SID Notes

It Is Definitely Bell Week!

2009-11-11T12:31:21Z

I did an interview with a sports writer from the Wabash student newspaper, The Bachelor, this week discussing the planning and effort that goes into Monon Bell Week.

Want a sneak peek?

Just look around this week at the media coverage this game garners. Tuesday evening Fox 59 from Indianapolis stopped by to conduct interviews for the sport segment (view Jeremiah Johnson's piece and interviews with Coach Raeburn and the players here). After working with Jeremiah and Scott (the cameraman), I returned to my office to find three phone and email messages (OK, I already knew about the email messages thanks to my iPhone) with interview requests.

Today will be non-stop for both the players and Coach Raeburn. Matt Hudson and Kody LeMond will be my new office mates today as they sit down for two phone interviews. Want to find Coach Raeburn this afternoon? Look for the only coach with the phone glued to his ear in the Allen Center. His interview sessions start at 1:30 Wednesday afternoon and end at the start of practice.

It's a hectic week, but one more reminder of what makes this rivalry so special. Take a moment and think about what this week would be like without a Monon Bell game. Remember, it almost happened. The actions of a few fans (and players) nearly brought a hiatus to the annual meeting between these two great football programs.

So thanks to fans, players, alumni, and administration at both schools who continue to make this Monon Bell rivalry so much fun to be a part of behind the scenes. And thanks to the media --- local, statewide, and national --- who's interest and coverage also keep the mid-November game between Wabash and DePauw in the forefront of college football year after year.

It may be a lot of work for everyone involved, but I'll guarantee you it's worth it every year!

Starting the 2009-10 Sports Season

2009-08-18T11:33:28Z

Monday marked the official start of the 2009-2010 sports season at Wabash College when 144 football and soccer players reported the Allen Athletics and Recreation Center.

The football team welcomed 51 freshmen to their ranks. Over half of the soccer team had just returned from a 10-day trip to Argentina, and were still basking in the memories of their South American adventure as they processed paperwork, took physicals, and ran the dreaded "beep test" to test their conditioning heading into the season. Imagine starting your first day at a new job by being asked to run back and forth over a distance of about 70 feet repeatedly, with the pace increasing every minute. The players were exhausted at the end of the session, ready to get to bed in preparation for the first practice on Tuesday.

The cross country team will join their ranks later this week, and will kickoff the start of fall competition with the annual Charlie Finch Alumni Run on August 29.

View a photo album from reporting day here.

A Busy Summer

2009-07-01T18:38:50Z

The Wabash campus has not gone quiet just because the summer months are here. Coaches have been busy over the past few weeks with camps and events, with the schedule continuing into the first week of July.

The past three days track and field coach Clyde Morgan has been working with six young men and women at his first hurdle camp at the College. Morgan has gone through everything from stretching and preparing for the race, mental preparation and visualization, running and hurdling technique to lifting and off-season workout routines. The group has shown great progress throughout the three-day event. Morgan was joined by former Wabash head coach Rob Johnson, current cross country coach Roger Busch, and NCAA national qualifier and rising senior Emmanuel Aouad for the training sessions.

Two weeks ago Brian Anderson's annual wrestling camp was another huge success. More than 300 wrestlers learned from former Olympians during the day. The campers put the moves learned from the morning and afternoon sessions to work in dual meets held each evening. (Read about the 2009 camp here)

Cory Stevens, Ryan Flynn, Matt Dodaro, and Tom Perkins will have Mud Hollow Field ready for the Indiana Bulls this Fourth of July weekend. The Bulls will host a 12-team tournament at Wabash and Purdue University Thursday through Sunday. There is no admission, so stop on by and watch some all-star high school baseball.

The past two weekends Chadwick Court and the Knowling Fieldhouse served as home court for several Indiana high school and middle school basketball players during the Hoosier Shootout. Coaches Mac Petty and Antoine Carpenter also held a skills camp the last week of June.

Even I've been busy throughout June. After taking a week off to travel east to see friends and family, I took a trip to San Antonio for the annual CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) conference. I picked up some new tips and techniques that you should see filter into releases and web stories throughout the coming year.

Speaking of the coming year and a busy summer, Pete Metzelaars ’82 has kept busy. He and the rest of the Indianapolis Colts coaching staff have been preparing for the opening of training camp on August 2. Metzelaars also received mention on the wire2 blog as one of the top-50 all-time Buffalo Bills football players. Pete was named the 37th-best player in Buffalo history, and was also named one of the top tight ends for the Bills by the blog. You can read the entry here.

I hope your summer has been safe and enjoyable. By the way, we are less than 45 days away from football and soccer players reporting for the 2009 season!

Photo - Wabash head baseball coach Cory Stevens prepares home plate between games. Mud Hollow is serving as one of two sites for the Indiana Bulls 2009 summer tournament.

On The Mat With A Legend

2009-06-17T19:33:46Z

Imagine being a young basketball player and learning that at your summer camp, Bobby Knight, Gene Keady, Michael Jordan, Dean Smith, and Kobe Bryant are going to be there teaching you how to play the game.

That's equal to the experience 320 wrestlers have gone through once again this year at the Brian Anderson Little Giant Wrestling Camp at Wabash College.

Anderson has brought in top talent every year for the camp, from college champions to Olympic medalists. This year's staff may be the best ever. (Click here for an overview and photos from the 2009 camp.)

