One of the most memorable experiences of Honors Scholars weekend was the Phi Delt Bouts. I even made sure to get a good seat last year and hope to go again if I’m on campus that weekend. It’s actually one of the social high-lights for the weekend with recruits.
The idea is that freshman in the Phi Delt volunteer to participate in a boxing match against another freshman in the house. The contenders are paired up as closely as possible according to weight. Once the “areana” (an in-ground basketball court just outside the basement squared off to look like a ring) is filled with spectators, whether they’re in chairs, spectating from ground level, or watching from the upper level windows of the house, the events begin. At the same time, donation buckets are passed around for the boys and girls club; it is a charitable event. Each opponent is then marched out with their own theme music, shirtless, in a biting cold of around 40 degrees. Each match goes for three rounds, but everyone always anticipates the final heavyweight match….believe me, there have been some pretty “big” heavyweights titles fought in that courtyard.
All in all, it’s fun getting to see some new faces or even recruits from the swim team mixed with other students on campus while enjoying free pizza afterwards. If you’re a prospective student, you definitely can’t miss the Phi Delt Bouts when you’re here for Honors Scholars.
So I’ve finally managed to catch up after being gone the past week for NCAC championships. Overall, the team did a remarkable job. The most significant part of this year’s championships though was our breaking the 1,000 point barrier. It was quite a milestone for all of us and we were really proud to see four numbers go up for the first time. Just this last weekend though, Adam Petro secured his position and the NCAA championships with a new team record in the 200 butterfly. We’ll all be rooting for him when he makes his trip to the big meet in a few weeks.
So far, everything about this weekend and swim meet have been great. We arrived here in Canton, OH around 4:00 yesterday afternoon and then soon left for the pool to loosen up and re-familiarize ourselves with the place. Every night so far we've had some great carry-out pasta, lasagna, etc. Oh, and the beds here are amazing.
This morning went pretty well, seeing that we had just about all of our guys make it back in their events for finals. Both the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays placed especially well for the evening. We did start out a little less aggressive than we could have been in our events but that all changed this evening.
I don't think I'll ever forget how coach pumped us up with his humorous antics before the evening session tonight. While we were having a typical team meeting back in one of the remote locker rooms before the start of the meet, coach walked right up in middle of us, repeatedly slammed his hands on the table, and shouted with the most enraged voice, "THIS IS FUN!" While cracking us up, the true energy of our team broke through leading us into a great finals session.
This team is amazing...and we're only getting better. Check out the lanelines blog for meet results. Also, Mr. Sanders re-set his own school record in the 500 free tonight, with a crushing 4:38 that left his competition in the dust.
Tonight I headed over to Ball Theater for a lecture titled “Is Science Possible Without Evolution?” The lecture was given by Dr. Menton who is from Answers in Genesis and has been a biomedical research technician at Mayo Clinic, Professor emeritus of Anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and Missouri where we was named “Teacher of the Year”.
There was quite a large crowd of students, faculty, and community members alike. Dr. Mentor wasn’t the quickest or liveliest of fellows, but he had a lot of good information and light hearted humor to bring to the floor. I was happy to see that he actually dove into the facts and biological aspects of creation aside from politics. I don’t necessarily like to compare this lecture to Dr. Krauss’ lecture from a few weeks ago because regardless of if you think one was better than the other, you will most likely continue to believe what you believe. From a biological and scientific standpoint I learned more from Dr. Menton. Dr. Krauss caused me to consider things from a rational standpoint, but he seemed to be on such a “political” agenda that the important factual sustenance he was supporting was bypassed.
It was also interesting that when the question and answer session came about the students were quite well mannered: raising their hands and politely asking inquisitive and well prepared questions. However, the interjections, rude and arrogant comments, and disrespectful mannerisms all happened to come from adults in the audience. Imagine that.
I came back to campus Sunday evening to hear of all the excitement from the weekend and all the stories to go along with it. I had actually made a trip back up to Michigan for some business training over the weekend. Even so, I was excited about the events here on campus even though I wasn’t going to be around. I know that there was a huge track invitational in the field house all day and the Third Eye Blind concert to follow later that evening. My roommate, Micah, mentioned there was supposed to be around 450 athletes participating in the meet. He would also get to race the mile for the first time in over a year due to surgery and injuries. On top of that, I found out that my next-door neighbor, Rob Smallman, trumped his Wabash record for the pole vault again, and he’s only a freshman. I was glad to return to campus with things much more peaceful. However, there was some aftermath noticeable.
