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• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2008-09-11_Vol74_No02_11

Page 11 WESTERN CAROLINIAN August 16, 2008 SPORTS Cross Country Teams Welcome New Season With Western Carolina Opening By Kaitlyn Mullis Sports Writer The mens and womens Catamount cross country team opened the 2008 season Friday, Aug. 30 at the West- ern Carolina Open. The meet featured five other teams from around the state, includ- ing Gardner Webb and the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The distances set for the race were two miles for the women and three for the men, The course was located on the lawn of Norton: Village, with the trail winding its way around the track, soccer, and softball complex. The womens cross coun- try team commanded the entire race, covering the top four spots. Lindsey Groce, a junior, ran a time of 11:56:96 to capture first place. Close behind were sophomore Jor- dan Gaddy, running 11:59.43, and senior Megan Isaacs, running 12:06.67. Finishing in fourth place with a time of 12:29.32 was junior Danielle Shaurette. The scoring runners from Western Carolina placed in the top eight of a field of for- ty-four participants. The Lady Catamounts won with a score of 18. Second place went to Gardner Webb with a team score of 52, UNC-Asheville took third with 82 points, followed by King College with 95, New- berry College with 150, and Warren Wilson College with 162. The mens team, miss- ing one of their top runners, ran a tough race against rival UNC-Asheville, managing to pull off a narrow win with a score of 34 against the Bull- dogs 37. Both teams had all five of their scoring runners in the top twenty of the forty- three member field. Junior Stephen Ham- mond ran a 15:50.90 to finish in first place for the Cata- mounts. Running for second- place points was freshman Josey Weaver with a time of 16:21.43. Sophomore Drew Tucker ran 16:48.92 and took eighth, Jake Clawson, a junior, placed twelfth with 16:57.07. Following was se- nior Field Miller, who fin- ished fourteenth with a time of 17:06.78. The team stepped up to take the win after sophomore runner Stephen Roach was unable to run due to sick- ness. Western closed the day with a close win, collecting 34 team points to nudge UNC Ashevilles 37 out of the top spot. King College took third with 64 points, followed by Gardner Webbs 101, New- berry Colleges 138, and War- ren Wilson Colleges 149. The next race for the Cata- mounts cross country teams will be the Catamount Clas- sic on September 20. This looks to be an excit- ing and successful season for the men and womens teams. The mens team was ranked eighth in the Southern Con- ference pre-season poll and the womens team was picked seventh in their conference. Last year, the mens team finished seventh in the South- ern Conference Champion- ship and the womens team closed the conference season with a sixth place finish. With most of their run- ners returning for the 2008 season, both teams will be looking to improve on their standings in the competitive conference, which includes the number-one ranked Ap- palachian State mens team and the number-one ranked Chattanooga womens team. WCU Volleyball Team Loses Season Opener, Drops Three in Kentucky Classic By Justin Caudell Sports Editor Despite a valiant effort, Western . Carolina started the 2008 volleyball sea- son with two losses on the = = road in Lexington, Ken- tucky on Friday, Aug. 29. They first fell to Stephen F. Austin 3 0 (15 25, 19 25, 18 25) and then 3 0 (13 25, 9 25, 25 27) to 13 ranked Wisconsin to begin play in the Kentucky Classic. Freshman Brittany Lysik led the Lady Catamounts at- tack with 11 kills in the match against Stephen F. Austin and freshman Liz Rondone had 15 digs. Junior setter Katie Hennesseey had 14 assists. The team struggled with Wisconsin in the first match of the Kentucky Classic, combining to only score 22 points in the first two games. But WCU rallied to nearly force a fourth game against the Badgers in the third set as Western jumped out to an early 12 -8 lead. The Catamounts had an advantage over Wisconsin by three or four points most of the way, including at 23 19. However, Allison Wack posted a kill and a service ace for the Badgers to knot the game at 23. Western served for set point at 25 24, but a Morgan Salow kill evened the score at 25. Consecutive kills by the Badgers surged Wisconsin ahead for the set and an eventual victory. shined for the Catamounts in the loss with nine kills and 16 digs respectively. Hennessey had 17 assists. Western continued com- petition in the Kentucky Classic on Saturday, Aug. 30 with games against host Kentucky and _ Pittsburgh. The Catamounts won their first game of the sea- son in a tight match against Pittsburgh, although losing the match 3 1 (24 26, 25, 23,22 25, 19 25). We faced a high-level of competition this week, said head coach Stephanie Dragan. There is a lot of promise for this team, we proved we can compete. In game one against Pitts- burgh, Western Carolina was up 24 21, but the Panthers battled back to tie it at 24 and then collected the final two points to clinch the first game. The Catamounts came back to tie the match at one a piece with Pittsburgh in the second set with, when the game tied at 23, a kill by freshman Car- rie Minogue and a hitting er- Lysik and Rondone ror by Pittsburgh gave WCU the game. The Panthers won the final two games of the match to secure the win. Minogue, with a .522 at- tack percentage, ha and just thr to lead the Catamounts in the loss against Pittsburgh. Lysik also had 15 kills. Hennessey had 39 assists and Rondone had 19 digs. Liz played out of her mind defensively, Dra- gan said. She played with a lot of heart and passion. In the game against Ken- tucky, Western lost 30 (12 - 25, 18-25, 1225). Minogue led the team with seven kills in a match where the Cata- mounts lacked offensively. Western, who is 0 4 on the season after the losses in Kentucky, traveled to Il- linois with matches against Illinois State, Western Michi- gan and Oakland on Sept. 5 in the hunt for their first win. They will be in Raleigh on Sept. 13 for contests versus William and Mary and North Carolina State. The Cata- mounts will have their home opener in Cullowhee against UNC Asheville on Sept. 16. Results of how WCU faired will appear in the next edition of the Western Carolinian. Lady Catamount Soccer Team Hoping for Successful Season Western Goes 0 2 in First Two Games By Cory Spaugh Sports Writer With a roster full of new players and a solid cast of returning players; the Lady Catamounts soccer team is looking to improve. on