Category: Sports

Alma secures sixth consecutive award win

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER

For the sixth consecutive year in a row, Alma College continues its legacy of having a student earn the Tom Renner Associate award. This award is given each year to one undergraduate student for the student’s successful service as a top sports information student in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, MIAA. This year the award was given to Alma’s 2020 graduate, Mason Ippel(’20).

“The Tom Renner Associate SID Award is presented to a student assistant at an MIAA member college sports information office for outstanding service as an undergraduate” said Alma College’s Sports Information Director for the Athletic Department, Matthew Moran. “It is named in honor of Tom Renner, the MIAA publicist from 1967-2008.”

In order for a student to be considered, they need to not only be a sports information student, but nominated by the school’s sports information director. Once being nominated, the student is then competing against other students, who were selected and within the MIAA conference. From there, the winner of the award is selected in the summer following the school year.

The Tom Renner award is given to students for their outstanding performance within their school’s sports information office and the work conducted within that office for some of the college’s teams.

“I worked directly with the sports information director for all four years at Alma” said Ippel. “My final year I was brought on as a student assistant to work more closely with the day-to-day operations and to have another level of responsibility. My responsibilities included recording stats for all sports, setting up the press box before games and tearing it down after, writing and distributing game day flyers, communicating with officials and covering wrestling and baseball more closely to write post game recaps.”

Each student worker would have their own specific responsibilities. In fact, Ippel even took his responsibility as an assistant outside of the office. He travelled with Alma’s baseball team on their spring break for their games in Florida.

“Mason worked insanely hard for it” said senior sports information student, Hunter Chovanec(’21). “He would be working in the office after football practice, in the morning and would stay late at night if asked. Mason never complained and was always ready to attack whatever project came to us. He had great enthusiasm and he made me a better worker/person along the way.”

Although Ippel was selected for the award in his senior year and for his many contributions to the college, many note the endless qualities he possessed to earn the award. Beyond his contribution to teams’ social media posts and videos as well as statistics and game recap analysis, Ippel possessed the necessary attitude to not only get work done in the sports information office, but to make him a stand out candidate through his dedication to the program.

“Mason is someone you love to have on your side” said Moran. “He is a leader and hard worker. He always has a positive attitude. He learned how to keep the statistics for many of the sports we have at Alma and you could trust they would be correct. He also has a great passion for sports and for creating engaging content on social media.”

Along with his drive and dedication to the program, Ippel always had his eyes set on achieving this award. It is something he had set out to earn for himself and the college.

“I was pretty excited to win the award” said Ippel. “It was definitely a goal of mine. It was a goal for the office, as well, to have someone win it because someone from Alma has won it 6 years in a row now.”

As mentioned earlier, Ippel is not the first Alma college student to earn the Tom Renner award. He is the sixth-consecutive winner of the award for the college. The first winner of the award was Brent Willis(’10) in 2010.

However, the six year streak for recipients at Alma started in 2015 with Grace Wheeler(’15) and was followed by Brad Vannatter(’16), Ali Holmquist(’17), Harrison LaLone(’18), Emily Jodway(’19) and Ippel.

“The Sports Information Department relies on our student-worker staff to help with the game day experience for every home athletic event, keeping the website up to date and creating video/content” said Moran. “We have been lucky to have students that come here with a passion for athletics and then after gaining experience in sports information they want to pursue it as professional career.”

With Ippel securing the tradition of Alma winning the Tom Renner award, the sports information office aims to continue helping students have access to working in a sports information field. Chovanec hopes to keep the tradition alive through his work at the sports information office and his work with Ippel by earning the award after his senior year.

“If I ever need advice I know [Ippel] is a call or text away, but this was also a team effort” said Chovanec. “Every student in this office works hard. If they gave an award for top sports information office, I believe ours would be right there in contention. Go Scots!”

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Athletes tackle new pandemic protocols

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER
PHOTO BY LIZZY DERMODY

At Alma College, the fall semester looks different for students this year. This is especially true for the student athletes, whose sports are currently postponed due to the coronavirus. With the hope for the postponement to be lifted in the spring season, athletes remain optimistic as they enter their fall semester without sports.

This postponement is currently hindering the play and competition of all fall sports, such as football, golf, volleyball, cheerleading and cross country. While this postponement has canceled sports competitions for the fall season, it has not canceled the sports’ season fully. There are still decisions and regulations being established within the Athletic Department.

