The Official Blog of OC Athletics
Monday, September 25, 2006
CASSIE TYLER, Women’s Soccer
Another Monday has come and gone and we are about to kick off another fabulous week of soccer. Yesterday concluded what was one of my most taxing weeks so far this year. The week consisted of three games with a day of practice between each game. We started off strong in our Tuesday game, beating Oklahoma Baptist in overtime. Thursday was another challenging game against Division II Southwestern OSU. After 90 minutes of hard work, we ended the game with another “W.”
Saturday proved to be the most tiring game of all. I have found that as the years progress my body seems to take more of a beating, and it takes longer to recover. Therefore, Saturday’s game proved more challenging than necessary. My body was tired, and I could see the fatigue in my teammates as well. However, we got the job done and improved our record to 8-0 for the season. Not a bad week, if I may say so myself.
Yesterday, we had a much needed day off to recover and today we picked right back up where we left off. Tomorrow morning we head off to Arkansas with our guys for a doubleheader against John Brown. I’m particularly excited about tomorrow’s game. Last year, John Brown came here and taught us a thing or two about soccer (to put it mildly). However, we are a different team this year and we hope to get our revenge.
“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”
~Vince Lombardi
MICHELLE LAIR, Women’s Cross Country
I would have to say that women’s x-country has done exceptionally well despite having several injuries to deal with. Tara is coming back from injury. Kate is running mostly on the grass in prevention of injury. Heather is recovering from some pretty severe blisters on the back of her feet. Both of us also are attempting to complete our senior years without going crazy. Carolyn is still getting into x-country shape coming off her third year of track. Riata, our little freshman, is still adjusting to the Oklahoma climate and elevation, much different from where she is lived in Montana.
Having a lot of experience on the team this year is probably one of the reasons for our success. We all have run against these challenging courses and teams. The only thing we have to do this year is to improve on each and every one of them in comparison to last year. Having a smaller team this year also has impacted us. We all have to step it up in practice and really focus on our health so we do not get injured because we do need five to score.
At OBU on the 23rd, I ran the fastest 5k in my college history. Riata ran her fastest time and is improving each and every meet. Heather and Kate are running faster than they were last year at this time. Tara and Carolyn continue to improve and come back to their original times of last year as well.
After running in three meets, I feel we really do not have that far to go and we are all really working hard to reach our peak performance as a team. Every meet, the team runs faster times and closes the gap between runners. At this rate, we have a chance of becoming a really close-grouped team that runs fast times and finishes with low scores. I hope we all can run our best times and have a great time in x-country this year.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
KEITH HARRIS, Men’s Basketball
Another week underway and what a week it is evolving out to be. Practice is still going strong as we continue to learn the basics of our offense. Everyone is starting to become more comfortable so that definitely makes competing against each other more challenging. On Monday, we started rebounding drills in which we use a lot of muscles that are not often worked out. So, of course, the next day everyone talked about how sore they were, but it gets easier daily.
All the pieces of this year’s team seem to be fitting together pretty well. Everyone likes each other so it’s easy to play together and we all know how important that will be in the long run. Our X-factor is the support from the school - everyone is really looking forward to the big OU game on Halloween night. Every day, I hear how everyone is so excited about that game, and that always sticks in the back of your head when practicing. It makes me push that much harder to prepare myself for the opening game of the season.
Last night, I went to our school’s soccer game in which OC hosted OBU. If it’s anything like basketball, then its definitely a huge rivalry. OC was up 1-0 for a while before OBU scored to tie and that’s how the game ended. I was really upset because I had never seen a soccer goal scored in person. I am usually turned away and, all of sudden, screams and shouts come about. Of course, this time, sure enough, I was talking to a friend and a goal was made; it never fails.
Well, until next time, I’m signing off. Have a good week. TOTD: Never be afraid to embarrass yourself. IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE, THEN YOU’LL ALWAYS BE WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN. The great words of my coach Dan Hays. Peace ...
Saturday, September 16, 2006
CASSIE TYLER, Women’s Soccer
I figured today would be as good a day as any for me to start my blog so you can catch a glimpse of what life on the women’s soccer team is like. This morning, we started the day off right with the dreaded fitness beep test. Although despised by everyone, the fitness will pay off in the long run. Coach Sean set a standard for us to reach before we began the run. Last season, half of our team struggled to make it to this particular goal; however, this season our team obliterated this standard. All of my teammates are working incredibly hard and it is so refreshing to be a part of a team that is dedicated to becoming better players.
After the fitness, we got to play a little small-side indoor soccer tournament to help us with our foot skills and speed of play. These practices are by far my favorite. I love the small-sided games and the competition. Throw in a bit of recklessness and our “we just ran a hard fitness test” wobbly legs and you’ve got yourself a great time. It was not a bad start to the day. Luckily for us, we are going to have an opportunity every week to run ourselves crazy in a fitness test and then to further test our legs with a little bit of playing. Now with my weekend fun out of the way it is time for me to start studying for some upcoming exams. Until next time ...
A fitting quote for the day:
“For me, winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.”
~ Emmitt Smith, American Football Player
Thursday, September 14, 2006
KEITH HARRIS, Men’s Basketball
What’s up, OC? This is my first of many BLOGS this year and, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty excited about it. As any other day, my Sept. 13th started EARLY, but did I have to go to class? No. My Bible professor wasn’t attending class, but he made us get up and take a quiz in our very own apartments. I managed to get two more hours of sleep before good ole management class and my day was pretty laid back after that. I finished up one more class and then it was off to practice.
For those of you wondering, basketball practice has kicked off in an unofficial way. Basically, at the moment we are improving skills, which include drills and competing against each other. It’s good because we are slowly improving our conditioning so when real practice begins, we won’t have to waste time with that. Our first game is against OU and I’m definitely more of a University of Texas fan, so it will be fun to throw up a Longhorn symbol when I score. OK, maybe not, but it will be a fun game anyway. The TOTD or “THOUGHT OF THE DAY” - Let’s not worry about the small things. Let’s focus on the BIG PICTURE HEAVEN. So encourage, serve and be disciples of Christ. Until next time ... Peace