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Lenoir-Rhyne University School of Journalism and Mass Communication
M O N T H L Y
Lenoir-Rhyne University School of Journalism and Mass Communication
LENOIR-RHYNEAN NEWS
M O
VOL. 113 — ISSUE 7
April 2019
LENOIR-RHYNEAN NEWS
VOL. 110 — ISSUE 2
LENOIR-RHYNEAN NEWS
VOL. 110 — ISSUE 2
SEPTEMBER 2015
Lenoir-Rhyne University School of Journalism and Mass Communication
AND THE AWARD GOES TO... LENOIR-RHYNEAN NEWS
VOL. 110 — ISSUE 2
SEPTEMBER 2015
TO RETIRE LR PRESIDENT
STUDENT ATHLETES GET PREPARED FOR THE BEAR’S CHOICE AWARDS
TO RETIRE By Anthony Brown | LRN Monthly Staff Writer
If You Go Date: May 1
When: Red Carpet 6 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m.
Where: P.E. Monroe Auditorium
Dress Code: Business professional
Awards: • Game of the Year • Athlete of the Year • Play of the Year • Bears Supporting Bears • Supporting Faculty • Lead the Charge • Newcomer of the Year • Comeback Player of the Year • Upset Win of the Year • The Rufus Moretz Scholar Athlete Award • Neill McGeachy Stellar Coaching Excellence Lenoir-Rhyne University's second-annual Bears Choice Awards will be held on May 1 in the P.E. Monroe Auditorium. Last year LR's softball coach Shena Hollar won the 2018 Neill McGeachy Stellar Coaching Excellence Award. The trophy is modeled after the university's iconic statue "The Charge." ANTHONY BROWN | LRN MONTHLY
House lights go down and the be announced on the Twitter and stage lights turn up. Mic check: one, Instagram account for the Athletics two. Department: @bearssports. “Welcome to the second ever “I’m looking forward to actually Bears Choice Awards!” knowing what’s going on,” LR senior That’s what I’m planning to say on Erin Boone said. “Helping out May 1, when I will walk out with my behind the scenes was a lot of fun, fellow emcee LR senior Paiton Fair but I’m excited to see what happens and address the crowd as we start on stage this year.” up the big event. The show will take about 90 The Bears Choice Awards is an minutes to run through handing out award show put on by the Student all the awards and showing all the Athlete Advisory Committee videos and thanking everyone for to honor the outstanding coming out. All student athletes are performances of the season, recap required to attend, but the event the most amazing highlight plays is open to the public and anyone and just celebrate the end of can walk up and join the festivities. another athletic year packed with There will be a pre-show event triumphant Bears. outside of P.E. Monroe to get the Anthony Brown and Paiton Fair are getting set to host the second-annual Bears Choice Awards like Upset Win of the Year, Awards. SUBMITTED PHOTO evening’s entertainment started. Newcomer of the Year, Game of the There will be red carpets, Year and Athlete of the Year will be photo booths and Instagram how we want this to go.” handed out at the show. A live jazz band will be live interviews going on before the show starts. This is only the second time ever that the show performing, Paiton and I will be performing for the Catering and drinks will be provided. has been put together and the process is still crowd and there will be a lip sync contest as well. “I’m extremely nervous but truly thrilled to take new. Nominees are sent in from coaches and “Last year was just kind of crazy,” Graduate on this opportunity,” Fair said. “There’s no better then voted upon by the members of SAAC. The Assistant for the Athletic Department Will Tyner way to show your love for being a bear than the nominees are still being sent in so wait for them to Bear’s Choice Awards.” said. “This year we have a template and idea of
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NEWS
LRN MONTHLY | APRIL 2019
“APEX LEGENDS” VS. “FORTNITE” NEW GAME ON THE BLOCK TAKES ON WORLD’S LEADING BATTLE ROYALE CONTEST By Kaynmon Maddox | LRN Monthly Staff Writer
It’s a cloudy, rainy day but you’ve made it through all your classes and don’t know what else to do. So you turn on your Play Station 4, Xbox One, or your computer to load up yet another game of “Fortnite” when you suddenly see the store has a brand new free battle-royale-style game. “Apex Legends” is plastered across your screen, but there’s no way it could be as good as Fortnite – right? Well, for a game that only dropped back on Feb. 4, it has seen rapid success rivaling Fortnite. Apex was launched without any promotion and saw around 25 million people on its game by the end of the first week. Now, what is Apex? It’s a free battle royale game like Fortnite or “Blackout” from “Call of Duty,” where you’re a member of a three-member team that gets dropped onto an island with up 57 other players (60 total) and you loot care packages and other goodies to try to be the last team alive. “It’s more strategic than Fortnite,” Lenior-Rhyne freshman and casual gamer Nathaniel Monroe said. “There is no building to get you out of a gun fight and you always go in with the same number on your team as the 19 other teams.”
Apex has been very well perceived and been compared to not only Fortnite but also Blackout. “It’s more realistic than both,” Lenior-Rhyne freshman and casual gamer Elijah Brooks said. “Apex is free, so if you don’t want to buy a game it’s better than Blackout, and Fortnite is doing too much with all the updates and changes.” The changes made in Fortnite have some upset. Some are upset that their favorite gun has been taken out, equipment and guns that seem
pointless being added in, and what’s going on with all the vehicles? They seemed like a good idea and fast way to move around the map, but with the addition of hover boards and airplanes some people have gotten frustrated and say the vehicles are mostly pointless. “Fortnite is starting to be more childish with how it looks,” LeniorRhyne sophomore and long-time gamer Jacorey Alston said. Apex has a strong gun variety and unlike Fortnite, where you can hold
Avid gamer Jacorey Alston starting up another game of Apex Legends looking for a win. KAYNMON MADDOX | LRN MONTHLY
five different weapons, you have two weapons with attachments that you find on the map. The storm that is in Apex does less damage to you. The accuracy is better with there being no bullet drop or recoil (which causes the gun to move while shooting). The only down side being that there is no cross-play yet for the game, which Fortnite has. Cross-play is the ability to play with people who have a different video game system than you, so if you have friends with Xbox and you have a PS4 you can play with them. “Fortnite is way better because you can build and there’s way more action and you can carry five guns,” Lenior-Rhyne freshman and hardcore gamer Ja’Tay Culliver said. “Apex is just a basic game.” Not everyone is sold on Apex. Some say it’s overrated, there’s not enough action and they don’t like having to play with a squad of three. With it being so similar to Blackout, some critics are on the fence on about which is better. As for gaming sites and publishers such as Game Informer, Gamespot and IBN – they rate Apex Legends 9/10.