Alma College’s Athletic Director Sarah Dehring said, “Athletics has been working very closely with the Return to Campus Committee on the protocols for a safe return to campus. We have implemented quite a few new policies that have changed throughout the past few months and government, state and NCAA guidelines change.”

With these protocols and goals in mind, Alma’s Athletic Department and facilities have taken on a new look. These safety precautions are not only put in place for the students’ safety, but to ensure a successful and safe environment for athletes in order to prepare for a return to conference seasons.

“We will have single entry and exits in the Athletic Training and weight room facilities, we have a strict sign up process to ensure that we stay under the recommended COVID capacity, we are taking temperatures prior to every practice, and we are enforcing social distancing and masking,” said Dehring.

All of these precautions are set in place to ensure that athletes, despite not having a season, still have access to all of the accommodations Alma has to offer. Even though athletes are not competing, they still have the ability to safely use the Athletic Training room as well as the weight room.

Despite athletes returning to campus under new regulations that have prohibited them from competing, it has not fully limited how they can practice.

Alma’s Head Football Coach Jason Couch said, “We are not currently practicing. We are hoping to begin socially distanced practices starting the week of Sept. 7. Hopefully, the college will secure enough tests to test student-athletes and coaches weekly. If all goes well, we could have full-contact practices in October.”

Similar to football, many sports teams have been unable to return to their normal practices due to full-contact being prohibited and social distancing required. However, practice has started for some sports as long as they adhere to the necessary guidelines. If teams continue to obey mask wearing and new regulations, conference competitions in the spring look possible.

“Being six feet apart at all times means we are not allowed to stunt or do pyramids or basket tosses, so we practice stunting by using exercise bands and holding our own shoes to mimic stunting with a person. We are able to tumble, jump, work on choreography/motions and condition, which all have been things we’ve needed to work on as a team for years, so Covid-19 has forced us to work on our weaknesses!” said Olivia Manke(‘21).

Many teams have worked hard to overcome the changes coronavirus has had on the basic structures of their season and practices. Students are coping with losing their seasons, but coaches have also had to experience watching their players go through this issue.

“I think we all went through a period of disappointment and frustration, but we can’t control it and have to learn to move past those things we can’t control. My heart aches for the seniors,” said Coach Couch.

Despite not having a fall season, the postponement of sports has pointed toward a packed spring season full of not only all of the fall sports, but the spring sports as well. Football aims to have a five-game conference in the spring, while many spring sports hope to have a full season, which was cut short at the beginning of the coronavirus.

This pandemic and postponement of sports has helped a lot of athletes have a new perspective on their sports and seasons.

“When you find yourself thinking, ‘when is practice going to be over’ remember back to when the whole season was over before we were all expecting and wishing you could practice with your team one more time!” said Manke.

Alma College has made it clear that ultimately it comes down to the students and their compliance to ensuring the safety of all. If students maintain social distancing guidelines and wear a mask, the possibility of sports being able to compete in the spring remains on the table.

“We are all in this together. Mask up, social distance, stay safe, and use this fall as an opportunity to better yourself in your sport and in the classroom. One day we will compete again and the Scots will be prepared!”

Athletic Director, Sarah Dehring
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Softball wins big over break

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER

For many athletes, spring break is a time for training and practice before their conference season. For Alma College’s Softball team, it was a time for the team to shine and set the pace for their upcoming conference season.

Over spring break, the Softball team traveled to Florida to compete in a total of eight games. While in Florida, the Scots were given the opportunity to put their skills to the test. They were able to practice outside on a field rather being confined to a gym.

“Having the opportunity to travel to Florida over Spring Break is really important because it allows our team to get out into some warm weather and play games. The weather in Michigan doesn’t typically allow us to play until mid-march and taking advantage of spring break to travel somewhere warm and play 8-10 games every year really helps us prepare for the rest of our season,” said outfielder Bryanna Chapman (’20).

Hence, the Softball team took advantage of this opportunity and the weather. While competing in Florida, the team faced teams from not only Florida, but Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania as well. Each game gave the Scots an opportunity to compete and put their expectations and goals to the test.

“Our expectations going into the spring games was to win. We all knew what our team was capable of and we were excited to be able to show people what we are going to be made of this year,” said second baseman Cassidy Tucker (’20).

With those high expectations, the Scots managed to walk away from the tournament with eight straight wins out of eight total games.

