others because it’s a learning opportunity and it’s the biggest Latino cultural event that Macomb has.”

Nino agreed that the weather didn’t prevent a larger turnout because of what the public knows the event has to offer.

“It’s a beautiful culture,” Nino said. “This is like us gifting a piece of our culture

to our community.”

This is the first year that Nino took a larger role in helping to organize the event. For the weeks leading up Calle Murray, she met with a planning committee every week. She publicized the event through social media to make sure as many members of the public were aware of its existence. She also advertised for volunteers, with which she said the participation was generous.

Calle Murray page 3

FELICIA SELMON/COURIER STAFF

FELICIA SELMON/COURIER STAFF

The Crooked Cactus (left) provided musical entertainment during Saturday's event and Mayor Mike Inman (right) speaks to the crowd.

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Calle Murray from page 2

“We had a lot of help from various organizations and departments so we’re very blessed that it was a community effort and an opportunity for everyone to come together,” Nino said.

Sponsors for the event were organizations like the

Monday, April 29, 2019 Women’s Center, the Student Government Association, Amplify, the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center and several Greek organizations on Western’s campus. The executive director of Casa Latino, Rocio Ayard Ochoa, is instrumental in highlighting the necessary cultural exposure in the community, according to Mayor Mike Inman.

“She is doing a great job

and we’re lucky to have her here in the community,” Inman said.

Inman has made appearances at each of the annual Calle Murray events and he told the Western Courier that it’s a rare occasion that not every community gets to participate in.

“It’s been my privilege to be here and I’m happy to be a part of an event that is so important in this commu-

NEWS 3 nity,” Inman said. “We hope that Calle Murray would be one more feather in the university’s and community’s hat as to why students should come to Western.”

Inman referenced how the Hispanic population is the fastest growing demographic in the state of Illinois and that he hopes that the community continues to offer an inviting atmosphere for everyone.

“On behalf of the city of Macomb, we are so proud to be the home of Western Illinois University and this is one of the reasons,” Inman said to the crowd from the main stage. “The diversity that this university brings to our community makes us the community that we are – and we wouldn’t have this cultural recognition without the university.”

FELICIA SELMON/COURIER STAFF

FELICIA SELMON/COURIER STAFF

FELICIA SELMON/COURIER STAFF

FELICIA SELMON/COURIER STAFF

Above are some of the volunteers who helped participate in the events during Saturday's "Calle Murray".

4

OPINIONS

Monday, April 29, 2019

WesternCourier.com

Western should not have a competitive gaming club JIMMY PIERSON/PRODUCTION MANAGER

Gaming is something that most people enjoy doing when they have free time and sometimes if you are good enough and the game is popular, you can even make money from it. However, I do not believe that there should be a competitive video game organization.

As much as I enjoy video games and more importantly a challenge, while I play I do not think that promoting gaming on the school level is a very proactive thing to do for the students. The reason

I believe this is because the amount of time that it takes to be good in a video game is very time consuming.

On top of that students that spend excess amount of time playing video games to compete in a video game league are missing out on time to make connections in other organizations that promote more social and time management responsibilities.

Gaming is a fun tool if you have been stressed out but is not comparable to the amount of work that you need to put

in to something like Greek Life or other organizations that also teach you about your field of study which is why you come to college in the first place.

Not to mention that this club needs money to operate and regardless if enough people allocate the spots to pay for the organization, this money could be potentially spent elsewhere to promote a permanent impact on the students. This could be helping fix the bowling alley to promote more social activity or having a pool outside etc.

Unless Western is going to begin recruiting high school students based on their gaming ability, this organization is a waste of time and money.

Primarily for the people in-

volved because although they can enjoy the time they spend in the organization, they are not optimizing their time to peak efficiency.

The likelihood that someone makes it to a pro gaming organization is very unlikely. Even if someone was good enough to become a pro gamer, someone of that statue would have already been discovered or would not participate in an organization like this because it would not be competitive for them.

As an organization, the worst thing you can do is to stagnate a student’s growth and I believe that this club does just that. I am an avid gamer and have been my entire life. As I get older I understand the time I spend on

it takes away from things that can make me money or teach me life lessons.

I appreciate the effort and initiative Western has taken with making this type of organization possible, but I cannot ignore the drawbacks that come with a life of a gamer. The best thing for a group of students to do that enjoy gaming at a competitive level is to seek it out worldwide, not locally.

This not only increases their chances of constant competition but also teaches people how to do things on their own instead of relying on the organization to figure it out for them. The students deserve better and can stand on their own two feet if we allow them to.

