Student Athletes
December 8, 2016
Francois-Ravalier plays soccer internationally
Coming off of his first year of playing as a Maple Leaf at Goshen College, Ethan Francois-Ravalier is following the plan he started when he was a young boy in grade school in England – to play international professional soccer. Francois-Ravalier, born in Leicester, England, played his first international soccer game for the island country of Grenada on June 1, losing to Puerto Rico 3-4 in penalties. Six days later, he played against Antigua to a similar result, losing 1-5. Both games were part of the Caribbean Cup, a soccer tournament for teams that are members of the Caribbean Football...
December 1, 2016
Thirteen years of race walking leads Emery to GC
Siana Emery, a first-year, packed up her Saucony A5 shoes and moved just shy of 1,000 miles to Goshen College to compete with other athletes in a track event that isn’t as easy as it sounds: race walking. Emery, with the encouragement of her parents, began race walking at 5 years old for the United States Track and Field program in Yarmouth, Maine. “My parents put me in the U.S. Track and Field track program for kids, and I wanted to do three events a week,” Emery said. “So, my mom taught me to race walk because I needed an...
December 1, 2016
The O’Neal sisters join the Maple Leaf squad
Twin sisters, Carley and Caitlyn O’Neal are junior transfer students who both play basketball for Goshen College. Carley is an exercise science major, while Caitlyn is an art major with a minor in marketing. Carley and Caitlyn had initially visited Goshen as juniors in high school for softball. While visiting, Stephanie Miller, head coach, heard that they also played basketball and met with them. They’ve kept in touch ever since. “We really hit it off,” said Carley. “She was the very first collegiate coach to be interested in us as a ‘package’ for basketball. And that relationship held a special...
March 17, 2016
For the love of the game: fighting through major sports injuries
A jump. A fall. A pop. That’s how easy it is to tear your ACL. According to ESPN, there are between 250,000 and 300,000 ACL injuries per year. Katy Anspach, a senior volleyball player and sports management major at Goshen College, contributed to that statistic not once, but twice. While on the volleyball preseason trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the summer of 2013, Anspach experienced her first injury. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Anspach, who was a sophomore at the time. “It was the second set of the first game that we were playing,” she said. ...
February 11, 2016
Quiet as a mouse, but with a game that speaks volumes
Sophia Sears, or as most people know her, Sophie, is a junior point guard for the Goshen College women’s basketball team. Throughout her career she has proven to be just what the Maple Leafs are looking for to run the show. Despite her quiet persona, Sears has found a way to lead the team through unselfish play and consistently. “The girl is quiet as a mouse, but her game speaks volumes,” said Liz Tecca, a senior teammate. This calm and collected attitude plays a huge role in Sears’ success. Most coaches would agree that they want a point guard that...
February 11, 2016
Basketball player becomes the best soccer player in Indiana
Indiana Player of the Year, First Team All State, First Team All District, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Athlete of the Week and First Team All-Crossroads League—these titles all belong to Isaac Huerta, a Goshen College soccer player. Huerta became a local soccer sensation almost overnight, emerging as the best player in the state after less than five years of playing the sport. Despite his recognition for the sport of soccer, Huerta actually spent most of his life as a basketball player in Mexico. He was so passionate about basketball, in fact, that he would travel two hours by car...
December 3, 2015
Junior Olympic fencer attends Goshen College
Anja Kenagy may be the only student at Goshen College that had to decide whether or not to pack her swords. Kenagy is a first year student from New York, and a fencer. Kenagy has been fencing for four years, since she was a freshman in high school. “I was looking for a sport to do in high school, and I was basing it off who was in it,” she said. “I had made friends in art class who had been fencing on the side, so I decided to join [fencing] with them.” She said she enjoys fencing because “it’s...
November 19, 2015
Student spotlight: Liz Tecca
Liz Tecca is senior on the Goshen women’s basketball team from Kalamazoo, Michigan. On November 3rd, Tecca became the 13th women’s basketball player to score 1000 career points in a victory over Aquinas College. How does it feel to hit 1000 points and be a member of that select group? It feels pretty good. It feels good to know that years of hard work is paying off and kind of just a milestone to check off the list. It’s been good! You started the game against Aquinas at just six points shy, so were you mentally checking off how many...
