XAVIER UNIVERSITY
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:
•
2 0 0 8 - 2 0 0 9
Women’s Crew
Nationally
ranked
•
Ultimate Frisbee
will compete at
Regionals for
the first time
•
C L U B
S P O R T S
A P R I L ,
2 0 0 9
Men’s Rugby
moves up to DII
•
Club Sports Newsletter
Dance Team 7th
in Nation
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
Club Sports
Overview
2
Racquetball
Club
2
Word from Jim
Ray
3
Xavier Crew
3
Ultimate Frisbee 4
Running Club
4
Women’s Rugby 4
Club Football
5
Gymnastics
Club
5
Dance Team
5
Awards and
Recognition
6
Xavier Rugby’s 2008 Season
Xavier University’s Fall
2008 Rugby season was a
resounding success, boasting
seven games, seven victories,
and one state championship
for the third year in a row.
This year has built on the accomplishments of years past,
as the club now stands on the
shoulders of alumni and its
own success and prepares to
make the leap to Division II.
Motivated by the relentless encouragement of Coach
Shaun Gaffney, the young
team grew fast and grew together. The group relied on
the leadership of the passionate captains, Senior Vince
Hyland and Sophomore John
Burke, as well as the example
set by the four seniors, Nick
Masters, Pat Riepenhoff,
Tony Mangione, and Hyland.
Built on speed and conditioning, the team boasted a strong
yet agile pack breaking open
the field for a set of precise
and speedy backs. The combination proved a handful for
opponents.
The season began almost
immediately at the beginning
of the Fall semester. After
two weeks of Coach Gaffney’s intense conditioning
regiment, the team headed to
West Virginia for the always
tough and often vicious ri-
Rugby in one of their epic battles
valry game against Marshall
University. We started off the
season by beating them!
Then, the team put together a
series of three impressive
victories at home against Wittenburg, Eastern Kentucky,
and Ohio State. Stirring up
campus excitement and team
morale, these victories
quickly set the team atop their
division as the club to beat.
Flying high, the Musketeers arrived at Wright State
with an impressive 4-0 record.
Even though they were undefeated as well, they came up
with a victory, putting them as the top
seed in the playoffs.
They were the favorite to win the
division again. In
the semi-finals,
Xavier proved itself
as a team on a mis-
sion. Fired up and confident,
the club faced Ashland on
their home pitch. Xavier
quickly buried them with a
41-0 win.
A dominant season set
the stage for a dramatic finish
as the championship game fell
on Alumni weekend. In front
of a packed crowd full of
family, friends, and Old Boys,
the club ran into a strong and
fired up roadblock in Ohio
Northern. Falling behind
early, the team found itself in
its first hole all season. A
close game lead up to an exciting finale, as the Muskies
pushed into the try zone to
score the only try of the
match during the last ten minutes. After holding on for a
few minutes of solid defense,
the Xavier Musketeers were
crowned Ohio Rugby Union’s
Division III Champions.
After an amazing fall, the
team spent the Spring working out and preparing for the
jump to Division II. Next
season, the club is slated to
face school rivals Dayton and
Cincinnati, as well as several
other skilled programs.
Hopefully, with the support of
fans and alumni, the team can
continue to hold their heads
high in the name of Xavier
University and the XURFC.
-Mark Mangione, Treasurer
PAGE
Making Great Strides
2
Patty Williams ,
Assistant Director of
Recreational Sports
Club Sports has made
significant improvement over
the past year. With 26 active
clubs and over 525 student
athletes, club sports play an
integral role in the lives of
Xavier students. A total of 130
games and events were participated in by our Club Sports
teams this past fall. The Club
Sports Officers attended a
mandatory training on the
Club Sports Manual which
was taught in conjunction with
the Club Sports Council Officers.
The Club Sports Council
also completed Disciplinary
Board training with Luther
Smith. Following the training,
a discipline board was elected
based on self-nominations
made by participants at the
training. The following ten
CSC members make up this
year’s disciplinary board:
• Liz May
(Women’s Lacrosse)
• Molly CaJacob
(Women’s Soccer)
• Joe March (Crew)
• Nick Mock (Tennis)
• Adam Leonard
(Racquetball)
• Becky McGonigle
(Women’s Rugby)
• Vinny Castrigano (Football)
• Jacob Wasserman
(Water Polo)
• Elizabeth Arnold (Fencing)
• Mike Fix (Running)
Financially, the Club
Sports program is in good
shape. The Club Sports Council received a budget of
$100,000 from SGA to fund
the Club Sports program.
From this allocation, $93,900
was distributed to the individual clubs via the Club Sports
Budget Allocation Process last
spring (the remaining balance
is allocated by the Club Sports
Council to clubs for special
requests, etc). So far we have
not had many clubs request
special allocations which
shows that clubs are spending
their budgets responsibly. In
addition to their allocation,
clubs are expected to fundraise
as much as they are given. By
the end of the year, our club
sports will raise almost double
the amount of money that was
allocated to them by SGA.