Women should be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies Abortion access and women’s reproductive healthcare is under attack in this country. Republicans have grabbed onto the hope that they can persuade the Supreme Court of the United States to revisit Roe v. Wade due to the new conservative justices’ appointment to the highest court. How are Republicans nationwide trying to accomplish such a feat, you ask? They are writing and passing severely unconstitutional laws in countless states to attract the attention of the courts. We are watching abortion access be stripped away as if we are back in the 20th century.

On April 11, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a bill into law that would ban abortion at the first sign of a fetal heart rate. This can be as early as 6 weeks, which is when many

women do not even realize they are pregnant; only 2 weeks after a missed period. Ohio is not the only state to impose harsh, unrealistic restrictions for women seeking an abortion. According to The Hill, Kentucky and Mississippi signed similar bans last month and George is awaiting their governor’s signature to be next.

Texas legislators are writing and supporting a bill that would criminalize abortion. The bill in question would charge mothers who go through with an abortion and penalize them with the death penalty. Nothing says prolife like the death penalty, am I right? I wonder what would happen if Republicans cared as much about children after birth and women who are living as they do a clump of undeveloped cells in a woman’s uterus.

Missouri currently prides itself on being one of seven states that is down to a single abortion clinic. Lawmakers are hoping they can be the first state to completely shut down every single abortion clinic in the state.

According to another article on this topic by The Hill, “Since 2011, states have enacted more than 400 restrictions that have pushed abortion care out of reach for many.” These laws are incredibly damaging to women, especially women who fall into the categories of low-income, various minority groups, mentally ill and young people.

We can argue all day about the ethics behind abortion. People are entitled to their own beliefs about when life begins, if they themselves would get an abortion or if a woman who gets an abortion is a morally corrupt person. I am unbothered by all of these points of view. The fact remains, if we are discussing this matter from a constitutional perspective, that the Constitution states that there shall be a separation of church and state

in the making of laws. If my philosophical views rejecting incarceration, racism and sexism do not matter in the making of the Constitution, neither does your religious take on abortion, Sharon.

According to NBC News, “Historical and contemporary data show that where abortion is illegal or highly restricted, women resort to unsafe means to end an unwanted pregnancy, including self-inflicted abdominal and bodily trauma, ingestion of dangerous chemicals, self-medication with a variety of drugs and reliance on unqualified abortion providers,” ACOG says. “Today, approximately 21 million women around the world obtain unsafe, illegal abortions each year.”

Banning legal abortion does not end abortion. It only makes it a more hostile, unsafe process for women. Women’s lives are being put in danger for political and religious gain. We are having an important form of birth control being taken away from us. Abortion is a form of birth control that has a place for wom-

en who were unable to prevent an unwanted pregnancy before the moment of conception. Why would you want to force a woman who does not want a child to raise one? Why would you wish a life in an incredibly broken foster care system upon an unborn, undeveloped child to make yourself feel better about your religious views?

Women deserve so much more.

We deserve the right to make decisions based on our own lives and bodies. Not everyone is meant to be a mother. The final point here is that what a woman does with her own body is none of your business. A woman’s choice to receive an abortion is between her and her doctor, no one else.

Just say you hate women and go.

It is much simpler than writing legislation and holding picket signs outside of clinics that save lives and provide much-needed reproductive healthcare. Abortion is my right, and it should continue to be every woman’s in this country, should she choose to exercise it.

Taylor Swift is still While Taylor Swift just finished up her Reputation tour last fall, she has already been hard at work on something new for her fans. In February, fans noticed that Swift had “rebranded� her Instagram. Suddenly it was flooded with bright colors, pastels and butterflies. In addition to this rebranding, Swift started to count down to 4.26. On 4.13 Swift began posting odd and out-of-the-ordinary photos, with no context, all captioned 4.26. These images ranged from a picture of a retro bicycle to a picture of a wall that is displaying pictures of chicks with sunglasses on, all the way to an image of three people holding suitcases. This is when fans knew that something big was coming, but what?

Layout by: Jimmy Pierson

CONT. E.2

Written by: Tea Wheat

E2 EDGE

Monday, April 29, 2019

WesternCourier.com

Taylor Swift reveals her long overdue surprise

Swift is known for her mastery in hiding clues and “Easter eggs” so-to-speak in plain sight. Swift fans around the nation took to figuring out what these images may mean, and to figure out what would happen on 4.26 before it occurred.

After reading many different articles by Swift fans, all the different ideas were dancing around my mind, a new album, a new single from a new album, an album release date, even a clothing line were all ideas that fans had imagined from these Instagram photos.

The most popular idea was one that arose on 4.26, hours before the release of, well, whatever Swift was planning on doing. This idea was that Swift would be releasing a new album, but not on 4.26.

