Sports Editor- Charles Emerick |
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| Volume 26, Issue #4 |
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October 20, 1999
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Sports Editor- Charles Emerick |
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| Volume 26, Issue #4 |
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October 20, 1999
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| FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTE... by Charles Emerick, sports editor |
 On the volleyball court this season, the Trojans have six freshmen each making her own contributions to the team. The six freshmen include Jessica Lampe, Megan Granner, Kate Hensley, Connie Koob, Jamie Swanson and Jennifer Swenson. This season, the six have combined for 135 of the team’s 510 kills through the Trojans first 18 matches. “I think we’ve been doing great,” Lampe said. “We are really strong as a group. Everyone gets along real well.” The group has also combined to go 465-of-509 serving with a total of 43 aces. Hensley and Granner lead the Trojan freshmen in serving. Hensley is 186-of-207 with 14 aces and Granner is 136-of-151 with 13 aces. “They’re a very fun group,” head coach Rachel McGuire said. “From the first week of practice, they worked together as a team. They’re responding very well to the level of competition we play. It is a very competitive group.” At the setter position, Kate Hensley has filled the position very well. Hensley is 986-of-1,017 setting with 404 assists though 18 matches this season. She also has 56 digs. “She’s got a good setting ability,” McGurie said. “Being a freshman and starting as a setter can be intimidating. She just needs to get stronger.” Leading the freshmen in hitting is Jennifer Swenson who is 162-of-190. Her 61 kills is third on the team and leads the freshmen. “She’s a good middle hitter. She needs to work on blocking and she will be better prepared for next season,” McGuire said. Also a leading hitter among the freshmen is Jamie Swanson. She is 101-of-134 hitting with 43 kills. “Jamie has been playing middle hitter and also has been playing on the right side,” McGurie said. “When she makes contact with the ball, she hits it hard.” With 94 digs, second on the team behind Casey Spree’s 121, Megan Granner has been a welcome addition to the team. “She is a spunky player. She always has a smile on her face. Every team needs somebody like that,” McGuire said. “There are times I think she will never get the ball and she will get a hand on it.” One of the most improved players, according to McGuire, is back row specialist Jessica Lampe. “She has come in and improved 100 percent. She is a big contributor for us in the back row,” McGuire said. Lampe has 38 digs this season. Another freshman back row specialist is Connie Koob. Koob has 42 digs this season for the Trojans. “She’s doing a good job in the back row. She’s really quick. She can cover both lines,” McGuire said. With the success the freshmen have shown thus far, McGuire said she looks for the group to continue its play and take over the leadership roles next season. “They will have to take over leadership roles. We need a couple to step up. All of them need to become stronger,” McGuire said. Lampe said they need to start talking more. “Right now, the sophomores are the major talkers,” she said. Although the Trojans lose four major contributors next season, these six players should return to fill the empty spots and serve as a link to future success. |
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| FOSTER COLUMN... by Mike Foster |
 Should athletes be permitted to show excitement after scoring points for his or her team? People say sportsmanship in all sports is getting out of hand. Most athletes whether they participate in golf or as physical play as hockey tend to show what many people say illustrates poor sportsmanship by taunting, screaming at each other or doing some version a self-made dance. Trash talking has moved into virtually all sports. It has created some problems for players who want concentrate while playing and for officials who are trying to make a call in a game that is filled with on-going activities by the participants. Player trash talk can also create bigger problems when players’ emotions get in the way and it can cause a fight leading to player ejections in the game or games to come. “Sportsmanship is important and now it’s gotten to the point where it’s getting out of hand,” assistant football coach Larry Eckhardt said. “It has a lot to do with the media showing that trash talk is OK and players on all levels see it and it has an effect on them.” Athletes who trash talk show poor sportsmanship and tend to loose sight on what competiting really means. Competiting in athletic events should build up emotions and cause players to do and say certain things. However, when the game clock has ended players should have enough respect or sportsmanship to congradulate their opponents whether they win or loose. People say loosing is not everything, but when players loose it’s hard to show any respect to the team that just beat them because their emotional level is still high. Sportsmanship can also carry a player a long way in life. Athletes who learn good sportsmanship tend to carry that emotional level into their every day lives when they deal with different problems every day. Good sportsmanship is important for every athlete that competes in athletics because that's what makes the game. |
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| EMERICK COLUMN... by Charles Emerick |
 Recruiting new athletes to come to NIACC takes hard work and time for the coaches trying to bring in new talent. The recruiting process involves making many phone calls and sending out numerous mailings to coaches and athletes. For NIACC football coach Dick Ramsey, recruiting involves finding players from the area, as well as finding talent outside of the state. Ramsey and his coaching staff have many names to follow up on. “Right now we have over 800 names in the computer,” Ramsey said. The process of getting those names takes a lot of work by the coaching staff. “We send out questionnaires to the coaches. We may only get about 30 percent of those back,” Ramsey said. “We get names and then we follow up with phone calls to secure those names.” Ramsey said that by the conclusion of spring, hopefully they will have talked to most of those who responded. The staff will then talk to the kids and send them about 15 mailings. “We try to generate interest. If they returns the questions, they must have some interest,” Ramsey said. After all of this, Ramsey said they begin to “work backwards.” That means finding which kids are interested and which are not. The players recruited by Ramsey are “division III or higher.” “We try to get players that will be able to play the upper levels. That’s usually a division III player or better,” Ramsey said. For out-of-state players, Ramsey said it should be a player that is a bonafide division I player. “A player that can make a difference,” Ramsey said. Ramsey also said it is important for them to recruit first class citizens. “We also ask coaches ‘can and will the athlete do college work?’ It won’t do us any good if he can’t,” Ramsey said. |
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| CHEERLEADERS READY TO GO... by April Lien, reporter |
| “Go Trojans!”
