Yes…
to frolicking in various oceans during Spring Break.
No…
to being so worn out by Spring Break that you can no longer function.
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While some of us were out sun bathing during Spring Break, the Covenant College Men’s Golf Team was teeing off at the 4th Annual Piedmont College Spring Invitational. The Scots finished the invitational 4th overall out of the eight teams represented, which was well short of their goal. “We did not finish well,” said Coach Tom Schreiner. “We were in really good shape with about six holes to play and should have finished second by several shots. But we threw about fifteen shots away on the last few holes.” I had a chance to catch up with the Scots’ top performers over the weekend. Junior David Spencer individually finished 5th overall shooting 76 and 77. Spencer was four over the second day after the front nine, and fought back to even par in the next six holes. Then the wheels came off on the last three and he finished bogey, double bogey, double bogey to shoot 77. When asked what challenges the team faces this year, Spencer said, “Our putting has really been the downfall of our team lately, so that’s where we will be practicing the most.” Team Captain senior Trevor Potts individually finished 15th overall shooting 82 and 79. Potts made a 90 foot putt for birdie which really brought his round and confidence back. When asked about his expectation for this spring Potts said, “Since this is my last season, I would love to finish my last two tournaments strongly, which will end my career nicely.” Freshman Anthony Sligh finished an impressive 20th shooting 82 and 80. The little guy said, “I need to work on my short game, mainly my chipping.” Sligh was happy with the weather saying, “It helped me play better because I was used to playing on this freezing cold mountain.” As the second half of the semester gets under way, the Scots will be playing in much better weather from here on out. “I’m just so tired of building snowmen before I start my practice at the range,” Sligh said. The Scots will play next in the Reeder Cup April 5th at Lookout Mountain Golf Club.
 Senior Erika Forland, pictured here on January 19, has left her mark on the league. Women’s basketball takes inventory as season closes. Fifty-three percent of the points, fifty-five percent of the rebounds, and fifty-nine percent of the steals have expired, never to be renewed. For the Covenant College Lady Scots’ basketball program, the clock has struck midnight, the candle has been blown out, and the fat lady has yodeled on the careers of our beloved seniors Erika Forland, DeDe Walls, and Brinkley Knowles. As indicated, these three ladies have contributed to their program as well as any coach, teammate or spectator can hope or ask. Sophomore Hannah Craft declared, “Our seniors have been such a huge part of our team on and off the court this season. They will be missed immensely.” The loyal fans of Barnes Gymnasium will sorely miss these three young women and their impact on the organization. Fans will remember Brinkley Knowles’ fearless fast break attacks, her ability to get to the basket at will, and how she could put the opponent’s best defender in foul trouble. We will fondly remember the power, speed, and footwork of DeDe Walls. Honestly, when this girl does her trademark power-dribble, drop-step move, I half expect her to dunk the ball. And there’s really only one thing that needs to be said about Erika Forland: double-double. The six-foot post player is first or second on the team in every major statistic. Enough said. Ladies and Gentlemen of the mountain, our women’s basketball team is graduating three outstanding student athletes this year. With the season coming to a close, preparing for the departure of our three seniors, and posting a 10-14 record a year after going to the national tournament, several fans may be disappointed with the way the season has turned out. Furthermore, an untrained eye could find reason to worry about next year’s season. However, we should expect great improvements for next season for two reasons: experience and development. While we are losing a lot of leadership and talent to that thing called “graduation,” and while the seniors were a huge part of the team’s success and production, there are multiple underclassmen that received plenty of playing time and are only going to get better. For starters, the starting point guard this year, Kiaira Cooper, is a freshman. While there were some growing pains along the way and still room for growth, Cooper’s improvement alone, from the beginning of the season to the end, should have everyone excited to see her as a sophomore and beyond. With a diligent work ethic, this girl has “potential All-American” written all over her. Also, there is one of the sophomore guards from Charlotte, Margaret Cross. This season, “Mo-Cro” shot over 44% from three-point land. Just to put this number in perspective, try to guess how many WNBA players shoot threes with that high of a success. Zero. She might have some footwork and ball handling kinks to work out over the off-season, but the girl can shoot the basketball. In addition, junior Jen Paffenroth and sophomore Hannah Craft will bring strong leadership to a young but talented squad. Quality minutes to promising freshmen Ruth Gibson, Kylea Sharrock, and Michelle Westerman will undoubtedly pay dividends in their crucial development for next season. Furthermore, current freshmen Jessie Blankenship, who red-shirted this season, will be in action as well as several new recruits. So what’s going to happen next season? One year from now, when Jen Paffenroth stands where Erika, DeDe, and Brinkley are now, the Lady Scots will have a winning record, at least three players averaging over ten points per game and the rest of the NCAA Division III will be getting a little more nervous. Founders underdog wins intramural basketball championship. Thursday, Blackwatch eked out Men of Honor for a victory in the closing seconds of the game in Barnes Gymnasium. Leading into Thursday night’s 10 p.m. contest, Blackwatch beat “Ransom’s Cobler” on Wednesday after going on a 14-0 run to come back from a ten point deficit. In the other bracket, Men of Honor figured out how to beat Messner’s mighty Swishin’ Swedes who were 9-1 in the regular season. Men of Honor used a triangle and two, which created enough double-team situations in the paint to slow down Messner’s offense. Men of Honor and Blackwatch met in half-full Barnes for the championship Thursday night. Men of Honor scored points from sophomore Brock Barber and also Ben Wharton, an assistant coach on Covenant’s baseball team, but Blackwatch had their own watchdogs in the paint including Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Dan Johnson. Calm leadership at the point from freshman Rob Graham and outside shots from freshman James Marshall only worsened things for Men of Honor. With seventeen seconds left, Men of Honor had