Instead on 4.26 a new single would be released, featuring Panic! At the Disco lead-singer Brendon Urie. Swift had also been spotted wearing what seemed to be new merchandise. This idea was one that had both Swift and Urie fans across the nation excit-

ed, confused and still waiting for anticipation.

Swift released her newest single, “ME!” featuring Brendon Urie, just as fans had suspected. Along with the release of this song was the release of the music video as well. According to Forbes, Swift’s music video has beat Ariana Grande’s “Thank You, Next” record on YouTube for the most views in a 24-hour period. Grande set the standard high, having 55.4 million views within the first 24-hours. Swift’s video for “ME!” came in strong with 65.2 million views in the same 24-hour period. In addition to breaking this YouTube record, “ME!” also broke the Amazon Alexa voice request record, as well as the record for the most streams in one day. “ME!” also jumped to the top of the “Today’s Top Hits” playlist on Spotify, and if you listen on Spotify, there is a video of Swift in a rainbow filter that plays throughout the song.

It is evident that this colorful video and upbeat song has jumped to the top of charts,

broken records and invaded the hearts of fans, but what’s next? Swift released information on new merchandise that you can purchase through her website, and with a purchase of merchandise you also get a preorder of her next album. Fans are now beginning to search for more clues within Swift’s new music video for information on what will be Swift’s seventh album. According to Billboard.com, Swift hinted, "So... the new album title is actually revealed somewhere in the video AND so is the title of the second single, but I haven’t seen people finding them yet,” adding fuel to the fire for her fans to figure out these strategically placed clues.

While there is not a confirmed release date for Swift’s new album, there are many guesses on the album release date. My personal favorite, and what seems to be the most popular across fans, is 7.13. This idea originated from the idea that this will be Swift’s 7th album and her lucky number is 13. While the album is much anticipated, Swift’s new song “ME!” is already all over the web. If you haven’t yet listened I highly suggest it, the song can be found on most streaming services as well as YouTube.

vanityfair.com

kiis1011.com.au

E3 EDGE

Monday, April 29, 2019

WesternCourier.com

A monstrous battle is coming to the big screen Godzilla is returning to the big screen and with him, a couple other iconic monsters or Kaiju will battle it out. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” will be the 35th film in the franchise (the third made by the US).

Most people are familiar with Godzilla or Gojira, the giant dinosaur-looking creature created by a hydrogen bomb (at least in the original movie) that has been portrayed as a villain, hero and everything in between. With the popularity of the previous film that was released in 2014, they decided to continue the series by combining it with King Kong and creating the MonsterVerse.

After being teased at the end of “Kong: Skull Island,” the new movie will reintroduce three beloved monsters from the series.

In the Final trailer, we are first introduced to Mothra or Mosura, a beloved character that in most if not all of the films is portrayed as a protector or hero. She is probably the most sympathetic of all the monsters of this series. She is also one of the monsters that started out being in her own series before joining the Godzilla franchise (though Mothra is the only one to have a standalone movie after joining the franchise).

I will say that one of my favorite parts of Mothra from the Japanese films was the two fairies singing the Mothra song, but since this is an American film, this famous Japanese song will most likely not be in the film. The second monster we are introduced to is Rodan or Radon, another monster that was originally in its own movie previously portrayed as a villain before joining the franchise as one of Godzilla’s partners with Mothra to stop another monster.

I’m going to be honest, I

forgot that Rodan was portrayed as a hero in most of the franchise, and since Rodan was a villain in its own movie, you can probably get away with it being a villain but will most likely team up with Mothra and Godzilla to take on the other monster introduced.

King Ghidorah, shortened to just Ghidorah, I consider to be one of the main villains in the franchise as he is usually the monster that needs to be stopped. Based on the trailer, this appears to be the main purpose of the film. Now in a Godzilla film, you want to see Godzilla, it’s like in most of the Rocky movies (minus Rocky IV in my opinion) you want to skip to the boxing scenes.

That seems to be one of the Godzilla franchise problems keeping audiences captivated with the story of the humans.

I can only think of a handful of the films where I liked the story outside of the monster scenes, but this is just my opinion and it could have changed as I got older. The new film may not have the charm of its Japanese counterpart; there is just something about watching a Godzilla film either in the original language or watching it poorly dubbed that makes a Godzilla movie, you don’t have that in these new Hollywood produced Godzilla movies, though they are usually pretty good at remembering their roots and keeping some Japanese influence in the films.

As far as whether this one is going to be bad like the one with Matthew Broderick, so horrible that Japan renamed the Godzilla from the film to just “Zilla” and had the original Godzilla destroy it in “Godzilla: Final Wars” the shortest battle in the series, or decent like the one in 2014 is not yet known.

