This fall, things have been looking a little different around campus. Every year the fall brings out a side of Loras students many don’t know how to describe or explain. It isn’t the midterm exams, the Halloween festivities, or the long awaited Thanksgiving-turkey-tryptophan coma. Don’t be fooled Duhawks, there’s more happening on campus than the change of temperature in the air and the promise of football games and pumpkin pies. Students everywhere are manning up and getting a little hairy for “No Shave November.” Ditching their razors, men have begun to forgo the clean shaven, baby face for the unruly, wild, scruffy beards of manliness. Even a few women have set aside their razors and have taken the French approach in abandoning silky, smooth legs.­­ 

This annual tradition of blatant appreciation for masculinity is popular among college students, but the true purpose for the month-long tribute carries an underlying significance. As many people know from events supported by Loras organizations and sports teams, October was National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Throughout the entire month of October, pink ribbons were strewn throughout campus to represent and honor those who affected by breast cancer.

Unofficially, November has followed suit by recognizing the month as Testicular Cancer Awareness through the bold and extremely macho beards of men all over the world. Many believe this phenomenon originated from the Australian and New Zealand event “Movember,” a combination of moustache and November that supports prostate cancer awareness. According to the National Cancer Institute, testicular cancer has been most commonly seen in men between the ages of twenty and forty. Diagnosing around 8,100 new patients yearly, the numbers are beginning to increase and now more than ever, it is becoming more and more important to spread the word to all men about testicular cancer.

Although it may not be directly connected to many of the beards growing quite steadily throughout campus, it is definitely something to think about the next time you set aside the razor and shaving cream. Exams and papers may have you in over your head, but take some time to research how you can do your part in raising awareness, even if it means letting your inner lumberjack shine a little brighter than usual.

Saturday had the setting for a perfect football day for the Duhawks as they welcomed Coe College to the Rock Bowl, but then the second half happened.

A new quarterback behind center, an interception returned for touchdown and a power outage for the whole campus only was the peak of the action for coach Paul Mierkiewicz and his team as their 28-21 lost to Coe now gives them a record of 1-6 on the season.

“I have gone to games before where the clock goes out, but it was odd to have the PA system go out because then the ref can’t tell us how much time is left in the game as easy and then no one in the stands knows how much time is left,” said Mierkiewicz.

As for the new quarterback behind center sophomore Sean Brennan had to replace Vaughn Gesing, who has been dealing with an injured shoulder since the beginning of October.

After Coe converted a 4th-and-3 touchdown pass to make it 21-14 in favor of the Kohawks going into halftime, Loras had the ball in its possession for the final seconds as Gesing dropped back only to scramble back to the line of scrimmage and get hit on his injured shoulder.

The play, in hindsight, was one that could have been handled differently with what coach Mierkiewicz knows now as Gesing is listed as doubtful for the game Saturday.

“When I look back I wish we just ran it and gone into the half, but Vaughn has been really banged up and we knew he was probably a tackle away from being in this situation,” said Mierkiewicz. “Immediate response for us was what can Sean do out there that will be comfortable for him. He ran the offense all week in practice, luckily it gave us all of halftime to talk to Sean and figure out a game plan.”

While Gesing was in the game the Duhawks did manage to put together 14 points on two touchdown passes to senior Gavin Kaiser on a 4-yard reception and a 71-yard reception. Gesing finished the first half completing 7-12 passes, with one interception. Kaiser caught six passes for 131 yards. Junior running back Billy Kass netted 143 yards on the ground.

Throughout the game the team put themselves in certain situations, according to Mierkiewicz, that did not put the team in a good position to win such as the block punt that gave Coe a short field to work with and resulted in 27-yard touchdown for the first score of the game on a 4th-and-5 play.

The penalties were another element of the game that affected the Duhawks, who collected 10 penalties for 100 yards. The way coach Mierkiewicz looked at it was to take into consideration what happened on those plays that were wiped out by the penalties so in reality it felt more like 10 penalties for 200 yards.

The other play that stood out was the interception returned by the Kohawks on the Duhawks second possession of the second half that made the score 28-14, but despite the result the team did not lose any confidence and bounced back well.

“We really responded well after [the interception]. In the second half of games in the past we were not as productive, but this week we were productive and I feel like we just ran out of time.”

Sophomore Sean Brennan, from Lake Villa, Illinois, entered onto the field in the second half and looked comfortable running the offense despite his stat line from the day, completing 1-4 passes and throwing two interceptions, but scoring his first touchdown on a 9-yard keeper at the beginning of the 4th quarter to bring Loras to 21 points.

“I have learned a lot about the quarterback position from watching Vaughn and I think that is going to help me in the future,” said Brennan. “I need to fill Vaughn’s shoes when it comes to the leadership role he plays.”

The defense gave up 366 yards of total offense, led by Coe’s all-American quarterback Brad Boyle. Senior Eric Meyer and Zach Myers led the team with eight and six tackles, respectively. Sophomore David Pirkle added three tackles and the lone interception of Boyle.

