While most Whitman students will be away from campus for close to a month over winter break, the time away for Whitman’s basketball teams is much less substantial. Both teams will leave on Dec. 22 and return on Dec. 28, just six days later.

The men’s team will host Wells College and Marian University in the days leading up to their short time away. After they return, they will play a series of three road games featuring competitions against Lewis and Clark on Jan. 2, Willamette the next day, and Whitworth on Dec. 6. Though the short break might seem a short for a regular student, head basketball Head Men’s Basketball Coach Eric Bridgeland pointed out that the Whitman team is not unique in its break’s brevity.

Clay Callahan ’15 goes for a shot. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

“Every basketball team in the country at every level plays during the break, so it’s an even playing field,” said Bridgeland in an email.

Sophomore Christian McDonald expressed a somewhat similar response to the idea of any perceived unfairness.

“It’s not a burden or anything. Coming into it you know that’s part of the deal,” said McDonald.

Thus far, this season the team has showed promise against some of the top teams in the nation competing against at least three top-25 tournament teams. Against the 13th-ranked team in the nation, Whitman opened up a double digit lead only to fall by 10 in a hard fought game.

As a result of the potential they have shown thus far this season, most players are excited to have the chance to show what they can do to conference opponents.

“Most the guys are just excited to get conference going,” said McDonald.

As far as what the six-day break consists of for the players, Bridgeland made it clear that each player chooses how to spend the six days. He did suggest, however, that there are certain activities that all players should do.

Tochi Oti, ’16- Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

“Taking time to get up shots and get on the treadmill are staples for all,” said Bridgeland.

Junior Evan Martin already has specific plans for his own way of staying competition-ready.

“I usually just try to relax and get some rest and hangout with my family,” he said.

“That’s actually what keeps me competition ready is being able to keep a clear head.  I mean I will get some shots at the local gym and lift weights, but I don’t go too hard.”

The team’s results and competitive nature leave no question that the six-day break will not affect Whitman negatively.

“We don’t skip a beat,” said Martin.+

Soon after winter break, intramural athletes will be forced to switch from putters to paddles, as the IM Committee replaces putt-putt with table tennis. The switch is a direct result of the closure of Sweet Putt, the popular Walla Walla indoor-outdoor putt-putt institution. After careful consideration of a number of different replacements, one of which included bowling, the IM Committee decided on table tennis.

“We’re excited to see what happens, because it’s so new. We have no idea where it’s going to go, but we’re hoping it’s a blast,” said IM Committee Chair Julianna Wetmore.

Though Wetmore acknowledged that the official promotion of the new sport has not yet begun, the sport has already garnered significant interest.

Brad Kline (2018) practices ping pong in the basement of Anderson. Photo by Tywen Kelly.

“We just figured this out last week, I’ve only mentioned it to a few of my friends. I think we’re going to start advertising over winter break to get people excited,” said Wetmore.

One of the strengths of table tennis is that, like other IM sports, extensive experience is not necessary for success. The league will also offer a doubles competition, which will lend itself to students with less-experience. Students who expressed interest in playing made it clear that this is definitely a strength for the new sport.

“I’ve just played it for fun after school, back when I was in daycare. But not really since,” said junior Jenna Rolle.

“My background in table tennis is pretty minimal. I’ve played a handful of times, but I’ve never dedicated any time to learning the sport or making an effort to be at all decent,” wrote senior Janni Conrad in an email.

As with all intramural sports, the sport should attract a variety of players. However, the IM Committee anticipates that perhaps first year students will be most drawn to the sport due to the location in first year residence halls. Many residence halls including Jewett, Lyman, North and Douglas have ping pong tables, allowing much easier access than other IM sports. This fact may increase interest and competitiveness as convenience may increase students’ proclivity to practice for competitions.

“We’re hoping to really inspire the freshman just because it’s in their dorms, so they shouldn’t have to leave,” said Wetmore.

Another strength of the doubles format will be that more people will be able to participate.

“I feel like IM sports should be a group thing, to bring people together,” said Wetmore.

Conrad agreed.