Wednesday the campers had a chance to listen and learn from one of the best to ever lace up a pair of wrestling shoes and hit the mat for competition. Dan Gable's resume as both an athlete and coach is astounding. He won 118 matches at Iowa State with only one loss, and won a gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich (without allowing any opponent to score a single point in any match, by the way!). As a coach Gable led Iowa to 15 national titles, including nine consecutive crowns. He led the Hawkeyes to 21 Big Ten titles along the way. Gable also served as the US Olympic Team coach at the 1980, 1984, and 2000 Olympic Games. His hometown of Waterloo, Iowa has even opened the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in his honor.

Gable taught two sessions in the Knowling Fieldhouse, not only focusing on the specific moves on the mat but the importance of making wrestling entertaining too.

"If you make wrestling entertaining, it's harder to be an extinction-type of sport," Gable said in between sessions as he discussed the sport's battles over the last 15 years to maintain a strong public image and its hold in the college sports scene. "With everything out there grabbing some of the focus over the last 15 years, it's almost like you've double the field of sports fighting money issues and regulations. Schools have a choice --- you can either double the amount you spend or cut back. Usually doing away with stuff that's easy to cut is the simplest way to do things. If you make wrestling entertaining it's harder to be that extinction-type of sport."

Gable was joined by another legend, Bruce Baumgartner. The 1995 Sullivan Award-winner as the outstanding US amateur athlete, Baumgartner has won more Olympic and World freestyle medals (13) than any other competitor. Joe Heskett (a four-time All-American at Iowa State and silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships), Reece Humphrey (three-time Indiana High School champion, two-time NCAA Nationals qualifier, and 2008 World University Championships silver medalist), and Heny Cejudo (2008 Olympic gold medalist at 121 pounds and the youngest gold medalist in US Olympic history) also served as clinicians during the four-day camp.

For former Wabash wrestler and current Crawfordsville High School teacher and wrestling coach Chris Ervin ’91, the decision to attend the camp every year has been an easy one.

"Our reason for coming year after year is the great job Coach Anderson has done is bringing top clinicians in every time. A lot of camps we've gone to — ones at Indiana University or Ohio State — get stale after a few years because the same people keep coming to teach over and over again. This camp is run extremely well to start with, then when you add the high quality coaching staff and clinicians that Brian puts together I just don't think it can be beat. The ten kids I brought to camp this year will have learned from three former Olympians. It would be difficult to find another camp that has that kind of draw anywhere in the country."

The hard work won't end for Anderson when the camp draws to a close on Thursday morning. He'll turn right back around and start working on the 2010 group of instructors in an attempt to top this year's group.

Photos (top right) - Dan Gable shows one of the campers how to use leverage against an opponent.

(Bottom right) - The legends of wrestling: Bruce Baumgartner and Henry Cejudo provide instruction for at the Brian Anderson Wrestling Camp.

The Aouad Brothers - What A Week!

2009-05-29T13:56:33Z

It’s been a pretty good week for the Aouad brothers.

Last weekend Wabash College junior Emmanuel Aouad competed at the NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Marietta College in Ohio. The 110-meter hurdle specialist for the Little Giants earned his first trip to the Nationals after breaking the Wabash record in the event one week earlier in a last chance meet at North Central College. Eman posted a time of 14.68 at that meet to take a place among the field at the Nationals. He finished 14th overall at Marietta in his first experience.

This week Emmanuel became a spectator and cheerleader for his 13-year-old brother, Kennyi. The younger Aouad was competing for the third time in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. The Otter Creek Middle School eighth-grader, nicknamed “sardoodledom” after overcoming a giggling fit to spell that word correctly at the 2007 competition worked his way into this year’s finals. Aouad finished sixth after misspelling palatschinken, a thin Central European pancake often eaten for lunch or dinner.

The younger Aoaud, a 91st-place finisher in 2008, was also selected to speak to the 292 fellow spellers prior to the beginning of the national competition on May 27.

Emmanuel and Kennyi were shown together during a pre-recorded piece on the ABC finals telecast Thursday night. Each time Kennyi spelled a word correctly, the cameras would cut away to Eman and his mother, Salamatu Adama-Aouad, who were seated on-stage to the right of the final 11 spellers.

The television broadcast quickly became the Kennyi and Emmanuel Aouad Show. Kennyi would spell a word correctly, and the network would cut to Eman. The elder Aouad would give a thumbs-up and with a huge smile showing the support and pride in his brother’s accomplishments, would point to Kennyi. At one point, reporter Erin Andrews interviewed Kennyi, who immediately grabbed the microphone to begin to answer. Andrews chuckled and said, ““Oh, you want to take this, too? You are so confident, you are going to take my mike?”

Kennyi showed the same confidence his brother has shown during his three seasons as a track and field runner at Wabash. That is until palatschinken came up on the list. After misspelling the word, Kennyi immediately said, “It’s alright” before the bell sounded to notify him of his exit from the event. His smile never faded as he stepped to the right side of the stage to join Eman and his mother to watch the rest of the spelling bee.

Kennyi’s spelling career came to an end last night. As an eighth-grader, he was competing for the final time in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He will still be able to cheer his brother on next year as Emmanuel tries to earn another berth at the NCAA Nationals.

(Dan Steinberg from The Washington Post blogged about the Bee finalists prior to Thursday night’s event. He included comments from both brothers as Kennyi prepared for the finals. View his blog here. Steinberg wraps up the event as well, including a nice mention of Kennyi as the crowd favorite of the Bee here.)

Photos - (Top right) Kennyi Aouad competes in the early rounds at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Photo by Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee.

(Bottom left) Wabash College junior Emmanuel Aouad congratulates his brother, Kennyi, after the younger Aouad earned one of the 11 places in the finals of the National Spelling Bee. Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post.

