Winning Ways

Let me pose a couple questions to you. What makes a last place team in a conference into a contender for a conference title? The simple answer is to earn wins; the more wins a team has, the higher in the standings they will be. Next question then. How does a team take one successful season and begin to start building a tradition? Again, the answer to this question is simple as well, you continue to win; which is exactly what the 2013 Saints softball team has continued to do.

After posting the best season in school history by a landslide, the team did what any perennial winning program does; they win more. Going into this weekend’s final two double-headers in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington, the Saints sit one win below their total of 33 from last season. However, the teams winning percentage has raised once again, going from .644 last season to an astounding .711 so far this year. To put this into perspective, the Major League Baseball World Series champion hasn’t had a winner with this high of a winning percentage in the last 10 season. Take a moment to think about that one.

But there is one significant difference from those 10 World Series Champions to this year’s softball team. They all won a championship. 

“We want to win this conference title,” senior starting pitcher Taylor Bakos said. “We also want to qualify for regionals,” added senior catcher Aubree Pocklington.

However a humble senior Madi Davis noted that “Unless we as a team make it happen, none of that will happen.”

And she is definitely right. The Saints are without a doubt different than any other team. For instance, take the game at defending conference champion Montana State Billings a couple weeks ago. The Saints jumped out to a huge lead early before the weather and some timely Yellowjacket hitting completely changed the game. Before you know it, MSUB is right back in the game down 10-9. After earning two more runs in the top half of the next inning, the Yellowjackets rallied to take the lead. But these Saints aren’t the type players to give up.

“The best way to describe our team is that we have perseverance,” Pocklington said. “We feed off of each other; and that’s very contagious,” stated Bakos.

By creating this atmosphere within the team, the Saints have collected a number of come from behind wins this season, including the 18-15 thriller they pulled out at MSUB.

“We really don’t get nervous if we’re down runs,” senior Joslyn Eugenio said. “We just keep playing.”

Having this mindset of just playing the game is something these four seniors want to leave here for this program. “This program has come to the point where each year we are building something and trying to push it to new levels. Although we might not view it like that because we are just out here playing,” stated Davis who will graduate this spring with a degree in psychology.

This type of building that Davis referred to might have actually started a few years ago. In 2010 the Saints won 20 games. As Eugenio put it, “some players were just here to be here and have a softball team. Comparing that team to this year’s team it seems like this is more of a family.”

The following year, Pocklington and Davis arrived on campus as transfers. In that season the Saints dropped to only nine total wins. Much like the year prior, Pocklington added that some people on the team were here for different reasons. “This year’s team has a common goal as far as what we want to accomplish,” Davis noted.

As far as what have been the biggest changes from last year to this year, Bakos said the team has been focusing a lot on the small things. “It’s the little things that count. The little things are what help to build a team and a program.” 

One of the best parts about these girls is how humble and positive they are as a group. They could walk around campus like the “big dogs” if they wanted since they are the first team to be ranked at SMU since the 2008-09 men’s basketball team. They’ll also be the program with the best win percentage in school history most likely as well. But the reality is, these girls are more content with just having fun and being good people. All four of these girls will graduate this spring with degrees and move on to new parts of their lives.

For now, they are just living in the moment. “We just come out and we just play. It’s truly just a good atmosphere to be around,” Davis said. With this mindset, the team goes into undoubtedly the biggest four game series in program history. With four games remaining, the team currently sits atop in the conference. If things go as planned, the team could earn its first ever conference title, and second overall in school history.

How do these girls plan to stay on top and finish out this magical ride? It’s simple really. Just show up and do what they do best; play. Although it’s so basic, it’s just that style that has taken this program from the bottom, straight to the 5^th ranked team in the West Region.

“It’s one of those things where you just show up and do your job,” said Eugenio.

In all honesty, there’s really no other way to look at it, especially for these girls.

“We just have to take it one game at a time,” remarked Davis with a smile.

