Sports

February 20, 2023 By bacw Leave a Comment

Freshmen to Watch on the Track and Field team

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Levi Byer

The Belmont Abbey Track Team has gradually improved over the past few years. Last year was a pretty good year for the team, where they placed 4th in the Conference Carolinas. The track team has some real upcoming talent this year. This could be the year where the Abbey’s Track team wins it all.

One of the fastest freshmen on the team is Kenny Jensen. He runs 10.7 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Jensen has run track all through high school and is looking to continue improving his 100-meter time. I asked Jensen how much time he was looking to shave off his 100-meter time this year. He responded with, “.03-.04 seconds,” which would have him running a 10.3. That would make him one of the fastest runners in our conference.

Another one of our freshmen is Rex Thorston. He’s from Reno, Nevada, and will be the second-highest high jumper on the team. High jump is a field event; it involves a lot of skill and form. His PR is 6’4 in the high jump. I asked him what he was looking forward to the most this year. He responded, “I am most looking forward to Coach Tomas’s training. I think he will be able to take me to new heights.”

Our freshman pole vault crew is looking very good this year. The freshman pole vaulters consist of Syah Huenink, Bryson Church, and Levi Byer. Syah and Bryson are vaulting over 12 feet, and Levi is vaulting 11 feet.

As a track enthusiast, I know pole vaulting is by far the hardest field event, so to be vaulting this high is very impressive. They should be able to rack up quite a few points in the upcoming meets. All in all, it looks like the track team will be pretty solid this year.

Hopefully, with the coaching of Dan Finanger, and training from Tomas Cerdeiras and James Thierfelder, they can help the team win the conference this year!

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

February 19, 2023 By bacw Leave a Comment

Women’s Golf; Bock and Denhard Conclude Patsy Rendleman Invitational

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Chrissy Popovich

The women’s golf team concluded play at the Patsy Rendleman Invitational. The course was a par of 71 from 5,900 yards for the women. There were eleven other schools competing. Normally golf courses have a par of 72, and each hole has a specific number of strokes to be attained. The lowest number of strokes in golf wins overall. The par for nine holes is 36, and the par for 18 holes is 72. The goal in golf is to be closest to par or under if possible.

Coach Katie Tomassoni led the women’s golf teams for the Patsy Rendelman Invitational. She assisted the team in course management and course advice. The A team was in contention to win the tournament on day one but was unable to finish out on the second day. Bock’s first-day score was her personal best in her college career.

Albany Bock scored 73, and Lauren Denhard shot 75 on the first day of the tournament at the Country Club of Salisbury. Bock was tied for first going into the second day. She ended up shooting 82 on the second day and placed 6th overall.

Lauren Denhard shot 80 on the second day and tied with Bock for 6th place. Denhard explained, “The golf course was in great condition, but was also a great challenge for us to participate in during the week. It was a special experience to be back on my home course”.

Belmont Abbey Women’s Golf placed 3rd for the A team and 8th place for the B team. The other players of the A team included Kaylee Ong, who placed 19th with a score of 81 and 79. Paeton Phillippi placed 25th with a score of 80 and 82. Lastly, Hannah Bailey placed 35th with 82 for both days.

The B team for women’s golf included Madison Srinivasa, Chrissy Popovich, Kate Nyers, Ashlan Tresca, and Kyleigh Whittemore. Srinivasa placed 19th with a two-day total of 78 and 82. Popovich placed 25th with a score of 82 and 80. Nyers shot 81 and 82, placing her 31st. Tresca scored 83 and 89, putting her at 45th. Whittemore placed 45th with 82 and 90.

Come watch us play during the Spring semester.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

February 18, 2023 By bacw Leave a Comment

Women Soccer Alum Returns to Coach

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Reagan Cullen

Cierra Skyers, former alumni of the Belmont Abbey women’s soccer team, has returned this 2022 season to help coach the team, along with Coaches Mike Lynch and Jaime Malilong. Skyers graduated from the Abbey in 2016. She juggles her time as a coach whilst working as a 5th-grade teacher at Jackson Day School. If her name doesn’t sound familiar, her face might as she is pictured on one of the billboards that surround Alumni stadium field. Skyers played as a forward on the field for the Crusaders.

During her four years here, she left quite a mark on the program. She scored 33 goals, was selected for the All-Southeast Region Second Team, and was named the team’s most valuable player. After graduating from BAC, she went on to play for The Citadel for a season, where she scored seven more goals. Being on the Women’s soccer team myself, I had the pleasure of getting to know and personally interview the former alum to discuss her memories as a former player and as a coach now.

During our interview, I was able to learn a lot about Skyers and the Women’s soccer program over the years. It was both comforting and heartwarming to discuss her favorite memories she had whilst being a crusader soccer player. I found that in the four years, she was here, most of the team’s traditions have remained the same.