LR’S SUITCASE SCHOOL PROBLEM HOW LR’S CAMPUS ACTIVITIES BOARD IS WORKING TO HELP LR FEEL LIKE HOME By Emil Tansinda | LRN Monthly Contributor
LR student Stephoni Minter packs her bags for a trip home this weekend in the Living Learning Center residential halls on LR’s campus. EMIL TANSINDA | LRN MONTHLY
Lenoir-Rhyne is considered a suitcase school by many because of the high number of LR students who tend to go home for the weekends. With students’ weekends already planned out, this brings anticipation for events to happen on campus during the week. However, with busy class schedules, as well as athletic commitments during the week for some students, event planning can be difficult. LR’s Campus Activities Board is dedicated to the cause as they seek to increase the vitality of student life on LR’s Hickory campus. Many factors come in to play when planning events for the week. While LR does have more than 2,700 students across its three campuses, nearly 1,000 of them are undergraduates who live in
Hickory’s residence halls. They come from many backgrounds and they have varying interests. Nonetheless, activities must capture a large group of people in order to be considered successful. Currently there are six student members who serve on the Campus Activities Board, these include, Taylor Watkins, Hannah Evans, Katherine Gordon, Gabby Moore, Chisim Oparanozie and President Shalee Sparks. The director is Chantelle Tickles. “With the campus demographic, a lot of people go home, so we usually try not to combat that, and plan our events for the week. And we don’t usually plan weekend events just because we know a lot of students do go home,” Sparks said. “We don’t want to plan something that no one
is going to come to, or people aren’t going to be interested in coming to. The only thing we have on the weekend is Red Carpet, and that is a massive event, which people love.” A lot of thought goes into the events before they are scheduled. The planning process for this semester’s activities had to take place months ago. “As we plan events, we usually try to plan semesters ahead, so this semester we’ve been planning for the fall. A lot of work goes into it,” Sparks said. “We’ll be contacting vendors, reaching out to people on campus, asking people what kind of events we should be planning, and we try and figure out some bigger events that we can do too.” It is clear to see Sparks’ upbeat but mature nature as she talks about the program. With the growing number of international students attending LR, the Board has recognized that there has to be some planning catered towards them. “There are some international students, but most of the activities are not geared towards them, and we’re trying to change that by getting their input,” Oparanozie said. Unlike their peers who live relatively nearby, the 88 international students do not get the chance to go home frequently. “I learn American culture through activities that we have at LR, and that’s how I make friends,” LR, junior studio art and psychology major Sophia Chung said. “But I wish there were more on-campus activities that are tailored more towards students like me who are not able to go home during the weekend. If my friends and I want to do something, we have to organize it ourselves.” Various activities Knowing that many people have fun in different ways, the Campus Activities Board has to plan events that appeal to different audiences. LR’s Dean of Students Dr. Katie Fisher
has played a big role in overseeing the board. “It’s important that students have fun activities in a variety of things, and we engage students in a variety of things, not just parties, but it may be a service activity or it might be something that’s about stress release, so it may have a theme to it,” she said. “I think the more students get involved, they can find that there’s lots of different ways to have fun at different activities.” Importance of feedback Moving forward, in order for more students’ needs to be met, the Campus Activities Board has made it clear how important feedback is to them. With feedback, the board will be able to figure out what kind of events students really enjoyed, and what kinds of events they didn’t. It will also assist them in discovering what kind of events students feel are missing from the current schedule. Along with this, students must also be aware that not all of their desires can be met, and that it takes time to move forward with plans and put them in place. “The only way to get more people to come, is to have more things that more people like to do, but in order to find out what they want to do, we need their feedback,” Fisher said. “If many people don’t give us feedback, and we only have nine people who tell us what they want, then those nine people are going to get to pick and it might or might not be what everyone else wants. I think that’s the key to growing this organization, is really finding out what people want to do, or what they want to see on campus.” If you’d like to share some of your own ideas with CAB about fun things to do at LR email them at cab.my.lr. edu – and make sure you complete and return the end of year survey you’ll be seeing soon in your LR student email inbox.