“I think Whitman culture lends itself to doubles much more than singles in that we foster an inclusive community, which aligns more with team sports,” said Conrad in an email.

Brad Kline (2018). Photo by Tywen Kelly.

The preliminary response to the sport being doubles rather than singles has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I would prefer a doubles format, mostly because I have an incredibly talented partner lined-up,” said Conrad in an email.

“I feel like it could lead to a lot of injuries on such a small table. I think doubles could be fun though,” said Rolle.

The sport, which will occur prior to Spring Break during the second semester, will have a long way to go in order to replace putt-putt. The question of whether it live up to the standard of other IM sports for popularity, enthusiasm and enjoyment will be on the line as the new sport is unveiled.+

The University of Washington football team (6-5) fell 27-26 to #14 Arizona (8-2) this past Saturday, Nov. 15 in what has surely been the most disappointing game of the Chris-Peterson era.

With less than two minutes remaining and one time out for the Wildcats, the Huskies got a first down at around their own 40-yard line with a 26-24 lead. It is not uncommon for football fans to turn off the TV at this point in football games because the result is so predictable. With only one timeout, the opposing team usually has no choice but to stop the clock and then watch helplessly as their opponent runs the ball or has the quarterback kneel to keep the clock running before ending the game. But in this case, had anyone watching chosen to do that, a quick glance at the final score would’ve made them do a double take.

On first and 10, Husky running back Deontae Cooper fumbled the football and the Wildcats recovered, giving them new life with 1:23 to go. With 39 seconds facing fourth down from the 30 yard line of Washington, Arizona let the clock tick, and, though they had all three time outs, the Huskies let them run down the clock. With three seconds remaining, Arizona kicker Casey Skowron’s field goal attempt sailed wide left and it looked as though the Huskies had won the game. But before the ball was snapped Husky head coach Chris Petersen had called time out. The ball was reset and Skowron gave it another try — this one sailed right through the center of the uprights and the crowd erupted. The Huskies could only look on realizing that this was the most fitting way to end a game rot with an unbelievable combination of bad luck and blown opportunities.

By the time the game was over, the Huskies committed 16 penalties for 142 yards (just 32 yards shy of the total penalty yards record). One of these penalties came when the Huskies led 17-7. Arizona faced third and five at the UW 34 and had a pass knocked down, but the Huskies were flagged for defensive holding and the Wildcat drive stayed alive. This was only temporary, though, as the Huskies once again stopped the Wildcats at the 18. On fourth and four, the Wildcats sent on the field goal unit but caught the Huskies off guard when they faked it and Skowron scampered 18 yards into the end zone.

Penalties, despite their impact, were only part of the equation that eventually led to a Husky loss. The Huskies also gave Arizona the means to win in the form of turnovers. In the first quarter, Cyler Miles fumbled at the 14 of Arizona and the Wildcats recovered to stop a drive that had started at the Huskies 34. Later in the game, just before the end of the second half, Miles fumbled near midfield. The turnover gave the Wildcats momentum as they quickly marched down the field and scored to take a 21-17 lead at halftime. The Huskies finished with 504 yards to the Wildcats 375. Only fumbles, penalties, a missed PAT and a field goal that hit the post could account for a loss when a team dominates overall yardage by more than 100 yards.

This whole game epitomized a Husky season that has been full of  almosts. The Huskies’ first loss against then number-16 Stanford came down to a final possession. The game was tied 13-13 with five minutes to go. Their game against then number-17 Arizona State came down to a late fourth quarter score by Arizona State to break a 10-10 tie. So a disappointing loss to a highly ranked football team like Arizona in spite of every opportunity to win is rather consistent with the trend so far.

Expectations for the Huskies were high this year, but now that they have lost more games already than they did all last year, the question becomes how they will finish. Early bowl projections speculate that the Huskies will probably face an underwhelming opponent in a minor bowl. How will the team react? Will they finish on a high note? Will they finish the season flat? Or will they take the opportunity to build momentum leading into next season? These questions will be answered before the calendar year draws to a close, but one thing is certain: If the Huskies do start building a team that turns “almost” into wins, they will be very hard to stop.+

Illustration by Luke Hampton.

