Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Haleigh Evans The Belmont Abbey wrestling team has seen a few coaching changes in the past year. The previous head coach, Kenn Caudell, left the program in Spring of 2023 to pursue other avenues. Following Coach Caudell’s departure, the assistant coach at the time, Randy Deangelo, was promoted to head coach. Deangelo is only the second head coach in program history. The team also hired a familiar face as the new assistant coach, Scott Bosak. While new to the group of athletes on the team, Bosak is no stranger to Belmont Abbey. Bosak competed on the wrestling team for two seasons after transferring to the Abbey from Cornell. He graduated from Belmont Abbey in 2016 and was among the first All-Americans for the Belmont Abbey Wrestling team. Under the direction of Deangelo and Bosak, the Crusaders had 19 athletes named to the Fall 2023 Conference Carolina’s Presidential Honor Roll, 5 athletes received Academic All-Conference honors, and the team ended the regular season with a record of 7-7. During the postseason, 10 athletes competed at the Super Region 2 tournament to qualify for the National Tournament. At the regional tournament, the team had two athletes qualify for the national tournament. Check out the wrestling team next season in the Wheeler Center! This article was originally posted in the Spring 2024, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Kendra Kerr The Belmont Abbey Cheerleading team’s season recently came to an end. As part of the cheerleading team, I decided to interview my teammate Zoe Espinoza. Zoe is a sophomore, and this year has been her first year on the cheerleading team.   What made you want to join the cheerleading team? My friend Lacey Felton was on the Cheer team, and she told me about how fun and exciting it was and how I could start off as the Cheer Manager and then become a cheerleader and learn throughout the way. However, I ended up becoming a cheerleader while still learning along the way. What’s been your most difficult challenge? The hardest challenge has been learning to keep going no matter what. Being a base has its challenges, especially when your teammate/friend is a flyer, and you have to be careful when they are up in the air because if you are not careful to catch the flyer, they are in potential danger. I hate having to see any of my friends in pain or get injured over something I could have prevented as their base. What’s something you would tell someone that’s interested in joining the team? Honestly, it is definitely a fun thing to do, and I enjoyed every part of being a part of the cheer team. We are a tight group of friends, and we all have our ups and downs, but we always come together at the end. What’s been your favorite memory? Going to competition has to be my favorite memory, and being supported by my teammates through a very nerve-racking time. Especially since it was my first cheer competition ever! I didn’t know what I was expecting, but being supported and uplifted by my team really helped…

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Olivia Ivey There is no question that Belmont Abbey Women’s Soccer had a historic year during their 2023 Fall season. Their 11-3-4 record (8-1-3 conference) was impressive, to say the least. They were regular season Conference Carolina’s champions, advanced to the conference tournament final and some might even say robbed of an NCAA tournament bid. The Crusaders only allowed 27 goals throughout the entire season, 14 being within conference play. A big role in allowing very few goals in this season was the Crusader’s strong defense. A key player in this defensive back line was junior center-back Mia Muckenthaler. Muckenthaler is undeniably a stand-out player for the Crusaders. Her ability to read the game helps her play the right balls into her offense, read the pass and next move of the opposing offense. Having tallied 4,983 minutes for the Crusaders in her career, Muckenthaler is an intimidator for any offense she faces. When asked about her feelings going into the season, Muckenthaler said, “I think going into the season, I definitely had a goal of getting an All-Conference award since I didn’t get any last year. I wanted to work really hard to prove something to myself and to the team.” This article was originally posted in the Spring 2024, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Christina Popovich On April 13th, 2024, the Belmont Abbey College Men’s Lacrosse team defeated one of their rival teams, North Greenville University. This was a crucial win for the Crusaders because the game was only two weeks away from the conference tournament, and it also happened to be senior night for the Crusaders. There were 14 seniors who were honored in a ceremony before the game for their time, hard work, and dedication to Belmont Abbey lacrosse. The score of the game concluded with Belmont Abbey 15 and North Greenville University 10. The statistics for the game revealed 23 faceoff wins by Belmont Abbey, with 7 causing turnovers. The player responsible for the faceoffs was Caleb Mulcahy, who also obtained 16 ground balls for the game. The leading scorer for the game was Harry Maloney, with a total of 4 goals, which tied him for the highest number of points scored by one individual on the team. Defensively, a close defender, Ben Johnson, acquired 5 ground balls, and goalie Angus Snow made 11 saves. Ben Johnson described the competition as “a very exciting game because it was needed to secure a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.” Furthermore, through this victory, the Crusaders were able to gain the number two seed in the conference. The Men’s Lacrosse team has won 8 games overall and lost 6. They will play Chowan on April 19th, 2024, which will conclude their regular season games. To finish out the season, the Crusaders will compete in the conference tournament on April 26, 2024, with a chance to win the championship. They have proven to be a skilled and resilient team, and there will be much anticipation to complete the season on a triumphant note. This article was originally…