In each game, the Scots managed to win by a substantial amount of points with their closest scoring win being 5-4 against Capital University and their biggest wins being 22-1 and 18-0 against Northern Vermont-Johnson University.

Each win solidified their season expectations and brings them one step closer to conference season.

“Finishing 8-0 was really exciting for our team. We know we need to continue to work hard to be successful this season and going 8-0 was a great start and really made us all excited for what this team is going to do this season,” said Tucker.

Not only did the team walk away from their spring break with a successful record, but some players walked away with some personal achievements as well.

Freshman pitcher Daniella Little earned herself the title of being the MIAA Pitcher of the Week for her performance in Florida. She pitched two complete games against Hanover College and Capital University, where she struck out 12 batters in 14 innings and only allowed one earned run.

“Honestly I did not expect to be named MIAA pitcher of the week. I just went into spring break trying to do my best and help out my team. I, of course, could not have done it without my teammates supporting me and having my back,” said Daniella Little (’23).

Even as a freshman, Little currently leads the team in strikeouts and has only allowed 10 hits in a total of 15 total innings. With not only Little’s performance, but the performance of other underclassmen, the Scots, especially the seniors, look hopeful for what is in store for the predominantly young team.

“Our freshmen were fearless in Florida, looking at our team you’d never know that many had never played in a collegiate game before, and that was super inspiring to just leave everything on the field and give it all we had. Leaving my last spring break behind was easy knowing we still have so much to look forward to,” said Chapman.

With a current overall record of 10-3, the Scots keep prepping for their conference season with the goal of getting better every day.

Although they have had a successful start to their season so far, they still have plenty of season left to grow and keep moving forward.

“We were definitely excited about what we were able to do in Florida this past Spring Break, but we are definitely not satisfied. We have big goals for this season and we know those games are over and it’s time to focus on what’s next,” said Chapman

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Athletes travel to compete over spring break

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER

While students prepared to head home for spring break, Alma College’s spring sports’ teams geared up to train, compete, and travel over break. With each spring team prepping for the start of their conference season, they took advantage of their break to put in some extra practice.

From Softball and Baseball going to Florida to Cheer and STUNT competing in Missouri, each team did something different for break.

For the Baseball team, they traveled to play in Orlando, Florida. While there, they competed in a total of 8 games against teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and New York.

“It is important to go to Florida and play during spring break because we need to prepare ourselves for conference play to the best of our ability because it comes really fast. The only way to get better is to keep playing and to get outside and improve our skills,” said infielder Benjamin Skinner (’21).

The Scots finished their spring break by splitting the 8 games with 4 wins and 4 loses. Logan Huff (’20) was also announced as the MIAA Position Player of the Week for his overall performance in the RussMatt Tournament in Florida.

This tournament not only gave the team a 5-6 overall record, but practice before their upcoming conference games.

“We have an overall goal to go there and win games and be competitive. At the same time, we are going to try to work out some kinks before conference play by getting outside and playing on an actual field,” said Skinner.

Also in Florida, the Softball team dominated their competition with an 8-0 record during spring break. The team played against teams from Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

Daniella Little (’23) also earned the MIAA Pitcher of the Week title for her performance in the tournament with only allowing 10 hits in 15 total innings and leading the team with 14 strikeouts.

Outside of Florida in St. Louis, Missouri, the STUNT team picked up two more wins against Oklahoma Baptist University and Oklahoma City University. The team continues to rack up wins as they move towards their goal of competing in the D3 STUNT Nationals in April.

Men’s Lacrosse was expected to compete in Chicago on the first day of spring break but faced a game cancellation due to weather. However, they did travel to play against Illinois Wesleyan University a week later at the end of spring break, where they fell to the Titans 24-11. Chase Hunyadi (’20) managed to pick up his 200th career point while competing against the Titans.

While some teams ventured outside of Michigan, other teams stayed local during the break to either compete or keep their skills sharp.

The Women’s Lacrosse team took a different approach this spring break by not traveling for competition.

“We have traveled my last 3 years over spring break, but this year we were able to go home or travel where we would like to. The reasoning behind having off is because the team will be traveling to Ireland and Scotland after spring term ends in May for a few exhibition games,” said goalie Allie Ray (’20).

Before going home, the team competed in a home match against Earlham College, where the scots fell short in a 9-3 loss. In that game, Ray picked up her 600th career save and senior Olivia Benoit earned her 100th career draw control.

Following the game, the team was free to go home and work out on their own over break.