It is difficult to tell a college football team that managed to win all its games that it doesn’t even have the chance to play for a national championship. Yet, that happened often under the BCS system, the old way the college football postseason was organized. In fact, it happened multiple times to schools like Boise State and TCU. Thus, for this and a host of other reasons, the switch to a college football playoff system for the first time this 2014-2015 season has been embraced whole-heartedly by most college football players and fans.

For a long time, avid college football fans had complained about the BCS bowl system used to determine a national champion. Under the BCS system, the teams who participated in the college football championship were determined exclusively by in-season games from which teams garner a BCS rating. The BCS rating was an average of computers system ratings and polls. The Coaches Poll and the Harris Poll were both used. A variety of different computerized rankings were used, including Sagarin Ratings, Massey Ratings and the Colley Matrix. Many of these computer rankings focused on strength of schedule, quality of wins and margin of victory. Still, complaints about the BCS system consistently marred each season.

The teams ranked number-one and number-two played in the BCS National Championship at the end of the year. This system was often criticized because teams that were in weaker conferences could have outstanding seasons (sometimes even going undefeated) and never make the National Championship. In addition, many argued a single postseason game was insufficient to know who truly was the best college football team in the country.

Under the new system, there will be a four-team playoff to decide the national champion. The top four ranked teams in the country as determined by a selection committee will play for the championship in a bracket style tournament. Questions of whether the playoff system is an improvement from the BCS system abound and will continue indefinitely. For instance, the playoff committee itself is comprised of people with a variety of experiences. Some are administrators, some are coaches, some write about sports. This diversity was created intentionally by the committee to created a team they hope will be well-rounded. The result of this well-roundedness is a number of committee members who have very limited football experience, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is a good example. Tom Jernstedt is an NCAA basketball commissioner, but he has no experience in football. Whether these types of individuals are appropriate for a position that allows them to decide which teams to play in a college football is up for debate. In addition, the playoff system presents some of the same problems as the old BCS system.

The fifth-ranked team will undoubtedly contest its ranking (and resulting ineligibility to be national champions) in the same way that many third-ranked teams did under the BCS system. Of course, part of the indisputable improvement from the BCS system is the revenue boost — now there are three games in the postseason that are part of the playoff system.

The selection committee began publishing ratings in week 10 of the season. The third and most recent set of ratings, published Tuesday Nov. 11, rank Mississippi State number one, Oregon number two, Florida State number three and TCU number four.

As the final ratings approach, the contending teams will likely be a group of one-loss teams vying for the coveted top four spots. It is possible that one team will remain undefeated. Which team that will be is highly debatable. Though Mississippi State is considered to be better than Florida State at this point in the year, they play in the notoriously competitive SEC conference. To remain undefeated, they face the daunting task of beating now number-five Alabama and number-11 Ole Miss on the road. In contrast, number-two FSU plays in the ACC conference and faces less stout competition — playing no currently ranked teams to end their regular season.

American football fans have been calling for this new playoff system for many years. That wish has come true; now the only remaining question is whether it is best for college football.

The Whitman men’s and women’s swimming teams have begun their 2014-2015 season last weekend with a successful showing at the first meet of the season in Salem, Ore. As a team, Whitman placed third out of six in the relays and in the sprint meet the men and women placed one and three, respectively. In the relay competition, Whitman was a mere one point from achieving a three-way tie for first place. Whitman finished with 63 points, while both Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran garnered 64. Pacific, Willamette and Linfield all finished with less than 40 points.

Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

“I believe I speak for the team when I say that both the women’s and men’s teams were very happy with our performance this weekend,” said junior Captain Samuel Starr.

Beyond being pleased with just the strong results of the weekend, incoming first-year swimmer Noah Schlenk expressed that the team enjoyed their first meet as a team as well.

“We also were able to function well as a team and had a ton of fun,” said Schlenk.

