The Blue team beat the Gold team 10-7 in Saturday’s Blue & Gold Game at Farrington Field.

“Overall, I was happy with how we played and competed,” head coach Joe Prud’homme said.

The game allowed the coaches to get a better understanding of the players’ abilities, Prud’homme said.

“It definitely will have an impact on the depth chart and helped us evaluate our players,” he said.

The team is assigned workouts over the summer before they return to campus for the 2018 season, he said.

“There are workouts that need to be completed in order for us to get where we want to be next year,” he said.

There were several players that impressed Prud’homme, he said.

“Chiijioke Iwuagwu, Colby Moffett, Erik Richards, Cole Maxwell, Kendrick Anderson and Jermarcus Jones all had strong games,” he said.

The crowd of around 150 people saw the Rams scrimmage for two quarters and then play two regulation quarters.  Richards threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Maxwell for the Blue team for the first score, according to ramsports.net. Bryce Nye kicked the extra point. Nye kicked a 27-yard field goal for the next score to put the Blue team up 10-0. The Gold team’s only touchdown was a 55-yard pass from Avery Childs to Rodney Cooper, which was set up by a Diamond Williams interception.

Incoming freshman Tanner Polley said he will continue to power lift and run over the summer.

“Also, I will be adding the Wesleyan workout routine to ensure that I am prepared for the start of football practice,” he said.

Polley said the game was a great experience.

“I got the opportunity to meet my future teammates and it made me want to suit up and play in the game,” he said. “I am ready for the next season to start.”

Polley said he is most looking forward to meeting the players and coaches.

“I have an awesome opportunity to play college football ahead of me,” Polley said, “and I am looking to make the most of it.” 

Linebacker Vincent Stephenson said he thought the team played very well.

“Offense has been working on an up-tempo and no-huddle style,” he said.  “It was good to see everyone still on the same page. On defense I think we look good playing as a lot more of a single unit than last fall.”

Some of the players will be staying on campus during the summer to work out together, Stephenson said.

“I have to go back home to Kansas City,” Stephenson said. “I’ll work out with a strength and agility trainer.”

The players will also be watching film of Texas A&M Kingsville to prepare for the first game of the 2018 season, which is Sept. 8 in Kingsville.

“Fall camp and moving in for all returners and incoming freshman starts about the first week of August,” Stephenson said.  

 

 

In 1961, the men’s golf team set a record of 267 at the Abilene Intercollegiate.

The 2018 team broke the record March 19 with a score of 266 at Battle at the Primm, according to ramsports.net.

“I didn’t realize we broke [the record] until we got back and our head coach told us that it was a new record,” Rowan Lester said. “But it was pretty cool to break a record that has been held for such a long time.”

Lester said he didn’t feel like Primm Valley was significant because it was just another tournament, and the team tries to win them all.

As of March 2, the Rams were ranked second in the NAIA Coaches’ Poll, according to ramsports.net.

The golf team doesn’t have any scheduled practices, but everyone practices almost every day Lester said.

“I believe we have good players but we work pretty hard, some more than others,” Lester said. “But to be honest I thinks it’s a combination of [hard work and talent] then all of us just playing well on the one day, which always helps.”

The best thing about the golf team is that everyone gets along, Lester said, who also noted that the team’s two coaches, Bobby Cornett and Shaun Hensley, are amazing.

“The weather at Prime Valley was very dry so, it makes the ball fly and roll further than usual,” Futa Yamagishi said. “It was hard to judge how far it flies.”

Yamagishi said it didn’t seem like he was playing well until the end of the round because of how relaxed he was.

“My mentality was different,” Yamagishi said. “I was very relaxed and calm; that made me break the record.”

Golf is a very individual sport, Yamagishi said. The golf team is successful because each member is talented and works hard.

“We don’t have any particular practice, but we have to qualify for the team before the tournament,” Yamagishi said.

The best part of the golf team is the comradery and the drive for perfection the team has, Janco Maritz said.

“The golf team practices almost every day of the week,” Maritz said, “most of the time six or seven days a week because we are very dedicated to the sport.”

The team has been so successful because of the amount of hard work the players put in, Maritz said.

“What has made the team so successful is the amount of talent and hard work we have,” Maritz said. “The team has an enormous amount of both talent and hard work, which is the best combination.”

The men’s golf team will compete in the Sooner Athletic Conference’s championship April 23-24 in Oklahoma City. For more information, go to ramsports.net.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The men’s basketball team didn’t keep their national title but still enjoyed their winning season, guard Demarcus Emanuel said.

“I think the season was a little successful because we won conference and had a winning season,” Emanuel said, “but not successful because we didn’t win nationals.”

The team (22-11, 14-6 SAC) was disappointed about losing so early in the national tournament, Emanuel said. The Rams lost 61-70 to Graceland University on March 15 in the first round of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Tournament, according to ramsports.net. Graceland went on to win the tournament.

The loss came 13 days after the Rams lost to Southwestern Assemblies of God University in the semi-final game of the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, according to ramsports.net. The Rams won the regular-season SAC title for the third year in a row.

“I feel we just got out rebounded and didn’t hit shots,” he said of the Graceland game.

The best part about being a Ram is that the team is really a family, guard Rob Thomas said.

“My favorite thing about this team was that we were a family,” Thomas said. “Even through rough times we knew we had our brothers, for example when we had a little scuffle with Wayland at home.” 

The team wouldn’t want to change anything about this season, Thomas said.

“Overall, I think this season went how God planned it to go,” he said. “I don’t know if that was to win a national championship or to win conference, but I know it went as God planned it to go.”