OPINION
LRN MONTHLY | APRIL 2019
3
JUST HEAR ME OUT
WHINING AND SILENCE AREN’T THE BEST WAY TO HAVE BETTER RELATIONS BETWEEN LR STUDENTS AND THE CAF
there’s no way for students to express our feelings about the Caf – except for complaining to each other A lot of our problems could be solved easily. Being able to discuss things like serving times and certain meal choices with dining hall representatives would be nice. And we’d like some clarification on who to talk to about the rules. I have three suggestions:
1. Tell us the rules. How many times have you been to the Caf and been told that you can’t have a certain dessert, or Everyone loves food – especially college you can’t sit at this table? Well, I’ve never received students. Students rely heavily on LR’s cafeteria to an email or seen a list of rules posted in the Caf be their go-to meal spot. It’s the option that saves that tells us the do’s and don’ts. them money. On days when “The Caf” has popular meals, word gets around quickly and students flock 2. Listen to us. to feed on their favorites. But more often than Why not put a suggestion box by the front of not as I walk across campus, I’m not seeing much the Caf that allows for us customers to express excitement about going to the Caf. ourselves? We students want to make our feelings known “I just wish they would listen to us more,” LR about what we like about the food and how sophomore Heather Capps said. “All the kids certain things can be improved, but it seems like complain and it’s like no one is listening.” By Anthony Brown | LRN Monthly Staff Writer
3. Let us choose. Add an online poll or an old fashioned paper ballot – some way for the students and people that eat in the Caf to vote on what they’d like to eat this week. The Caf could open the polls every Monday and make Thursdays or Fridays the “Student-Picked Meal” days. C’mon, Caf – give it a try! I predict the Caf’s popularity would skyrocket because we would be more inclined to eat in a place that listens to us, a place that respects our opinions – and especially a place that serves up the delicious food we love. I really can’t tell you what the Caf’s General Manager Jeremy McCosh thinks about these suggestions because I repeatedly asked to speak to him for this article, but he wouldn’t do it. What do you think would improve the Caf? If you have suggestions, questions, comments or concerns you could try emailing the man in charge at McCosh-Jeremy@aramark.com.
GREATEST SHOW ON RUBBER LENOIR-RHYNE UNIVERSITY TRACK AND FIELD TEAM LOOK TO SHOW OUT IN FRONT OF HOME FANS
getting body checked. People, especially those in their teen years and early 20s, love contact and violence when it comes to going to see an event or watch it on television. Well, I’m on LR’s track team and I’m here to tell you that you’re missing out. All-American P.J Lotharp leads the way with a group of fast and talented sprinters who are always showing out. The speed from both the men and women make for a lot of tight races within the conference and against a lot of big name schools such as UNC Charlotte and Western By Kaynmon Maddox | LRN Monthly Staff Writer Carolina, making open events such as 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes very competitive Football, basketball, volleyball, softball and and unpredictable but setting up for good relays baseball are generally the only sports college 4x100- and 4x400-meter dashes. We feel like we students think to go watch. They are exciting and have the talent to make a run for nationals in every often you grow up seeing them all on television. event, but especially those two. However, Lenoir-Rhyne track and field is another But the whole meet isn’t sprinting and for those sport for students to come out and watch that’s that don’t want to watch long distance, we have filled with excitement from start to finish. jumping events with some notables like Demarius When most hear about track meets, they might Hampton, Anthony Brown and Jaquay Mitchell. think running, throwing and jumping are not really Soaring high up in the air more than six-feet, or exciting because no one’s getting tackled, nobody’s flying out more than 20-feet.
With three already provisionally-qualified athletes looking like they are going to Nationals and several athletes right on the verge, this is a team that shows out every meet we have. Continuously breaking records and just outdoing our last performances, the sky is the limit for this team and they are flying toward it with a full head of steam. With brand new bleachers to sit on and close competition in every event – a track meet at home this year is going to be well worth seeing. “The track team has some explosive athletes that work hard every day,” Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore Track and Field athlete Jacorey Alston said. “When you go to the meets you will see this team put on a show.” Until recently there hadn’t been many opportunities to see a track meet at this school to disprove the notion that track is boring. But now that LR has invested money in an expensive top of the line track and new bleachers to allow four home track and field meets, you can come see for yourselves. April 5-6, April 18-20 and May 12 are the home meet dates, so come out and watch.
JUST RELEASED:
LR 2019 FOOTBALL Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 2019 Football Schedule
get ready
(Home Games are Bold)
Sept. 7 vs. St. Augustine's 6 p.m. (Postgame Fireworks) Sept. 14 at Virginia Union TBA Sept. 21 vs. Newberry* 6 p.m.
Oct. 19 vs. Carson-Newman* 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at Limestone* TBA Nov. 2 vs. Wingate* 2 p.m.
Sept. 28 at Mars Hill* TBA
Nov. 9 vs. UNC Pembroke 2 p.m. (Senior Day)
Oct. 5 vs. UVA Wise (Homecoming) 2 p.m.
Nov. 16 at Catawba* TBA
Oct. 12 at Tusculum* TBA
Nov. 23 NCAA Playoffs TBA
LRN STAFF:
Managing Editor: Ana Romero Sports Editor: William Hewett Production Editor: Kaynmon Maddox Promotions: Anthony Brown
M O N T H L Y
Lenoir-Rhyne University School of Journalism and Mass Communication
CONTRIBUTORS: Aleisha Cruwys Dorien Dickey Walter Hernandez Ben Holland Marcus Rosser Emil Tansinda
FACULTY ADVISORS: Dr. Lisa Harris Prof. Richard Gould
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NEWS
LRN MONTHLY | APRIL 2019
NEW ZEALAND HERE WE COME YOUR CHANCE TO CONNECT WITH THE GREATEST SPORTING TEAM IN THE WORLD, THE ALL BLACKS By William Hewett | LRN Monthly Staff Writer
Mt Taranaki, which is quite near where LR's students will be heading once they get to New Zealand. SUBMITTED PHOTO
The opportunity to cross the International Date Line and see “the land of the long white cloud,” better known as New Zealand, while also completing a three-credit class, doesn’t come around often. And that’s not to mention getting a chance to work with a squad that’s arguably the greatest rugby team on the planet – maybe the best team in all of sports history. This is what LR’s Director of International Education Dr. Laura Dobson is planning for May 2020. She is creating a trip targeting exercise science students and in particular student-athletes. The trip would be based at Massey University campus in Palmerston North, which is my native county: New Zealand. Getting more athletes to study abroad is one of Dobson’s priorities and she hopes this trip will do just that. “We believe we can tackle underrepresentation in study abroad by athletes by designing a program for athletes,” she said. The trip will have three components. 1. Lecture based learning, which will be done on the campus of Massey University 2. Physical activity, also at the university 3. Experiencing the New Zealand culture, which Dobson is especially excited about “We are going to experience Maori cultural activities such as a welcome and farewell haka (like what the All Blacks do before every game),” Dobson said. “As well as that, there is going to be a weekend activity in the middle to lower North Island.” This is also something that really excites Luis Velez. Velez has three roles here at LR and will combine all his roles on the trip. He is an adjunct professor in exercise science while also being a strength and conditioning coach and athletic trainer. “What is the culture like? What is everyday life like there,” Velez said. How is the university? How are students at the university doing things there on campus?” There’s one way to find out. Learning about new cultures is something preached by all international students. “You get to know more about yourself, your culture and the culture you’re visiting,” LR Student-President Santiago Ambroggio, of Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina said. “You’re putting yourself way outside your comfort zone, so you can have new experiences.” Teaming up with Laura to run the trip is Luis Velez.