You are just going to have to see for yourself when it comes out May 31. starwars.com

E4 EDGE

Monday, April 29, 2019

WesternCourier.com

Lil Dicky brings awareness

to global issues

Lil Dicky, 31 year-old American rapper and comedian released a very special song for Earth Day last week.

On April 18, 2019 Lil Dicky released his newest single “Earth.” Along with the release of the song was also the release of the music video on YouTube. This song features popular music artists such as: Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Halsey, Zac Brown, Brendon Urie, Hailee Steinfeld Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Kevin Hart, Adam Levine, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth, Sia, Miley Cyrus, Lil Jon, Rita Ora, Miguel, Katy Perry, Lil Yachty and Ed Sheeran. The “choir” portion of this song featured John Legend, Psy, Bad Bunny and Kris Wu. Playback vocals were done

by Meghan Trainor, Joel Embiid and Tory Lanez. The Backstreet Boys and Leonardo Dicaprio were also featured in this song.

“Earth” was jam-packed with solid vocalists, as seen above, but that’s not all that made it so special. Proceeds from this song, video and merchandise are being donated to various charities that are working to save

the planet. According to Time, some of these charities include: Quick Response Fund for Nature, the Shark Conservation Fund and the Carbon Cycle Institute. This song quickly caught speed, especially around Earth Day, within the first 24 hours the video had received a million views, the video has now received over 60 billion views.

This song is just the right amount of vulgar and inappropriate to get the attention of listeners and viewers across the world. Though, the song is also extremely impactful as it points out the environmental issues that the world is facing today, and that if nothing is done about them, the Earth will ultimately die. The chorus of this song rings “We love the Earth, it is our planet, we love the Earth it is our home,” but it is evident through the spokenword at the end of the song that we, as a human population, need to start acting like it.

In addition to the song and the music video a website has been put together. The website domain is welovetheearth.org. This website out-

lines how individuals can help save the Earth. The website states: “The Earth needs our help. If we don’t make massive changes to our behavior over the next twelve years, the damage we’ve done to this planet will be irreversible. Oceans will be destroyed, super storms will become even more super, cities will flood, the air will suck, and we’ll run out of food and energy.

And not in a couple of hundred years either, scientists say it's right around the corner.

But the power to prevent this is in our hands! We can save the Earth!!!” One thing that both the website and the song have in common is that they use common language and some humor to get the attention of a whole new audience to help save the Earth and to raise awareness about climate change. This website also has quizzes that you can take to help determine your own carbon footprint, with tips on how to lower your impact!

No matter who you are or your background, climate change affects us all. This song and website bring much needed attention to that from many different celebrities from all different backgrounds. If you have not yet heard the song, check it out! But more importantly, check out the website to see what you can do to help save the Earth.

youtube.com

variety.com

OPINIONS 5

Monday, April 29, 2019

@WesternCourier

Why have there been so many religious shootings?

In the last month there have been a number of shootings and bombings at a variety of religious institutions. The worst of which being a church bombing in Sri Lanka that killed a minimum of 250 people. Synagogues and mosques have also been hit as well, all of the major religions have been affected.

Attacking a place of worship is an attack on that faith usually coming from some internal level of prejudice or hate.

Why do these keep happening

though? A place of worship is where people are most vulnerable which these shooters and bombers know, and which makes these acts all the more sickening. Everyone has faith or beliefs and they are entitled to those beliefs. Some people are going to have a different faith or belief than you and there’s nothing wrong with that. Religion is a sensitive topic but it doesn’t always happen.

Talking to someone of a different faith and learning about

their beliefs and customs can be really interesting, yet some people just label them as different from them and choose to judge or alienate them. It’s so common to put labels on other people and not remember that they are just human beings, they just have different views than you. Someone having different views than you doesn’t make them a bad person. Yet there are numerous events in the last month and even the last week that show that not only do some people see individuals of a different faith as bad people, but they are so bad that they have to be stripped from their lives in a place they feel the safest. They weren’t threatening the attacker’s life,

they were just praying. They just had slightly different beliefs from the attacker and that threatened them so much.

What I really don’t understand is that pretty much every religion in the world advocates for peace and harmony. That is one of the universal truths about most religions. Yet so many deaths, so much bloodshed, even wars have been fought with religion as the reason or as the cause. How do people go from being taught peace to all to justifying their violent acts for religious purposes? That doesn’t make any sense. How can you say you are acting on what your religion wants or to kill people who don’t share your view when your reli-

gion teaches peace and love to all? Violence and murder are against the teachings but you say it’s okay because it is for your faith. There is no sane level of rationalization that gets people from that first and most important teaching to committing violence in your god’s or savior’s name. I know people say that religious texts are open for interpretation but you have to be kidding me.