Wabash Baseball Honors Boone

2009-05-27T13:16:39Z

Graduation weekend at Wabash is full of activities for the senior class. Another group was also on campus that weekend, celebrating the rich history of Wabash baseball by honoring its greatest head coach.

Scott Boone ’81 took over the Little Giant baseball program in 1986 after a tremendous career as a three-sport athlete at Wabash. Thrust into the position when former head coach Dale Sprague departed three days before the team departed for its annual spring break trip to Florida, "Boonie" led his charges to a 12-19 record.

It wouldn't take long for Boone to turn the program around. The next season, "Boonie" and his Wabash team posted a 17-17 record and a second-place finish in the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, earning Boon Coach of the Year honors in the conference. His teams went on to win 20 or more games four times, culminating in a 25-15 season in his final year at Wabash. Boone left to take the head football coaching position at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia before eventually landing in his current position as an assistant football coach at the College of William & Mary.

His numbers on the diamond are unequalled among Wabash coaches. He is the all-time leader in wins with a record of 210-207-1. Boone's 25-win season was matched by his former players one season after he left when the 1998 team went 25-9 and captured the ICAC baseball crown.

"Boonie" was a star at Wabash before he ever stepped on the baseball diamond as a head coach. He earned 11 varsity letters as a member of the Little Giant football, basketball, and baseball teams. Sports Illustrated was so impressed by his achievements the magazine published a story entitled "The Three-Sport Man: Hail and Farewell." He is still ranked among the all-time Wabash leaders in kick returns, touchdown pass receptions, and average yards per catch in football. As a basketball player, his 107 career steals and 213 assists are still among the best marks ever posted by a Wabash athlete. Boone's .378 career batting average topped the Little Giant record book until it was broken this year by senior Jake Thomas and his .386 four-year average. Boone is still second among Wabash players in career stolen bases, swiping 58 in four seasons including 21 in 1979.

Twenty-five fellow Wabash teammates, former players, and supporters joined Boone the day before graduation to honor the former Little Giant legend. Wabash athletics director Tom Bambrey ’68 and Boone's father — former Wabash athlete and baseball coach Bill "Papa" Boone — presented "Boonie" with a Louisville Slugger baseball bat engraved with his career accomplishments as a head coach at Wabash. A replica bat will also be mounted in the trophy case in the Allen Center.

Weather kept the Wabash athletes from reliving their days in a Little Giant uniform once again on the Mud Hollow Field. The 25 former players still found time to tell stories, throw the baseball around in between the raindrops, and honor "Some Little Giant" — Scott Boone.

Photos - (top left) Bill "Papa" Boone tells another story about his son, Scott. The younger Boone was honored for his outstanding coaching career as the Wabash baseball coach at a gathering of Little Giant baseball alums on May 16.

(Middle right) Former Wabash players Zak Judd ’99 and Matt McGuire ’00 listen as Boone is presented with an engraved Louisville Slugger bat.

(Bottom left) "Papa" Boone and Wabash AD Tom Bambrey make the presentation.

2008-2009 Season Review: Part III

2009-05-19T14:19:05Z

Winter sports were still in the heart of competition when Clyde Morgan’s 2009 track and field team took to the indoor surface for the first time in January. Morgan took over the program from retired legendary coach Rob Johnson, and immediately brought a new excitement mixed with several of Johnson’s traditions. By the end of the year every Little Giant track fan would know M.O.W.N.B.U. (Men of Wabash Nothing Break Us!), a phrase joined from Morgan’s motto (NBU) and Johnson’s familiar cry of “We Are Wabash Men, and We Know We Can!”

The first few meets led to the traditional indoor conference championship event. Wes Chamblee, Emmanuel Aouad, Wade Heiny, and Kevin McCarthy each earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors while guiding the Little Giants to a fifth place team finish.

Late February arrived, and with it the start of tennis and baseball. Head coach Jason Hutchison’s netters opened the 2009 season with three victories before running into a buzz saw schedule of nationally- and regionally-ranked opponents. The tough early competition would help a young squad of freshmen and sophomores gain valuable experience while seniors Jay Horrey, Sean Clerget (right), Ian Sequeira, and Ryan Waldon provide their leadership on the court.

The first trip for the baseball team would be a portent for the rest of the season. Wabash split the first two games of a three-game set in Birmingham, Alabama before having to return home after a freak snowstorm scattered five inches of snow throughout the southern portion of the United States. One week later the Little Giants would make an early return from their spring break trip to Texas when rain and cold weather in the San Antonio and Dallas regions cancelled the last few games of their ten-game schedule.

Track and field returned to action when the outdoor season got underway in March. Wabash athletes posted 18 top-three performances at the J. Owen Huntsman Relays. A week later the Little Giants took fourth place at the DePauw Invitational, crushing their fellow Division III opponents in the final team results. The Wabash team continued to get stronger and faster until the end of the season. The Little Giants were finally ready to show their best at the NCAC Outdoor Championship Meet. Eighteen athletes earned All-NCAC honors by finishing in the top-three places in their events, led by Alex Moseman and Chamblee as individual champions. Wabash finished third as a team, trailing second-place Allegheny by seven points in the final standings.

