Sports
October 26, 2023
Women’s XC places 2nd, men take 4th
With just one meet to go before the NAIA National Championships, the men’s and women’s cross country teams are peaking at just the right time. Last Saturday, both teams traveled to the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge meet, which took place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. With nearly 30 schools present, the Leafs rose to the challenge. The women’s team placed second out of 22 competitors and the men’s team took home fourth place out of 27 competitors. To head coach Rustin Nyce, the achievements set the team up well for the coming Crossroads League Championships at Taylor University on Nov. 3. ...
October 26, 2023
Men’s soccer looks to the future
The Goshen College men’s soccer season is nearing its end. After last night’s game, they have a record of 1-14-2 with one game left on Saturday at 7 p.m. Despite how it looks from the outside, there is optimism both within the team and from the coach, Dan Sullivan, who was named head coach this spring. When asked about the season and the future of the program, Sullivan said, “We have weeks where the attitude is good, but when the results don’t come it is an added layer of stress while trying to stay on top of things. When you...
October 12, 2023
Community and opportunity
Of the 88 international students at Goshen College, 65 of them are student-athletes. For international athletes who are searching for a spot on a college roster in the U.S., the application process varied greatly. According to Matija Margetic, a sophomore from Croatia on the tennis team, his most important step in being recognized was getting into contact with an international sports agent. “I ended up hiring an agent because I had already seen an agent work with some of my friends, which was really, really helpful,” he said. “Okay, I cannot get any responses [alone], let me do that. …...
October 12, 2023
Volleyball wins no. 8
The women’s volleyball team earned their eighth win on Saturday during homecoming weekend, which gave the Leafs their most wins since 2017. Goshen defeated Indiana University South Bend in four sets. GC won the first set 25-17 and continued their strong performance with 16 kills in a second-set win over the Titans, 25-15. The Titans came back in the third set with a 25-15 victory over the Leafs, but GC responded quickly with a 25-11 victory in the fourth set to close the match out. Emily Lynch, a junior, picked up 16 kills in the game — the most she...
October 12, 2023
How bowling came to GC
Goshen College is beginning to recruit for a new intercollegiate sport: men’s and women’s bowling. Competition is set to begin next fall against seven teams that already have bowling programs in the Crossroads League. The players will form the 15th and 16th intercollegiate teams at GC, with their home games played at Maple City Bowl, a bowling alley on West Pike Street in Goshen. The last team GC established was the men’s volleyball team in 2018. Scott Curtis will serve as the first ever bowling head coach, directing both the men’s and women’s teams. Curtis, who started on Aug. 1,...
October 5, 2023
Passion fuels cross country
The Goshen College cross country teams traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, where they competed in the “Live in Lou Cross Country Classic.” The men placed seventh of 46 teams in the 8K blue race. GC’s men’s team is currently ranked No. 13 nationally, and they beat multiple ranked teams: No. 11 Grace, No. 13 Taylor, No. 14 St. Francis, No. 15 Aquinas, No. 17 Lewis-Clark St. and No. 22 Olivet Nazarene. The women placed 30th of 41 in the 5K blue race and are currently ranked No. 24. The women beat all teams receiving votes in the NAIA coaches...
October 5, 2023
Tennis changes its home court
A lot can change in a year, and the Goshen College tennis teams have gotten used to staying on their toes both on and off the court. For starters, less than a week before the season began, Jon Bemisderfer began his role as director of tennis, taking on the coaching of both teams. In addition to having a new coach, the teams had to travel for their games — even the home matches. Due to the poor condition of the GC tennis courts, the teams moved their home games to Goshen Junior High School, for at least this year. The...
September 28, 2023
Owning your identity
A Hispanic-Serving Institution has to have at least 25% of its full-time undergraduate students identify as Hispanic for consecutive years. In athletics, though, only 16.3% of student-athletes identify themselves as Hispanic, according to Justin DeWeese, assistant athletic director of communications. So, what does it mean to be a student-athlete as a Hispanic individual? Stephany Claudio, a junior psychology major, spoke about how she ended up running at GC. At first, Claudio ran for fun, but when high school started, she came to the realization that she needed to find a way to pay for college. “I felt pressured to just...