“Our Coach expected us to work out for a minimum of 6 of the 8 days we were home. She asked us to find a field and do sprints and expected us to do wall ball a few times over break. She did not want us to lose the progress we have made prior to break,” said Ray.

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Athletes rock on at annual Jock Rock

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER

On Friday, January 31, Alma College athletics hosted the annual Jock Rock event. This friendly competition was started 11 years ago and takes place once a year, where student athletes and their teams go head-to-head in various performances.

It was formed by Andria Baker, who is a former Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President and member of the Alma College Volleyball team, as a way to bring athletes together.

Each team puts their best skills and wildest talents to the test in order to win an award at the Scotty awards in the spring.

“Jock rock is an Alma college tradition where every sports team on campus creates their own skits, and performs it in front of each other and designated judges. The judges then vote and the winner is announced at the Scotty awards at the end of the year,” said sophomore co-host of the event, Alexandria Loonsfoot (’22).

As one of the hosts, who was nominated by the members of SAAC, Loonsfoot is expected to keep the event moving smoothly and the crowd of students entertained between performances without any bumps in the production.

The overall goal of Jock Rock is to not only have fun and bring the sports’ teams together, but to show just how creative Alma’s student athletes can be. Because at Jock Rock, there is no idea that is too out of the box.

At past Jock Rocks, sports teams have done everything from choreographed dance routines, dodgeball games, lip syncing, jump roping, and impersonating other teams or celebrities.

Senior SAAC member, Jennifer Kowalczyk (’20), said, “One of my favorite performances was when women’s Lacrosse had giant fat head masks of all the coaches and danced around as the coaches!”

Anything students can think of can fly at Jock Rock with only a few minor rules and limits to hold them back, such as time limitation, no use of glitter, and no damaging of the gym floor. With these rules in mind, athletic teams are left to form a routine to not only impress the crowd, but the judges as well.

At the end of the day, no matter the level of creativity and originality a team uses in their routine, the winner of the Jock Rock award at the Scotty awards comes down to the decision of the judges, who hold familiar faces on campus, especially in the Sports realm at Alma.

“This will be my first year as a judge, which I am very excited for. The judges will be judging on choreography, costumes, originality, energy and entertainment value, and overall impact,” said Athletic Director Sarah Dehring.

This year the judges consisted of Zach Russo, who is the Director of Sports Information, Head Athletic Trainer Brad Smith, Andrew Pomerville, who is the Chaplain at Alma College, and Dehring.

Each of these judges were selected by the members of SAAC, who nominated faculty and staff members from the college. A fan favorite judge from past competitions has always been Nancy.

“Our SAAC members vote on faculty, and staff from the college to be our judges for the night. Nancy is always a favorite judge, as she does not play favorites when it comes to deciding who wins!” said Kowalczyk.

Regardless of who the judges are, each team aims to not only put on a good show, but to enjoy their own performance and the event as a whole.

Jock Rock is a different opportunity for athletes to show their fun side and to interact in a different element outside of sports and school.

“I love the energy in the arena during Jock Rock. Even though it is a competition, all of the teams are very supportive of each other. I think it is a great event to build camaraderie among our athletics programs,” said Dehring.

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Athletes prepare to spring into new season

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER

Athletes prepare to spring into the new season

With the beginning of the new semester starting, Alma College’s 2020 Spring sports teams prepare to kick off their seasons within the next upcoming weeks.

While Fall and Winter sports’ teams dominated much of the Fall semester, the new winter semester welcomes the beginning of Spring sports’ teams, such as Softball, Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse, Track and Field, and a few others.

Unlike the other teams, who work on most of their pre-season workout in the spring and over the summer, Spring sports teams begin their pre-season workout in the Fall with it intensifying over winter break and the Holidays.

“We have a short fall season. I believe it lasts for about a month or two. We practice four days a week during that season and we also host a small tournament with 3 teams, including us. During the whole fall semester, we are in the weight room with Fletcher [the team’s strength and conditioning Coach] 4 days a week working on our strength training,” said Softball player Hannah Cambe (’21).

For many Spring teams like Softball, they ease back into the school year with a short “fall season.” This is primarily a time to refresh the fundamentals and start bonding as a team with the new incoming players.

At the end of the “fall season,” teams typically compete in a tournament or a friendly match to put their fundamental work to the test.

“[Fall practice] is mainly a time for people on the team to prove themselves and show what they can bring to the table. We also get one play date against another college during the fall where we get the chance to show coaches and ourselves how we can compete in a game,” said Baseball player Logan Huff (’20).

