Page 8
SPORTS
Nov. 10, 2006
www.guilfordian.com
Greensboro. N.C.
Women’s soccer hosts ODAC championship
Amasses best conference record in school history
By Adra Cooper | staff writer
On Nov. 1, the clock for the second overtime
ran out and the Guilford women's soccer game
against Eastern Mennonite was still tied 0-0. Af
ter 110 minutes without a goal, the fate of the
game would be determined by a penalty kick
shoot-out.
Senior goalie Veronica Zych, who recently
won the Guilford Student-Athlete of the Week
Award, successfully blocked Lindsay Snyder's
shot during the final round, which was the fifth
attempted penalty kick of the allotted five.
"Penalty kicks can be a goalie's nightmare
but (Zych) handled it with ease, composure, and
the game-winning save," said senior captain Ra
chel Gwinn.
With the pressure on, senior captain Emily
Ott converted on her penalty kick, making the
score 5-4 in favor of Guilford. By defeating East
ern Mennonite, the team advanced to the Old
Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tourna
ment final.
The following Saturday, the first ODAC
championship game ever to be hosted at Guil
ford took place between The Quakers and The
Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan.
"Playing Virginia Wesleyan at home has been
a long-standing dream of mine come true," said
Ott. "I respect their players and coaches a lot and
I think that overall, they are one of the classiest
teams in our conference."
Students, parents, and faculty gathered at
Haworth Field to watch and cheer on the team.
Within the first five minutes of the opening
half, Virginia Wesleyan's Jackie Ochs-Gregory
headed the ball into Guilford's goal making the
score 1-0. The two teams continued to battle up
and down the field but neither scored for the re
mainder of the half.
Guilford came within inches of tying the
match early in the second half when a 40-yard
shot attempt from junior midfielder Micki
Boulineau ricocheted of the cross bar of Virginia
Wesleyan's goal. Shortly after. Marlin's Forward
Jen Colwell converted on a pass from Christina
Smith making the score 2-0 and putting the win
out of reach for the Quakers.
The game clock ran out and Virginia Wes
leyan walked away with an automatic bid in
the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) tournament.
"After the referee's final whistle blew, the
first thing I did was smile because the energy
of the Wesleyan players was a little contagious,
but [I smiled] mostly because I thought that all
of my teammates and I played a great game,"
Ott said.
Despite not going to the NCAA playoffs, the
2006 Quakers still compiled one of their win-
ningest seasons ever.
"The team finished with a 13-6-3 record for
the overall season, which ties v/ith the school re
cord for the number of wins in a season," said
Dave Walters, Sports Information Director/As
sistant Director of Athletics. "The team also had
a 9-1-1 record for their ODAC conference games.
This is the best record for the ODAC conference
that the women's soccer team has had in the
school's history."
The team has also received a number of indi
vidual accolades from the conference. Forward
Jennah Carter, the Quaker's leading scorer, was
selected to the First Team All-ODAC squad
while Boulineau and midfielder Caroline He-
meter were chosen for the Second-Team.
When reflecting on the Quaker's success
ful season, Ott said, "I think that what makes
us a strong team is that we're scrappy, we love
playing, and we all have different strengths that
combine to make a diverse and dangerous ar
senal."
The squad expects to return 15 letter winners
in 2007.
CREDIT
The team is losing six seniors : Erin Rothweiler, Jennah Carter,Veronica Zych, Rachel Gwin,
Diana Newman and Emily Ott
Discover Guilford’s most unique ^sport’: Amtgard
Medieval warfare
with duct tape, foam
noodles, and socks
By Kip Reynolds | staff writer
It's a beautiful Saturday after
noon and a brisk fall breeze stirs
the golden leaves of Guilford's
campus. Oddly, the familiar
autumnal sound is accompa
nied by the distinct whack of
foam coming from the Quad.
Sandwiched between the
Quaker's final home football
game in Armfield Stadium and
a decisive women's soccer game
out on the soccer field, Guil
ford's devoted Amtgard mem
bers are lining up for combat.
Amtgard is a live-action role-
playing game that revolves around
warfare using harmless foam weap
ons. The objective is to score touch
es, not injuries. The foam weapons
are constantly being repaired so that
they are soft and safe to play with.
The objective of Amtgard is to
kill an opponent by touching either
two of their limbs or their chest.
Once a limb is touched, it cannot be
used to hold a weapon or hold up
a person. There are many different
games, such as Black Knight, where
all the limbs must be hit to score
a kill, but there is never a game
that allows a blow to the head.
"We won't put up with people
getting hurt," said CCE student and
Amtgard organizer Nathan Mur-
doc. While the weapons are soft,
they can still pack a powerful punch
if swung with malicious intent.
"We allow everyone to play
but won't allow anyone to get in
jured. We chase off anyone who
is just looking to release some ag
gression," said sophomore club
member Paul Facknitz. While
there has not been any major in
jury, any participant must sign
a waiver form so they cannot
sue Guilford if they are injured.
The official Amtgard game
started in El Paso, Texas, in 1983
and has grown with chapters
around the nation. Players take on
roles such as assassins or knights
and act accordingly to their class.
The game has a complex hierarchy
of knights and kingdoms that ties
the role-playing aspect together
with the organization of chapters.
Amtgard players began bat
tling on Guilford's emerald quad
in 2002. The game was then
adapted to the local popula
tion. Guilford Amtgard has done
away with the role-playing as
pect in favor of raw foam carnage.
"The more rules you have
the more people complain," said
Murdoc. Amtgard players believe
that a fast action battle is prefer
able to role playing for many rea
sons. A major reason is simplicity.
"There are over 30 pages of
rules for the official game," said
Facknitz. Players decided that the
complex rules would detract from
the purpose of the game and that
purpose is to have fun. Amtgard
is not only entertaining but is also
a good source of physical activity.
"This is one of the few geeky
activities where I get a work out,"
said Murdoc. An Amtgard play
er must use their entire body to
quickly dodge powerful thrusts,
block charging opponents, and
deftly strike their fearful foe.
To add a little more spice to
Amtgard, there are many differ
ent weapons to use than the aver
age foam sword. There are small
swords, two-handed swords,
spears, hammers, maces, shields,
foam nunchuks. Players have
even made javelins and throwing
axes out of old socks and foam.
The weapons are crafted by
the players during scheduled
workshops. The Guilford Col
lege Yachting Club allocates a
small amount of money to Amt
gard for the construction and up
keep of the weapons. "The duct
tape is the most expensive part
of the weapons," said Murdoc.
Amtgard might seem like an
odd activity but the payoffs are
countless. A participant is able to
enjoy robust physical activity, brisk
air and beaming sunlight on the
quad, and the unique satisfaction
of whacking people with foam.
As Amtgard veteran and
Guilford Alumni Brock Mi-
tchowitz said, "I've been play
ing since I was a wee lad and
Amtgard is the awesomeness."
Hall of fame continued
Continued from page I
Guilford it would be how ev
eryone cared," she said. "Peo
ple would stop me as I walked
down the pathway and ask,
'Hey Jen, how was your tennis
match?' This is a close knit cam
pus and the people really care."
Steven L. Harwell was an
All-American golfer who won
three college tournaments and
had All-American honors as
a senior after he placed ninth
at the NAIA championships.
"On graduation day, I had to
make a choice: walk across the
stage to get my diploma, or walk
the fairways at what was prob
ably the best collegiate tourna
ment at that time," said Harwell,
speaking of his time at Guilford.
Calvin Hunter won the ODAC
Football Player of the Year Award,
Guilford's 1991 English Athletic
Leadership Award, and gradu
ated with 13 school records,
three of which still stand today.
He went on to get more educa
tion when he left Guilford. Hunter
earned his master's degree in sports
management from Georgia South
ern University in 1994 and a docr
torate in sport management from
the U.S. Sports Academy in 2005.
Others went on to play
professional sports, like Tony
Womack, who just finished
his 16th season of professional
baseball. He played in the Pitts
burgh Pirates' minor league
system and in 1997, became
the team's starting second base-
man. That same year, Womack
led the National League in stolen
bases and was selected to play
in the All-Star game. Womack,
who was unable to attend the
ceremony, has since been a mem
ber of five different major league
baseball teams and has played in
five of the past eight postseasons.
While at Guilford, Womack hit
.337 and had 37 stolen bases. He
also ranked among the national
kickoff return leaders in the one
season he played on Guilford's
football team. Womack also won
the Best Undergraduate Male
Athlete Award and the Eng
lish Athletic Leadership Award.
Other inductees included Wal
ter "Buddy" Smith who played in
the 1969 North Carolina Shriners
All-Star Game. He was NAIA
All-District and received All-Caroli-
nas Conference recognition in 1966.
Jay Terrell was a four-year
baseball letter who won all-state,
all-district, and All-Carolinas Con
ference honors as a senior in 1972.
"When they called and told
me I was being inducted into
the Hall of Fame all I thought
was, 'they must have looked at
some stats that I wasn't aware
of," said Terrell modestly.
The ceremony took place
on Nov. 4 in Dana Auditorium.
As the ceremony concluded
the inductees and their fami
lies took pictures and were then
served lunch in the dining hall.