    

Teammates for Life

Most coaches consider it a luxury to have brothers on the same team for a year, but being able to have them for multiple years is the type of thing most coaches dream about. For the second year in a row, the Saint Martin’s University men’s golf team has had that bonus because of two individuals on their roster; the Whealdon brothers. Jack and Patrick Whealdon hail from a small fishing community on the coast of Washington from a town called Ilwaco. Although this isn’t the ideal hot spot for golf fans with its normally cold, rainy weather; it is however the home to one of the most successful boy’s golf traditions in the state.



 

Ilwaco High School is known for its golf team because of the time and dedication these two individuals have put into the program. Between the two of them, their teams at state combined to finish 1st four times, 2nd twice, and 4th twice. Individually at state, Jack placed 15^th as a freshman and second three straight years as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Patrick finished his career with a fifth, a fourth, and a 10^th place finish respectfully. Both Whealdon brothers also competed within the Washington State Juniors Golfing Association, which both Jack and Patrick noted was “better competition, which prepared them to play in college.”


After completing two years of college golf, Jack talked Patrick into continuing their golf careers together at SMU. Even with other offers from different universities on the table, Patrick decided that SMU was the best fit for him.

“I was definitely excited to team up with Jack again because there is a level of comfort knowing that your older brother is here,” Patrick said.

Jack agreed, “I was pretty happy that Patrick chose to come to Saint Martin’s.”

But this journey has been anything but a walk in the park for these two; I mean walk down the course. The brothers have some of the most competitive attitudes and mentalities around.

“In high school, we were pretty competitive. We went at each other pretty hard for that number one spot,” noted Patrick.

Although older Brother Jack jokingly added “Let’s make one thing clear, I was number one a majority of the time in high school.”

Even when the brothers were younger than high school they claimed to have some pretty intense drive-way basketball games with some friends. On one occasion, it even resulted in a broken toe for Jack (which Patrick chuckled about). One of the games they played was what they called “tackle basketball.” When Jack brought this up, you could tell that they had enjoyed some fun times together by the look they gave one another. 

When asked how much they root for one another to succeed, Jack said that he loves seeing Patrick do well. “I just wish we would do well more often than we already are.”

Golf for the most part is an individual sport; however, the two still would root for one another to do well.  A golfer’s main strategy on the course is to stay focused and do the best they can, while beating everyone else out there.

“You’re out there as an individual, but if the team does well, that’s even better too,” the eldest Whealdon went on to say. “If one of those guys on the team is your younger brother, well then that’s just a bonus.”

“Even though we are competing for the same spots, I don’t get upset if he gets it over me,” Patrick added

The clock is ticking however for the two teammates in Saint’s polo’s going into this week’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Idaho, as Jack will be graduating in May with a degree in business. Who knows, a couple good rounds between the two could ultimately result in them qualifying for the West/Central Regional Championships two weeks later.

Regardless of if the two don’t qualify for either of these two tournaments, it won’t be the end of their golfing journey together.

“Even if we don’t make it, I know we will get the opportunity to play together a bunch more times in tournaments down the road,” Jack said. “But just knowing that no matter happens this won’t be the last one we’re together is reassuring.”

Whatever the outcome is within these last few rounds together, the two will still have plenty of opportunities to compete against and with one another on the links. I guess you could say they will be teammates for life.  

Offseason for Athletes

            It’s one of the biggest misconceptions in all of sports and it happens to every athlete, every year.  When the season ends, it’s always good to take some time off and let your body rest after the strenuous grind of the deadly combination of travel, practices, homework, games, and workouts. But, that only lasts for a short while, especially in the college ranks. One of the biggest clichés in sports is the phrase “hang ‘em up til next year!” This saying is the farthest thing from the truth if you ask any athlete.

            On most occasions, it is the athlete who returns to the game to compete before the coach requires the players to comeback to start their off-season workouts. The reason for this is the players drive from within that ultimately brings them back to compete. Inside every athlete there is always a will to strive and improve, and what better time than in the offseason. Like the old saying goes, “great player are made in the offseason.” And just like any other school in the nation, teams at Saint Martin’s are beginning some of their offseason workouts in preparation for the upcoming season. 

