Sports
February 23, 2023
Phillips named new women’s volleyball coach
Last Monday, Jeff Phillips was announced as the new head coach of the Goshen College women’s volleyball team. Phillips is the 12th head coach in the program’s history. Previously, he coached on-and- off at Wawasee High School, where he had a winning record of 146-119 across the span of seven years. He served in coaching positions at two other northern Indiana schools, spending two years at Warsaw High School and one year at Tippecanoe Valley High School. Phillips was also a head coach at Empowered Volleyball Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana and program coach for the Outland Volleyball Club. Additionally,...
February 23, 2023
Frustration yet progress: Basketball ends
Both the men’s and women’s 2022-2023 basketball seasons have come to a close. The men finished with a record of 3-25 and the women finished 7-21. Micah Spatt, center, led the Leafs in celebrations this year. Ashly Christison//The Record The leading scorer on the men’s team was senior Elias Ramirez, with a total of 367 points, averaging 13.1 points per game (PPG). Kaden Johnson, a freshman, led the team in rebounds and blocks with 214 and 24, respectively and averaged 7.9 boards a game. Johnson’s season high was 16 rebounds against Marian on Jan. 7. Greg Johnson II, a sophomore,...
February 16, 2023
Track preps for conference
The men’s and women’s track and field teams will be traveling to Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) to compete in the Crossroads League Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday. The last two weeks have been full of success — including breaking a school record. On Feb. 4, the Leafs competed at Indiana Wesleyan in the IWU Midwest Classic. The meet started off well for the Maple Leafs, with a National ‘A’ Standard by the women’s 4×800 relay. Juniors Summer Cooper and Mia Wellington, sophomore Stephany Claudio and freshman Britney Ortega ran a combined time of 9:43.28. This time earned them third...
February 16, 2023
Softball starts slow, but wins at home
The Goshen College softball team kicked off their season last Friday with a double-header in Brighton, Michigan. The Leafs’ day was marked with fast pitchers and hard hitters. They first competed against Concordia University of Michigan, which defeated the Leafs in a 8-0 shutout. The second game yielded similar results, with the Leafs falling to Lawrence Tech University (LTU) 4-0. In the first matchup against Concordia, GC’s freshman starter Esme Pico struck out the final batter of the first inning, keeping the game scoreless going into the second. Concordia rebounded quickly, though, scoring two in the inning. Another source...
February 2, 2023
Track teams ‘want a national standard’
The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the 2023 Hillsdale Wide Track Classic on Jan. 28. This is the third meet of the year heading into the middle of the season. In the previous meet, Nelson Kemboi, a junior, hit the national “A” standard in the 3,000 meter race with a time of 8:37.58. Summer Cooper, also a junior, hit the national “A” standard in the mile with a time of 5:06.98. Freshman Madison “Mady” Axom jumped a height of 1.62 meters (5 feet 3.75 inches). This jump tied the school record and earned her third place....
February 2, 2023
Men’s basketball triumphs over the Trojans
Goshen College men’s basketball team played a conference game at home against the Taylor Trojans on Jan. 26. The game was scheduled for the night prior but was postponed due to inclement weather. Earlier in the season, the Maple Leafs fell to the Trojans 59-79 in Upland, IN. Before Thursday, the Leafs had not beaten the Trojans since 2019, in a game led by Judah Simfukwe with 14 points and Kaden Johnson, who had nine rebounds and six assists. The Leafs started the game behind the Trojans by 4-5, but then went on a 10-0 run, leading the game 14-5....
January 26, 2023
Softball Swings into Preseason
The Goshen College softball team will debut their 2023 season on Feb. 10. This season, the Leafs are under the direction of Luke Wagner, who took over the position of head coach in August 2022. Wagner previously coached at Rhodes College, an NCAA Division III institute in Memphis, Tennessee, for 11 seasons. During his time there, he racked up the most wins of any coach in the program, with 217 wins and a 58.8% win percentage. Wagner is also pushing his teams toward academic success. Over Wagner’s years at Rhodes College, his teams earned “Top 100” GPA status, an award...