Along with personally interviewing her, I had some of my teammates ask her questions about what she enjoys most about returning to the crusader soccer environment, in which she responded, “It feels like returning home after a long time away.” She proceeded to tell the team how she was nervous that her young age would affect how we saw her but felt very respected and welcomed. She stated that “even though being a teacher and coach at once can be a lot to handle, she has become very invested in the team and program,” allowing her love for the sport to consume her once again.

Skyers continues to leave an even bigger mark on the program through her continuous positivity and dedication as a coach. The players and I were able to open up and see an even deeper side of Skyers that I hope will create a special player-coach relationship. It is apparent that Skyers has a deep connection with this school and program and has really influenced the women’s soccer team.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

February 3, 2023 By radefolaju Leave a Comment

Softball to use Communication to Improve Record

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Ellie Ripchik

Did you know that Belmont Abbey College has two softball teams? There is the main softball team that plays in Conference Carolina and then there is a developmental team that plays different junior colleges and community colleges. This is the first year that there is going to be a conference tournament for the developmental team. The main softball team is coached by Tony Mele and the new assistant coach is Samantha West. This will be Tony’s fourth year with the team with a 32-win streak in the 2022 spring season.

The new addition to the softball team is assistant coach, Samantha West. She played at Tusculum University for 4 years as an infielder. This is her first year as a coach at Belmont Abbey. These two coaches are ready for some softball.

In the last season, the main team went 32-15 overall and was 15-9 in the conference. Mackenzie Allison, an infielder believes, the main team “exceeded coach Tony’s expectations from the fall”. They went through some adversity throughout the season with pretty bad injuries that affected the team tremendously. In the end, they pulled through and finished with a high ranking. One of the best Mackenzie Allsion said during her sophomore year her favorite part was “beating Mount Olive a (top-ranked team) in the conference tournament.”

Mackenzie believes that this year will be even better. The Devo team had a rough start. According to midfielder Elizabeth Tucker, “we didn’t start off the season as well as anyone hoped, but after some long hours of practice and conditioning, we learned how to communicate about things that needed to be fixed and eventually then ended the season with a long win streak”. Due to a lot of postponed games and cancellations, they ended their season being 8-6.

During their season they went through a lot of injuries, these injuries led to some of the girls moving to different positions but everyone rallied and worked hard to have a fun season. Saige Stanley, a junior infielder, has high hopes for the developmental team’s upcoming season. She said, “I’d like to think that our record would be more than positive this year.” She feels if “we communicate with one another on and off the field and share a strong bond with each other throughout the season we won’t have to worry about losing.” With the new assistant coach, that means a new head coach for the Devo team. There are some improvements that Stanley thinks the team needs to work on, “putting down bunts and being more vocal in the dugout.” Overall, she is very excited to start the upcoming season strong and win softball games.

Maddie Phillips, a sophomore midfielder, is ready to play some softball. Maddie believes, “this season is a whole different culture than the previous year.” She has high expectations that they will win the conference championship this year. She says that “the dedication and hard work of this team all play a tremendous role in how we will perform this year. Believing in one another and performing to our best ability, they will be hard to beat.”

This fall the main team gets to play the University of North Carolina Charlotte, they are part of Conference USA and are a high-ranked division one school. Maddie says that “UNCC is definitely going to be a tough school to play in but I think we have a very good chance of beating them.” Maddie is excited and ready to crush UNCC because they beat them badly last year.

Please come out and support these women as they strive to have a great winning season on both teams.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.

February 2, 2023 By bacw Leave a Comment

Coaches Job from The Athletes Perspective

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Miles Gutzman

The track and field team has recently hired Coach James Thierfelder, a former Belmont Abbey track and field athlete who is now a well-respected and very dedicated coach with many records to his name that hopes to advance the program further. This past year he graduated and accepted a job to help coach the track teams sprinters. I got the chance to interview him and get an insight into the key differences he has noticed and experienced since becoming a coach for his past team.

“What influenced you to want to become a coach?”

“I wanted to offer the skill and knowledge I learned from being a part of the team along with bringing a new sense of coaching and further developing the team’s abilities.”

Previous teammates of Coach James stated that he has experience in his training through practicing as a teammate, proving his form of practice has been very beneficial.

With the freshman class coming in, the team has picked up a handful of talented athletes in all events that have come to further their abilities and help improve the team’s ranking. One freshman athlete, Miles Gutzman, is a long jumper and short sprinter from Marietta, GA. Miles’ personal records include 21ft 11.75″ in the long jump and 11.3 seconds in the 100 meters. He hopes to increase both of these personal records substantially and possibly even break the school long jump record of 22ft 5 1/4″ in the up-and-coming season with the help of Coach Dan, Coach Tomas, and Coach James.

Many more outstanding freshman athletes add to the amazing team, steadily improving and performing to the best of their ability. With these athletes coming to the school, providing their strengths, and being guided by amazing coaches, there is no doubt that the team will finish conference ranked higher than ever before.

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 2 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.