Great conference finishes were also in store for the Wabash tennis and golf teams. The Little Giant linksters were the last group of athletes to start their season. After some up-and-down results throughout the year — with the high notes coming when Jordan Vice (left) won medalist honors at the Hanover Invitational and the team as a whole cruised to another victory in the Giant-Engineer Match Play Classic against Rose-Hulman — the squad was poised to compete in the final meet of the year. The Little Giants took fourth place at the NCAC Championship event and fifth overall in the four-tournament NCAC Championship Series. Vice finished tied for fifth in the final individual standings to earn First Team All-Conference honors for the second time in his career. Sam Russell joined Vice on the All-NCAC squad as a Second Team selection, giving Wabash two all-conference players for the first time since joining the league in 1999.

The tennis team scored a third place finish at the NCAC Tournament — the best finish ever by a Little Giant team. Horrey rewrote the Wabash record book for singles and double wins while picking up First Team All-NCAC honors. He and Clerget scored All-Conference Honorable Mention honors for their doubles play throughout the season.

The tennis record book was not the only place where Little Giant players used an eraser. Senior Jake Thomas and Matt Dodaro (left) demolished nearly every offensive record to help Wabash tie for first place in the NCAC’s West Division and earn its first-ever trip to the conference baseball tournament. “Tooma” and “Dodo” weren’t the only players on the team setting records. Keegan Leckrone became the all-time leader after recording his ninth career save for Wabash. Freshman Brian Lares became the first rookie to pound out 50 hits in the season to show the future of the Little Giant program is in good hands.

Wabash played at Wooster in the opening round of the baseball tournament, handing the nationally-ranked Fighting Scots program its only loss of the season in a 6-5 10-inning win in game one. Wooster took game two to set up a winner-take-all finale. The Scots took an early lead before Wabash rallied for a 4-2 edge heading into the seventh. Wooster’s experience as an 11-time NCAC champion showed in the late innings. The Scots picked up three runs in the seventh on the way to a 6-4 win and eventually a 12^th conference crown. Dodaro earned the first all-tournament team award for Wabash, while he and teammates Thomas, Leckrone, Andy Weeks, and PJ Tyson were All-Conference picks by the coaches. The loss to Wooster in a close final game seems even bigger now that the Scots have just advanced to the NCAA Championship series with a shot at winning the Division III national title.

All of that would appear to bring the 2008-2009 sports season to an end, but we’re still not finished. Aouad (right) earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship this weekend, becoming the first Wabash sprinter to make the trip to nationals in 13 years. He will compete in the three-heat preliminaries Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Marietta, Ohio in an attempt to make the finals and earn All-America honors.

The 2008-2009 season was full of highs and lows, records and memorable individual and team accomplishments. While we will always keep this season in our minds as one of the best ever by each of the Wabash teams, the Little Giant athletes are already preparing to make the 2009-10 season even better.

2008-2009: Season Review, Part II

2009-05-14T21:54:27Z

The 2008 fall sports season certainly set the bar of success at a high level for the winter sports to follow. Football headed to the playoffs and Seth Einterz began his drive to the cross country nationals when the winter season schedule began.

The Wabash swimming team got the winter season started with victories in three of its first four dual matches. Three days prior to the Monon Bell football game, the Little Giants met DePauw in the pool. Just days before the dual meet, Wabash diver Tom Schiltz suffered a season-ending injury, leaving the team with no one to compete on the one- and three-meter boards. The tankers nearly overcame the 32-point advantage DePauw accumulated in those two events, eventually falling 153-141. (Right - Senior Jordon Blackwell)

The Little Giant wrestling team was the next squad to get underway. The Wabash grapplers mixed seven freshmen with 14 upperclassmen. After picking up a win at Rose-Hulman in the opener, the Little Giants showed their skills in Chadwick Court with a double-dual against in-state rival Manchester College and Division I foe Indiana University. While the 49-0 loss to the Hoosiers’ scholarship program was not unexpected, neither was the 27-16 win by Wabash over Manchester. Greg Rhoads (left), Andrew Kepchar, and Jared Tribbett each picked up pins in their individual victories, accounting for 18 of the team points in the overall win.

The basketball team opened with its tipoff tournament, but a youthful Wabash squad came out of the gate with some cold shooting in its first-game loss to Wilmington College. The defeat set up a meeting between Wabash and DePauw in the consolation game. The young Little Giants gave fans a glimpse of the team’s potential with a 57-52 win over the Tigers.

The swimmers grabbed second place in the late-November Patrick Woehnker Invitational followed by a seventh at the TYR Classic at Carthage College. The tankers headed south to Florida in early January, meeting up with former head coach Peter Casares and his Bates College team. The Little Giants handed their former coach a 123-71 loss, then spent time sharing stories about past and current seasons.

Chadwick Court served as the home site for the 2008 Little State Wrestling Tournament. Four wrestlers — Rhoads, Tribbett, Bryan Hugo, and Brock Sempsrott — each earned top-eight finishes in the non-scoring, two-day event. Rhoads battled his way into the final round, finishing third overall.

The basketball team traveled east during the holiday break to begin the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of its season. After a come-back effort at Hiram fell short, the Little Giants rode two last-second three-pointers by Chase Haltom to a two-point win at Allegheny. Wabash had to play without junior Aaron Brock, something the Little Giants would have to do again when he was lost for the season a few weeks later due to injuries in both elbows.

The Little Giant hoopsters scored their biggest home win of the season a week later. Wabash controlled the game from start to finish in a 75-58 blowout win over Wooster to hand head coach Mac Petty his 500th career victory. The win was also the first in school history against the Scots at Chadwick Court. Two games later sophomore sensation Wes Smith (right) went down with an injury, leaving a young Wabash squad without its leading scorer. The Little Giants lost the next six games before ending the streak with an 80-48 win at Earlham in a game that ended with the gym lights going out with 3:52 left to play. Wabash won the next three games — including a 68-43 win over Wittenberg to cap the regular season with a Senior Night celebration for Brian Maloney, Mark Turpin, and Joel Patterson. Wabash earned the number-six seed in the NCAC tournament and another trip to Hiram.