The purpose of religion for most is to find meaning and purpose in their life, there’s no meaning in harming or killing someone who isn’t threatening your safety. You’re just using religion as an excuse to act violently and not feel guilty about it.

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6

Monday, April 29, 2019

SPORTS

WesternCourier.com

Men's golf to take on Summit League Championships

By Jacob VanZuiden courier staff

As the academic school year inches closer to its conclusion, the Western Illinois men’s golf season has done the same.

The Purple and Gold will take the course one last time this season beginning on April 28 as they head to Newton, KS to compete in the biggest event of the year. The Summit League Championships are set to tee-off Sunday afternoon, giving the Leathernecks one last shot at glory at the Sand Creek Station Golf Course as they compete in the three-day event.

The Leathernecks will bring an experienced group to the table to battle for this year ’s grand prize. Similar to the lineup they’ve rolled with all season-long, Jackson Wetherbee (Sr.), Kyle Irlbacker (Jr.), Parker Govern (Fr.), Wyatt Spier (So.) and John Duggan III (Sr.) will make up the competing squad for Western. The team will look to Wetherbee to lead them to victory, as the standout senior has been a huge bright spot for them all year. Wetherbee, coming off an admirable performance in the Beu Mussatto Invitational where he received medalist honors, was named Summit

League co-golfer of the week for his latest showing.

Interim head coach Lia Biehl Lukkarinen raved about her ever-improving upperclassmen following the performance. She hopes that Wetherbee can continue his recent strong play in Sunday’s first round of action at the Summit League Championships.

“Jackson Wetherbee is very deserving of the Summit League Golfer of the Week honor,” said Lukkarinen.

“He set some specific goals and has been working hard to achieve them. His recent scores reflect his dedication and talent. I'm looking forward to seeing what he will accomplish at tThe Summit League Championships.”

The Summit League Championships won’t be a walk in the park for The Purple and Gold, as a group of familiar conference rivals will stack up against them. Competing in the event alongside the Leathernecks will be Denver, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Omaha, Oral Roberts, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota and South Dakota State. The Leathernecks will aim to make a larger impact than they managed last season after a sixth-place finish

in 2018.

Hopes are high, however, after the team was able to capture a second-place finish in the Beu Mussatto Invitational last time out. In what was arguably their most well-rounded team effort of the year, the Leathernecks fell just short of Indian Hills for the top spot.

Lukkarinen seems as ready for the tournament as anyone. Excitement in her voice was evident when speaking about the upcoming event.

“We are looking forward to The Summit League Championships at Sand Creek Station,” said Lukkarinen.

“It's been there the last few years, so some of the team has on course experience.

Driving and iron accuracy will be at a premium. If the men play to their potential, we will do very well.”

If the Purple and Gold can limit their mistakes and replicate the composure they showed in their last meet, there’s a real shot they could come out of The Summit League Championships victorious. In what will be the final contest in both Wetherbee and Duggan III’s collegiate careers, some extra motivation will drive them to leave the program with something to remember them by.

WC

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John Duggan III watches the ball after his drive.

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Sports 7

Monday, April 29, 2019

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Winners and losers from the 2019 NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is a special time for football fans all across the world.

What makes it so special is seeing the future players in the league find where they will begin their promising careers.

The draft has seven rounds and a total of 254 picks. While not every pick has promise, not all pan out the way they would like.

Even though the players drafted this past weekend haven’t played a down in the National Football League yet, there are some teams that nailed their draft picks while other teams, not so much. Everyone will have their own opinions, but I am going to give you some of my winners and losers from this weekend.

The big winner for me this

weekend was the Washington Redskins. Washington was having a very successful season last year until the star quarterback Alex Smith suffered a season ending and potentially career ending injury. After the injury, their playoff hopes fell apart. However, the team is on the rise after this weekend. They had the 15th pick in the draft, and were one of the few teams in the hunt for a quarterback. Lucky enough for them, they had a top-10 talent in Dwayne Haskins slip to them all the way to pick 15. Haskins played for Ohio State and lit up the record books as a Buckeye.

Not only did they draft their future franchise QB, they traded back into the first round to select

a game-breaker on the defensive line. They selected edge rusher Montez Sweat out of Missisippi State. Sweat was also a projected top-10 pick, but off field concerns caused him to slip to pick number 20. They made the most of their draft picks. In the fourth round they selected RB Bryce Love out of Stanford. Love was a projected first or second round pick before the college football season.

However, he tore his ACL early in the year which caused him to free fall down draft boards. I absolutely love the draft haul the Redskins brought in, and that is why they are my big winner from this past weekend.

My big loser from this weekend has to be the New York Giants.