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Sekyah Chestnut On February 18, 2024, the Crusader track and field team finished up their 2024 indoor track and field season. This final meet of the season featured many exciting performances. These performances came together to make the men place third overall and the women place fifth; the highest overall placement in respective program histories. The highly anticipated two-day meet kicked off with the distance medley relay, resulting in a podium finish for the crusader men ending in third place. This started the momentum for the team, with many other athletes posting exciting performances. Newcomers Sekani Coleman, Orlando Descartes, and Dayzhuan Gooding-Williams each made the podium in the long jump, triple jump, and high jump. Also, team veterans Kelly Hay, Thomas Thierfelder, and Jesse Coleman lead the team to the podium, with Coleman taking first place in the men’s 400m, Hay placing third in the men’s pole out, and Thierfelder placing second in the 800m, winning his 5th medal in the event. The men’s team ended the meet placing second in the 4x400m relay. Not to be forgotten, the women’s team made exciting performances as well. Isabelle Flores and Karolina Colon placed first and third in the 60m hurdles for the 2nd year in a row, resulting in a new school record and personal best for Flores. The women’s 4x400m relay team ended the championship with a podium visit, placing third in the event. Led by Coaches Dan Finanger, Amy Cerdeiras, and Tomas Cerdeiras. When speaking with Coach T. Cerdeiras, he stated that he was, “very excited to see what we do this outdoor season. We have a lot of great returners hungry to win and many newcomers excited to show what they can do as well, so I know we’ll do great things this year.”…

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer Connor Nanney Dr. Rajive Tiwari, the longtime physics professor and the Coordinator of the Physics-Mathematics Minor at the Abbey, displays an exemplary love for knowledge and education. Dr. Tiwari, often referred to by his students as “Dr. T-Money” (or Dr. T$), grew up in Delhi, India. His father was a professor, and teaching became a family trade as some of his siblings acquired PhDs and taught. Furthermore, he feels indebted to his own teachers who imparted him with “wisdom and knowledge and all that good stuff,” and he feels that teaching is a way to repay that debt. All these factors contributed to the creation of a successful, effective, and beloved professor. Having taught at Belmont Abbey College since 1994, Dr. Tiwari has taught many physics classes and students. One would expect that 30 years of teaching the same few subjects would become boring, but Dr. Tiwari claims that “The material might be the same, but every class is different.” Not only do interactions with different groups of students prevent teaching physics from becoming monotonous, but new questions raised by pupils provide fresh perspective and insight. Dr. Tiwari believes that one learns by being asked questions that they cannot answer. As such, he is glad to be asked difficult questions, stating: “That enriches my own knowledge.” Being in the classroom in action is an invaluable thing to this professor. Belmont Abbey College is blessed to have such a dedicated professor of physics, and Dr. Tiwari is excited to continue doing what he loves: teaching. This article was originally posted in the Spring 2024, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue here.