SPORTS
- Inside the Huddle
- Homecoming marred by loss Renee Robarge
- Cross country takes short run Lori Bero
- Runner of the week shares thoughts John Weldner
- UNF falls to No. 8 Washington at home Brett Morgan
Inside the Huddle
 Maegan Wiesert Senior, Libero |
 Marshay Greenlee Freshman, Middle blocker |
 Zach Burnett Senior, Communications |
 Pigskin Potanken Extreme Jaguars Fan |
| Question 1: Who is the bigger cheater, Bill Belichick or Kobe Bryant? | |||
| Kobe Bryant. | Kobe Bryant. | Kobe because cheating on your wife is worse. | Belichick. I knew he was using trickery to beat the Jags. |
| Question 2: Now that Byron Leftwich is gone, who are Jaguar fans going to blame for a loss? | |||
| The mascot. | Jack Del Rio. | General Manager Shack Harris for letting Mark Brunell go. | The Devil. |
| Question 3: Which coach has better hair, Jack Del Rio or UNF head basketball coach Matt Kilcullen? | |||
| UNF basketball coach Matt Kilcullen. | Kilcullen. | Coach Kilcullen because he does more with less. | Coach Del Rio because he has the hair of an angel. |
| Question 4: Which college football stadium has the best environment? | |||
| Lane Stadium (Virginia Tech). | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium "The Swamp." | The Swamp because the Gator fans mix emotion, charisma, passion and cut-off jean shorts together. | Now that the Miami Hurricanes will be playing there, it will be Dolphin Stadium whenever the Jag fans go down to witness a Dolphins beating. |
Homecoming marred by loss
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Junior midfielder Elizabeth Gowan protects the ball in the 2006 season's game against JU. She led the Ospreys against WMU with two shots on goal. |
After returning home for the first time in the Fall 2007 season, the University of North Florida women's soccer team fell to 1-4 with losses to Western Michigan University and Coastal Carolina University.
The Ospreys lost to WMU in their home opener Friday 0-1 and were unable to close out the UNF Classic with a win against CCU in the concluding game of the tournament on Sunday, falling 1-2.
"It was a very close game," said head coach Linda Hamilton. "We did not play horrible, but it is always disappointing not getting the win."
The Ospreys held WMU scoreless until a goal in the 81st minute by freshman midfielder Ali Jacobs put the Broncos on the board.
Since the beginning of the season, the Ospreys have given up five other goals in second-half play, with all three games ending in UNF losses.
In the final game of the tournament against CCU Sunday, UNF managed seven looks at the net, two more than the game against WMU.
"We played well," senior forward Lisa Taylor said. "They just capitalized on the few mistakes
we made."
Junior goalkeeper Rachael Howard collected four saves in the game, and the team had six corner kicks in the 2-1 UNF loss.
"We were the better team statistically," Hamilton said. "However, you have to give Coastal Carolina credit: They were able to finish all their chances [...] We started a bit sluggish, but I thought we bounced back from the early goal and were able to hold our own in the first half."
The Ospreys remained scoreless in the second half until sophomore midfielder Kady Dearing picked up a goal in the 83rd minute. Dearing's first goal of the season would be the only score for the Ospreys for the rest of the game.
The team will play again Sept. 18 at Florida State University.
Contact Renee Robarge at sports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Cross country takes short run
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Kelly Marshall runs her way to victory with a 22 minute, 48.8 second finish. |
A duel with a different design did not trip up the University of North Florida women's and men's cross country teams as they defeated cross-town rival Jacksonville University Sept. 14 at UNF.
In teams of two, each runner ran a one-mile loop before switching with their teammate, who then ran another mile. This was repeated until each team ran a total of four miles.
"A mile is not distance," said senior runner Amanda Davey about the contest's format. "It was really mind-tricking."
The Osprey men stayed together and finished in first through fourth places.
First place went to sophomores Craig Sinbine and Sammy Palmer, with a time of 19 minutes 53.9 seconds.
Juniors Jeff Auletta and John Bruno took second with a time of 20 minutes 16.6 seconds.
Freshman Tyler Hall and sophomore Vince Corlew were close behind at 20 minutes 32.2 seconds, and seniors Marvin Moore and Dane Simmons finished fourth with 21 minutes 1.1 seconds.
"This duel was a good way to get involved with JU," Davey said. "It was like Jacksonville runners uniting."
Davey and senior Kelly Marshall took first place in the women's race with a time of 22 minutes 48.8 seconds.
JU runners Alison Ritter and Anastasia Fokina ran a close
second.
"I'm still trying to get back in gear," Davey said. "It feels like we just began, but we're already halfway through [the season]. I'd really like for it to last longer."
Seniors Kaitlyn Granger and Golden Creavy finished next for the Ospreys with 23 minutes 21.8 seconds.
Freshman Sianne Chong and sophomore Hillary Adams followed with 24 minutes 12 seconds, while juniors Wendy Livingston and Katie Heuertz came in with a time of 25 minutes.
Cross country has earned first-place finishes in each of its races in Jacksonville during the fall 2007 season.
Next for the Ospreys is the Florida State University Invitational in Tallahassee Sept. 22 at 7:30 a.m.
Contact Lori Bero at uspinnak@unf.edu -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Runner of the week shares thoughts
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Kelly Marshall runs her way to victory with a 22 minute, 48.8 second finish. |
Atlantic Sun Conference runner of the week and senior cross-country runner Amanda Davey sat down for an interview with the Spinnaker. As a junior, Davey finished fourth in the A-Sun Championships with a time of 19 minutes, 1 second. She shared her thoughts about running, success and the team.
Would you say that your run at the Mountain Dew Invite was one of your personal best performances?
No, I don't feel like I'm in my peak shape like I was at Auburn last year. I didn't run aggressively.