The results of this meet do not contribute to final conference standings, but the meet is noteworthy for other reasons. It serves as an important opportunity for the first-years on the team to gain experience competing at a college level. While this experience is valuable, Whitman’s young swimmers did not need much of an adjustment period, as a number of first-years finished in the top 10 in various events. First year Tara Stahlecker placed fifth in the Women’s 100 Meter IM and Clark Sun placed third in the Men’s 50 Meter Butterfly and ninth in the Men’s 50 Meter Backstroke.

Johanna Brunner, a junior captain for the women’s team, noted another purpose of the event — to get a better feel for the competition.

“To figure out who the competition is, I think that’s one of the big things we see this weekend. We have these meets with the entire conference so we’re seeing all the people we’re going to be seeing in the season, it lets us feel out the competition,” said Brunner.

Will Clifford ’16. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

The last important part of the meet for the team was just for everyone on the team to get experience swimming competitively.

“It’s a good chance to get some practice racing, we haven’t really had much practice. We had one meet with the alumni, but this is the first real chance to compete with our conference and to practice that competition,” said Brunner.

On all fronts the team did exceptionally well. Though two schools were not represented (Lewis and Clark and the University of the Puget Sound), the team was certainly exposed to some of the major competitors in the conference (particularly Whitworth on the men’s side). Perhaps more notably, the team proved its capacity to successfully compete against the best teams in the conference. Schlenk expressed his excitement about the upcoming season.

“We’re all really psyched to go and swim. We’re ready,” said Schlenk.

Intramural sports sometimes get the reputation of being all about fun and not competition. This stereotype couldn’t be more false, especially after this year’s contentious flag football playoffs.

“We take it pretty seriously. Obviously we want to go out and have a great time, it’s one of the most fun parts of the fall, but we practice twice a week, we actually care about how we do in games and we organize plays,” said Brass Knuckles captain and junior Eva Davis.

The Brass Knuckles has a core group that have stuck together since their first year when their section in Anderson decided to join the IM flag football league. At that point, they were not even familiar with the sport.

“We didn’t really know what we were really doing. We ended up looking up all these videos of football and like figuring it out,” said junior Brass Knuckles quarterback Emma Neslund.

Since that time, the team has seen a significant improvement in their play.

“Our first season, when we were first years, we won, like, one or two games max. But now we’re going for the gold,” said Neslund.

The Brass Knuckles quarterback also commented on what the role of quarterback is like for her on the team.

“It’s so fun. I look forward to football every fall so much. I didn’t do football in high school, and I have four brothers who always made fun of my throwing, but I got here and realized I could throw. I love playing because it’s such a team sport and I don’t know, it’s kind of cool, everyone having their separate job,” said Neslund.

Before the playoffs began, the Brass Knuckles were undefeated (7-0). Their only close game came against last year’s champions Drink Tank — the Brass Knuckles won 13-12. Drink Tank also has a group that has played together since they were first years, though they did merge with another team that had several seniors leave. Drink Tank captain and junior Karen Vezie had never played football before coming to Whitman.

“I was kind of against playing it before I came because I’m from the UK and American football is something viewed negatively at home, but since I’ve started playing it’s been really fun,” said Vezie.

Davis expressed that beyond the competition and fun of IM sports, they do have some other lures.

“It has been different this year because I am captain, so I have had more of a leadership experience which has been really good. Mainly, it’s a nice break and it’s fun. Our team is kind of a weird mix, some from Frisbee, some from lacrosse, some just connections and we didn’t know each other, but now we’re getting closer and getting to know each other which has been really fun,” said Davis.

As the final part of the season began last Saturday, both teams had high hopes for the playoffs.

“We want to win again. Especially because we lost to Brass Knuckles, we want to win the rest of our games,” said Vezie.

But at the end of last year, after their loss to Drink Tank in the championship, Brass Knuckles made a resolution.

“We were like, ‘This next year, we’re coming back stronger. We’re going to do this,’” said Neslund.

Drama abounded as the playoffs began. Both teams were beaten by the eventual champion, Delta Gamma. Drink Tank fell to DG in the semifinals and Brass Knuckles lost a close championship game. But prior to the game, Brass Knuckles quarterback Emma Neslund had a contingency plan for a tough loss like this too.

“There’s always next year,” said Nusland.