the ball, and they were up one point. Two Blackwatch defenders applied pressure on the sideline to senior Ross Jelgurhuis. Jelgurhuis stepped out of bounds and possession returned to Blackwatch. In turn, Blackwatch’s Graham drove inside, missing the lay-up. Men of Honor got the ball back, still with the lead, but turned it over when Blackwatch’s defense bore down in the backcourt. After that, Blackwatch threw the ball in and with seconds left, Marshall hit a three for the victory. After Men of Honor got a technical for calling a time-out without having any time-outs, Blackwatch secured their victory with 2.7 seconds left. Thursday’s championship victory ended the intramural basketball playoffs. In the next week, Covenant will begin intramural indoor soccer. New Compliance Coordinator helps Scots take their game to new level Laura Peterson is not your usual addition to the Scots’ athletic staff. Her position as Compliance Coordinator is a new one that has been created since Covenant moved to NCAA Division III status. “Isn’t this position just a waste of money?” some might ask, “Couldn’t money be used in more efficient ways than hiring a compliance coordinator?” According to Athletic Director Tami Smialek, the answer to both those questions is no. “The NCAA is new to our department and we will need to learn to do things differently as well as to do new things. We want to do well with this transition and we want to be sure that we set everything up correctly from the beginning,” said Smialek. According to Smialek, there are numerous items to be covered in relation to coaches, current athletes, prospective athletes, scheduling, and competitions,The Compliance Coordinator will assist with all of these. Peterson has a lot of experience in the area of compliance. She hails from Michigan Technological University, where she was an intern in the Compliance Department. She has a Master’s Degree from Valparaiso University in Sports Administration and she worked in their NCAA Division I Compliance department there while earning her degree. Laura played volleyball and basketball at NCAA Division III Finlandia University. Peterson’s main responsibilities at Covenant will involve assistance to coaches and players in compliance issues on a daily basis, and filing annual reports with the NCAA and the Great South Athletic Conference. The coaching staff is all in agreement that Peterson is an invaluable addition to Covenant’s athletic staff. “The rules manual is 280 pages long, and if you want to be a member of the NCAA, you must comply with these rules,” men’s soccer coach Nathan Pifer commented. “The Compliance Coordinator will help us run a program that follows these standards.” Softball Coach Sara Russell agrees. “She allows me as a coach to have a point person here on campus to check with on questions about the NCAA rules concerning softball’s traditional and non-traditional season, camps, and recruiting. She also makes sure all my athletes stay in compliance with eligibility.” Men’s basketball coach Kyle Taylor says a compliance coordinator is absolutely necessary to speed up the transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division III and allow student athletes to engage in post-season play, which is one of the benefits of being in the NCAA. “Without a compliance coordinator we would be looking at a 5-6 year transition process,” Taylor said. “Hopefully with a full-time compliance coordinator we will be able to make it in four years, which means that there will only be one year’s worth of student-athletes that will not have the possibility of playing in the NCAA tournament.” Members of Covenant’s Student Advisory Committee (SAAC) are looking forward to Peterson’s assistance in athletes’ everyday lives. “She will be the one we athletes can go to ask about our academic eligibility at Covenant, as well as whether or not we’re acting in compliance with these new NCAA regulations,” SAAC member sophomore John Hirte said. Everyone seems to agree that Peterson is a wonderful addition to the Scots’ athletic department. Her work will literally boost the Scots to a higher level of play. Peterson is an essential part of a Covenant athletics program that is rising to new heights and continues to strive to reach even higher goals.  Fielding practice at the Scots’ new Highlands Park begins here with pitches from freshman pitcher Daniel Boccella. Boccella (right), a right-handed pitcher, practices his release during a pre-season practice. The smell of the grass. The crack of the bat. The pop of the glove. Baseball season is officially underway. As Major Leaguers report to sunny Florida and Arizona for Spring Training, Covenant’s baseball team has braved the cold, rain, and snow and officially started their season. After having their opening games snowed out, the team opened last Wednesday at Berry College. Playing on a rain-soaked field, Covenant made some costly errors that led to a 10-5 loss. It did not help that Covenant had not practiced on a field in several days, or that Berry was playing their eighth game of the season and was nearing mid-season form. Covenant erased those memories this past weekend while playing a double header against Berea College. As the sun made a rare appearance this semester and the temperatures neared 60 degrees, Covenant pleased its fans with a thrilling home opener, and then continued the excitement in game two of the double header. Trailing 4-2 going into the final inning of game one, Covenant needed to put some runs on the board to avoid a 0-2 start to the season. Junior Brandon Hagopian provided the needed runs with one swing of the bat. With a runner on first and one out, Hagopian got a hold of a fastball and hit it over the right field wall, the first of his two homers on the day. This two-run shot sent the game to extra innings, where junior Luke Furuto finished off the Mountaineers from Kentucky. After giving up a run in the top of the eighth, Covenant again needed a run to avoid a loss. After singles from sophomore James Rollins and junior Jared Carlson, Furuto launched a pitch to left center, and Coach Doug Simons waved the base-runners home. Senior Cody Baxter, pinch-running for Rollins, scored with ease; Carlson, on the other hand, looked like Troy Polamalu as he barreled through the catcher for the winning run.
“I was so proud of our guys for never giving up,” freshmen starting shortstop Kurtis Wiles said of the Saturday games. “We were faced with difficult situations several times, and our boys kept coming through. Everyone played their part, and the team really pulled together.” Speaking of the large crowd in attendance, Wiles said, “Part of the credit should go to the fans. It was exciting to see so many people there to support us and I hope they continue to come out.” As the Scots gave us plenty of excitement this past weekend, let’s continue to go out and support them, along with the softball team, in the games to come. |
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