COVID-19 continues to change the ways sports are being played for the 11 teams in the Crossroads League, including Goshen College. The league announced on July 26 that it would pursue a fall sports season even as many schools across the country canceled sports for the semester.  Since that announcement was made, Goshen College has rescheduled and canceled games. Most recently the athletic department shutdown sports due to a widespread of the coronavirus throughout the athletic department.  “I am very proud of the effort our leadership has demonstrated in protecting our student-athletes while providing the opportunity to compete,” said Larry...

By William Troyer • October 22, 2020 • Sports

After GC opted to shut down their athletic programs for a week Monday, Oct. 12 to Oct. 19, many teams were forced to reschedule games. In total, 11 games were postponed among women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer. Women’s volleyball postponed four games and cancelled two more.  Their games against Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor University were all postponed to a later date. An upcoming game scheduled against Mount Vernon Nazarene on Oct. 24 has been canceled due to Ohio’s travel restrictions. Lastly, their upcoming game against Spring Arbor University has been cancelled.  Men’s and women’s soccer schedules underwent massive changes. ...

By Gabe Kermode • October 22, 2020 • Sports

On Monday, Oct. 12, Goshen College announced it  would be shutting down the athletic department through Monday, Oct. 19. This shutdown not only impacted sports competition, but also included closing the Recreation-Fitness Center to all students until the start of next week. The decision to postpone sports competition and practice was made after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases from within the athletic department.  “At this time our biggest challenge is to decrease the spread of the coronavirus on our campus.” said Gilberto Perez, dean of students. “The one-week pause allows athletic teams to assess their COVID-19 preventative measure protocols...

By William Troyer • October 15, 2020 • Sports

Two booming voices embody the broadcasting major experience for students at Goshen College: the voices of Paul Condry, president and founder of Regional Radio Sports Network (RRSN) and Jason Samuel, assistant professor of communication.  RRSN, a broadcasting company based in Mishawaka, Indiana, provides coverage of student athletic events throughout Northern Indiana, including Crossroads League events, and their connection with Goshen College goes beyond the playing field.  GC’s very own radio station, 91.1 The Globe, is one of the places one can tune in to RRSN, with their weekly sports show, “The Coaches Box,” on Thursdays from 6-7 p.m. and Penn...

By Erica Gunden • September 24, 2020 • Features

The stands inside the Ruth Gunden Gymnasium just have not looked the same since the latter days of the 2019-2020 basketball season, and for five long months, they stood empty. No cheering mothers and fathers, no visiting alumni and no raucous student section were present to cheer on Maple Leaf athletics.  And as the spring 2020 sports fell one by one, so did the likelihood that the fall 2020 season would go off without a hitch, spectators included. When Goshen College’s fall 2020 spectator policy was officially released on Sept. 4 in order to maintain social distance guidelines, limitations were...

By Dante Stanton • September 24, 2020 • Sports

Colleges throughout the country are struggling with the reality of sports during a pandemic. Goshen College, despite its small size and low COVID-19 numbers, is not immune to this struggle.  The women’s soccer team was set to face off in their first official contest of the year against Crossroads League Rival, Bethel University, on Wednesday, Sept.16, but the game was canceled after several Bethel University women’s players contracted COVID-19.  This marks the second cancellation within the past two weeks for the Maple Leafs, as their planned scrimmage against Trine University was also cancelled on Sept.12 under similar circumstances. The GC...

By Dante Stanton • September 17, 2020 • Sports

After cancelling sports back in the spring of 2020, Goshen College has done what many thought wouldn’t be done: host a fall sports season amidst a global pandemic. The Goshen College athletic department, along with coaches and student athletes, have followed all the guidelines and taken the necessary precautions to get fall sports underway on time.  Kicking off the fall sports season on Saturday, Sept. 5, will be a road double header for the men’s and women’s tennis teams. First, the teams will travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to play the University of Saint Francis beginning at 9:30 a.m.  Following...

By William Troyer • September 3, 2020 • Sports

The first case of COVID-19 on Goshen College’s campus was confirmed last Tuesday, Aug. 18. Soon after, seven individuals were notified through contact tracing and are now quarantining on floors one and two of Miller Residence Hall for two weeks. Positive COVID-19 numbers remained stagnant until Aug. 26, when Student Life informed athletes that an entire varsity team would be quarantining after being exposed to a single positive case.  “The Crossroads League has been notified, and the first matches of this team’s season will be rescheduled to a later date,” Erica Albertin, interim athletic director and head athletic trainer, and...