While the basketball team was completing its regular season, the swimmers headed to the NCAC Championships in Canton, Ohio. Wabash competed without the use of a controversial new suit that allowed for several record-setting efforts. The Little Giants needed no technological advantage, setting four new school marks while finishing fourth overall at the meet. Eric Vaughn, Evan Rhinesmith, Adam Current, and Craig Vetor turned in an All-NCAC performance in the 400-yard medley relay, while 400 free relay team of Jordon Blackwell, Chris Kermin, Blaine Cooper-Surma, and Vetor (left) picked up All-Conference honors, as well. Four more school records fell in the season finale at Purdue.

Wabash won the Monon Bell Wrestling Duals with a perfect 4-0 record, despite the loss of senior heavyweight Rob Arnett with a broken leg. Several other injuries depleted the Wabash squad, including one suffered by Tribbett (right) at the NCAA Regional meet that ended his attempt to qualify for nationals. The Little Giants still managed to come home with six wrestlers finishing in the top-eight spots in the tournament to conclude the season.

The basketball team sought revenge in Hiram and got it with an 83-56 victory in the first round of the conference tournament. Three nights later Wabash earned a place in the championship game for the second consecutive year with a 73-56 win over Allegheny. The Little Giants and Wooster would meet for the league title in a shootout that was not decided until the final minutes. Chase Haltom, Wes Smith, and Dominique Thomas traded three-point baskets with Wooster’s Justin Hallowell, while Wabash sophomore Ben Burkett provided an inside presence. The Scots pulled away in the final minutes for an 84-72 win. Smith, Haltom, and Brock each earned All-NCAC honors, with Smith and Haltom also receiving spots on the All-Tournament team.

Coming Monday – The Wabash baseball, golf, and tennis teams reach new heights. Clyde Morgan takes over the reigns for Rob Johnson as the Wabash track and field coach.

2008-2009: Season Review, Part I

2009-05-12T18:29:43Z

It’s hard to believe that the 2008-2009 school year has come to an end at Wabash College. This time last week the campus was bristling with activity — students rushing off to finals, guys heading to the library to study or to the Allen Center to relax by working out in the fitness center, playing a game of racquetball or Wallyball, or just shooting some baskets or kicking the soccer ball.

Now the campus is quiet again as we prepare for Sunday’s commencement ceremony and the transition of the Class of 2009 from seniors to Wabash alums.

Before we say goodbye to the 2008-2009 Wabash sports season, let’s take a look back at a season of championships, records, and accomplishments.

FALL 2008

The Wabash soccer team got the year started on the right foot (no pun intended) with a 4-0 win over Holy Cross College. The young Little Giants continued their solid start with wins over Millikin, Transylvania, and Anderson and a 1-1 tie against the University of Chicago.

Perhaps the most exciting match of the year came in a scoreless tie at DePauw. Wabash matched the experienced Tiger team step for step, while goalkeeper Pat West turned aside ten shots to preserve the tie.

The Wabash cross country team showed its mix of experience and youth in its only home race of the season, the annual Wabash Hokum Karem. The Little Giants finished second out of nine teams, trailing only Indiana Tech in the final team standings. Freshmen Donavan White and Kevin McCarthy (left) combined to take fourth place overall to pace the Little Giants’ efforts, while senior Hugh Jackson and junior Micah Milliman grabbed eighth place.

While the soccer and cross country teams continued the September portion of the schedule, Little Giant football fans awaited the debut of new head coach Erik Raeburn. No one realized the real coming-out party in the Wabash season opener at Denison would be for sophomore wide receiver Kody LeMond. The Pendleton, Indiana native hauled in a 37-yard pass from Matt Hudson for the first score of the season. LeMond saved his best catch of the day for the final play of the first half for Wabash. His diving grab of a tipped pass in the end zone scored the second of his three touchdowns in the game on the way to a 41-27 win. The victory started the 2008 Wabash team down the path towards it fourth-straight North Coast Athletic Conference title, while LeMond led the team with 73 receptions for 1,223 yards and 14 TDs.

Soccer hit tough times in the always-competitive NCAC portion of its schedule. The Little Giants finished with year a 2-2 tie against Earlham to go with eight losses in conference play. The Little Giants fell 3-1 to Ohio Wesleyan, the eventual conference champion and NCAA Soccer Tournament sectional qualifier. Wabash lost by one goal in three other NCAC matches.

Freshman Austin Jennings (right) showed the promise of the future of Wabash soccer, leading the team with nine goals and 18 points. He was an Honorable Mention All-NCAC selection after finishing tied for fifth among conference players in goals scored. Rookie midfielder Allan Swan took over the Wabash transition game for the Little Giants, sparking both offensive playmaking and key defensive stops to earn a spot on the Honorable Mention All-Conference team. Sophomore Mark Babcock was a Second Team All-NCAC pick, rewarded by the league’s coaches for his defensive playmaking in the back line for the Little Giants.

The cross country welcomed sophomore Seth Einterz back from an injury that prevented him from participating in the first few meets of the season. He quickly regained his first-year form, helping the Little Giants take third place at the annual NCAC men’s championship race. Einterz earned First Team All-Conference honors with a fifth-place finish in the individual standings, while Jackson joined his teammate on the All-NCAC team for the second straight year with as an Honorable Mention honoree with a 16th-place finish.

