Thursday, December 19

Sports

Stories from the sports community at McKendree Unviersity.

What to make of McKendree’s 40-7 win over Missouri S&T
Campus News, Sports

What to make of McKendree’s 40-7 win over Missouri S&T

BY GRANT RIGGS Staff Writer As I first sat down to write this article, I struggled with naming it. On one hand, McKendree had its unusual amount of ups and downs in a blowout victory over Missouri S&T, with most of the “down” moments coming because of injury. “Why we should take McKendree’s win over Missouri S&T with a grain of salt” first came to mind. To take something with a grain of salt means to view something with skepticism about its truth. This was my initial thought because, while Saturday’s win was undoubtedly a great one, it brought some skepticism along with it, skepticism that made me question if McKendree could maintain that level of play because of the injuries they sustained during the game. That same skepticism continued to grow because McKendree’s conference title...
Seeing the big picture: McKendree’s win against St. Joseph’s
Campus News, Sports

Seeing the big picture: McKendree’s win against St. Joseph’s

BY GRANT RIGGS Staff Writer At first glance, McKendree’s football game against St. Joseph’s College (SJC) on Oct. 15 seemed like a relatively unimportant game for the Bearcats. Despite it being Homecoming, McKendree was coming off of two straight conference losses and looked to be out of the race for the GLVC conference title. If McKendree would have lost this game to SJC, who was 3-1 in conference play before Saturday, it would have dropped their overall record to 3-4 and 1-3 in the conference, thus effectively ending McKendree’s hopes of winning conference. All throughout the season, McKendree has faced adversity. In the game against SJC, they were tested once more in the final minutes of the game. Statistically, a McKendree comeback to defeat SJC, who lead the majority of the game, se...
McKendree adds water polo as 34th sport
Campus News, Sports

McKendree adds water polo as 34th sport

BY ALEXIS PORTER Contributing Writer As part of a University-wide initiative to attract a more diverse student population, the McKendree University Athletic Department has added two new teams for the 2016-17 season. This year a variety of new bearcats will compete for the men and women’s water polo team. Water polo is a team water sport. The game consists of four quarters in which the two teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into their opponent's goal, with the team with the most goals at the end of the game winning the match. Greg Emde, who has over twenty years of experience in playing and coaching water polo, has been selected to lead both the men and women’s teams as head coach. "This is an exciting time," says Emde. "It's exciting to be a part of a brand-new venture at M...
Make or break: Why this Saturday’s game is a must-win for McKendree football
Campus News, Sports

Make or break: Why this Saturday’s game is a must-win for McKendree football

BY GRANT RIGGS Staff Writer In football, a “trap game” is generally described as a game against an opponent that is thought to pose little challenge. As a result of playing in a trap game, the team that is widely favored to win tends to “shoo off” the opponent. Typically, the favored team will overlook the so-called “lesser team” because of that team's record, and, as a result, the favored team often slips up and loses. The main flaw with this, is that a team's record is often not indicative of how good that team actually is. McKendree’s conference matchup this Saturday, Oct. 8, against the University of Indianapolis is nothing short of a trap game. Why this Saturday is a trap game for McKendree U-Indy, who comes into this game with a 1-4 record, has yet to defeat another team in the Gre...
Going for the win: the men’s volleyball team hits the net
Sports

Going for the win: the men’s volleyball team hits the net

BY LAUREN REEVES Staff Writer The McKendree University men's volleyball team would like to keep their winning streak going. The team had a three game winning streak behind them as they topped Barton College in five sets. However, the McKendree University men's volleyball team fell 3-1 to Ball State University last Saturday evening in Muncie, IN. The loss moves McKendree to 9-10 overall on the season and 4-8 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. (more…)
An inside look: Statham’s win and the crew behind him
Sports

An inside look: Statham’s win and the crew behind him

BY SCHALLON FOGGS Staff Writer As we all know, winning is the most important thing when it comes to sports. Ha! Just joking. It's about playing to the best of your ability and hoping to win. Speaking of winning, McKendree University now has one of the biggest winners of all time. Who might this be? Harry Statham, the men’s basketball coach. Harry Statham now claims the title for having the most wins in collegiate basketball history. (more…)
Sports

Women’s Volleycats: The Road to Postseason

BY GRACE McDOWELL Staff Writer With a record of 15-8 and a conference record of 9-2, the McKendree women’s volleyball team is “digging” their way to postseason. In last year’s postseason, the team made it to the GLVC championship and lost, but they were still qualified for nationals before falling to Truman State in the first round. The bearcats are hoping for an ever better postseason this year. Sophomore Maria Rasch comments on how the team is preparing: “Our team is prepping for postseason by getting stronger in the weight room to be able to last for all the tough five match sets, all the way until the end of the NCAA tournament.” Comparing to last year, Rasch believes the team will clinch the GLVC conference and advance to the elite eight in the NCAA tournament this postseason. So,...
Campus News, Sports

Miss Perfect

BY TAQUISHA DRISDELL, EDITOR Irma Maciukaite is from a small town in Pasvalys, Lithuania known as Sinkhole Park.  Maciukaite attended Petro Vileisio Gymnasium High school where she won the Lithuania championship as a senior.  After high school, she attended Western Kentucky University but decided to leave, because they cut her scholarship. After this misfortune, Agne Viscokaite-Eggerth, a 2002 McKendree graduate who is known as Mckendree University’s sprints record holder, and who is also an Olympian, told Maciukaite about McKendree and  what the track and field program offers. Maciukaite soon decided that she wanted to try it out for herself.  Currently, she attends McKendree University where she is majoring in Economics and Finance/Mathematics. Irma is also a part of the Track and Fie...
Campus News, Sports

The Key to Victory

BY WILL BASLER, STAFF WRITER Players and fans alike have their ways of avoiding bad luck. For fans, it may be sitting in the same spot you were sitting when your team won the big game. It may be wearing the same shirt you wore to work the day your favorite player got drafted. It may be not washing your clothes to avoid ruining your team’s winning streak. Whatever the fans may do, they are putting their faith in a higher power, doing whatever it takes to give their team a slight edge over the opponent. Players do the same thing. However, they may rely on a specific bat to get them that big hit, or wear the socks they wore when they beat their biggest rival. Whatever it may be, their intentions are the same as the fans. They are willing to do whatever it takes to help them win or just have ...
Campus News, Sports

[Issue 9] Cheerleading At McKendree

BY KENDRA BARACKMAN, STAFF WRITER As McKendree grows, so does their sports and programs. In the past few years, the cheerleading program has made a huge transformation. It all began when coach, Bianca Timmermann took over. The team has almost doubled in size. There are now nearly 40 cheerleaders, and 19 of them will compete at Nationals. The team is composed of men and women, all with amazing amounts of talent. The athletes come from all over the United States. The coaches make trips to different schools all year round to recruit possible cheerleaders. In addition, all cheerleaders receive a scholarship to help pay for their schooling. Big things can be expected from the program in the future. The McKendree University cheerleaders rang in the New Year with the start of national’s seaso...