By Nick Yutzy • August 27, 2020 • News

The 2020 fall sports season will be different, and at the helm of leadership for Goshen College is Erica Albertin, interim athletic director. Albertin has been the athletic trainer for Goshen College since 2016, and with the release of former athletic director Harold Watson last spring, she stepped into a bigger role in the athletic department. “[She] has demonstrated the ability to lead in her area,” said Gilberto Perez, vice president of student life, in an earlier interview this year.  Along with her role as head athletic trainer, Albertin was the associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator in 2018. ...

By Gabe Kermode • August 27, 2020 • Sports

All Goshen College athletic events will be suspended until April 1, the interim athletic director team informed student athletes in an email Friday evening. The announcement followed a decision by the Crossroads League earlier in the day to suspend competition in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus.   The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, of which the men’s volleyball team is a member, canceled the 2020 spring season for good.   The GC athletic teams most affected are the four currently in season: baseball, softball, track and field and men’s volleyball.   The men’s volleyball team found out Friday evening that their win against Judson University...

By Sierra Ross Richer • March 14, 2020 • News

Harold Watson, former athletic director, was released from Goshen College two weeks ago. A team of four current GC employees have been selected to take over as an interim athletic director team and will continue to unfold the athletic department’s strategic plan until a new athletic director is hired.  The strategic direction for GC athletics aims for a community in which athletes are involved and integrated in spaces across campus while still supported to win games. To achieve this goal, the athletic department will look to hire an athletic director and coaches who can model interdisciplinary engagement for the athletes...

By Gabe Miller • March 13, 2020 • News

In basketball and bull riding, time is everything.  A basketball player is granted ten seconds to advance the ball over the mid-court line before receiving a violation. In bull riding, a rider attempts to stay atop the bull for eight seconds. For Austin Branagan, a sophomore from Lowell, Michigan, he’s familiar with both. A forward on the GC men’s basketball team, Branagan grew up playing basketball and football from a young age. But in the past year, he has tapped into a newly discovered passion influenced by years spent on his family farm: bull riding. “It’s kind of like the...

By Mackenzie Miller • February 16, 2020 • Features

On Monday Feb. 10, a group of Goshen College students boarded a minivan at 7 a.m. driven by Jason Saumel, general manager of Globe Radio and assistant professor of communications. The group of twelve headed to Indianapolis for the 20th Annual Pacers Sports and Entertainment Career Fair.  The day began with “Inside the Front Office'' sessions, starting with a marketing presentation from Greg Rapaport, the digital marketing manager for the Indiana Pacers, and Shayna Sangster, director of marketing for Indiana Fever. Following the marketing presentation, the students were then able to choose from one of three breakout sessions. They could...

By Megan Bower • February 16, 2020 • News

On Super Bowl Sunday 2020, Goshen College graduate Katie Sowers will make history as the first woman and the first openly gay coach to appear at the Super Bowl. 11 years ago, Goshen College denied Sowers a volunteer coaching position on the basis of her sexual orientation.  An official apology released by Goshen College President Rebecca Stoltzfus last week acknowledged the denial and has sparked conversations about the college’s past and present policies related to supporting LGBTQ+ students and faculty.  Sowers, who attended Goshen after transferring from Hesston College, played basketball for the Maple Leafs. After she graduated, Sowers applied...

By Siana Emery • January 31, 2020 • News

Seth Weaver, a senior biology major, was featured on ESPN 3 on October 27 in the Ultimate Frisbee National Championships. Despite coming into the tournament ranked sixth in the USA Ultimate (USAU) Men’s Club Division, Weaver’s team, Chicago Machine, made it to the finals. Machine fell just short of the title, with a 13-12 loss to Seattle Sockeye, but Weaver himself put up an impressive performance with a number of key plays. Machine signed Weaver in July 2019, but he has been playing Ultimate professionally since February, when he was offered a spot on Chicago Wildfire, Chicago’s professional Frisbee team,...

By Sophia Martin • November 18, 2019 • Features