“Luis will teach the class, which will be Speed and Strength and Conditioning, which will get athletes from a wide variety of sports,” Dobson said. The opportunity to teach and experience a new culture and new part of the world is something that excites Luis Velez who will be combining all three of his roles for the trip. “Any chance to travel abroad is awesome. Especially for something like this, which is a unique experience, where you will be there for a couple of weeks,” Velez said. “I get to be with a group of LR Students and get to experience something unique.” He also pointed out that, although the trip’s organizers anticipate that student athletes will make up a significant part of this group, this experience is not exclusive to them. The trip will involve “10 nights of hostel stay on the campus with single rooms and shared bathrooms,” Dobson said. “Some of their teachers will help with the classes, which includes five hours of Massey University staff time, which could be athletic training time. The students would have access to a gym and be working out on a regular schedule.” One of the cool parts of trip is the opportunity for students to potentially meet an All Black. For those who don’t know the All Blacks, they are the most successful sporting team in history. The All Blacks, as they’re cleverly known as because they play in an allblack kit (uniform), are New Zealand’s national rugby team. Rugby is the national sport of New Zealand. It’s is a lot like American football just without the forward pass. No wide receivers in rugby. “There are going to be two times when they (students) do something with New Zealand Sport,” Dobson
said. “As it stands in this proposal, it’s two introductory sessions to rugby and cricket. If we had a lot of interest in rugby, we could make it two sessions on rugby for example.” “On the trip you will probably get to meet sports related important people,” Ambroggio said. “Even just being around that environment is amazing. If you are an athlete, getting to learn from one of the best sporting teams in history would really benefit you.” Marketing for the trip won’t start for a while as it’s still in the planning phase but be on the lookout for it. “We will market this trip over the summer to help people have discussions with coaches and then over the fall and spring.” This is something that has Dobson super excited – especially the chance to get more of LR’s student athlete population involved in the school’s Study Abroad program. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in a country so far away, learn their customs and traditions, while also completing a three-credit class. For more information and enquires, email Laura Dobson. laura.dobson@lr.edu
ABOVE: A view from a flight over Mt Taranaki, which is very close to the destination of LR's planned New Zealand trip. WILLIAM HEWETT | LRN MONTHLY
LEFT: All Blacks perform their traditional haka that students on the New Zealand study abroad trip will get to experiance. SUBMITTED PHOTO
NEWS
LRN MONTHLY | APRIL 2019
ROOMMATE PROBLEMS
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COMMUNICATION IS KEY
By Ana Romero | LRN Monthly Managing Editor
LR has different kinds of dorms and that means you can have different sorts of roommates. In some dorms roommates share the same room. Those who live in a quad have their own bedrooms, but they share common spaces such as the living room, kitchen and bathroom with their roommates. Whether you’re just sharing common spaces or doubling up in a standard dorm room, learning to live with roommates takes a certain set of skills. Roommates come in all types. They can have a good relationship with you and socialize and respect boundaries or be the complete opposite and that might mean you don’t enjoy your time with them. At the end of the day, you’re going to be spending a lot of time with these people because you sleep in the same room as they do or you share the same common rooms. “It gets too much when you want to do homework late with the lights on and your roommate tells you that he wants to sleep so you have to move everything to the living room or you want to listen to music and
he wants to take a nap,” LR exchange student, José Martinez, of México, said. “I have a good relationship with my roommates, I can’t complain about that.” Sometimes it’s hard to express what you don’t like to your roommates because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or you don’t want to have a fight with them. “I feel that the base to solve your problems is communication, because once you talk with them (roommates) they know what you don't like that they do and they can change," Martinez said. Merrimack College, in North Andover, Mass., is aware of the problems that bad communication can cause for roommates so they wrote some tips and tricks on their official web page about this matter. “You should begin by addressing potential problem areas and getting them out in the open so that there will be fewer surprises down the road. Take some time to talk about habits and preferences,” Merrimack’s website says. “Most roommate conflicts are the result of miscommunication or, in some
cases, a lack of communication. If you can communicate effectively, it will be much easier to develop a comfortable living environment for you and your roommate.” Lenoir-Rhyne LLC Resident Assistant Alivia Barrier, encourages people who may have some communication problems with their roommates to talk them out so they can solve their problems together. “If you have roommate conflicts the first thing we try to do is sit the roommates down together and talk to them about it, have a face to face conversation,” Barrier said. “If that doesn’t work sometimes we will step in, talk to both of them, and see if we can get something worked out, whether it is a cleaning issue or it’s that they take too much time in the bathroom, anything like that.” Sometimes it takes more concrete suggestions. "For example, if it’s a cleaning issue we try to make a schedule or a shower issue we make a schedule and see if the resident can stick to that,” Barrier explained. “If that doesn't work then we go to sign a roommate contract which sets
the exact guidelines and if they don't follow them there would be consequences." The last measurement that would have to be taken would be to talk to LR’s Assistant Dean of Students Jonathan Rink. Rink can separate roommates if they just can’t get along. It’s a final option and it’s one that LR would like to avoid because as college students we are adults already so we should know how to solve our problems by communicating and creating a new bond with someone who will be basically your sibling for 10 months. Maria Amelia Lopez Felix studied abroad in Canada and felt that having good communication with her roommates worked because they all had schedules for dorm activities and everything was perfectly organized. “I had a good experience, we were really organized,” Lopez Felix said. “I never had any trouble with them, which I love. The only time I had a problem was this time that I didn’t told her I would have friends over so she got mad at me. It wasn’t a big problem because she was my cousin.”
LR's Living-Learning Center roommates and friends enjoying some time together. ANA ROMERO | LRN MONTHLY
ENTERTAINMENT IN CAMPUS DORMS LENOIR-RHYNE UNIVERSITY LOOKING TO ADD MORE ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS TO ENJOY IN THEIR DOWN TIME By Walter Hernandez | LRN Monthly Contributor
Students who live on LR’s Hickory campus don’t always have many options when it comes to finding entertainment in their dorms. Some students go home on the weekends because they’re unable to find anything entertaining to do in their free time. “A prime example of why students go home every weekend is the fact that there is nothing to do here and the stuff that there is to do is either broken or hard to get to,” LR Exercise Science major Noah Rudisill said. “For instance, the ping pong tables in the cave, in order to play you have to get the ping pong equipment from student life, but they are not here on the weekends so how are we supposed to make use of our area that we are supposed to get together and have fun if they are either broken or hard to get to.” LR takes students into consideration when it comes to the dorms they live in. “It comes down to what students are interested in, in an area are they wanting something they already have or are they wanting something different,” LR’s Director of Residence Life Jonathan Rink said. “Maybe they are wanting more TVs in that area. They might want more study lounge areas. We take all of that into account along with the space that is available to us.” When it comes to getting new entertainment in dorms there is a process that happens when LR’s deciding to either repair or replace them.
if needed,” Rink said. “Ideally we try to get a couple years of use from a ping pong table before we must repurchase one. If needed we would repurchase one every year.” Not all dorms on LR’s campus are the same. Each dorm offers something different when it comes to entertainment. “Fritz-Conrad is the best mainly because we have a TV, a pool table with equipment, a foosball table and a kitchen right next to it all with enough seating for a big group,” LR Exercise Science major Andy Ngo said. “With that, there is a theater that Andy Ngo, racking up the pool balls to play a game can be signed out for people to use. The downside during his down time at Lenoir-Rhyne University. to this lobby is that it is only accessible to residents WALTER HERNANDEZ | LRN MONTHLY of the dorm. There is no way to get in besides “LR gives us a budget to program with throughout people letting others in.” “The lobby when you first go in we have a TV a the school year for students, and some of the bigger budget items such as ping pong tables, pool couple of seats, a little coffee table,” Rudisill said. “In the back in the laundry room with the kitchen tables are factored in,” Rink said. “Those cost a we have a broken ping pong table that doesn’t bit more, so usually what we must do is plan for what we want so we can request those funds from even work but it is there and another TV back there that doesn’t even work.” the university or shop around for deals or see if There is currently a strategic plan to improve the anyone wants to donate in that nature.” student experience. Sometimes the entertainment provided by “The strategic plan is going to be coming out LR is damaged over time and must be repaired. soon and part of the initiatives of the strategic plan When this happens LR does its best to repair the covers five years,” Rink said. “There’s been a lot damages to save money. of talk and emphasis and desire from faculty, staff, “Every year we try to repair the pool tables and students to have a more robust student union, around campus, ping pong tables are not as durable as pool tables, but we try to replace those more of a student center.”
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SPORTS
LRN MONTHLY | APRIL 2019
LENOIR-RHYNE’S GOLF TEAM HOPING FOR A WINNING SEASON FAMILY IS THE KEY IN BEARS’ SUCCESS By Benjamin Holland | LRN Monthly Contributor
This year Lenoir-Rhyne’s golf team is hosting the championship at Catawba Springs and it’s looking forward to the home field advantage. During their practice at Rock Barn Country Club, a beautiful course with ample hills and natural features, LR’s men’s and women’s golf teams practiced hard to improve their game despite windy and overcast weather conditions. Scattered around the golf course, players could be seen alone and in groups focusing intently on their swings. The sound of clubs smacking golf balls could be heard all around as the athletes focused on the prospect of winning. Megan Robb, a freshman on the women’s team from Aberdeen, Scotland, said simply, “I want to win,” with a smile on her face when asked about her goals for the rest of the season. LR’s head coach for both the men and women’s teams, Elliot Gealy has coached the two teams to seven wins since he came to Lenoir-Rhyne in November of 2014, two on the men’s side, and five on the women’s – an impressive statistic considering that the teams each have around 11 games per season. “When you’re trying to build up a program from where it was when I started, all you’re trying to do is build up name recognition,” Gealy says. With their recent wins he is hoping to expand the program’s national recognition through winning games and showing that Lenoir Rhyne can hold its own against the best players.
ABOVE: Jordan Young practicing some sand trap shots at the instruction of Coach Elliot Gealy. BENJAMIN HOLLAND | LRN MONTHLY
His vision for the program is to “Win rings and to be national contenders.” Coach Gealy looks for family values in his players, wanting players with responsibility and work ethic to represent the Lenoir-Rhyne team. Brad Robinson, a senior on the men's team from Whitley Bay,
England, was looking forward to the team’s upcoming trip to Kiawah Island in South Carolina. He’s excited about the prospect of team bonding and working to help improve everybody's game. According to Gealy, Robinson is a part of the Bears Leadership Academy, an athletic program that selects those who have shown excellence in leadership by example. Robinson said his favorite part of being on the golf team is “having a family away from home,” as he is an international student from Newcastle, England. He absolutely loves the experience he has had in the LR athletics program and continues to be happy with his choice in schools after four years here. All of the players who were asked about their favorite part of being on the Lenoir-Rhyne team responded that they love the family aspect of the team and the way that everyone gets along so well and tries to help one another. The teams also enjoy any of their games at warmer climate and coastal areas. For anyone interested in supporting LR golf, the women's team has a home match April 6 through 9 at the Lake Hickory Country Club. The men’s upcoming matches are in South Carolina and Tennessee. Luis Lopez Malo practices his swing while being cheered on by his teammates. BENJAMIN HOLLAND | LRN MONTHLY
READY TO SMASH THE SEASON THE BEARS ARE ON THE COURT. WILL YOU BE THERE TO SUPPORT? By Aleisha Cruwys | LRN Monthly Contributor
Our fall sports may have finished their seasons but there’s no need to worry. Why, you may ask? Enter: tennis. Coming off a very successful 2018 spring season, this year’s tennis team played their first conference opener on March 7 when they faced Mars Hill University. The matchup was played at the tennis team’s home venue, the Hickory YMCA, where the Bears beat the Bulldogs by a score of 7-0 in a contest that brought their win streak to seven. Heading into just his third year, Head Coach Tom Rees has taken both the men’s and women’s team up almost 100 spots in the country’s rankings since taking over in May 2016. This great achievement is one to be proud of, even if Coach Rees is too humble to admit it. Ambition and determination come to mind when speaking with Rees. The manner in which he holds himself when conducting the interview in his office shows off a quietly confident aura, especially the way he clasps his hands together, as if he has been hatching a top secret plan. “We’ve made a lot of progress but the higher you go (in rankings), the harder it is to move within those spots,” Rees said. “I would perennially like each team to be Top 25 in the country, whether that be this year, next year or the one after. That’s where I would like us to be.” With exhibition games played in the fall counting towards the NCAA record in the spring, both teams are in a fantastic position heading into their upcoming fixtures. It’s now all about bringing everything together and fine-tuning little details that they have been working on over the past few months. I guess you could say it’s been a dress rehearsal up until now, and the big show is just round the corner. Iulia Ponomareva, of Smolensk, Russia, is one of two captains on the women’s team this season. After spending her fall semester interning in Washington D.C., she has been incredibly impressed with the team’s cohesion and work rate.
“All of the girls are extremely competitive in practice and so it helps to bring out the best in everyone,” Ponomareva said. “I’m positive this group of girls has the potential to chase the title.” This idea of team cohesion has been implemented by Rees since the start of his reign. This season, the focus is on the meaning of ‘Meraki.’ This Greek word means to leave a piece of yourself in everything that you do. “We’re getting the players to enjoy the process and play without pressure and limitations,” Rees said. “If they can do that, they’re going to be really successful.” This method of bringing players together can only benefit each of them moving forward, whether they decide to just use it on the field or take it into their education and workplace. For some members of the team, this is their final season of college tennis. “We are all really excited about the upcoming season, especially us, the seniors, since it’s our opportunity to leave a legacy behind,” the second women’s captain, Marta Escanero Funes, of Guadamar Del Segura, Spain, said. “We are ready to give 100 percent effort, 100 percent of the time.” Heart strings were pulled and a sense of nostalgia can be recognized when talking with the players. They have been working hard for this programmer for almost four years and you can see their pride ooze out. With the home tennis courts located at the Hickory YMCA, getting fans to attend the matches will be a real game changer for the tennis team this season. “When you’re an off-campus sport, you don’t want the players to feel like they’re on their own island,” Coach Rees said. “If athletes and people from campus can spend 30 minutes of their day and come to a match, it really adds to the player’s Women’s Tennis Captains for the 2019 Spring Season experience.” Iulia Ponomareva (left) and Marta Escanero Funes (right) stamp their authority in front of the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears flag. ALEISHA CRUWYS| LRN MONTHLY
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800 WINS FOR LR GREATEST COACH LR BEARS SOFTBALL COACH, SHENA HOLLAR RACKS UP HER 800TH LR WIN By William Hewett | LRN Monthly Contributor
LR Softball Coach Shena Hollar celebrates with her team after a strikeout. SUBMITTED PHOTO
It’s not every day you reach 800 career wins for Lenoir-Rhyne but that’s what softball coach Shena Hollar has done this semester. Hollar nailed this milestone when her team beat King University 5-1 in the opening game of their double header on March 13. It’s an achievement whose beginnings came 20 years ago when Hollar took the helm of the LenoirRhyne softball team after she came to us from Newberry in 1999. “It’s been 20 years, which is a long time doing it. I’ve had some really good teams come through and when you win 30 to 40 games a year they start to add up,” LR’s modest and quietly spoken softball coach said. Under Hollar’s guidance, the Bears have picked up 12 South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championships and eight SAC tournament titles. And Hollar has coached six players to All-American honours and one Academic All-American. She has picked up a lot of impressive accolades over the years. She’s a seven-time SAC coach of the year and she’s coached four Lenoir-Rhyne
Sports Hall-of-Famers. Her biggest personal achievement came in 2015 when she was named to the Alexander County Sports Hall of Fame. Her achievement is something that makes LR’s Athletic Director Kim Pate proud. “It’s about the 800 wins that all those studentathletes were a part of,” Pate said. “It’s about the experience and the opportunity to give them a high level experience to compete at a high level and to learn to compete not only in sports but in life.” Obviously as a Coach you want to have a positive impact on your players and see them improve. Assistant Coach Sarah Hansley can attest to the improvement that Coach Hollar had on her as a player and as a person during her four years at LR. “She’s had a crazy impact on me and has taught me things that my parents can’t teach me as this is real life,” Hansley said. “She’s really impacted me on a real personal level and on a softball level she made me a better player.” The 800 career wins for LR is something that gives Hansley a lot of motivation and pride.