            Most notably might be the fall sports, which include men’s and women’s soccer, along with volleyball. These three squads will be reporting to campus almost a month prior to the start of school to prepare for their 2013 season.

            “Right now we are doing 6am conditioning three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which consists of lifting for half of the time and cardio for the other half,” said Saints sophomore midfielder Sasha Dini.

            But the soccer teams aren’t done for the day after they complete their morning workouts, because later in the afternoon, they head out to the field to get some skill work in.

            “The same days that we have we do morning workouts, we have a regular team practice from 3:30 to 5:30. So it’s basically two-a-days,” noted Saints junior midfielder CJ Chu.

            To an onlooker, this may seem like a lot of work already with morning workouts and practices in the afternoon. But, that also doesn’t include the class load, or outside work that student-athletes are doing as well. What most people don’t realize is that in the offseason, student-athletes tend to take more credits because they aren’t travelling or playing games. But what some might not recognize is that even without those two factors, it doesn’t make going through the rigors of the offseason any easier.

            For example, Chu, who is majoring in criminal justice and taking 15 credits currently, also has a work study job with his coach twice a week for two hours as an office assistant. Add this to his already strenuous workouts and practice and that can make for a really long day.

            But Chu isn’t the only soccer player with an outside job. Dini, who is majoring in biology and taking 17 credits, also works as a coach for Black Hills Soccer Club in Olympia, along with her work-study job on campus in the Office of Institutional Advancement.     

             “I don’t get a lot of time to study, but I keep my grades up, even though it’s  tough,” as Dini put it.

            Along with both soccer teams working hard this offseason on the field and in the classroom, so is the volleyball program which is under the new leadership of recently hired head coach Kara Peterson. The Saints volleyball team is going through their first offseason together with Coach Peterson at the helm.

            “We are currently practicing five days a week, along with weights and intervals on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as well as an agility program that we do on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” said Saints sophomore defensive specialist Halee Hernandez. 

            Hernandez is a math major working towards her degree in education as well, is required to do 50 hours of practicum observation for one of her classes. Along with the 18 credits she is taking, Hernandez has mysteriously found time to work as a head coach for the Puget Sound Volleyball Academy who practices two times a week and plays in tournaments nearly every weekend.

            But she isn’t the only Saint on the roster who is coaching either. Freshman Shea-Linn White and sophomore Kristyn Ross do as well. White is the head coach of another squad in the youth program, while Ross works as an assistant with Hernandez.

            With the addition of the new coach, Hernandez calls this offseason the toughest. “This spring is definitely taking some getting used to since we didn’t do this much work in the past to prepare for the fall.”

            For the freshmen who are going through their first offseason at the collegiate level, they have been surprised to see how much work goes into getting ready for the upcoming season.

            Freshman Kirby Neale, who is currently injured with a stress fracture in her foot, was amazed at the amount of “time spent coming into a new season.”

            However, the fall sports aren’t the only teams preparing for next year. Men’s and women’s basketball are off and running as well.  Women’s basketball is currently having open gym three days a week for an hour and following that up with either lifting or cardio.

            “We are also doing individual workouts. Depending on what position you play, you and the other girls in your position will have a practice together,” stated Saints freshman guard Brooke Rickard. Rickard, who is in her first offseason training in college, said that “It is a little more challenging than I thought it would be.” As well as being a full time student-athlete, who is taking 17 credits, Rickard is very involved in the Hawaiian Club and intramurals.

            On the men’s side, things are currently a little different because the team is in the process of hiring a new coach.

            “Currently we are having open gym three times a week, but since we don’t have a coach, we are on our own for lifting. Most of us are working out as a small group or with partners,” noted Saints freshman post Lucas Shannon who is taking 16 credits. 

            As the offseason grind continues through April, so does the rest of the requirements that we as student-athletes continue to go through. Once finals week rolls around in early May, teams are required by NCAA rules to scale back the amount of time doing athletics. But once the school year is over and summer comes, athletes still continue with their workout plans in preparation for their preseason workouts. Once the team’s seasons are in full swing, the student-athletes will be thankful for the amount of hard work and dedication they put in during the so called “offseason.”  

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