They just started a rebuild this offseason after trading away their star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. The Giants had two first round picks and an early second round pick as well. With Eli Manning getting up there in

age many believed they would select a quarterback with one of their three early picks. All signs were pointing to New York selecting Dwayne Haskins at pick number seven because he was the clear-cut number one QB on the board after Kyler Murray went number one overall. However, the Giants did something completely different. They selected Daniel Jones, the quarterback out of Duke. This was one of the biggest reaches in the entire draft. Jones had a late first round, early second round draft grade on him, and the giants could have easily taken him with their later first round pick, or even their early second round pick. I don’t doubt Jones has the talent to be a successful QB in the NFL, but I believe they could have selected an elite defender at pick number seven and draft Jones later on. That is why the New York Giants are my big loser from the weekend.

My player that is the biggest

winner from the draft has to be Kyler Murray. It was only a few months ago when he was going to the MLB after being selected in the first round. Instead, he decided to roll the dice on the NFL, and boy did it pay off. He was selected number one overall by the Arizona Cardinals, and they even traded away former first round pick, Josh Rosen, giving him a free lane to be the opening day starter My player that is the biggest loser from the weekend is not just one player, but the whole cornerback class. This class did not lack talent, but somehow this whole position fell immensely on day one of the draft.

As always, the draft did not disappoint, and only made me more excited for football season in the fall. It will be interesting to see how all these players will fair in their NFL Careers, and I wish all these athletes nothing but the best as they look to fulfill their NFL dreams.

All four No. 1 seeds defeated in the first round Christopher bean assistant sports editor @cre_bean

The 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs have been nothing short of spectacular. We are only through two games in the second round, but every series in the first round had its own significant value. For the first time in NHL history, all four number No. 1 seeds lost in the first round.

This was the first time ever that all four No. 1 seeds have lost in the first round since the playoff format changed back in 2014. The President Trophy winners, the Tampa Bay Lighting, were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in four games. The first time ever a President Trophy winner has been swept in the first round.

The Lighting are the 20152016 Golden State Warriors that won 73 games in the regular season but couldn’t reach their goal of winning the NBA title. Tampa Bay won 62 regular season games tying the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings as the most wins in the regularseason. But just like the Red Wings failed to do, the Tampa Bay Lighting couldn’t win “Lord Stanley.” As a matter of fact, they couldn’t even win one game. This was not the only shocking outcome that occurred in the first round.

Like I mentioned before, there were three other No. l seeds to go down in the first round: The Washington Capitals, The Calgary Flames and the Nashville Predators. Let’s look at how every No. 1 seed got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

Let’s stick with the Tampa Bay Lighting losing in four games against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Taking nothing away from the Blue Jackets, but the Lighting getting

swept is a bigger collapse than the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavilers in the 2016 NBA Finals. At least the Warriors got to the Finals.

The Lighting got swept to a team who had 30 fewer points than them. Like I mentioned before, Tampa Bay won 62 regular season games and also earned 128 points.

At the end of the day, I’m not shocked that Tampa didn’t win the Cup, because they became the sixth No. 1-seed in my life time to lose in the first round or what used to be called the Conference Quarterfinals. And in that time the President Trophy winner has only won “Lord Stanley” four times. But it still hasn’t sunk in how crazy it happened, and I think it’s very comparable when the UMBC Golden Retrievers became the first ever No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed against the Virginia Cavaliers.

The Lighting could not have gotten off to a better start in game one. They took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission after three separate players scored. Then just before the halfway point in the second period, Nick Foligno scored the Blue Jackets first goal, pulling them within two.

Tampa Bay still held a twogoal lead into the third period.

Then almost 20 minutes after Foligno’s goal, David Savard answered his teammates goal with one of his own. Four minutes later, Josh Anderson scored the equalizer, quieting the Lighting crowd. The score stayed tied until Seth Jones scored the game winning goal with less than six minutes remaining. The

Blue Jackets didn’t look back and took all their momentum from game one and won three more games in-a-row.

After trailing 3-0 in game one, the Jackets outscored the Lighting 19-5. For the best offensive team to be limited to five goals in 11 periods was unbelievable. Superstars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos combined for 226 points in the regular season, they only combined for four points in the series. Kucherov was limited to three games because he was suspended for game three after an illegal hit in game two. The Blue Jackets journey continues in the Second Round. They are currently tied with the Boston Bruins 1-1, after both games in Boston ended in overtime with the winner winning 3-2. Boston took game one in OT, and the Blue Jackets took game two to double OT. Game three is tomorrow at 6 p.m.