A game between Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Gamma. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

Riley Foreman (2015) runs with the ball. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

Six women from the Whitman Sweets Ultimate Frisbee team have received invitations to try out for the 2015 U-23 national team held this November. Juniors Arianne Lozano, Elissa Picozzi, and sophomores Claire Revere, Margo Heffron and Nina Finley will try out Nov. 15-16 in Dublin, Calif. this year. Senior Julia Bladin will try out in Orlando, Fla. Nov. 22-23.

Margo Heffron ’17 catches the disc. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

The six players submitted applications to try out for the team and were among the 104 women selected to try out for the elite squad. The Whitman Sweets will be disproportionately represented at the tryout, as they are tied for first in the country with DI-schools Oregon and Colorado for most women accepted to try out.

Three of the girls, Finley, Revere and Heffron, have already had a chance to represent the United States on the junior national team.

“That was an amazing experience. I really improved during that year on my mental toughness and my skills,” said Heffron.

Making the team is a particularly challenging task. In 2012, the U-20 team received 120 applications from females. Of those, 80 were invited to try out and just 20 women made the team.

Despite the intensity of her past national team tryouts, Heffron speculated that this tryout will be even more competitive.

“Compared to the junior level, it is a big step up, because there are some big names that I’ve already played with. We have a really strong region, especially on the women’s side,” said Heffron. “At the junior level, it was more about improvement and learning new things and meeting new people than it was about making a team.”

To prepare for the competitiveness of the competition, the six players have begun training physically and mentally prepared for the tryout. During the offseason, the team has focused on lifting in preparation for the season. As they approach the season, they will shift their focus towards gaining endurance. Because both their strength and endurance will be tested in November, the six have already begun training to be in top shape for the tryout.

Ari Lozano ’16 sees her teammate for a pass. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

“Usually tryouts are during the season, which is spring, so I’ve been in shape just by virtue of training for tournaments, but this year it is in the off season. That makes it a little more difficult and I’ll definitely be at a lower level of preparedness. What it comes down to is adding to the practices that we are already having to include sprints and being certain that I’m mentally focused” said Finley.

Senior Whitman Sweets player senior Emily Ford noticed such focus and observed the girls’ team-oriented nature.

“During practices you can see their focus,” said Ford. “They’re there to help the team, not only to work hard for themselves, but to push others.”

Ford also noted that six players being invited to the national tryouts is part of a trend for the Whitman Sweets.

“The last couple of years we’ve gotten a lot more competitive. The standards keep on rising,” said Ford.

With the standards bar continuing to rise, the players look towards the season with ambitious goals.

“We could win division one nationals. We are very capable of competing neck to neck with the top teams,” said Ford.

Margo Heffron ’17 gathers the team. Photo by Hannah Bashevkin.

Many people who play sports will say that the best part is that it teaches them all sorts of invaluable lessons. Sometimes, though, learning a few lessons doesn’t require play; for example, simply following the sports world over the weekend of Oct. 4 would have sufficed.

By the end of the weekend, the top two, three and four college football teams had lost. Among the top 10 teams, the number of those who had won equaled the number of those who had lost. An MLB baseball game lasted 18 innings and broke the record for longest postseason game in recorded history.

The trouble with having a groundbreaking weekend like this one is the way in which we interpret these seemingly random groupings of facts. Instead of focusing on the big picture, we should look for the lessons we can learn from the games themselves.

Take for example the losses of five of the top 10 football teams (#2, 3, 4, 6 and 8). Entering these games, the higher-ranked team was favored to win (in most cases by a margin of greater than a touchdown). For Arizona, Ole Miss and TCU, opponents of the top 2, 3 and 4th ranked teams respectively, the game was not decided until the final possession.

In #2-ranked Oregon’s final chance to score, unranked Arizona’s Scooby Wright forced a fumble that handed the Ducks their first defeat at home since 2012. With #3 Auburn marching towards the Ole Miss end zone in an effort to escape the upset, senior Senquez Golson intercepted an Alabama pass to make sure the Rebels’ 23-17 lead would hold.