last years 11-9-3 record. Western returns only two seniors and ten ju- niors from last years team, but the incoming freshmen and returning sophomores are looking to make a signifi- cant contribution to help the team have a winning season. In total there are 21 underclassmen on the roster. The returning play- ers include seniors Buki Ba- ruwa and Arlan Whittle, and last years leading scorer Bri Cunningham, who is look- ing to improve on her solid sophomore campaign and have a better junior season. Along with the eleven incom- ing freshmen, the team added two transfers, Kelly Estes from N.C. State and Hilary Holder from Columbus State. With the direction of Coach Tammy DeCesare and the hard work and dedication of the players, the Catamount soccer program is sure to be a force to be reckoned with. Looking to make a name for themselves ear- ly, the Lady Catamounts opened the 2008 season with two consecutive road matches on Friday, Aug. 22 at East Carolina and Sunday, 15 kills. | Students Must Now Print Out Athletic Tickets For Western Home Games By Cory Spaugh Sports Writer The Western Carolina Uni- versity Athletics Department has changed the way that stu- dents gain admission to ath- letic events. In previous years, students have been able to show up at games on campus and get in by showing their Cat Card. Now, students must go on- line and print out admission tickets. The name of the new tick- eting program is the Cata- mount Loyalty Program and the system offers a few incen- tives for the students to use it. The sporting events that will require students to print a ticket are football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, soft- ball and baseball. There are several reasons that the new system was im- plemented, but convenience for students to acquire tickets for parents and friends who dont attend Western was the main reason. In years past, to acquire guest tickets a student would have to go to the athletics office and order their guest tickets, but now, instead of having to go through the ath- letics office, the only thing students need to do is sign into their own personalized account at www.ticketre- turn.com/weu and print their ticket and order their guest or guests tickets. The new program also of- fers special promotions from Westerns local sponsors to students and printing the tickets online also builds loyalty points which can be redeemed for prizes. For high demand sporting events, the students with the highest point totals will also have first priority at those tickets. Such events would include the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug, the Appala- chian State football game, which is expected to be the highest requested ticket event of the year. In order to build points, tickets ordered by the stu- dents must be scanned at the student entrance of every sta- dium before the game begins. If a student ordered a ticket, but forgot to print it, that per- son would be able to go to the ticket office on game day, and if there are tickets still avail- able, they will be able to get a ticket by showing their Cat Card. However, if the student has to get the tickets at the game box office, there will be no loyalty points rewarded to the students account for that event. Hopefully, everyone got their tickets for the first athletic event this year, the football game against Shorter on Thursday, Aug. 28, but if not, here is a step-by-step guide on printing admission tickets. The first step is to go to www.ticketreturn.com/weu, next, click on the sign-in tab at the top of the page and enter your 920 number, plus the two digit code under the picture on your Cat Card. The password for the site is guest on the first- sign-in attempt. The following attempts are only the 920 number as the sign-in name and then your birth date as the password. A Letter from Head Football Coach Dennis Wagner Dear WCU students, the way. Go Catamounts! Dennis W Head Coac Aug. 24 at N.C State. The match against ECU was a very tight con- test, but the Catamounts fell to the Pirates 1 - 0 in the end, with the only goal scored coming in the first half. Western out shot the Pi- rates three to one in the sec- ond half, but the Catamounts were unable to penetrate the defense and tie the score. The match at N.C State was heated as well. The score was tied at zero that our team will make you proud to I am writing this letter as the proud Head Football Coach of your Western Carolina Catamount football team. I am thrilled to be here, and will work extremely hard at making sure that your fellow student-athletes will represent this University with pride and success. But our success on the field comes much easier with your support in the stands. The difference that you make with your presence cannotbe described. It simply means the world to our players. They want to win for us coaches, for each other, and most importantly, for you. Our coaching staff has instilled in them the hunger and drive to give everything they have from the beginning kickoff until the final whistle blows. With that effort given, | plus your support and spirit from the stands, I can say with much confidence - be a Catamount and bring wins along We were very appreciative for all of you that came out to the game versus Shorter College on August 28". We hope to see you all out at E.J. Whitmire Stadium again this Saturday against Liberty University for a 6:00 kickoff. And for those of you who werent able to make it out for our last game, consider this you re official invitation to come on out and cheer on your fellow Catamounts to a victory. Well see you there! at intermission, but less than one minute into the second half, the Wolfpack were able to end the stalemate at the thirty two second mark. Paige Dugal picked up the goal for N.C. State, her first collegiate score. Despite having opportunities to score in the second half, the Lady Cats were unable to crack into the score column. The Wolfpack added a goal late in the second half by Nadia Abdoulhson to win 2 - 0. Western, hoping to improve on the early season slump, leaves tomorrow Sept. 12 to participate in the Yale Tournament. They return home to play the South Caro- lina Lady Gamecocks on Sep- tember 21st and begin South- ern Conference play at The Citadel on September 26th. The Lady Cats first conference home game is against Wof- ford on October 3rd.

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 2008-09-11
• Extent
  • Dimension: 14" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 16
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2008-09-11_Vol74_No02
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library