“We had a couple breakdowns several times in coverage on defense. Coe is a tough team to defend and we have to decide whether to leave open the seams in the middle or to try to tighten that down and open up the outsides. I feel in the second half we played very well on the defensive side of the ball.”

Loras will travel to Cornell College this weekend to take on the Rams who are 2-5 overall, as well as 0-5 in the conference.

The Loras College Duhawks took on the Luther Norse at Luther. The Norse won 20-13.

When you hear homecoming what does it mean to you? In high school it can mean football, dressing up, and finding a date for the dance. But in college it means alumni, families, and still football. Loras homecoming is no different. After a week full of events including sack races Monday night, giant tricycle races on Tuesday night, bozo buckets on Wednesday, building residence halls on Thursday, and on Friday a game of water balloon toss after the seniors continued the tradition of painting the hill and decorating the statue of our founder Bishop Loras who overlooks the campus.

The student tailgate was held on Cox Street while the Alumni tailgate remained at the AWC parking lot. The Loras tradition continued of alum returning to their alma mater to celebrate and relive their college days. Many of these alumni are part of the reunion classes of up to 50 years after their graduation, but others are more recent grads who just want to relive their recent college lives and see old friends. After many homecoming tours, tailgating and socializing, the football game became the main focus of the weekend. Sadly it didn’t turn out to be as exciting and moral boosting as Duhawks would have preferred. Never fear though, it takes more than a few touchdowns to keep Loras football fans from having a great experience. The men’s and women’s soccer teams assisted in that, finishing up the day of sporting events each with a blowout against University of Dubuque. Along with the numerous sporting events over the weekend there were times of worship to coincide.”

Along with the numerous sporting events over the weekend there were times of worship to coincide.” For many years now Loras has offered two additional liturgies, one honoring the distinguished alumni and silver Jubilarian class of 1986, and another honoring the golden Jubilarian class of 1961” says Liturgy Coordinator and 2008 Loras graduate David J. Summers.

The men and women’s cross-country teams brought home impressive finishes on their annual trip to the highly competitive National Catholic Championships at Notre Dame last weekend.

The men’s team finished fourth overall among all non-Division I schools, which also was the best finish among all of the Division III schools at the competition.

The meet featured ranked Division I and Division II opponents, including Notre Dame and Bellarmine University.

Once again, senior Dan McDermott finished first for the Duhawks with a time of 25:30, good enough for 27th overall in the field of 250-plus runners (fourth overall among non-Division I schools).

Junior Austin Steil crossed the finish line next for the Duhawks, 20 seconds behind McDermott, finishing 21st among non-Division I competitors.

The next three runners for Loras to finish were first-year Rob Howe, junior Chris Higgins, and first-year Ty Wittman who all crossed within four seconds of one another to round out the Duhawks’ scoring.

Finishing sixth and seventh were first-years Steve Loran and Ryan Sheeran.

“I was very happy with the times and how our guys raced as a team,” said coach Bob Schultz. “I’m really proud of our whole team, the weather was ideal and the course was in great shape, which contributed to the very fast times.”

The men also finished in fourth place last year among non-Division I teams and nearly matched their score from a year ago, scoring 319 team points compared to last year’s 318.

McDermott also received Athlete of the Week accolades in the Iowa Conference with his 27th place finish out of 255 runners and the best time posted by a Division III entrant.

The team will travel to Minneapolis this weekend to compete at the Roy Griak Invitational and look to improve on their impressive finish from last year when they took 13th in what is annually one of the nation’s largest cross-country races.

The women also had a successful day at the Catholic Championships, placing 17th overall in the field of 33 Division I, II and III schools. They finished 7th overall among non-Division I schools.

Senior Genna Kinley led the way for the Duhawks for the second meet in a row, placing 51st overall and 14th among non-Division I competitors with a time of 18:53. Sophomore Mary Rector was the other Duhawk to finish in the top 100 in a field of more than 250 runners with a time of 19:14 to finish 86th overall.

Junior Katie Flogel, senior Katie Hemesath and first-year Belky Hilby finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Duhawks. Junior Maria Kalb and sophomore Kellie Wagner finished sixth and seventh.

“I was happy with our women’s times and how they raced as a team,” said Schultz. “Genna Kinley and Mary Rector both made the top 10 all-time list (for the 5K) at Loras. Katie Flogel and Kellie Wagner also had what could have been their best races as Duhawks.”

Schultz said that Kinley posted the seventh-best 5K time in Loras history, while Rector now has the ninth-best 5K time in school history.

Kinley also received Runner of the Week accolades in the Iowa Conference with her 54th-place finish overall out of 272 runners and placed 14th among non-Division I runners.

All the women saw a considerable amount of time shaved off their finish in comparison to last week’s meet.

“Our women got out better at the start and they also did a much better job racing as a team,” Schultz said. The women also will be in Minneapolis this weekend. Last year, they placed 13th out of 32 as a team dating back to last year. “We did well last year, and our hope is to have a good experience again this year.”