As #4-ranked Oklahoma faced 4th and 1 on the TCU 22 yard line, trailing 37-33 with enough time to score remaining, linebacker Marcus Mallet stopped Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine for no gain to hand Oklahoma its first defeat of the year.

So what does this tell us? All five teams who managed to beat their favored opponent refused to give in, even at the last second when they were in jeopardy of losing. They came to defy expectations and they didn’t stop until they had done what they came to do.

Football was not the only sport to display players’ iron resolve. Anyone who has played baseball knows that it is a physically and mentally demanding sport — even in a typical nine-inning game. Very few players have ever spent 18 innings on the field struggling for a single run to split a deadlocked game. This was exactly the situation in which the Giants and the Nationals found themselves.

For over six hours, Brandon Belt had been held hitless (0/6) on the night when he stepped to the plate for the Giants. Facing a strong right-handed reliever in Tanner Roark, Belt worked the count to 3-2 before turning on a 94-mph fastball on the inner half of the plate, lacing it over the right field wall to finally break the tie.

On this one pitch, Belt displayed the same kind of defiance and determination that Wright, Golson and Mallet showed. Each player was the hero of his team, but each would acknowledge that every win is a team effort, especially in gruelling games.

On days like these in sports, it is hard not to be inspired to strive for your best and not to believe that any goal is attainable. No matter what the endeavor we pursue, we are reminded by games like these to reject other’s expectations and to only listen to our own dreams and aspirations.

The Whitman tennis team opened in dominant fashion at the USTA/ITA Regional Tournament held at the Whitman tennis courts from Sept. 19 to 22. Members of the team placed first and second in the singles and doubles tournaments, and Whitman featured five of the final eight competitors in the singles tournament. Yet, according to sophomore tennis player Jakob Dewitt-Hoeger and winner of the doubles tournament, the team hoped for even better.

“We wanted a Whitman semi-final in doubles and we got that in one of the pairings, and then we had to beat a Pacific team that was good [in the other pairing],” said Dewitt-Hoeger.

The expectations for the Whitman tennis team could hardly be higher based on the success the team experiences year in and year out. In fact, the team has not lost a conference game in close to 100 matches. Although the in-conference competition has not proved too challenging for Whitman, the relentless success does prompt in-conference foes to gun for Whitman. However, such motivation did not prove sufficient to break Whitman’s stronghold on the tournament.

Colton Malesovas ’15 serves the ball. Photo by Emily Volpert.

Even though the championship match in singles and doubles did exclusively features Whitman athletes, it still held plenty of surprise. The singles championship pitted senior Colton Malesovas against first-year Zach Hewlin. It took three hard-fought sets, but Hewlin managed to defeat Malesovas (6–4, 4–6, 6–2). Despite the result, Hewlin remained cautious to draw any definite conclusions.

“I had a luckily easier draw up to that point. Whereas [Malesovas] kind of had a few longer matches, I had a withdrawal,” said Hewlin. “I played a set on Monday morning and got a withdrawal after that, which limited my time on the court, so I was more rested.”

Nevertheless, Hewlin expressed optimism that the result of the match might inspire the players on the team.

“Hopefully we all feel that we can break through at any time,” he said.

Head Men’s Tennis Coach Jeff Northam also noted that it was still early in the season, but performances like Hewlin’s demonstrated the strength of the recruiting class. He also pointed to the success of other incoming players, noting that all but one won a first or second round match. Coach Northam indicated that this kind of success did not surprise him based on the ability of the younger players.

The doubles tournament also featured a surprising result, in which Hewlin and his partner Dewitt-Hoeger handed Malesovas and senior James Rivers their first defeat of the year (4–6, 6–4, 10–8).

The success of Dewitt-Hoeger and Hewlin will lead them to South Carolina the week after next to compete in a tournament against players from across the nation. Following the competition, the two will rejoin the rest of their teammates as they approach the off-season. Last year, the Whitman tennis team finished as the 12th-ranked team in the nation.

Dewitt-Hoeger said that this year’s goal is to finish in the top 10.

“We’re all super excited in the Whitman camp right now,” said Dewitt-Hoeger.