What did receiving the Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week award mean to you personally and as a runner?
I appreciate it, but I don't base my whole performance on one race. I prefer to focus on my general performance.
Although running is an individual sport, do you often find yourself mentally in competition with the other runners in a race?
Yes, a lot of running is mental. I look at them and they are competing just as much as I am, and I try to see how I'm matching up with them.
Were there any certain preparations before or conditions during the race that helped you excel?
We warm up by jogging for 15 minutes before the race, and we just dance, sing and relax to take the race off our minds.
Do you take this award as a sign of hard work paying off, or as a stepping stone on the way to even greater things?
I take it as an encouragement as I get
better.
What other aspects go into your training besides running?
We all do weight lifting twice a week, and I've done bike and swimming workouts. Sleeping is a really important part of
handling school and training.
Although cross country is an individual sport, is there still a team aspect involved? What do your individual awards mean to your team?
My team congratulated me. We all support each other. We train in teams and have to stay together to help build better paces.
What is your personal best time on the 5,000-meter course?
Seventeen minutes 22 seconds is my best cross country time, and 17 minutes 11 seconds is my best track time. Both were at Auburn.
What is your favorite part about being on the UNF cross country team?
I find that running is symbolic of life. It gives me a family of friends that I will keep for the rest of my life. It also helps make college a better experience. I'm really blessed to have the opportunity to run for UNF.
Is it hard to compare performances at separate courses, or is the training and mentality the same?
Every course is different, and you have to train differently for each one. For example, FSU has a lot of hills, so we have to do specific training for the hills when we run there.
Contact John Weldner at sports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
UNF falls to No. 8 Washington at home
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Amy Stroder attacks the net in the Sept. 13 match against Washington University. |
Despite the preparations for the visiting No. 8 University of Washington, the University of North Florida volleyball team could not withstand the intensity of the Huskies' serves.
In a 3-0 loss (30-14, 30-12, 30-12) Sept. 13 , UNF (1-10) competed against a UW (9-0) team that had lost only one of its 25 previous games.
"Their serves were tough," said UNF head volleyball coach Kevin Campbell. "In practice, we can't duplicate those kinds of serves."
The Huskies utilized a spinning jump serve that the Lady Ospreys hadn't seen. The serve allowed UW to go on runs of points too difficult for UNF to overcome.
"Their serves were killer," senior outside hitter Amy Stroder said.
When UNF did handle the serve, they were able to sustain multiple long rallies with UW - a point not lost on Campbell or her players.
"Once we got the ball moving, we were pretty good," Campbell said. "We proved we could battle a top team at the net."
The long rallies also gave confidence and energy to the Osprey players.
"Going out and competing against a team of that caliber was a lot of fun," Stroder said. "And winning some of those rallies gave us a lot of confidence."
Stroder, who led the team with six kills, said she feels the confidence they built in the match against a team as highly recognized as UW will help them in the future.
"The environment tonight was incredible, and you could see the excitement in our players," Stroder said. "These kinds of matches are why we love to come and play."
Senior captain Maegan Weisert agreed, saying she feels their effort is going to be key going forward.
"It's still early, so we have kinks to work out," Weisert said." We just have to continue to go out and play hard."
Campbell, who only took over the program a few months ago, said she has a good idea of what kind of team she has and what they are capable of.
"We need to continue to optimize our players' strengths and tighten up our system," Campbell said. "When we do, we are going to do really well. "
Contact Brett Morgan at sports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Take a road trip with women's soccer
Two down, seven to go.
Road trips are an important experience for all college athletes, said Lisa Taylor, senior forward for the University of North Florida women's soccer team.
The women's soccer schedule for on-the-road weekends is packed with team time. From riding in the bus to eating, competing and free-time activities, trips are an opportunity to spend a lot of time with your teammates, Taylor said.
The trips generally begin around noon, and everyone loads onto the bus for what they hope is going to be a short ride.
"I am going to enjoy the trip to Florida State University, because it is a short drive and only a one-day trip," said Taylor, a public
relations major.
While on the bus, she said, there are several things to do to fill time. Some athletes play games, eat or watch movies. It's always a problem negotiating the balance between getting sleep and doing homework, which are sometimes both hard to accomplish on a noisy bus, Taylor said.
The coaches pick movies to play on the drive and allot a certain amount of "quiet time" for the women to do whatever they want.
"We watch all kinds of movies," Taylor said. "Whatever the coaches pick. Last week we watched 'Red Dragon.' It was a scary one, but three coaches beat out 22 players to win the vote," Taylor said.
One bus feature the athletes enjoy is all the food available to them. Coaches pack snacks and drinks to satisfy the players until they can stop to eat.
"It is like having a convenience store on board," Taylor said.
Although the food is good, time for schoolwork is not always sufficient.
The regular season is compacted into two months, which causes the women to miss a lot of classes.
"I never get as much work done as I want to," Taylor said. "How hard it is depends on your major, really. If you're an art major, it's hard to do your work on the bus."
Taylor believes traveling to play can put the team at a greater disadvantage than just missing time for schoolwork. The long drives wear players out, it's never as comfortable sleeping in a hotel, and you have no alone time to think, she said.
Being the away team can also mean additional challenges on the field. While playing the game, there are sometimes hecklers in the stands who get players' information and call them out by name. It's not always the big schools that heckle the most - it's the schools with a big crowd base, Taylor said.
However, the taunting is all what you make of it, she said. It can be distracting to some players, but Taylor said it motivates her to "make them [hecklers] eat their words."
"It is always a fun environment when the fans are into the game," Taylor said.
Although the hours are long, time to work is short, and sleep is not always sufficient, it's all worth it, Taylor said.
"My experiences with road trips are lasting memories that I will always cherish."
Contact Kaelena Incinelli at sports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE