My Championship Experience -- 2014 Baseball Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.

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Fort Wayne senior Malcolm White writes about his experience at the 2014 Summit League Baseball Championship:

May 20, 2014

Departure set for 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 20, 2014.  My senior year is set to culminate with IPFW’s first trip to The Summit League Championships and possibly more. We said farewell to Fort Wayne for the time with hopes of returning with a Summit League title, bragging rights, and memories of a historic journey.

The bus was filled with excitement and anticipation as we boarded and got settled. This quickly dissipated as guys got settled as best they could in order to get some rest as we traveled through the night. With each movie that played more guys were snoozing.

We woke up starving and groggy, but luckily Sioux Falls wasn’t too far away. We stopped in Brookings around 1 p.m. to eat and practice at SDSU. It was nice to have food finally, but we knew practice would be tough. Nonetheless, with full bellies and stiff muscles from the bus ride we grinded out a productive practice.  We finished our trip to Sioux Falls and checked into our hotel.  This looked to be the nicest hotel that we had stayed in all year. I was happy to hear my roommates for the weekend as well. After settling in we showered and left for dinner shortly thereafter. On the bus ride back, we received the itinerary for tomorrow and returned to our rooms. We were each excited to get back to rest in a comfortable bed after our meal

May 21, 2014

I headed down to breakfast early hoping that I could get a light workout in before our afternoon practice. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was surprisingly good.  After my meal, I headed to the exercise room and followed that with a quick nap before we reported to the bus to leave for the field.

As we arrived to the field you could sense the excitement to be in a new environment. The independent league stadium of the Sioux Falls Canaries served as a great venue. With only an hour time frame to practice on the field, we moved along at a fast pace. We went through our batting practice routine and broke off into infield and outfield groups for drills. The field took some getting used to, especially for me and the other outfielders that would have to deal with the unique angles of the outfield wall. Nonetheless, this ended up being one of our most productive and energetic practices of the year.   

When practice concluded, we headed back to the hotel in good spirits, confident about our chances tomorrow. We relaxed for a while before getting ready to attend the championship banquet. I was admittedly slightly overdressed as I sported suspenders, a bold red shirt, and my best shoes. We were each happy for Carter DeBoe and Steve Lowden who earned First Team All-League honors. At the conclusion of the banquet, we returned to our rooms to rest and prepare for competition tomorrow. 

 

May 22, 2014

As I woke up today, it began to set in that these could be the last games of my college

career. Despite the emotion and memories from all the great times that I’ve had with this group of guys I composed myself in preparation for the game ahead.  As I worked through pregame, I tried my best to embrace the butterflies that came with playing in my first league tournament. A great pregame speech by coach got us focused as we got set to face the hard throwing right-hander from No. 2 Western Illinois. I led-off the game with a line-shot to left field that the Western left-fielder ended up making a diving play on. Nonetheless, our confidence was high as we traded blows all game with our league rival.  Unfortunately, the game did not end favorably for us as they ended the game on a walk-off single in extra-innings. After almost four hours, it was tough to lose a close game that way. “Next Page!” our coach exclaimed in his post-game talk. He was exactly right. We had no time to feel sorry for ourselves, not with our season on the line tomorrow.

Most of the team returned later to scout out the competition that we would face in our next game. It was fun to relax and watch for a change, especially on such a beautiful night under the lights. As we watched NDSU pull out the victory, we prepared our minds for taking on the No. 1 seed SDSU tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.

May 23, 2014

After a tough loss with our best pitcher on the mound, we still saw a good opportunity against SDSU to extend our season. I woke up around 6 a.m. and headed down for breakfast. I ordered a spinach, mushroom, and sausage omelet, which was a perfect way to start the day. We headed to the field for batting practice and pregame. Everybody seemed focused and ready for the challenge ahead. The game ensued, as we put ourselves in a three-run deficit that we wouldn’t overcome.

As those last two innings played out, many emotions ran through my head as I jogged out to center field for the last few times. I had one last at-bat. I had to make the most of it. Evan VanSumeren led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a passed ball, and I followed with a single to right. Even with one last glimmer of hope, we fell short once again. 

The post-game mood was solemn, as we seniors realized that our college run was over. It was an amazing experience getting the opportunity to play with such a great group of guys.  As much as we hide our emotions, there was no holding back as we remembered the season that had passed. To quote my good friend Cody O’Neal, “All your life you dream of playing baseball with your best-friends in the world. I’m glad I got to experience that with this team and especially you guys (seniors). “

We stayed the night in Sioux Falls and departed at 7:30 a.m. the next morning. Our journey had ended, but the friendships and bonds that I formed throughout my four years at IPFW will last a lifetime.

Banks Joins IUPUI Women's Basketball Staff

IUPUI head women's basketball coach Austin Parkinson announced today that Janese Banks will be joining the IUPUIwomen's basketball staff as an assistant coach.

Banks makes her way back to Indianapolis following two seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Banks is originally from Indianapolis and played at Ben Davis High School where she was the Gatorade State Player of the Year, an Indiana All-Star and an All-State selection in 2004 under the direction of former IUPUI assistant coach Stan Benge.

"We are thrilled to be able to welcome Janese back home to Indianapolis and into our IUPUI basketball family. After a tremendous playing career, Janese has established herself in the coaching ranks as a tireless worker, an excellent builder of relationships and a great role model for young women," Parkinson said. "She is an ideal fit for our staff because of her competitive nature and passion for the game of basketball."

UNO Adds Walker to Women's Basketball Coaching Staff

Kirk Walker, a legendary high school coach in Iowa and women’s assistant coach at Briar Cliff, has accepted an assistant coach position on the Omaha women’s basketball coaching staff.

Head Coach Brittany Lange announced his hiring on Tuesday. Walker joins Lange and assistants Lee Aduddell and Rodney Rogan on the UNO staff. Former assistant and director of operations Elisha Turek left to pursue a career outside of basketball coaching.

Walker began at Briar Cliff in 2011-12 as assistant coach for the women’s basketball team and oversaw the junior varsity team.

Walker also led the Sioux City North girls’ basketball program to two state championships in 10 seasons as head coach after taking over in 2001 and compiled more than 300 career wins as a high school head coach. Sioux City North won Class 4A state championships in 2007 and 2009. His teams won or shared seven Missouri River Activities Conference championships and played in eight regional finals.

My Championship Experience – 2014 Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.

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IUPUI senior Rachel Zajac writes about her experience at the 2014 Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships:

This was a bittersweet weekend, as I knew the closing of the league meet would also mark the completion of my collegiate running career.  Words can hardly convey everything that running has taught and given me.  From learning work ethic and perseverance, to the simple daily reassurance of seeing smiles from coaches and teammates, I would never trade the opportunity to run in college.  I’d like to extend a deep, heartfelt gratitude to my coach, Tony McDaniel, who has run by my side since my very first college practice, Joni Sanders, who first recruited me to come to IUPUI, Megan Jackson, our incredible assistant coach whom I have no idea how I ever survived without, and my supportive teammates who are there for one another not only on the track, but in every facet of life.  Pushing back the tears that are welling in my eyes as I recollect the events of the weekend and my running career, I couldn’t be more thankful for every friend I have gained leading up to this final championship meet.

Tuesday, May 13^th

With the engine of the GoExpress charter bus growling louder as Driver Jim shifted the tank into gear at approximately noon on Tuesday, May 13, so commenced our 14-hour trek to the summit.  The 2014 Outdoor Track and Field Summit League Championships meet, that is.  As we set off on the drive, I think we all sort of forgot how far away Fargo, N.D., is from Indianapolis, Ind.  It is FOURTEEN HOURS.  Just in case anyone forgot from the first sentence. 

Various lifelines helped us survive the drive.  A few movies were watched, for example- The Shawshank Redemption, a Larry Bird documentary, and Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story (Coach Kep’s 3 favorites), and then of course Mean Girls… you know, we had all of the classics.  For those who were not captivated by the urge to brush up on these timeless American tales, there were other options of activity.  You could read through an entire library, become a savant in the category of your choosing, solve world hunger and the AIDS epidemic, have deep philosophical conversations, or take naps on naps on naps with your head propped up against the glorious bus window while trying to control the drool escaping your mouth.

I opted for movies and reading.

After a grueling seven or so hours, praise and glory were bestowed upon the state of Wisconsin when we arrived to Moosehead Lodge (a.k.a. a Wisco-style Best Western). 

Wednesday, May 14^th

Yet, the morning sun came too early, and again we were off – resuming the trip to Fargo.  With a night to refresh and the previous day’s adventures, we were becoming well schooled in the art of travel. We now knew to opt for naps at any possible opportunity.

Then it happened, WE ARRIVED IN FARGO!  After throwing our bags down in the hotel we hopped right back on the bus to pay the track a visit.  Although I had been to NDSU’s track before, there is always a nervous, excited, curious feeling that swirls in your body as you come up to the competition site.  It jolts you into focus and starts preparing you for the weekend of events to come. 

After exploring a bit of Fargo on our run, we came back to the hotel to have a wonderful big family dinner with both the guys and girls teams.  It is always so fun when we can all get together for things like this.  Then, coaches were off to their coaches meeting… and once they returned we were supposed to have a team meeting.  Coach Tony had texted the seniors a few days beforehand asking all of us to think back on our favorite memory to share with the team during the meeting.  – That, my friend, is a very difficult task.  Five years complies too many great memories to determine only one favorite.  I went into the meeting empty handed; hoping I could just wing it and planning to word vomit about 50 different memories.  From crazy team camp experiences to our deep car discussions after meets to simply watching the team grow, these ladies have been a constant in my life through so many years.  After a very emotional team meeting, with coach also sharing his favorite memories of each of us seniors, we were ready to get the weekend started.

Thursday, May 15^th

We awoke to go on a light run and hit up Panera for some lunch.  Then we had a little free time to go to my favorite place in North Dakota, Scheels.  Literally an entire mall squished into one massive building.  But not just any mall, a mall focused on every single type of sport imaginable.  This must be what heaven will be like. 

After spending way too much time and money at Scheels, we rushed back to the hotel because tonight marked the 10k!  We were excited to watch Savannah [Turner] and all of our boys race.  Savannah ran very smart and it was amazing to see all of her hard work pay off.  We couldn’t have been more proud of her for medaling as a freshman and are so excited to see what the years ahead will bring!

Friday, May 16^th

My last college practice.  We set off from the hotel for a pre-meet run with the boys.  Getting the whole family together is a rare occasion and often a funny and eventful time.  As always, the boys were our very own mock British race announcers, bluntly reporting any moves made during the run… and maybe being a little too honest at times.  After a few strides and a little lunch it was naptime.  One of the best times of the day!

Waking up five minutes before we needed to be in the lobby to head to the track for the 800-meter trials and 3,000-meter steeplechase, we rushed around like madwomen getting our stuff together and raced down the hallway to the elevator.  A lady joined us in the elevator on the second floor – but we thought we had hit the first floor.  We rushed past her off of the elevator and down the hallway to the lobby, but no lobby was in sight.  After realizing we were on the second floor we raced back, caught the door, and jumped in with her.  Not surprisingly, we were late to the lobby and coach wasn’t quite thrilled.  Timeliness is not always my strong suit, but I am working on it.

Alas, we arrived to the track, ready to cheer Julie [Riggins] and Katie [Williams] on in the 800 meters!  Amy [Mattingly], Lexi [Hunt], and Mandy [Campbell] were up next in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the best event that the track has to offer.  I was so happy to see Amy PR and finish her race so strongly after such a challenging year of running.

Saturday, May 17^th

The last day of competition. – And for Mariana [Lopez-Owens], Emily [Vetor], Anne [Mogavero], and I, the very last.  First the 1,500 meter girls were up, then it was time to race the 5,000 meters.  When we got to the track, Amy, Katie, Nathan [Westfall], and I played one more game in our weekend-long euchre tournament.  Nathan and I finally won!  One for three. Woo hoo!  I needed to keep my mind relaxed and so a little card playing was perfect.

It was a beautiful day in North Dakota and I was ready for the race.  Though I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, I was elated to finally medal at the league meet.  What better race to do it than my very last one?  After the race Julie [Jeszenszky] and Kayla [Boyes] from IPFW ran up to me with huge hugs.  It has been so amazing to get to know them better through all of these years running together.  I love hearing their voices during races and likewise to cheer for them.  It is so amazing that, while we are competitors, we are at the same time supportive and encouraging friends.

After quick showers, a little Papa John’s, and singing happy birthday to Mandy, we boarded the bus to drive straight through the night for home.  But first – we dropped Mariana off so she could head to CHINA for her study abroad class.  She has been such an incredible friend to me through the years and I hope she discovers so many new things through her travels!

The bus ride home was somewhat successful.  I almost finished reading Divergent and learned all of the tricks to playing poker.  Sleep was not an option.  Whether I wanted to sleep or not, those bus seats were simply not going to allow it.  The bus ride was long, but I didn’t mind it.  I knew when we got back the trip would be over and my racing would have officially ended.  I wasn’t dreading it.  I was definitely ready.  But it’s not every day that you get to have miserably long bus rides with 40 of your closest friends there to keep you company and share in your agony.  It is really kind of awesome.

And so we arrived back to Indianapolis, Ind., Sunday morning, happy with the turnout of the season, geared up for the girls to reset their focus to cross country, and ready for a nice, long nap.

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Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Baseball Championship, May 22-24 and throughout the 2013-14 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.

College Baseball Today's Eric Sorenson Recaps Baseball Championship Game

Photo by Dave Eggen, Inertia Sports Media

College Baseball Today's Eric Sorenson gives his recap and analysis from The Summit League
Baseball Championship game between No. 2 Western Illinois and No. 4 North Dakota State.

Sorenson, one of the nation's prominent college baseball writers, attended the title game on Saturday. He first began to cover college baseball for USA Today and would eventually write for outlets like CSTV, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, College Baseball Insider, SEBaseball.com and his current gigs with ESPN and with this College Baseball Today site.

Check out his write-up on the league's title game by clicking here.

My Championship Experience – 2014 Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.

 _____________________________________

North Dakota State senior Alec Espeland writes about his experience at the 2014 Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships:

Friday, May 16^th

8:15 a.m. – I woke up to that all familiar jingle on my iPhone and rolled out of bed to start my day. This morning was a pretty special morning because I was going to breakfast with my grandparents who flew up from Arizona for the last track meet of my collegiate career. I was looking forward to spending time with them, and getting the much needed caffeine (from coffee of course) flowing through my veins. We went to Panera Bread Co. and had a great time together.

10:45 a.m. – I got back to the apartment to relax and take care of some paperwork and write some essays to get a head start on my applications for medical schools. It was tough to think at this time because I was feeling a lot of emotions from both the approach of my last track meet and the nearing of the end of my track career. I’ve been running competitively since I was a sixth grader! A lot of miles on these legs of mine…

12:00 p.m. – It was about this time that I decided to put down the paperwork, turn off the TV and get something to eat. It’s usually about 5 hours before I race I tend to eat whatever meal, breakfast or lunch. Today I decided to hit up Subway, every runners quick and easy lunch companion. It was about this time that the nerves began to kick in. Thoughts of racing began to invade my mind and I knew that my body was beginning to prepare itself for a battle today. In the back of my mind however I knew that today, although important, was going to be somewhat easier than tomorrow’s races due to the fact that today was simply a prelim, and I was ranked first going in. The never-ending mental game of preparation for racing of track and field continued.

2:00 p.m. – By this time my mind was wondering and thoughts of racing were becoming somewhat overwhelming; I needed a break. What better way to “get away” from things than to nap! So I hit the couch for a little R & R to drift off into whatever scenarios my subconscious decided to create. (before however I must mention that alarms were set!)

3:00 p.m. – PREP TIME. I awoke from a sleepy stupor to start moving around, fully wake up, and get ready to head to the track.

5:40 p.m. – RACE TIME. Going into today’s race I had only one goal and that was to qualify for finals. I had to luxury of running fairly conservatively due to the lack of depth of the field in the 800 meters this year. There are about four runners who have a shot at taking the crown this year in the finals, however out of a field of 11 guys total, nine were going to move forward. Knowing this I knew I had a great shot at controlling my race and coasting into a qualifying spot.

5:41 p.m. – Gun goes off. Race went just as planned…moving onto the finals the next day.

7:30 p.m. – Supper was catered for our team at our indoor track facility, senior speeches were given and an evening of relaxing and preparing for the races to come in the morning began.

Saturday, May 17^th  

7:30 a.m. – I woke up after a pretty restless night of sleep just due to the thoughts of racing, and ending my track career today. The morning was somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster; I knew I had to prepare mentally for my races throughout the day, but my mind was also occupied with reminiscing over my years at NDSU. I just focused on staying occupied throughout the morning hours and went through my race day routine as I normally would. I ate a good breakfast and started to just relax and drink coffee to pass the time. It’s tough to describe the emotions that a person feels when you’re put in a position of having a big part of your life come to an end so abruptly, in my instance in a matter of two hours (I raced at 12:50 p.m., and my last lap as a Bison was at 2:00 p.m.). All of this was on my mind as I tried to sit and ready myself. I knew that the day was going to be difficult. With the 1,500 meters to begin with, I knew that if I was going to end my career as a Summit League Event Champion, the 1,500 meters was my best shot because it was my first race.