The other No. 1 seed in the East were the defending champs, the Washington Capitals. They ended the season with 104 points, and were five points better than their opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes. The series started off well for the Caps, protecting their home ice, winning 4-2 and 4-3 in the first two games. The series shifted to Carolina, and the Hurricanes responded with a 5-0 win in game three. They answered with another win in game four, 2-1. The Hurricane defense limited the Caps to only one goal in games three and four. The Caps looked to get back on track after scoring eight goals in the first two games. The Caps came out hungry to score and defeated the Hurricanes 6-0 to take a 3-2 series lead. Superstar and Captain Alex Ovechkin scored three points in the victory and nine in the series.

The Hurricanes continued

the trend of the home team winning every game with a 5-2 victory forcing a game seven last Wednesday. The Capitals got off to a hot start, outscoring the Canes 2-0 in the period. But the Canes outscored the Caps 2-1 in the second period to pull within one goal heading into the last period of regulation. Jordan Staal scored three minutes into the third to tie the game at three in game seven. Neither team scored in the final 17 minutes, forcing OT. Again, neither team could score in the first OT, so we went to the second. Brock McGinn, who only scored 10 goals in the regular season, scored his second goal of the series and stunned the defending champs on their home ice.

The Caps failed to repeat and went home earlier than expected. The Hurricanes are currently playing the New York Islanders in the second round.

The Calgary Flames were the No. 1-seed in the West and went up against the second wild card, the Colorado Avalanche. The Flames were the best team in the West with 107 points and won the Pacific division. The Avalanche snook in with 90 points. Like the other two series, the No. 1-seed dominated the first game. The Flames scored two in the last two periods to win 4-0 in game one. The Av’s played much better in game two and won 3-2 in OT to take home ice advantage.

They took care of home ice in game three with a 6-2 blowout win and won game 4 in OT to take a 3-1 series lead.

They carried their momentum on the road and easily defeated he Flames 5-1 in game five. Mikko Rantanen was fantastic scoring five goals in the last three games, including the ot winner in game four. He was also the first star in games four and

five. The Av’s defense did a great job of limiting Johnny Gaudreau who only scored 99 points in the regular season but shut him down to only one point in five games. The Avalanche are currently playing the San Jose Sharks in the second round.

The No. 1 seed in the Central were the Nashville Predators.

They secured 100 points and won their division by one point. They went up against the first wild card, the Dallas Stars. The Stars scored three goals in-a-row after the Preds went up 1-0. They held on for a 3-2 victory to take a 1-0 series on the road. The Preds would held onto win in ot to tie the series at one heading to Dallas. Just like the Stars did, the Predators won their first game on the road to take a 2-1 series win.The Stars offense came alive in the next two games and scored five goals in each game to take a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 was in Dallas, and the Stars got the best of the Preds 2-1 in ot to send Nashville home for good. Dallas is currently tied 1-1 with the St. Louis Blues. Game three is tonight at 7 p..m.

To put into perspective on how hstorical the First Round was, only one 8-seed in the history of the NBA playoffs have defeated a No. 1 seed.

Four No. 1 seeds lost this potseason, and one team was the best regular seson team of all time. But it goes to show you how tough it is to win in the NHL Playoffs. That is why they are entertaining and it makes it that much more fun to watch. Anyone can win on any given night.

In the NHL, the pressure is on the home team in game seven. Dont believe me? Just ask the defending champs about. Will we see another low seed win it all like the LA Kings did in 2012? Only time will tell.

Baseball loses series to North Dakota State Bison 2-1

By Michael Harms courier staff

The Western Illinois Leathernecks only pulled off one win in the threegame series against North Dakota State Bison, dropping to 16-25 overall and 10-11 in conference.

The series was a battle of position in The Summit League as both teams sit at No. 4 and No. 5 in the standings. In the first series against the Bison, the Leathernecks also only left with one win. The Bison have now earned their spot ahead of the Leathernecks chasing Oral Roberts at No. 3 with a record of 12-6.

The first matchup highlighted a career performance from Jace Warkentien. The left handed pitcher started the game and lasted seven innings, striking out a career high 10 batters and only allowing four hits and two runs.

These were both career highs for the sophomore pitcher as Western won comfortably 7-2.

When a baseball team has good starting pitching, wins can come pretty easily. And

that was the story of game one as Warkentien kept bothering the bats of the Bison as Western had no problem finding the ball at the plate.

Drew Galassi did his work.

At the plate he went three for five. One of those hits was a homer to center, driving in two of his three RBIs. He rounded the bases once more to score himself, but his work was just the highlight of this win.

After winning the first on Friday night, Western scheduled a double header for Saturday due to inclement weather, and Saturday was not the Purple and Gold’s best outing. They dropped both games 7-1 and 8-7.