That is what eight enthusiastic girls will be cheering as soon as October 9 rolls around. The seven girls, who made tryouts to become a NIACC cheerleader September 22, along with sophomore captain Carrie Thompson, make up this year’s NIACC cheerleading squad, under the new direction of adviser Jill Gerdes. Gerdes said she hopes the squad will be ready to perform for the Homecoming football game and then cheer for the rest of the football season, along with men’s and women’s basketball season this year. The new adviser and the captain have the same things in mind for the squad this year. They would like to try new things, as well as having everyone get along and work as a team. “I would like to incorporate new dances and achieve better stunts,” Thompson said. Gerdes said she wants to have a cheerleading camp and get the youth in local communities involved. “This year,” Thompson said, “the new members have a lot of talent because of their previous high school experience.” During tryouts, freshman Daisy Bram, who has four years of high school experience behind her, said that they were nerve-racking. “The team has a high level of expectations and they will do nothing but improve,” Bram said. The one thing Thompson would like from the crowd is for it to be “to be more attentive and participate more.” So, “Go Trojans!” |
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| JOHNSON STEPS UP... by Nic Marzen, reporter |
 Emotions ran high. Intensity drifted throughout the air. Sweat ran like water over a dam on the faces of the players. This is what NIACC football is all about - making it to the Pepsi-Cola Bowl, and having earned a shot to be champions. According to defensive line coach, Matt Faltis, a major factor in NIACC win last year in the Pepsi Cola Bowl was D’Juan Johnson, a 6’3’’ 240 lb. right defensive lineman, who made a huge defensive stand on the goal line. “We had our backs to the goal line, so we sent D’Juan into the game as a defensive lineman to help keep Rochester from scoring,” Faltis said. “Rochester ran the ball and D’Juan stepped up big to make the tackle on their running back for no gain, or maybe even a loss,” Faltis said as he glanced over at defensive coordinator Larry Eckhardt, who nodded with agreement. Johnson, a sophomore from Central High School in Omaha, Nebraska, had played last season as a tight end on the offense. However, this year, he is a starting defensive lineman for the Trojans. “I don’t feel, making the change from tight end, to defensive line was too hard because I already had the mentality to play on defense,” Johnson said. “I know how to play both sides of the football, and I already have the blocking skills to play d-line. It’s just that I’d been playing tight end.” When asked what he liked about playing for NIACC. Johnson attributed much of his enjoyment to his teammates. “Everybody gets along,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of team unity, on and off the field. It just feels comfortable.” Johnson has good quickness and a nose for the ball said Faltis. “He’s very aggressive and wants to make plays,” Faltis said. And that’s what Johnson is - a play maker. At the end of week two this season, Johnson had already notched four solo tackles and five assisted tackles. He led the team in sacks, with two, and also led the team in fumble recoveries with two. Of course that’s what you get from a man who works hard and shows it, by being the first to football drills on the practice field. “D’Juan is real important to our defense,” said sophomore, left corner back, Donault Moore. “He leads by example and is always intense and serious. He focuses on what needs to get done.” Johnson said he worked on his running during the off season and spent some time in the weight room to keep in shape for this fall. Johnson said he isn’t sure where he’ll attend school after NIACC, but he wants to keep playing football. “I want to play football till I get tired of playing,” Johnson said joked. His coaches also appreciate his efforts off the field. “D’Juan’s a first-class citizen,” Eckhardt said. “He’s trusted by us, and he sets a good example for this year’s freshman. We feel he could get a full ride to play football after this year.” |
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| WALDORF RIVALRY, A HEATED ONE... by Jill Gray, reporter |
| As the new athletic season begins,
old rivalries continue.
At NIACC it has been a tradition of excitement and competition as the Trojans fight to beat one of their biggest rival teams Waldorf College in Forest City. “A healthy rivalry” is how Dick Ramsey, NIACC head football coach, describes the rivalry that exists between NIACC and Waldorf. Ramsey said he believes that the rivalry is so exciting because of the large attendance of friends and family at the game. Another factor that Ramsey contributed to the rivalry involves the new schedule of playing Waldorf twice a season. According to Jerry Dunbar, NIACC athletic director, the rivalry began in “the 1930s or 1940s. In 1957 when Dunbar played football and basketball for NIACC, he said the biggest rival was still Waldorf. “Geographically a lot of students from North Iowa go to NIACC or Waldorf,” Dunbar said and that may also contribute to the rivalry Dunbar also describes the rivalry as a “friends versus friends” situation which is health. Recruiting new students and athletes to both NIACC and Waldorf may also be another reason for the rivalry, according to Dunbar.. Proximity also plays a role according to one NIACC coach. “The closer the school, the bigger the rivalry,” Rachel McGuire, NIACC head volleyball coach, said. Men’s basketball coach Steve Krafcisin agreed and added that the media plays a role in developing the rivalry too. “With Waldorf and NIACC being only 45 miles away we compete for the same media coverage,” Krafcisin said. Another factor Krafcisin attributed to the rivalry is the recruiting wars between NIACC and Waldorf for the same students. Krafcisin went on to say that winning against Waldorf “means a little more” for he and his players. So the next time, the Trojans and Warriors meet on the field, court or diamond, fans can count on a healthy bit of competition. |
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