Quite an accomplishment!
Finally, the CSC officers
have expressed their feelings
as to how Club Sports has
grown during their involve-
ment. Joe March, the CSC
Secretary, stated “Club Sports
has recognized many new
sports in the four years I’ve
been involved and has given
those sports a chance to participate in a fun, yet competitive atmosphere.” Nick Mock,
CSC Treasurer, says that
“more and more people are
forming new clubs that aren’t
represented yet, which bodes
well for student involvement.”
Molly CaJacob, CSC VicePresident, has been an officer
for Women’s Club Soccer and
a member of the CSC for the
past four years, and has held
an office in the CSC the past
two years. Molly says, “I have
seen the group grow in seriousness and become much
more organized.” Club Sports
has shown great improvement,
and we congratulate them on
the strides they have taken to
improve their status on campus and become a respected
governing body.
-Patty Williams, Assistant
Director of Rec. Sports and
Molly Meyer, Club Sports
Program Assistant.
Xavier Racquetball Club
Xavier Racquetball
Club (XRC) is a newly
formed organization that
strives to connect racquetball players of all skills for
fun and competitive
play. XRC has held 3 tournaments so far, 2 singles
tournaments and 1 doubles
tournament. Junior Kevin
Baran topped a field of 12
in our first tournament this
CLUB
SPORTS
NEWSLETTER
year. Scott Spethman and
Mark Hammitt took the first
ever doubles title in a championship win over Mike
Guest and Adam Leonard.
Plans for the future
include a final singles tournament in April in which
the first prize will be a
video iPod. XRC is open to
all Xavier students and faculty. Anyone interested in
joining should contact Mike
Fix at
Fixm@xavier.edu. Any
alumni wishing to get involved in the club or petitions can contact me
at Leonarda@xavier.edu
for the newly forming XRC
Alumni Association.
-Adam Leonard, President
2008-2009
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SPORTS
PAGE
A Word from Jim Ray...
learning laboratory
that can link theories and concepts
taught in the classroom with professional practices
and also provide a culminating
capstone experience for the student leaders. I believe students
will agree, these experiences
enhance skills in communication, problem-solving, time
management, fiscal responsibility, fundraising, and human relations.
Once there is awareness,
the student leaders can then
communicate the skills growth
to potential employers and in
turn make themselves more
marketable for employment.
It is our job as professionals to
process those experiences so
The
O’Connor
Sports
Center
Joseph March asked me to
comment on our Club Sports
program and I wanted to, first,
thank him for the opportunity. I
would like to specifically discuss the experience those individuals in leadership positions
have in running their particular
sport, the benefits received, and
the growth of the whole person.
I feel that the leadership positions, President, Vice President,
Secretary, and Treasurer, in the
Club Sport program is a living-
student leaders understand the
benefits. Unfortunately, all too
many students are unaware and
are not able to articulate the
skills development, and therefore miss a golden opportunity
to share their growth with faculty as well as potential employers.
For those of you who are
reading this in leadership positions, be conscious of your development, build your resume’,
and be able to articulate those
experiences, for you are the
leaders of tomorrow.
-Jim Ray, Director of Recreational Sports
“...be conscious
of your
development,
build your
resume’, and be
able to articulate
those
experiences, for
you are the
leaders of
tomorrow.”
Season of Crew: Women Nationally Ranked!
The Crew Team started
their season in the fall with
races here in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Tennessee. Races
in the fall are all about endurance, with races lasting from
eighteen to twenty minutes in
length! The crew team works
extremely hard to keep that
stamina up throughout their
fall races.
Starting around November the Xavier Crew team
moved their practices indoors
to the Xavier University Armory and started daily workouts on the ergs. They have
focused on their strength to
prepare them for the upcoming spring season. These
practices include one hour practices on the rowing machines as
well as some abdominal and
back strengthening activities.
Recently the team has started
lifting two mornings a week to
further our strength building.
With the spring season
quickly approaching, they were
anxious to get back out on the
water and start training for the
spring sprints. These races are
shorter in length and a little
more exciting! They usually
take anywhere from six to eight
minutes. The team traveled to
Atlanta, Georgia, Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, and Charleston,
West Virginia. The team performed well at all races, with
the Women’s Varsity Eight being nationally ranked for the
first time! Congratulations on a
great season! If you are interested in rowing, please contact
xaviercrew@yahoo.com.
- Kristen Gunn, President
Women’s Varsity Eight showing off
their well-deserved medals
3
PAGE
4
Ultimate’s quest for Regionals
Xavier Ultimate has
experienced yet another
season of rapid improvement and unparalleled success. This year saw the
team clinch its first tournament victory ever in the fall
season, and continue with a
successful spring season. It
began with a 3rd place finish at the annual Arctic
Vogue Tournament in Cincinnati, with the only loss
coming to the eventual winners Edinboro. Then, the
Ultimate’s David
Cranston running
down a disc.
team hosted a tournament in
March, where they took
second place, losing only a
heartbreaking championship
game 12-11. After finishing 3-2 at Miami (OH) toward the end of March, the
team was ready for UPA
College Sectionals. There,
the team earned its first ever
berth to the Regional
Championships by going 60 in pool play, beating rivals Miami (OH) to win
their pool. Then, XU com-
pleted the weekend by beating Ohio University and
Kenyon College to clinch a
trip to Regionals, finishing
the weekend with an 8-2
record. They will compete
at UPA College Regionals
the weekend of May 1-3,
and hope to improve on
their 12 seed at that tournament.