The first game was a simple great pitching performance from Max Loven. Nine innings pitched, only five hits and one run. Game one wasn’t within Western’s reach of a comeback, but the second game came close.

In the top of the sixth, the score was 8-2 in the Bison’s favor. The seventh inning was the Leathernecks’ chance to spring back into the lead. They

drove in four runs and went through two Bison pitchers before they could finally end the half inning.

It proved futile in the end as they lost by only one run, but gave the team something to take away headed into their first game of their last non-conference matchup the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The 2017 big 10 tournament champs will be a strong opponent for Western. With a 26-15 overall record with multiple ranked teams on their schedule, Iowa will be Western’s toughest regular season test.

Iowa has found themselves right near the top 40 in baseball with wins against University of Illinois and ranked opponent Nebraska they find themselves unable to crack the top 25 rankings, but consistently near the conversation. Western on the other had struggles to be near the top of their own conference.

They will play two games against Iowa, the first this Tuesday at Iowa and the other matchup coming May 14 at home.

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Deion Thompson stays focused while in the batter's box.

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Jace Warkentien in motion to make a pitch.

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Justin Fitzpatrick throws the ball into the infield.

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Drew Galassi leads off while standing on third base.

Softball comes up wth three-game sweep on Senior Day

By David Koier courier staff

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Payton Abbot prepares to make a play.

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Sydney Hollings in position to create a groundout.

MACOMB, Ill. — Rain delays and schedule changes couldn’t stop the Western Illinois softball team from celebrating their seniors with a three game sweep against Summit League foe Purdue Fort Wayne.

Western started off the scoring quickly in game one. Senior shortstop Payton Abbott double into left center and was immediately scored when Mastodon center fielder Brooke Imel misplayed a single from freshman Danielle Olson in the bottom of the first.

Imel would get her revenge in the bottom of the third when she hit a leadoff bunt single. She would later score when left fielder Lauren Watson hit an infield single. Camryn Mosher would score on an error by Meghan Henson to take a 2-1 lead.

Western wouldn’t surrender the lead for long. In the bottom of the third, senior Hailey Duwa and junior Halle Hollatz reached base on an error and double respectively. Sydney Hollings stepped up next looking to drive in a run or two but was not able to as she flew out to right field at a depth that couldn’t allow Duwa to tag up.

With two outs and runners on second and third, Leatherneck senior ace Emily Ira would drive in Duwa with an infield single to first base. Aly Compton followed up with an RBI single

of her own to take back the lead for the Leathernecks.

Western would go on to win game one 3-2 behind the dominance of Ira in the circle. The senior pitched a full seven innings for her 61st career complete game. Ira only allowed one earned run off of four hits and one walk while also striking out nine in the process.

This win marked the 11th on the season for Ira and the fourth straight for the Leathernecks crew.

In game two, the Leathernecks scored first once again making it their seventh game in a row where they put the first run on the scoreboard. After a leadoff ground out by Jasmine Lara, Mastodon starting pitcher Lauren McConnell walked four Leatherneck hitters in a row for the opening run of the game.

A Fort Wayne pitching change couldn’t stop the Purple and Gold from scoring one more as Sydney Hollings was able to look at four go by and take first base scoring Olson in the process for an early 2-0 lead.

The Mastodons would strike back quickly when a sacrifice fly by Imel in the top of the second scored Morganne Denny to bring the score within one.

Western would reclaim their two run lead in the bottom of the third off of a Sydney Hollings RBI triple.

Fort Wayne scored three in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead and potentially end Western Illinois’ winning streak at four games. The Purple and Gold had other plans.

Fort Wayne got an early out on a ground out by Abbot and were two outs away from their ninth win of the year. A walk and an error later and the potential tying and winning runs were aboard in the forms of Danielle Olson and Duwa.

Hollatz singled up the middle to score Olson and tie the game for Western.

Hollings popped up in the infield for out number two. With one out to go before extra innings, Compton stepped up to the plate with the opportunity to walk it off for Western. And walk it off she did.

A single to left center scored Duwa and won the game for the Purple and Gold 5-4.

Game three would begin after a nice ceremony before the game honoring the seniors on the team and all that they’ve accomplished at Western. Fort Wayne would score first and after three innings had a 3-0 lead.

Behind Western’s hot bats and solid pitching in the circle from Ira, the Leathernecks went on to beat the Mastodons 9-3 for their second consecutive series sweep. In her final performance from Mary Ellen McKee stadium, Emily Ira pitched her 62nd career complete game allowing three runs off of eight hits while striking out five.

Western looks to close out the season with their final series of the season on the road against the Mavericks of Omaha. Game one is set for this Saturday with first pitch scheduled for noon.