“I think it’s phenomenal and it makes me think wow, I could do that one day and to be a part of her 800th win I think it just means wow,” Hansley said. “As a player I helped her achieve those wins and now as a coach I’m learning to teach others how to achieve those wins.” You can catch the LR Softball team in action throughout all of April as Coach Hollar works hard to bring home her 13th SAC Championship.
LR Softball Coach Shena Hollar celebrating another of her 800 wins during her career at Lenoir-Rhyne. SUBMITTED PHOTO
JOB DONE; GOAL ACCOMPLISHED LENOIR-RHYNE’S FOOTBALL TEAM TO RECEIVE SAC CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS DURING APRIL RING CEREMONY By Dorien Dickey | LRN Monthly Contributor
The celebration of something achieved over time is just what the LR football team will be doing. On the night of April 5 at Mortez Mills, the Bears will be presented with their championship rings. “We are kind of tying several things into one event as far as recognizing our award winners and our ring ceremony,” Head Football Coach Drew Cronic said. “We will also be recognizing who we’ve signed in our 2019 recruiting class.” The ceremony will celebrate the 2018-2019 Bears team, but it will also talk about the team moving forward. “It will serve as a wrap up of last season and a kickoff event for the coming season,” Assistant Head Coach for Operations & Academic Coordinator Aaron Brock said. The 2019-2020 season will be the Bears’ 100th season of football. “We will start looking ahead to the centennial. This is 100 years of football this fall being played here at Lenoir-Rhyne,” Cronic said. “We will begin to celebrate that and making a big deal of that for the next season.” The championship ring ceremony will be a good time for former Lenoir-Rhyne players to come back and fellowship with teammates and coaches. “Our guys came together to reach a team goal. Grayson Willingham threw multiple touchdowns, and we had a lot of success on offense averaging over 400 yards per game. Defensively we just came into our own,” Associate Head Coach / Special Teams Coordinator & Secondary Coach David
Cole said. “Guys really stepped up over all three levels. We doubled our turnover margin from what we had last year. 2018 was a fun time as well as getting into the playoffs.” The success the team and Cronic had was due in part to the way the team handled their business off the field. “When coach Cronic got here he placed a renewed emphasis on academics and the importance of winning in all parts of your life – including the classroom,” Brock said. It’s a holistic approach. Champions are more than great athletes on the field. They’re men of integrity in all aspects of life. “What we are trying to get across in our program is that we need to be able to trust you to do everything right if we are going to trust you on the field in the fourth quarter of a close ball game,” Brock said. The Bears were rewarded with Under Armour SAC Championship hoodies. The hoodies have four boxes with check marks on them that say: Undefeated SAC champs National quarterfinalist 12-2 overall record Biggest turnaround in college football “Athletic Director Kim Pate and Aaron Bessey did something nice for the guys with those hoodies, putting some nice stuff on there about their accomplishments,” Cronic said. The ring ceremony event will put into
perspective just how impressive the 2018-2019 season was for the Bears. After the night of April 5, the Bears will look forward to the 2019-2020 season. The Bears’ 2019-2020 football schedule has been released. The Bears will play six games at home and five games on the road.
LR junior running back Jaquay Mitchell possess in his SAC championship hoodie as he waits for his ring. DORIEN DICKEY | LRN MONTHLY
FOUR-PEAT FOR THE LADY BEARS? HISTORY’S IN THE MAKING FOR LR SOFTBALL By Marcus Rosser Jr. | LRN Monthly Contributor
Shena Hollar has now entered her 20th season as Lenoir-Rhyne’s head softball coach. Hollar is also the winningest coach in LR history. She says there’s no secret tricks to having created such a winning culture for two decades now. “I think with just hard work and putting the time in and showing the players you care. The games change but you have to keep up with how the
game has changed,” Hollar said. “The kids have changed as well; they’re more electronic savvy these days than they use to be.” The Lady Bears are coming off another winning season 2018-19 going 45-10 overall and 19-1 in conference. Seniors pitcher Cassandra Healy and Emily Kenely (second base), are two of the four leaders for the Bears and winning is everything for
them. “Every game we play is important,” Kenely said. “Since we are LR, and because of our past, every team wants to beat us.” Healy agreed. “I really want to win our conference tournament. We have not won that yet since we have been
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FOUR-PEAT from page 7 here,” she said. “We win conference, but we fall apart conference tournament, so that would be awesome.” While winning the conference tournament is a huge goal on the ladies’ checklist, gaining that fourth conference ring in four years would put LR’s softball team into the history books. Cassandra and Emily agree and both athletes can’t help but smile from ear to ear. “Just getting that fourth ring is so big because I don’t think a lot of people can say that they’ve gotten four rings in four years,” Healy said. “That’s rare so I think that would be really exciting for us. I know the seniors want that really bad.” Mark your calendars because on April 6 the
Carson-Newman Eagles are in town for Alumni Day to battle the Bears. The softball team is not the only team that has taken the mound this spring. Our baseball team led by Coach Tom Fleenor has taken the field as well. After falling short in SAC Championship last season to Anderson University, the Bears look to roar back this year with another winning season. “You are always motivated either by losing at the end or winning at the end,” Fleenor said. “I have a coaching staff that is intrinsically motivated, players that are intrinsically motivated, and honestly if they aren’t motivated, they should not be in our program.” Team captain from Lakeland, Fla, Clayton Jefferies (LF/L-PH) completely agrees with his coach: Success is the only option, he says, while wearing his half sleeve baseball T-shirt.