The Loras College Duhawks took on the University of Dubuque Spartans at Chalmers Field at the University of Dubuque. The Duhawks were trying to “Beat UD,” and “Keep the Key” on Saturday night, but the Spartans would shut down the Duhawks in the 2nd half and take back the key with a final of Spartans 41 Duhawks 16.

So, here you are – a proud Duhawk, surrounded by individuals from myriad backgrounds С some coming from across the oceans, some first generation college-goers, some home-schooled, and some already are professionals in their fields, but haven’t realized yet. Regardless, you’re aboard a flight that’s going to show you new colors, new experiences and a new journey. What you’re about to begin at Loras is a journey from one kind to the another, just like Provost and Academic Dean Cheryl R. Jacobsen said during the convocation ceremony at the beginning of your journey.

Now, I’m not going to rant about what this college has to offer you. All this time, what you heard on the Loras website, on the marketing posters (man, they must be expensive) and through the admission officers, they are for real. Although students at Loras don’t have any major like creativity (oops, did I burst your bubble?) and service, they are something you’ll find as you go along the journey. Then there are all the opportunities promised in the marketing campaign -some are right in front of us and for some, we’ve to stand up and see. Just spread your wings and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

As public spending on education shrinks (yeah, blame the economy), it has resulted in a smaller freshmen (or first-year) classes everywhere. But does that mean students have to worry? Yes, maybe economically. But when you have become a Duhawk, you’re being bestowed upon with all these opportunities. Make sure you use them economically and smartly. Make every penny count. Make the version (or product), which you’d have become when you would be standing with your graduation hats donned, waiting to receive your diplomas and waving at your parents in the aisles far away, a great one.

What you possess today, you might not know it. But just explore things around (although Dubuque is a small town with no skyscrapers (darnit) – not physically, but mentally and spiritually. Stand out head and shoulder above the rest in what you do, not in what you talk or what you show.

At last, I’d leave with Buddha’s quote “What you think, you become.”

The Lorian editorial staff

The Duhawk softball season came to an abrupt end this past weekend in the Iowa Conference tournament. Coach Ashley Rogers says she will take a lot from this season, even though the Duhawks sported a sub-.500 record.

“Overall, I thought we had a good season,” said coach Ashley Rogers. “Each year we are getting more and more competitive within the Iowa Conference.”

Senior Kelsey Techlin player her last season in style, breaking the Loras single-season stolen base record of 23.

Sophomore Kelly Klein also was another key player for the Duhawks, posting eight wins on the mound and also crushing clutch home runs. The season is over, but the future looks bright is players like Klein continue their success.

In the first game of the tournament against Simpson, the story of the game was told with the top of Loras’ batting order. The first three hitters for Loras accounted for three of the Duhawks’ four runs. Loras took the victory in this game, 4-2.

The elation of victory was short-lived, however, as Loras lost the next two games by a combined score of 15-1. After a fast start, the Duhawks seemed to lose steam as they ran into the number-one ranked team in the tournament, Luther College, in their second game.

The Norse proved to be too much for Loras. Luther’s Lexy Determan propelled her team to victory as she has done all season. Determan added another win to her resume, totaling 20 on the season, with only two losses on the end. Determan dominated the Duhawks, striking out 11.

Loras barely got a breather before they took on the Rams of Cornell. Going into the game it seemed Loras was the favorite, seeded No. 5 in the Iowa Conference against Cornell’s sixth-place ranking, but the rankings proved to be irrelevant.

Again, the Duhawk offense seemed out of synch as the Rams held them to one run, and really kept the Duhawk bats at bay.

All-in-all it has been a great season for the Duhawks they seem ready for next year already. Coach Rogers is already looking ahead.

“Next season our goal will be the same: improve each day. We saw a lot of great improvements this year, and we want to continue that trend,” said Rogers. “The 2012 season is already underway and we need to start preparing for it now in the off-season.”

 

The softball team flew south over Spring Free Days to prepare for their fast-approaching conference season.

The Duhawks compiled a 2-6 record in Florida, and coach Ashley Rogers thinks the cross-country trip was just what the team needed.

“Overall, I thought we learned a lot about our team on (the trip),” she said. “We played tough competition that challenged us to be at our best at all times. ”

While finding success, the team will still have to shake off the early-season struggles that every team goes through. Rogers emphasized discipline will ultimately help the Duhawks through the season.

“Even with the mistakes we made, we were still able to compete with high level teams,” she said. “Once we clean up our mistakes great things will happen for the Duhawks.”

Helping the Duhawks to victory in Florida was catcher Tracy Sullivan and outfielder Beth Miller, who are both hitting over .400 on the season thus far. The Duhawks will look to add the consistency emphasized by Rogers as they begin conference play. Loras will be defending their IIAC regular-season championship.

Loras begins their conference schedule April 2 against Buena Vista. Follow their progress on duhawks.com.

Andy Miller can be contacted at andrew.miller2@loras.edu