January 26, 2023
Women’s basketball bouncing back
The Goshen College women’s basketball team is more than halfway through the season, and they have their eyes set on the Crossroads League tournament. This season started off strong with the team winning their first three games, but it eventually slowed down. During winter break, the Leafs went 1-7, but the team culture remains unbreakable. Head coach Stephanie Miller described the team as feeling “frustrated but hopeful.” “I am so proud of this group for the way they are being resilient during a difficult time,” said Miller. “This group is doing a really good job of just understanding that it’s...
January 19, 2023
Track teams begin their journey
The men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Trine University in Angola, Indiana to compete in the Sean Brady Alumni Invite on Saturday. This was the third meet of the indoor season. The men’s team scored 22 points and placed 10th of 14 teams, and the women placed 14th of 14. On the women’s team, the field events were led by our star thrower, Willow Kenneda, a junior. Kenneda placed 14th in shot put with a throw of 10.54 meters (34 feet 7 inches) and placed 18th in the weight throw with a throw of 12.34 m (40-6)....
January 19, 2023
Men’s volleyball tackles changes
The Goshen College men’s volleyball team will debut their season under new leadership this weekend. After the resignation of previous head coach Lauren Ford in early January, the team is now under the direction of new interim coaches. Jewel Lehman is filling the head coaching position this season, and she is joined by assistant coaches Val Hershberger and Andy Bennett. Lehman is the department chair of the kinesiology department and has experience coaching at the collegiate level. From 2004 to 2008, she led the GC women’s volleyball team to success, with a winning record in three of the five seasons...
December 1, 2022
Cross-country ranks at nationals; Leafs receive honors
The Goshen College men’s cross-country team entered the NAIA National Championship race ranked 26th in the nation. “Having experience at nationals, we know that a lot of people go out way too hard,” head coach Rustin Nyce said. “In order to not get caught up in that … we raced smart and patient. We went out fast enough, but everybody else went out faster.” The race strategy worked well for the Maple Leafs. Between the 1.17 kilometer mark (the first timing checkpoint, where the Leafs sat in 31st position) and the finish line, Goshen’s seven runners combined to pass 581...
December 1, 2022
Leafs look to continue strong start to WBB season
The last time the Goshen College women’s basketball team had a winning record in a season, the team went on a run to the 2016 NAIA national semifinals. This year, the Maple Leafs are striving to end the six-year losing streak — and it’s beginning to look like a real possibility. With the Leafs holding a 5-2 record before Wednesday night’s matchup at the University of St. Francis, Goshen has come out of the gate hot and ready to “turn some heads,” as junior Zion Neat put it. “We have a really good culture going right now,” Neat said, “and everybody...
November 10, 2022
Cross-country takes on Crossroads League Championships
On Friday, the men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed in the Crossroads League Tournament in Shelbyville, IN, in the last race before the NAIA National Championships, which will take place in Tallahassee, Florida, on Nov. 18. The 36-team field for the championships was announced on Tuesday. The men finished 26th in the rankings, good enough for an at-large bid and a spot in the national finals. The top 30 teams are eligible for an at-large bid. The women finished with a ranking of 31st, missing nationals by the slimmest of margins. On Saturday, though, the team finished in fifth place...
November 10, 2022
Leafs fall to Knights in Crossroads League quarterfinals
The Goshen College women’s soccer season came to an end last Saturday, as the Maple Leafs fell, 4-0, to No. 2 Marian in the Crossroads League tournament quarterfinals. After losing to Marian 6-0 just two weeks prior, the Leafs came into the matchup knowing it would be a long road to a win — and the undefeated Knights had no problem breezing past the Maple Leafs once again, as Naomi Walters gathered a hat trick in the opening half-hour. Marian added a penalty kick in the 75th minute, and the Knights now face Taylor in the semifinals. The Leafs ended...
November 10, 2022
Crawford’s GC coaching career comes to a close
On Thursday, Nov. 3, Goshen College parted ways with women’s volleyball head coach, Kourtney Crawford. The decision comes after three consecutive winless years in the Crossroads League for the volleyball team. In that stretch, the Leafs went 0-51 in conference play and 6-78 overall. In total, the team held a record of 14-105 (6-78 in the Crossroads League) under Crawford. With a winning percentage of .117 in her four years at Goshen, the separation is perhaps unsurprising to many. Still, the volleyball team is reeling from Crawford’s departure. Gwyn Bellamy, a junior and captain on the team, described Thursday as...