The only problem with the responsibility that we’re given here is that sometimes others who visit our campus take advantage of this responsibility and disrespect our establishment. In addition, I think it’s important that students who invite friends to campus understand they’re also responsible for their guests. I heard about and saw some pictures of the demolished fake arch: it’s rubble piled up on the mall with the metal frame ripped from the ground. I wonder what the alumni thought about the sight when attending the organ concert on Sunday. It also seems like someone forgot how to insert quarters into the coin slots on the vending machine downstairs and became so frustrated with their own stupidity that they tried to flip the whole thing.
Because we’re leaving for NCAC championships next Wednesday morning, I only have a few days of classes left. That means I’ve got a lot of work to pick up and move out of the way so I can keep a strong focus on our races next week. I’m actually very fortunate to have my professors working around their schedules to keep me on track, but it is a bit tricky, especially since I’m just ready to race.
Speaking of which, our new suits for the conference meet came in today, and before getting in for practice we all went to try them on. It was a very funny scene. The suits are FS2’s (fast skin 2) and based from what I saw earlier today, they have to be smaller than the regular FS1’s. It takes quite some time to put these suckers on, and it takes even longer if they’re full legs skins. Luckily, everyone was able to fit into something….I think. Regardless, we’re getting pretty pumped up for our breakthrough performance next week.
Friday was the team’s last duel meet of the season. We headed up to Notre Dame to swim against Kalamazoo, a team that’s “better” than us according to the DIII rankings. It was a great meet to finish the season with though. Being down by a few points at the end of the meet, we needed to win the 400 freestyle relay while also coming in third to tie Kalamazoo. It seemed like a stretch, but somehow we got up on our feet and carried the momentum from shouting an all-too familiar “Wabash always fights,” to bring us a victory. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.
Saturday was pretty open since we’d just had our last meet so I ended up taking Sarah to Indy. We had a good time downtown and ended the night with some amazing potato soup from Houlihan’s. If you’ve never had it, you’re missing out on the best potato soup in the world. Luckily, Indy’s a short drive away and a good alternative to hanging around Crawfordsville on those gloomy weekends.
So far, everything about this weekend and swim meet have been great. We arrived here in Canton, OH around 4:00 yesterday afternoon and then soon left for the pool to loosen up and re-familiarize ourselves with the place. Every night so far we've had some great carry-out pasta, lasagna, etc. Oh, and the beds here are amazing.
Tonight I headed over to Ball Theater for a lecture titled “Is Science Possible Without Evolution?” The lecture was given by Dr. Menton who is from Answers in Genesis and has been a biomedical research technician at Mayo Clinic, Professor emeritus of Anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and Missouri where we was named “Teacher of the Year”.
I came back to campus Sunday evening to hear of all the excitement from the weekend and all the stories to go along with it. I had actually made a trip back up to Michigan for some business training over the weekend. Even so, I was excited about the events here on campus even though I wasn’t going to be around. I know that there was a huge track invitational in the field house all day and the Third Eye Blind concert to follow later that evening. My roommate, Micah, mentioned there was supposed to be around 450 athletes participating in the meet. He would also get to race the mile for the first time in over a year due to surgery and injuries. On top of that, I found out that my next-door neighbor, Rob Smallman, trumped his Wabash record for the pole vault again, and he’s only a freshman. I was glad to return to campus with things much more peaceful. However, there was some aftermath noticeable.
Friday was the team’s last duel meet of the season. We headed up to Notre Dame to swim against Kalamazoo, a team that’s “better” than us according to the DIII rankings. It was a great meet to finish the season with though. Being down by a few points at the end of the meet, we needed to win the 400 freestyle relay while also coming in third to tie Kalamazoo. It seemed like a stretch, but somehow we got up on our feet and carried the momentum from shouting an all-too familiar “Wabash always fights,” to bring us a victory. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.