-Aaron Armbruster, President
Running Club
This is Running Club's
second year as a club, and
we have made great strides
to become a more unified
and active organization. We competed in Club
Olympics against several
other clubs, organized a
very successful bake sale
fundraiser, and even joined
the National Inter-collegiate
Running Club Association
(NIRCA), where we will be
“Our club has
grown immensely
this year, but we are
still young and
learning. “
traveling around the nation
to compete against other
cross country and track
clubs. On October 24, we
ran in the "Run Like Hell"
5k as a team. With 21 runners participating, we had
more than half of them
place in the top 50 and with
everyone running great
times. We dressed up,
raced together, and bonded
at the dinner after-
wards. Our club has grown
immensely this year, but we
are still young and learning. We look forward to
next year with all of our
committed and dedicated
runners. With the "Flying
Pig" marathon and half
marathon coming up in
May, our next few months
will be filled with hard
work and fun.
-Jessica Harris, President
Women’s Rugby!
The Rugby Team enjoying their season!
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The fall 2008
season for Women’s
Rugby was fantastic!
We had a great season, winning the majority of our games
and coming in third in
our league. However,
the team suffered
several injuries,
NEWSLETTER
which put a damper on the
end of the season. The
team has nevertheless
pulled together and has begun training for the spring.
We competed in several games and tournaments
including the Detroit Ruck
City Tournament and the
Savannah St. Patrick’s Day
Rugby Tournament.
Women’s Rugby is continuing to build up its
team and hopes for another great season in
2009!
-Becky McGonigle,
Treasurer
2008-2009
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5
Club Football 2008-2009
In 2007 Xavier Football
had won its first game since
1973 and also won the inaugural
Midwestern Club Football Conference, but they were not satisfied with a 4-2 season. In 2008
the team came out with a
stronger bond, and a lot more
confidence. The team won 7 out
of its 8 games and its only loss
came at the hands of a Division
II varsity team. The best part
about all seven victories was
that the team fought and pushed
themselves to victory. The club
football team showed a passion
for the game of football and a
will to push their play to the
next level. At the end of the
year Xavier football was declared MCFC Champions for
the second straight year.
their coaches and club officers
leading the way. Just as they
take each game one at a time,
the football team is already
looking towards improving next
year and the sky’s the limit in
2009.
-Mike Morse, President
The team was led by a
strong group of seniors, graduate students, and leaders. The
football team could not have
achieved all they did without
Gymnastics Club
The gymnastics club
has more than tripled in participation from last year! We now
have 10+ active members on the
team of all different experience
levels. So far, we have competed in meets at Ohio State
University and Miami of
Ohio. Both meets were wonderful experiences, and we look
forward to our final two competitions of the year. The next
meet will be at Eastern Michigan on March 21st. Following
that, we will go on to the National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia April 1619th. Come support Xavier's
gymnastics team!
We are also selling baseball
t-shirts as a FUNdraiser! They
are $15. contact Sarah Steiner
(steiners@xavier.edu) for more
information. Thanks for your
support of club gymnastics!
-Cat Nichols, President
Dance Team 7th in Nation
On April 9th, 2009 the nationally-ranked Xavier University Dance Team competed at
the National Dance Alliance
competition in Daytona Beach,
FL. Over 220 cheer and dance
teams compete which makes
this the largest cheer and dance
competition in the country. Xavier placed 2nd in the Challenge
Cup, 7th overall in Division I,
and currently holds the highest
score in dance team history.
Next year's goal is to be top five
in the nation!
-Alex Hagenhoff, VicePresident
Dance Team
at National’s!
2008-2009
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PAGE
Awards and Recognition
•
•
•
Thank you to the 2008-2009 CSC Executive Board:
∗
Liz May (Women’s Lacrosse)
∗
Molly CaJacob (Women’s Soccer)
∗
Nick Mock (Tennis)
∗
Joe March (Crew)
Congratulations to our 2008-2009 awards winners!
∗
Club Sport of Year: Men’s Rugby
∗
Best Fundraising Club Sport: Dance Team
∗
Most Improved: Men’s Lacrosse
Congratulations to the 2009-2010 CSC Executive Board:
∗
Liz May (Women’s Lacrosse)
∗
Mark Mangione (Men’s Rugby)
∗
Andrew Maher (Men’s Lacrosse)
∗
Zach Dehaemers (Ultimate Frisbee)
For more information about
Club Sports check us out online
at www.xavier.edu/recsports
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SPORTS
NEWSLETTER
6