“Winning the conference title and making it to the national championship is something I hope to accomplish before the season ends,” Jeffries said. “The ball really starts rolling when we enter conference play.”
Shena Hollar addresses her team with pre-practice instructions on Feb. 14. MARCUS ROSSER JR. | LRN MONTHLY
BATTLE FOR HICKORY AN EXHIBITION FOR THE BEARS TO TAKE ON A PROFESSIONAL OPPONENT By Mike McHugh | LRN Monthly Contributor
On April 1 we’ll get to find out who’s Hickory’s baseball team as the LR Bears take on the Crawdads. Coming into this matchup, the Bears hold the series lead 2-0. This game is really different for us college players because we get a chance to swing wood bats instead of metal. Although it is an exhibition, both teams take it as seriously as they would if it were a division game or conference game for either team. “It’s actually pretty cool,” LR Volunteer Assistant baseball coach Tripp Hamrick said. “It is cool for the guys to get a chance to play against guys that get paid to play.” The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Low A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. For us college players, this is a chance to get a real feel for the dream of playing professional baseball. “You get to see what professional basis is on a first hand basis,” LR Graduate Assistant David Newcomer
said. “It is just a really neat experience for the guys just to be around that atmosphere in general.” In the previous exhibitions, the Crawdads have had specials for LR students like free admissions or food. Locals have contributed to a good showing in the past and both clubs
are looking to have the students involved. “I imagine there will be some students out there,” Newcomer said. “We already know the Crawdad faithful will be there.” It’s fun for both the fans and the players.
The LR Bears baseball team is set to take on the Minor League Hickory Crawdads in their annual exhibition game. SUBMITTED PHOTO
“The atmosphere is one to remember for sure,” LR baseball alumni and 24th round draft pick Thomas St. Clair said. “The weather wasn’t great the second time around but I will still never forget the experience as a whole.” St. Clair plays in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He ended his 2018 season playing for the Advanced A team in Palm Beach. LP Frans Stadium is located at 2500 Clement Blvd NW in Hickory. The 10 minute drive from campus gives students plenty of time to grab a quick bite to eat for dinner and make it in time for the first pitch at 6:30 p.m. For me and the other members of LR’s baseball team it’s about bragging rights. “Coach Fleenor always says that we’re Hickory’s team,” Newcomer said. “It is our job to try and keep it that way.”
LEAGUE BOUND? LR’S OWN TIMOTHY SMITH JR. MAKING A PUSH FOR THE NFL By Kaynmon Maddox | LRN Monthly Staff Writer
It’s a Saturday evening – the sun is out and you’re sitting in the stands of your Lenoir-Rhyne Bears Football stadium with friends. The game is close, and it’s third down with 15 yards to go until a first. You look towards your friends’ phone as they take a group photo, then turn just in time to see No. 3 Timothy Smith Jr. catch a long touchdown pass and everyone erupts. The Bears take the lead and never look back thanks to the sure-fire hands of their senior wide receiver. If you were in the crowd or managed to watch the live stream of the games, you got used to this. You knew at least once a game that LR quarterback Grayson Willingham was going to connect with his veteran receiver. “It was exciting because you knew he was good,” LR freshman Ja’Tay Culliver said. “He could have a breakout play at any point, which made the games more interesting to watch.” Timothy Smith Jr., known to his friends and fans as T.J., was born in
Charleston, S.C. He started his career at Concord University in West Virginia where he earned his All-American title his freshman year. He played one more year there before making his move to LR where he sat a year (in accordance with NCAA rules) and then played his final two collegiate years. Now that college is in his rear view, T.J. has his eyes on his big dream. “I fell in love with the game at 5 years old,” T.J. said. “At 6 years old I knew I wanted to play in the NFL.” With a strong faith and support system,. T.J. has begun the long process of becoming a part of the best of the best in the U.S. Standing an even 6-feet tall and weighing 180-plus pounds, T.J. is known on the field for his speed, quick feet, great natural hands and an IQ that isn’t matched easily. “He’s really good off the line,” former LR football player Dorien Dickey said. “His quickness and speed make it really hard to cover his releases. I hope he makes it to the League – I’m supporting him.” His hard work on the field during practice has had an effect on all his teammates – especially the young guys. “He boosts your confidence in your own abilities,” LR sophomore receiver Jacorey Alston said. “I’ve learned so much from him off the field as and I’m very excited for him as the Timothy “T.J” Smith Jr. just finishing up a speed and draft gets closer.” agility workout on the field. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Timothy “T.J.” Smith Jr. focuses on the ball in to make a catch deep down field for the Bears. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Known as a funny and laid-back person around campus, T.J. is has lots of support at Lenoir-Rhyne where just about everybody is rooting for him to make it. From former teammates on the field to on the track to athletes from other sports and students around campus, everybody’s rooting for him to make it. “He treats everybody the same despite being close to the league,” Culliver said. “It gives me school pride to know he is doing something this great.” Minutes turn to hours that turn to days as we get closer to the Draft. T.J. has been hard at work getting bigger,
faster and stronger waiting for his Pro Day. After that it’s the waiting game as he waits to hear his name or get a phone call with a contract offer. He’s overcome the odds his whole life and he’s hoping to do so one more time. “When I was a pre-mature kid weighing 2 pounds and 3 ounces, I was not supposed to make it out of the hospital that morning,” T.J. said. “Through the course of this journey there were tremendous amounts of setbacks, but what I’ve learned is that you can’t allow your adversity stop you from being the person that God has called you to be.”