The most important thing Texas Wesleyan basketball teaches its players is how to win on and off the court.

“Coach (Brennen Shingleton) really does a fantastic job of relating a lot of things that take place on the basketball court to the real world,” Thomas said. “He molds us to be great men for our future families; it’s bigger than basketball.”

Guard Chris Alexander said that Wesleyan’s basketball team hasn’t just grown him as a player but as a man, too.

“I’ve created so many lifelong memories that will always stick with me,” Alexander said.

Alexander said that his favorite thing about being on the team isn’t games or practices.

“My favorite thing about this team is the fact that we’re not just a basketball team,” he said. “We’re a family on and off the court.”

Alexander said he feels like the team could’ve done better than it did this season.

“Overall, I feel like we didn’t match our full potential as a team,” he said. “In my eyes, we were the best team in the nation. It’s as if we left something on the table.”

Guard Branden Jenkins said the team was disappointed that they didn’t meet their goal of winning another national title.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted; we played a good team and they came ready to play and we didn’t play well enough to win,” he said.

However, the season was still successful because the team won the toughest league in the country for the third consecutive year, Jenkins said.

“My favorite part of the season was competing every day with my brothers,” he said.

The team set a goal to win another national title at the beginning of the season, Jenkins said.

“We were definitely heartbroken,” Jenkins said. “We went out in the first round, but we never held our head down or turned on one another.”

Spring break is almost here and the Rams are getting ready to take a break from classes and homework.

Jarod Sweetland, a freshman accounting major, said he is excited for the break because it allows him to spend time with his family.

“My family and I rented a condo in Galveston. My cousins, grandparents, aunt, uncle and dad are all going. My family goes to Galveston periodically whether it be in the spring or the summer. Just to get away and see the beach.”  Sweetland said.

The break will be extra enjoyable for Sweetland because he gets to celebrate his birthday over the break, as well as getting a break from school work, he said.

Galveston is a popular spring break destination, but not one of the top eight, according to abcnews.go.com. An article on the website lists Cancun as the most popular destination, followed by Las Vegas, Jamaica, Miami, the Dominican Republic, South Padre Island, Puerto Vallarta and the Bahamas.

Jacqueline Rodriguez said she is going back home to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

“I’m excited to get away for awhile and get to see my family,” she said. “I chose to go there instead of South Padre because my little sister has a competition.”

The best part about spring break is getting to forget about responsibilities for a while, Rodriguez said.

“My favorite thing about spring break is that we do not have any homework due, and we get to not think about school or work,” she said.

Tyler King and her friends are taking a road trip to Austin. They plan to walk around the city and enjoy the great food and quirky stores, she said.

“I’m going to Austin and just hanging around the city and maybe go to the river,” she said. “My friends came up with the idea. The best part is just being able to have a break.”  

Steven Frederick a junior exercise science major will be at Louisiana State University Shreveport with the baseball team, he said.

“Over spring break, I’m going to be playing with the baseball team,” Frederick said.

The team plays a doubleheader against LSU Shreveport on March 13, he said.

“I’m most excited to spend time playing baseball and being with the team,” Frederick said. “The best part about spring break is the weather. It’s perfect, not too hot, not too cold. It’s just right.”

The Rams are excited for spring break and the chance to spend time away from responsibilities.

This map shows where several Texas Wesleyan students are going.

Map by Karan Muns

The Rams are preparing to defend their national title next week at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I men’s tournament.

The bracket reveal is 7 p.m. Wednesday on the Play NAIA Facebook page.

Last year the Rams beat Life University 86-76 to win the national title. This year’s tournament starts March 14; the championship game is March 20. The tournament is being held in Kansas City.

The team’s strategy this year has been to take the season one game at a time, head coach Brennen Shingleton said.  

“I’ve been lucky and fortunate enough to have been down this road before,” he said. “So, it’s easy for me to kind of look far ahead and say this is the path we need to navigate. But for a lot of these guys, they’ve never been here before. Our goal is always to win the next game.”

Shingleton said the team’s biggest weakness is immaturity and lack of focus.

“The immaturity sometimes will say, ‘This has been going well; this is how it’s going to go all year’ and that’s a very bad way of approaching the season,” he said. “So what we’ve really tried to do is slow down a little bit by playing week to week, game to game, practice to practice.”

The Rams have a decent shot at defending their title “if we can stick to the plan and keep our head down we can make this thing happen,” Shingleton said.

When people come to play basketball at Texas Wesleyan they expect to make it far into post season play, and expectations are tough because every team is different, he said.

“I think if anything (winning last year) distracted us,” Shingleton said. “This year’s team is a victim of last year’s success. They didn’t earn that. It wasn’t theirs. But the good thing is that they understand that this place allows us the opportunity to win. It prepares them for big games because if you play basketball at Texas Wesleyan you’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”

The team is getting ready to play five games in six days during the NAIA tournament. This is mentally and physically challenging for the team so they’re preparing their best, guard Demarcus Emanuel said.

“The team feels good to get the opportunity to play for the big goal. We can (win it all). We just have to take it one day at a time one game at a time,” Emanuel said.

The team is going to practice intensely all week, guard Branden Jenkins said.

“We are going to practice hard all week and get our legs back under us in preparation for the tournament,” he said.

The team is eager to get to the tournament and keep competing, Jenkins said.

“We are excited for nationals,” Jenkins said, “but it is a business trip that comes with great responsibility. We can win as much as we want to. Ultimately, wins and losses come down to executing and attention to detail.”

For more information on the tournament, visit naia.org.