Following these fall practices, each Spring team begins to move into weight lifting. Each team is assigned a strength and conditioning coach to map out a specific workout plan for them. These workout plans vary between each team but can consist of four lifts a week until the start of the team’s season.

Each workout plan is molded to meet the team’s needs and to get them in the best shape possible for season. Some teams also set up team workouts to add to their training.

“In the offseason, we do team workouts four days a week at 6:30am before classes. We have certain hitting and fielding groups that we work with during the off-season as well,” said Huff.

For Spring sports, extra team workouts without their coaches, due to MIAA rules forbidding coach and athlete sport interaction until season, help the team gel and prepare the fundamentals for the season.

Some Spring season coaches also offer one credit classes in their particular sport during the last seven weeks of the Fall semester for not only their team, but any Alma College student to take. This allows players to not only keep their skills fresh, but for any student interested in that sport to learn more about it.

“Denny, our coach, teaches a 1 credit softball class that is an option for girls with room in their schedules,” said Cambe.

At the end of the Fall semester, all of the teams extra training and conditioning typically does not stop. It actually begins to intensify as teams inch closer towards their season with their strength

and conditioning coach providing them with a workout plan to follow over winter break until the start of their season.

“Over winter break, Fletcher provides us with a 4-day per week workout plan. We also do what we can as individuals to get into the gym to workout. The few weeks before we start is usually when girls start getting back in the gym and working on their swings, playing catch, etc,” said Cambe.

Teams start to get back into the swing of things when the Winter semester begins. They receive new season workouts from their Strength and Conditioning Coach to lessen their weightlifting for the season. Athletes also continue to work out on their own to work on personal goals and skills.

“I mainly follow the team workout and hitting plans, but I do like to practice tough throws on the run and eating healthy as way to keep myself ready for the season,” said Huff.

With personal goals in mind and continuous practice from the beginning of the Fall semester, Spring sports have spent the majority of the school year prepping for their season. Their constant emphasis on hard work in the off-season not only pushes them to excel in their upcoming Spring season, but to meet the expectations they set for themselves after their last season.

“One of the biggest things our coaches are hoping for this year is for us to really come together as a team and to work together toward a common goal. We as a team are really preaching the idea of ‘serving’ each other,” said Cambe.

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Bowling makes history with big win

ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER

On Saturday, November 16, Alma College’s Bowling Team made history at the BGSU Falcon Classic. With some standout performances and the overall team score, both the Varsity and JV team finished the tournament in first place.  

This first-place finish for both teams at a tournament is a first for the program and an indication for the rest of the season to come as the Scots approach the halfway mark of their season. 

“Out of the four years that I have been on this team, it is by far the best season that we’ve had. All of the girls on the team are believing in themselves and it is really starting to show on the lanes!” said senior Varsity bowler, Emma Davis (’20). 

The Scots have competed in seven total tournaments this far in the season with the BGSU Falcon Tournament being the half-way mark. With dedication and time, the team has managed to not only set records, but have this season be the best start in the program’s history. 

Head Bowling Coach Kyle Woodcock said, “The first 2 [tournaments] we struggled a little, but that’s to be expected. We had been working on a lot of things with many of the bowlers plus it was the first tournament for 4 of the bowlers. We finished 8th and 9th in those events. In the last 5 events, we have had 3 first place and 2 second place finishes. This is the best start in program history. We are currently ranked 15th in the Nation.” 

With a start like this, the team is on its way to making more firsts and breaking more records for the program. This includes not only for the team, but the individual performances as well, which all aided in the team’s success on Saturday. 

At the BGSU Falcon Classic, the team competed in 5 regular games as well as 12 Baker games. Baker games are played by 5 bowlers, where the first bowler bowls the first frame and then the 6th with the second bowler bowling second and seventh and so on until the last frame. 

The team performed well to start and picked up speed to seal a win in the baker games. 

“At the BGSU Falcon Classic, our team did great in the individual games putting us first in totals going into the baker games, but with Wright State not far behind. Once we started baker games, it was a battle between Wright State and us. It was really going to be down to the last game, but we pulled through and ended up bowling a 211 in the last baker game to win the whole tournament,” said Sophomore Varsity bowler, Rachel Kuczajda (’22).

This tournament win was a collaborative team effort from start to finish. Although the BGSU Falcon Classic was a moment for not only the team’s overall success, but also an opportunity for individuals to shine as well. 

