The Official Blog of OC Athletics
Friday, March 31, 2006
Golf coach David Lynn sits down with Wes McKinzie and discusses the OC golf team’s lofty goals. Wes and Tyler Hancock also discuss the softball team’s current season and Linzi Farris’ inspirational story.
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Friday, March 24, 2006
Tyler Hancock and Justin Fletcher discuss the 2005-2006 basketball seasons and look forward to next year.
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Friday, March 17, 2006
WES McKINZIE, Blog Host
Call this the unkindest cut of all. We were set up for a storybook moment - Coach Hays leads OC to the Elite 8 for the first time and earns his 500th OC victory in the process. The team knew Texas Wesleyan would be a tough opponent because the Eagle-Ram games are always close. But OC always wins ... until Friday.
The national tournament curse continues, but OC hoops has moved to another level. This stretch of three NAIAs in four years is the best ever for the Eagles under the current qualification format. And OC has advanced to the Sweet 16 in all three of those appearances.
Brady Page became the first Eagle to play in three national tournaments. It will be different with him not running the point next year. Seniors Dillon Ripley, Drew Cross, Kendrick Jackson and Gary Jones played their final games for OC. Dillon had a great first-round game, Gary played some good minutes in the opener, and Drew and Kendrick made huge contributions in the Sweet 16 game. Drew had a solid tournament; it was a nice finish for a guy who worked his way up to varsity from the JV team.
The tournament atmosphere is great in KC. I’d love it if the NAIA would figure out a way to move the women’s tournament here and either stagger the events or play them in two different venues like the Big 12 does with its tournaments. These days, half of the 32 teams in each field are schools that have teams in both tournaments, so it would make sense from a logistics standpoint for fans, staff, etc.
On the flip side, Jackson has been a great host city for the women through the years ... and it makes for a pretty fun road trip if you go to both tournaments. FYI: going from OKC to Jackson to KC back to OKC is only about four hours longer than doing the OKC/Jackson/OKC round trip. Not too bad ...
Thursday, March 16, 2006
WES McKINZIE, Blog Host
Not sure why Missouri needs mile markers every two-tenths of a mile on the interstate. Think of it this way: instead of 100 markers over the course of 100 miles, that’s 500 markers over the course of 100 miles. And you can typically see 3-4 of them ahead of you at any given time. At least they narrowed it down to a marker every quarter mile in the KC area ...
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
WES McKINZIE, Blog Host
Tough first-round loss for the Lady Eagles. They didn’t have a defensive answer for Montana State-Northern in the first half. But when OC cut the deficit from 22 to two, a comeback win seemed like it was in the bag. Credit the Skylights, though, for holding on.
Given the distance between OKC and Jackson, OC had a solid fan contingent on hand. That was good to see. A number of family members and other fans made the trip, and they were joined by the Delta Faucet local folks who adopted the Lady Eagles this week.
It’s nice to see Montana State-Northern have success here, though you hate to see it happen at OC’s expense. The entire team suffered injuries, including a couple of serious injuries, in a van crash back in November. The Skylights fought through the physical and mental pain to get to nationals, and played great against the Lady Eagles in their biggest game of the year.
OC says farewell to five seniors, including four-year starters Lauren Decker and Tasha Turney. Carrie Mills, Chelsee Truesdell and Carlissa Plowden also played their last games in an OC uniform. They were successful in both the athletic and academic arenas ... and they’ll represent OC well in their future endeavors.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
WES McKINZIE, Blog Host
It’s the day before the Lady Eagles’ opening game. Lunch at Quizno’s was followed by a trip to Oman Arena to play with Special Olympics kids (click on the links below to see some photos). Returnees Katie Fariss and Chelsee Truesdell reconnected with kids they played with last year at this special event.
Practice followed at a local church gymnasium, highlighted by Charlotte Heron’s dunk of a small rubber ball. Yes, a dunk. Of a ball maybe four inches in diameter, but it was a dunk all the same.
After practice, the team helped judge a pie-tasting contest and a Pi poster contest (yep, 3.14) at a local Sonshine School.
The day concluded with the annual Banquet of Champions at the Carl Perkins Civic Center. It was quite the shindig; the city of Jackson rallies around this tournament with a bunch of corporate sponsors and volunteers.
Delta Faucet is OC’s corporate sponsor; they’ve done a fabulous job and made the team feel at home.
Photos:
Katie Fariss at the Special Olympics event
Chelsee Truesdell at the Special Olympics event
Jordan Findley and Abbie Tiffany at the Special Olympics event
Saturday, March 11, 2006
WES McKINZIE, Blog Host
It’s interesting how the Southeast - particularly Tennessee - is the epicenter of OC Athletics this week.
The indoor track and field championships are in Johnson City, Tenn., our tennis teams are playing in Henderson, Tenn., and the women’s national basketball tournament is in Jackson, Tenn. The OC softball team has two events in neighboring Georgia.
Our golfers and men’s cagers will be a little closer to home. The golf team heads to a classic in Huntsville, Texas, while the Eagle basketball team plays in the national tournament in Kansas City. Pray for safe travel for all of our teams and fans.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Welcome to Eagle Eye, a new “blog” designed to bring you closer to OC Athletics. In this online journal, you’ll hear from players, coaches and staffers about things going on in the world of Eagle and Lady Eagle sports - everything from analysis to funny anecdotes from those long road trips.
This page also will feature audio interviews and regular podcasts with people involved in OC Athletics. Our first podcast is a national tournament preview featuring interviews with Dan Hays and Stephanie Findley.
We hope you’ll enjoy visiting the site. Check back frequently - we’ll have updates from the national basketball tournaments in Jackson and Kansas City.
OC’s first athletics podcast features interviews with women’s basketball coach Stephanie Findley and men’s basketball coach Dan Hays. They discuss the upcoming NAIA national tournaments.
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