October 1, 2015
Student Spotlight: Irene Schmid
For Irene Schmid, a senior cross country member, running began at home. “My parents have always been very active. I think I ran/walked my first race when I was four, but I started running competitively 10 years ago when I was in 7th grade. My parents told me that if I ran cross country, I could get a cat. The cat died long ago, but I’m still running, so I guess it was a good trade off,” she said. Her decision to come to Goshen College was also rooted in her home life. “GC was basically the go-to choice for...
September 10, 2015
Student spotlight: Tevin Gilkes
It is not hard to see him on campus—he is 6’5” and he always has a smile on his face. Tevin Gilkes is a newcomer on the Goshen College men’s soccer team and one of the voices for the songs before games. Gilkes was born in Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago, on January 6, 1993. Ever since he was little, he has played soccer. Gilkes’ passion for soccer comes from his family, where the sport is a big tradition. “My uncles and dad played ‘football’ a lot,” he said. For Goshen, Gilkes will play as a center back, but at the...
January 15, 2014
Student Academics Recognized by NAIA
Being a student athlete can sometimes be a balancing act. Staying motivated both in the classroom and in athletics has its challenges. In an effort to commend the hard work of athletes who are excelling in both areas, the NAIA recognizes juniors and seniors with an accumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher with a scholar-athlete award. Student athletes like senior nursing major Ali Beitler learn to establish a balance with athletics and class workloads. Beitler said that the key to that balancing is “looking ahead and knowing what needs to be done, when.” Beitler has been on the...
December 7, 2013
Smith makes history
It was 26 degrees with wind gusting to 20 miles per hour when the gun sounded to begin the NAIA national cross-country meet on Nov. 23. To say that most people wouldn’t choose to run in those conditions is an understatement; to declare the weather a detriment to performance would be another. At least one Maple Leaf appeared to be unfettered by the weather, as Ryan Smith, a first-year, turned in the fastest national meet time in Goshen history. Smith finished 63rd, traversing the eight kilometer (4.97 mile) course in 25 minutes, 34.27 seconds. His time was the sixth fastest...
November 8, 2013
Thorne against the net
Natalie Thorne is a first-year social work major from Goshen, with minors in peace, justice and conflict studies and women’s studies. She was one of two goalies for the women’s soccer team this fall and is now transitioning into basketball. Describe your childhood soccer career. I got started with soccer first with the Goshen Youth Soccer Organization. In second grade, I got started with Goshen Stars, a traveling league. I played with the Goshen Stars up until my fifth grade year. As my teammates entered middle school and started their middle school soccer careers, I continued to play with them....
October 22, 2013
Pirot named all-league tennis selection
Balazs Pirot, a sophomore tennis player, was named to the men’s tennis All-Crossroads League team this past week. Pirot was one of only five unanimous selections for the 2013 team, as voted by the league’s coaches. The 12 man all-league team is selected every fall, following the conference season. “I kind of expected it, actually,” said Pirot. “My season was going really well. But I still felt happy [after hearing it]. I got to find out that all nine out of nine coaches voted for me. ” Pirot finished the season 18-3 in singles play, 8-5 in doubles. He finished...
October 6, 2013
Smith breaks 33-year-old program record in second career race
Ryan Smith’s college cross country career is off to an auspicious start. A 33-year-old Goshen College record fell Friday night when Smith, a first-year, crossed the finish line at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational, a cross country meet in Rock Island, Illinois. Smith completed the 8,000 meter (4.97 mile) course in 25 minutes, 19 seconds, nine seconds faster than the time set by Mark Plank during his sophomore season of 1982. Smith finished fifth overall, the top NAIA finisher in a meet that attracted 34 complete teams in addition to unattached runners. Goshen finished ninth as a team, the second highest NAIA...