Einterz would go on to finish 17th at the NCAA Regional race to earn a spot at Nationals. He became the first Wabash runner to compete at Nationals since Jared Smit ’02 in 2001.

The Wabash football team rolled through the first five games of the season before setting up a key matchup against Wittenberg in Springfield, Ohio. The Little Giant defense had proven to be a key component of the 2008 team, allowing just four touchdowns in the four games leading up to the showdown against the Tigers. Meanwhile the Wabash offense had posted an average of 46 points a game through the first five victories.

The game proved strikingly similar to a 19-17 loss by Wabash on the same field in 2006, which set up a tied between the two schools in the final conference standings. This year offense never truly got going until the final period when Hudson’s 15-yard pass to LeMond tied the game at 10-10 with 4:22 left to play. The 2006 loss ended when a field goal attempt on the final play of the game sailed wide to the right. This time Wabash kicker Spencer Whitehead (right) drilled a 41-yard kick through the uprights with four seconds left to give the Little Giants the 13-10 victory.

A 21-point win against Wooster and decisive wins against Oberlin and Hiram had Wabash players hoisting the NCAC football championship trophy for the fourth year in a row and planning for a trip to the NCAA football playoffs for the second consecutive year and first back-to-back trips in school history.

Wabash took two of the conference post-season awards. Hudson was named the Offensive Player of the Year, while Darryl Kennon received the Defensive Player of the Year Award, while 17 Little Giant players earned All-Conference honors.

Before the Little Giants made their 2008 playoff appearance, one game remained on the regular season schedule — the 114thMonon Bell Classic against DePauw. The game would, unfortunately, belong to the Tigers. DePauw scored the first 30 points of the game on the way to a 36-14 win to hold onto the Bell and tie the all-time series at 53-53-9.

The loss dropped Wabash from a possible top-seed in the North Region of the playoffs with home games throughout the first three rounds to a road team at Case Western Reserve for the second year in a row.

The first round game at Case was a thriller down to the final minutes. The Little Giants took a 13-3 lead before the Spartans responded with two fourth-quarter touchdowns for a 17-13 lead with 1:52 left to play. Hudson found Wes Chamblee (left) open across the middle of the field on a fourth-and-15 play for a 21-yard completion to keep the final drive alive. One play later, Chamblee made his eighth catch of the day and raced past the Case defenders into the end zone for a 52-yard score and a 20-17 victory.

Wabash and Wheaton had met at the start of the season for a controlled scrimmage, but now the two squads would play in the second round of the playoffs at Hollett Little Giant Stadium. The Thunder proved too much for Wabash, winning 59-28. Wheaton would go on to defeat Franklin 45-28 in the regional final before losing to the eventual national champs, Mount Union College, 45-24 in playoff semifinals.

Tony Neymeiyer and Kennon picked up First Team All-Region honors from D3football.com. Kennon went on to be named to the website’s Second Team All-America squad, while Neymeiyer was an Honorable Mention selection. Jared Lange was named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America team, as well.

Coming Thursday — Swimming sets a series of records while basketball and wrestling overcome injuries in the winter sports recap.

Records Really Were Meant to be Broken

2009-03-24T14:10:19Z

Wabash senior Jay Horrey picked up two more wins Saturday on the tennis courts in Delaware, Ohio.

No surprise there, because Horrey's victories made him the winningest player in Little Giant tennis history. He started his career as winner, setting the school's singles season win record with a 25-6 mark as a freshman to win the North Coast Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year Award along with First Team All-NCAC honors. Now he stands at the top of the Wabash record book with 65 career singles wins and 60 victories in doubles play.

I love watching players chase records. The race for a new mark brings even more excitement than normal to stage. That excitement has been prevalent throughout Wabash sports this year.

Kody LeMond thrilled Wabash fans throughout the fall football season, climbing the season and career touchdown receptions list. His starting quarterback, Matt Hudson, became the fourth quarterback in Little Giant history to throw for more than 5,000 career yards and 50 touchdowns and joined Russ Harbaugh as the only other Wabash player to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a single season.

Just a few weeks ago the Wabash swimming and indoor track & field teams demolished some long-standing school records in their respective sports. Craig Vetor, Evan Rhinesmith, and Jordon Blackwell (right) all posted individual records at the NCAC Championships. Vetor broke the Wabash 200 freestyle mark that had stood for 16 years. Blackwell's record-setting effort in the 100 free eclipsed the previous top time set ten years earlier. The paint was barely dry on the old 100-yard breaststroke record from the 2005 NCAC Championship meet when compared to the other records, but Rhinesmith's effort to break that mark was every bit as a exciting.

All the Wabash track team managed to do was demolish the old distance medley relay mark. The Little Giants knocked six seconds off the old mark midway through the indoor season, then bettered the new record a week later with a time of 10:11.81.

This weekend it was Horrey's turn to add his name to the Wabash record board. Later this spring there is little doubt that Matt Dodaro (left) and Jake Thomas will complete their assault on nearly every offensive record for Little Giant baseball. "Dodo" already owns the total base record, setting that mark during the team's spring break Texas tour. Now he's poised to set the all-time hits, home runs, and doubles marks.Thomas isn't too far behind in hits, and could well end his Wabash career with the all-time batting average crown.

Should make for another exciting spring around the Wabash baseball diamond and tennis courts. Come out watch some Wabash tennis and baseball over the next few weeks.

And don't forget to bring that pencil and eraser to update that record book!

It's Not Really Over?!