11:00 a.m. – For the last time in my life, I drove to Schlanser Track. I knew I was ready to do whatever it took in my own power to help my team end the 2014 outdoor track season as Summit League Champions.

12:50 p.m. – The gun went off. The 1,500 meters was under way. It was a little breezy for this race, but I had a game plan in my mind and was going to stick to it. I took off the line fairly hard and put myself in good position as not to get caught up in the crowd of runners. Coming around the first corner I was in the lead (not what I wanted). Thankfully, one of my competitors decided to go around and take the lead. I knew that all I had to do was stay within range of the leader. I knew that if I was within a comfortable range with one lap to go that I could rely on my 400/800 meters speed to close that gap and outkick whoever it had to be in the last 100-200 meters of the race, and so, the game began. I sat in second place for the entire race, just counting the laps as they went by, listening to the splits, and waiting. Coming into the last lap, I pulled up even with the leader and ran on his outside shoulder. Racing into the final 300 meters, I began to surge and pull away from the field. At 200 meters to go I surged yet again, making sure that I still had one last gear to use for the home stretch. With 100 meters left in the race, I finally bumped up to my closing speed and gave it all I had and thankfully, to my enjoyment and elation, I was successful in winning my last 1,500 meters race as a Bison and could end my career as a Summit League Event Champion. Once the race was over however my excitement turned back into mental preparation again for my next event (800 meters) that was in about an hour.

1:30 p.m. – I got up from sitting, stretching and relaxing and started to move around a little. I knew I didn’t have to do much warming up since I had literally just raced, but I killed a little time, did some striders, some light stretching, and threw on the spikes again for my last 800 meters of my collegiate career.

2:00 p.m. – The gun goes off. The 800 meters was out in full steam. My plan was to expend as little energy as possible during the first lap and just let people pull me along. It worked out okay, but not great due to the fact that the leaders went out fairly fast. By the time I hit the bell lap I was caught in “no-mans land”. I was about 10 meters off of the lead pack, and about 10 meters ahead of the chase pack. I began to push and speed up going into the last 200 meters and with 150 meters left I was all out and giving it everything I had, to my surprise I was gaining on the leaders. However, I ran out of race and settled for a fourth place finish. I had teammates place first and second and was so incredibly happy for them and our team that my personal time and place didn’t faze me for a second. After all, track is both an individual and a team sport, but at a conference meet it’s all about the team. By this time we had a sizeable gap on the team in second place, but I knew that it was going to be close come the end of the track meet.

3:15 p.m. – Here it all finally comes to light, the race for the team title came down to the last event, the 4x400 meter relay. We had led in team points the entire meet, but we got caught. Not only were we caught, we were passed and now behind by two points. I have been a part of NDSU’s 4x400 meter relay team since I began competing for them back in 2010, but today, with what was on the line, I decided to give up my spot on the team for a younger, fresher pair of legs. I knew that if my team needed me that I could and would run, but also in the back of my mind I knew that this was my third event in less than three hours and I was somewhat doubtful that I could run as fast as some of my other teammates who ran 400’s as well. My coach and I made the decision for me to sit this last one out in hopes of winning the team title. This is what we had to do, win. If we lost, we took second. If we won, we tied.

3:25 p.m. – The gun goes off. The race that will decide who will be the 2014 Summit League Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Champion is underway. It was the most exciting race of my college career, even though I wasn’t running. We raced back and forth from backstretch to homestretch as a team to cheer on our teammates as they fought and raced for us all. It was a battle, but luck and speed were on our side that day and we were crowned “co-champions” with South Dakota. Obviously, it’s a strange situation to say that two teams tied in a track meet that spanned three days, but we were all champions that day none-the-less. I was able to cap off my career as a Bison in style, in class, and as a champion.

In closing I want to thank The Summit League for my experiences at these championships over the past four years. This last conference meet for me was by far one of my most memorable, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and commitment you have to the athletes who call The Summit League “home”.  I next want to thank the coaching staff at NDSU. I came into NDSU’s program as an immature freshman, and am leaving as a seasoned, well-conditioned, “battle-tested” athlete and will always remember the impact each of you had in my life. To my teammates, thanks for the years of the incredible memories that I’ll never forget. You pushed me to be the best that I could be and allowed me to become a part of your lives. My years spent at NDSU have been the best of my life thus far. Thank you.

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Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Baseball Championship, May 22-24 and throughout the 2013-14 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.