“The BGSU Falcon Classic went really well! […] We also had three girls make the all-tournament team. Rachel Kuczajda led the varsity division, Cassie White led the JV Division, and Sarah Gadde took 2nd place in the JV division!” said Davis. 

Adding onto Davis’s comment, Coach Woodcock said, “Sophomore Rachel Kuczajda led all bowlers with a 216 average. Freshman Cassie White led all JV bowlers with a 204 average.” 

The overall win and individual performances helped place the bowling team in a strong position for the second half of the season, which starts Saturday, January 11, 2020. These wins not only aid in their program’s success, but in the overall atmosphere of the team. 

The Bowling team’s first match was in October with their season extending all the way into March. Due to the length and success of the season, it is only fitting that the team not only works together in matches, but outside of them as well. 

“My favorite part of being on the bowling team is really the sense of community and belonging that bowling brings […] We are all so unique and we come from so many different backgrounds, but bowling brings us all together forming a special bond that I will have for the rest of my life,” said Kuczajda. 

With this bond, the bowling team has not only proven to pose a threat this season, but to continue making history. All of this not only showcases the hard work the team puts in every day, but the goals and mindset they all embrace and want for this season. 

“Our goal starting the season was to advance past Sectionals this year. I think our early success has put us in a lot of pressure situations that will help with that goal. I believe we will have more opportunities in the second half to challenge ourselves to also help achieve that goal,” said Coach Woodcock. 

 

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Football team honors fallen veteran

JACOB SMITH
SPORTS WRITER

Alma College Football faced off against Olivet on Saturday Nov. 9. The team suffered a loss on the field but they secured a win through the honor they showed in this memorial game to a fallen veteran and football alumni.  

Chris O’Connor was a 1985 graduate of Alma College and former member of the football team. O’Connor then joined the Marine Corps and in 1989 he passed away in a tragic helicopter training exercise in South Korea. 

“Each and every day we honor Chris by doing so touching the victory bell, but Saturday was a day to inform others of Chris’ unselfishness and also honor all the other veterans who lived similar admirable traits as Chris.  Alumni that knew Chris speak very highly of him.  I think it is always important to remember and appreciate those that have come before us and many alumni have reached out to express their support of the Chris O’Connor Veteran’s Day Game,” said Head Football Coach Jason Couch.  

The victory bell sits in the grass by the entrance into Bhalke Field. It is a memorial to Chris O’Connor and the bell is rung by a brother of his fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, every time the Scots score a touchdown.  

“This game means so much because of the bond I share with my brothers from the military, football, and from the TKE household. It’s an honor to represent a man who was so well respected,” said Veteran, Football Player, and TKE Brother, Stephen White ‘22.  

The Scots fell in a 28-13 game to the Comets. Though the Scots surpassed Olivet in both passing yards, with 207, and rushing yards, 184, they still suffered 4 turnovers compared to Olivet’s 1 which contributed to the loss. 

“I am extremely happy with how hard the team worked and every week they competed.  If they take that same mentality into everything else they do, they will be successful.  It was fun to be a part of this team, it’s obvious they care about each other and have a deep desire to do their best for one another,” said Coach Couch. 

The Scots will end their season on Saturday Nov. 15 in a game against Finlandia University. For some players, this will be the last game they ever play. 

The team has come a long way from last season and they look forward to ending their season on a high note. 

“The progression of our team has been steady ever since the end of last season. The senior group we had this year have stepped up and created a culture that I feel will be around for a long time. Seniors such as Max Kretzschmar, Steve Sowa, Zeke Ramirez deserve a lot of credit for the impact they have left on this program and have set the bar high for the years to come,” said Couch. 

Coach Couch spoke his thoughts on the season ending game. 

“WIN, and honor the seniors who are going to put on the Scots jersey one last time.  They have spent countless hours preparing themselves, making sure they are physically and mentally ready to represent Alma College the best they can.  When you work so hard on something and it comes to an end it is very difficult and emotional.  We will share laughs and tears following the game.  The Seniors and their parents should be proud of what they have accomplished.  They will be missed,” Said Couch.  

After Saturday’s season ending game, the coaches will get to work to replace and build next year’s team. 

“Coaches will hit the road Monday, working hard to bring in a strong 2020 class.  We will travel to most of the schools in the state of Michigan and target a 40-50 schools out of state,” said Couch. 

 

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