2009-03-06T18:56:03Z

It's been almost a week since the 2008-09 Wabash basketball season came to an end in Wooster, Ohio in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

If you listened to the broadcast, you're probably tire of hearing this phrase, but it still applies --- What a tremendous game!

I've been around high school and college basketball for many years (too many to count as I start to sneak up on my 45th birthday next month!). I can't remember a game that featured so many great student-athletes playing at their best level. Even though the shooting percentages were unbelievable, there was good defense being played. Guys were just hitting shots no matter how many people guarded them!

Perhaps even more amazing was the fact we were playing in the title game. Five weeks earlier the Wabash team was mired in a losing streak, and I must admit even I was starting to wonder just how long we could survive in the tournament. These Little Giants proved that familiar saying is all too true --- Wabash Always Fights!

Mac Petty's group kept finding a way to fight past injuries and doubts to win the last four regular season games, then put Hiram away in the first round of the tournament despite making the long drive to Northeast Ohio. Friday night against Allegheny the Little Giants pulled away from the Gators in the second half, holding Allegheny without a basket for the first six minutes of the final half.

Then came Saturday's title game. Every time a Wooster player (mostly Justin Hallowell) hit a big shot, Wes Smith, Chase Haltom, Dominique Thomas, or Ben Burkett had an answer. Every player contributed on offense and defense. Andrew Gilman would step into the passing lane a force a turnover to keep Wabash in striking distance.

I thought when the Little Giants took a three-point lead in the second half the game might go in Wabash's favor. Wooster is a championship-calibre team, however, and you just knew the Scots weren't going to give in easily. I promise you this --- don't let the final score fool you. The game was in doubt to the end despite the 12-point differential when the horn sounded.

So the games ended Saturday night, but the season wasn't entirely concluded. A Sunday morning trip home after enjoying breakfast with the families and fans who came to Wooster to support the team brought an conclusion to the tournament. Tuesday the Wabash team delivered food items to the local FISH pantry, thanks to donations from Wabash fans attending the final three home games.

Now Spring Break is here. The team will head different directions, whether on immersion learning trips, joining other sports teams at Wabash (Derek Bailey is headed to San Antonio with the baseball team), or just taking some time off to relax. Two weeks from now, though, I'm willing to bet you'll see those Wabash players back in Chadwick Court playing ball in an open gym session, already preparing for next year.

Photos - (top right) Wes Smith earned First Team All-NCAC honors while leading Wabash in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and steals as a sophomore.

(Bottom left) Coach Mac Petty and freshman Brian Shelbourne deliver food items to the local FISH Pantry in Crawfordsville. Wabash fans donated non-perishable items during the last three home basketball games this season.

Wooster Here We Come

2009-02-24T01:20:07Z

Wednesday, Feb. 25; 4:40 a.m. - Greetings from my office. The Little Giants have returned from Hiram, bringing with them a great win and another trip to the North Coast Athletic Conference semifinals.

For the third consecutive year Wabash has posted a win against a higher-seeded team on the road in the first round of the tourney and will head to Wooster for a semifinal game. The Little Giants will be the home team Friday night in the 6 p.m. contest against Allegheny College. The host Fighting Scots, the only top-four seeded team to advance through the first round, will play host to Kenyon College for the right to play in the championship game Saturday night.

I have to be honest, I'm looking forward to getting into my bed for a few hours of sleep before cranking out gamenotes from the comfort of my living room Wednesday afternoon. I also can't wait to get back on the bus Thursday night (did I really just say that?!) to see what this Little Giant team can put together this season after shocking the league last year with a big semifinal victory over Wooster to play OWU in the title contest.

One thing is for sure --- the fun continues for the Wabash basketball team!

Monday, Feb. 23; 8:20 p.m. - Greetings from row three, left side of the second bus of the basketball team's trip to Hiram for the quarterfinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

Yes, I said second bus. We got the chance to make a pit stop in Indianapolis and change buses when we found out shortly after boarding the bus at Wabash it had no interior power outlets. That meant no way for me to post a story on the way home and no way for the students to work on papers or other items on their computers during our trip. Our bus driver, Rose, made arrangements for a new bus (and I mean new --- nice, roomier bus with lots of extra storage and plenty of room to stretch out and sleep, which I know we will all appreciate tomorrow night after the game). After a 15-20 minute change-over just blocks away from Lucas Oil Stadium, we were back on the road.

We'll be stopping to eat in Hilliard, Ohio shortly, then throttling back up to full speed for another two hours before we reach tonight's destination - Streetsboro, Ohio. That's where we'll settle in for a good night's sleep before tomorrow night's game against Hiram.

Photo - The view from the bus seat as we leave Dayton on our way to Columbus Monday night.

Brent Graber ’01

2009-02-17T19:07:00Z

Wabash College and the Boulder, Colorado community lost a tremendous young man Monday.

We received word that Brent Graber ’01 died from injuries he suffered in an accident while he was riding his bicycle. Brent was struck by a motorist in early January and was taken to Boulder Community Hospital. He was placed in intensive care and battled courageously for nearly a month, but died last night surrounded by family and friends.

A memorial service will be held for Brent on Thursday, February 19th at 6:00 pm at Mt. Hope Lutheran Church, 1345 South Broadway, Boulder, CO. In addition, a memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 21st at First Church of the Nazarene in Kokomo, IN. Visitation will be from 2-4:00 pm before the 4:00 memorial service.