September 28, 2023
Women’s soccer starts conference play
The women’s soccer team started the season with a perfect 5-0 start, their best since 1997. Following the undefeated start, they lost two and tied two games and had a record of 5-2-2 before entering conference play. In their opening conference game, the women traveled to Huntington University where they lost 2-0. Both goals for Huntington were scored within a span of 62 seconds. After Wednesday’s 5-0 loss to Marian University, the women’s current record is 5-4-2 on the season. The women’s soccer team faces tough competition in the Crossroads League. Three of the 10 teams are nationally ranked in...
September 14, 2023
Excellence rewarded
Goshen College held the annual LEAFYs Awards this past Sunday, honoring the athletic and academic achievements of student-athletes throughout the 2022-23 seasons. The emcee for the event was Vince Turner, a former sports journalist for the Elkhart Truth and a broadcaster for 13 years who covered play-by-play for both local high school teams and Notre Dame events. The LEAFYs featured many categories of recognition for athletes and teams across GC. The Male Athlete of the Year was awarded to Nelson Kemboi for his three time All-American status: cross country, the indoor track 3K and the outdoor track 10K. “It felt...
September 14, 2023
Tennis adjusts to injuries, new coach
Men’s and women’s tennis are trusting in their early season improvements and new coaching adjustments to set themselves up for conference play. Last year the men’s and women’s tennis teams finished their seasons 7-6 and 4-9 respectively and have set bigger goals this season. The men’s team had a tough start against two conference powerhouses, losing to Grace College and Huntington University, teams who finished first and second respectively in last season’s conference standings. The men’s team is currently 1-4-1 after beating Spring Arbor, with their draw coming against Judson in a match cut short by lighting. The women’s team...
September 14, 2023
First win for men’s soccer
The Goshen College men’s soccer team recorded their first win of the season last Wednesday, moving to 1-6-1 on the year. The Leafs outscored Concordia University 3-1 with goals from Mathurin Allawai, Tim Wilkening and Tebello Ntene. Allawai, a senior, scored his second goal this season during the 16th minute of the game. Tim Wilkening, a junior, scored the second goal in the 75th minute, with an assist by Eli Simones, a sophomore. This was Wilkening’s first goal as a Maple Leaf after recovering from a broken tibia last year. Ntene was knocked down inside the 18-yard box, resulting in...
September 8, 2023
Soccer starts the year perfect
Last year, the Goshen College women’s soccer team ended with a record of 5-12-1. This year, the team hoped to take steps in the right direction. And indeed, they have had an impressive start to their season: the Leafs are currently 5-0, their best start to a season since 1997. This past weekend, they won 3-0 against Carolina University, led by junior Seja Lang who scored twice for the Leafs. Brynja Hjartardottir scored the third goal to secure the win. “We are all very excited about our potential this season,” freshman Sophia Yoder said. “Our determination and togetherness could take...
September 8, 2023
Volleyball digs deep
The Goshen College women’s volleyball team is off to an explosive start this season. After their first nine games, they have a record of 6-3 — a stark comparison to the first nine games last year, in which they had a 1-8 record. With the new season, the Leafs have introduced a new head coach in Jeff Phillips, along with assistant coach Wyatt Bollinger. Sophomore Kassidy Faler, who plays libero, expressed her thoughts about the coaching changes. “I like the new philosophy,” she said. “It is really big on team, community, and accepting your role on the team and that...
September 8, 2023
Cross country takes on Division I
The men’s and women’s cross country teams began their season on Sept. 1 at the Winrow-Valparaiso Open in Valparaiso. The meet was made up of NCAA Division I schools and fellow NAIA team Grace College. GC men’s and women’s teams were nationally ranked in the preseason polls. The men are ranked No. 13 and the women are ranked No. 24. The top performer for the men was junior Mathew Keitany, who placed sixth. Close behind were two more GC runners, senior Nelson Kemboi and sophomore Drew Hogan. Kemboi placed seventh, and Hogan took eighth place. Rounding out the top five...