Memorial contributions can be made to:

The Access Fund, PO Box 17010, Boulder, CO 80303, www.accessfund.org or

Wabash College, PO Box 352, Crawfordsville, IN 47933, giving@wabash.edu or 1-877-743-4545.

Brent was a member of the Wabash football and track teams. That’s how I got to know him. When I came on board as a wet-behind-the-ears sports information director in 1999, he was one of the many players who welcomed me to the College that first day of August two-a-day football practices.

I’m not surprised to learn sports were always a part of Brent’s life. He worked at Backcountry Access in Boulder and was an avid skier and mountain biker. During his time at Wabash, Brent was a kick returner and receiver. He was also a true student-athlete and earned President's, and Honors Scholarships to Wabash, and was almost always on the Dean’s List for academic excellence. Brent was also active in his fraternity, Sigma Chi, and as a member of the Sphinx Club.

Kevin Mayer, a friend who met Brent at he University of Colorado’s Master’s in Business Administration program, described him a Boulder newspaper article as “an all-around good guy.” The article also mentioned Mayer and Graber both graduated from the program together in May of last year.

Brent continued to support Wabash through his gifts and through his connections with friends and teammates from his days on campus. Many of those same friends gathered in Boulder to provide their support to his family during the past few difficult weeks.

Brent Graber will be remembered as an outdoorsman, a student, a football player, and a friend. He will always be remembered as Some Little Giant.

A New Beginning

2009-01-15T15:13:56Z

The Wabash track and field team begins the indoor portion of its season Friday night at Rose-Hulman. While that's not normally huge news, this year marks a new start for the Little Giant thinclads.

Clyde Morgan begins his first season as head coach at Wabash after a successful career at his alma mater, Thiel College. Morgan takes over for the recently-retired Rob Johnson, but the transition between the legendary 37-year Wabash coach and the "new guy" has been virtually seamless.

Part of that transition has been Morgan's desire to incorporate Johnson's foundation while adding his own training techniques and ideas. Johnson, Horace Turner, Roger Busch, and Steve Rogers can still be found in the Knowling Fieldhouse nearly every day working with their student-athletes. Morgan is there too, bringing a revitalized energy and some new training programs to add some fun (and hard work) to the practice.

Want to know what some of those drills look like? Check out this video of some training practices the Little Giants went through at the end of December. Monday they were back on the track running the same drills to see if they had improved their time with the training programs they were given and expected to complete while taking some time off during the break. Nearly every person cut time off their December effort.

Morgan's influence has not been limited to the track. He has pushed the community aspect of being a part of Wabash, as well. Several Wabash track athletes participated in a classroom reading program in Crawfordsville schools in November.

"I think going over to read to the kids was important because it is always great to give back," Morgan said. "It is great to see the positive impact that our young men had on the kids in the school. Our student athletes were not just reading to the kids, but encouraging them to read more and answering questions. As our young men walked through the hallways it was great to here them talk about when they were in middle school. It's good to see that our men can make an positive impact not only on the track, but in the community."

Morgan's wife, Jennifer, had some of the young men read with her students.

"The kids thought it was cool that the Wabash guys read some of the same books that they did when they were younger," she said. "They even gave my students some tips on how to make reading fun and more enjoyable."

Success on the track will no doubt continue with Morgan at the helm of the program, just as it did during the 37 years Johnson ran the team. The reason is simple — just like Rob Johnson, Clyde Morgan knows what it takes to be a Wabash man, and he knows he can!

On The Brink

2009-01-06T14:27:44Z

This weekend could be a very special one for the Wabash basketball program and for its head coach.

With Saturday's win at Allegheny, head coach Mac Petty picked up his 499th career collegiate coaching victory. He currently ranks 12th among active Division III coaches in total victories and will become the 24th coach in DIII history to pick up 500 wins.

Petty's success should be no surprise. He was a two-year letter winner as a member of the University of Tennessee basketball team and the 1967 Southeastern Conference hoops title. Petty was also an outstanding baseball player, helping the Volunteers to the 1966 SEC crown and was recently inducted into the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame for his exploits on the diamond in high school. He is a member of the Wabash Athletics and Montgomery County Basketball Halls of Fame. Petty was the National Division III Coach of the Year after guiding his Little Giant team to the 1982 national title.

I've been fortunate to know Mac for several years. I first saw him at the Little Giants' 1981 win over DePauw as Wabash prepared for the NCAA tournament and the run for the title. Over the years I covered his son, Matt, as a member of the Crawfordsville High School basketball team. When I added Wabash College to my beat as the local radio station sports director, Mac and I would sit down for pre- and post-game interviews. Even then, Mac was always coaching. The talks were less about the particulars of the game and more about what he wanted his players to accomplish.

That is Mac Petty's true legacy. The wins are nice, but as he joked on the bus on the way back from a victory at Rose-Hulman (his 450th career win at Wabash and 497th overall) he said it's just a sign you've been a head coach for a long time. It's funny but it's not necessarily true. Petty has been a coach for 36 year, but his success can be measured in the success of his players after their careers at Wabash. Come to the annual alumni basketball and watch the conversations between the players and Petty. The admiration and respect these men show for their former head coach can't be measured. Time and time again I hear stories about how much Coach Petty has meant to them in their day-to-day lives. I see the emails and letters and hear about phone conversations between Mac and his players. He still holds a special place in their lives.

Hopefully the Little Giants can win Saturday's game against Wooster. A victory would be the first by a Wabash team against the Scots at Chadwick Court in the history of the rivalry and would be a key win in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings. It would also be a memorable moment for a man who has provided so much to so many Wabash men in his 33 years on the bench for the Little Giants.