An inside look at IU's freshmen
Three freshmen from different backgrounds but with a common talent have helped lead the women's golf team this year.
Three freshmen from different backgrounds but with a common talent have helped lead the women's golf team this year.
Last season was a learning experience for the IU men's golf team. This time around, the Hoosiers mean business. Even with a freshman class that at one time held Golfstat's top ranking, few could have expected the mark the Hoosiers made last season in the Big Ten, despite a slow start.
IU men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson preaches that the best offensive is a good defense. This idea, one practiced among many sports, also holds true for the IU women's volleyball team. The Hoosiers understand the importance of defense and have scholarship athletes in the defensive specialist positions. These players anchor the back row and start most plays, but they don't get a lot of fan recognition.
The start of another Big Ten season is barreling down on the IU volleyball team, and it holds 11 squads -- five of which are ranked in the top 25 nationally. "We are definitely prepared," sophomore defensive specialist Kari Morgenstein said. "We have played for a month and have worked hard to prepare for the Big Ten."
For IU freshman quarterback Kellen Lewis, changing positions was never an option. Lewis was recruited by plenty of big-time football programs during his senior year at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Fla. The University of Florida, the University of Maryland, North Carolina State University and Illinois -- to name a few -- were all interested in Lewis' services.
IU coach Terry Hoeppner might have changed the atmosphere around his football team last year, but he was unable to change the team's fortunes during the Big Ten portion of the season. The 2005 Hoosier squad managed just one win during conference play, ended the season on a six-game losing streak and finished in last place in the Big Ten with a 1-7 record.
The numbers don't lie. In eight Big Ten games last year, the IU football team gave up an average of 38 points and 442 yards per game. The Hoosiers' 1-7 record in the Big Ten in 2005 backs up the statistics. But the 2006 defense is trying to put the miserable 2005 Big Ten season behind it.
"Oh! Meg's out! Someone get her out!" junior Kate O'Connell yelled from a stationary bike on the sideline of Mellencamp Pavilion. This comment came after Meg was struck in the leg with a ball on a practice penalty corner. Is that Kate being a concerned teammate? Nope. Try a fun-poking sister. After joking around and screaming loud enough for everyone in the pavilion to hear her call her sister out, Kate's sister-side came out when freshman Meg O'Connell returned to the sideline. "You OK, Meg?"
When senior captains Lydia Schrott and Morgan Miller arrived in Bloomington as freshmen, they avoided attention. "Both were not really sure of themselves," IU coach Amy Robertson said. "They were very quiet."
Coming off a season in which he won his first Big Ten Coach of the Year award, IU men's golf coach Mike Mayer is now ready to earn another personal first: a Big Ten championship.
"I feel like many of the Big Ten teams this year, Indiana is very solid. They have a complete team with excellent players in all positions....
For freshman Kelly Lawrence, football was a way of life growing up. "I played football since I was 5 years old," Lawrence said. "As soon as I touched the ball, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I just kept on playing for the love of the game, and it's just gone from there."
Mick Lyon has a recipe for scoring goals. "You start with talent," the IU women's soccer coach says. "You've got to have talented players to score goals. There's no doubt about it. And then that talent has to be fit and motivated. And I think you put those three things together, and that's what we have this year that we didn't have last year."
The IU men's soccer team is the favorite to win the Big Ten conference title, according to the league's coaches. The Hoosiers edged out defending champion Penn State for the top spot with Ohio State finishing third in the voting. Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan and Northwestern round out the rest of the conference.
"I'm just kind of being in the right place at the right time," said the sophomore midfielder/forward. "I'm just trying to bust my ass and get to the ball. Everybody's really helping me out. "I'm playing with the best players in the nation."
First might be the worst, but the Hoosiers would disagree if you told them second was best. After finishing as the runners-up in the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament, the IU field hockey team looks to contend in this year's conference title races with new additions to its strategy.
Booze is a funny thing. It betrays us, makes us sick and induces reckless behavior. We drunk dial, we go home with boys we shouldn't, we spend money we don't have on cab fares and bar tabs and we dance all night in uncomfortable shoes (inevitably causing blisters to be dealt with the next morning alongside hangovers). For these things, I blame alcohol.
The Summer Music Festival's reputation for drawing scholars and musicians internationally is renewed this year thanks to a concert performed by violinist Joshua Bell, as well as appearances from conductors Michael Stern and Leonard Slatkin.
The annual Hoosier Daddy, a regatta staged each fall by the IU sailing club, will not take place this year as scheduled because the new student leaders did not file a request in time, team officials said. Confusion surrounding the invitational is the latest struggle facing the club under the helm of senior and IU Sailing Club president Carl Salzmann, a three-month member of the organization. The group's faculty adviser Robert Kessler said the event, which traditionally spans a mid-October weekend, was canceled when the club did not file required paperwork with IU Recreational Sports. Salzmann said he was not aware that such a procedure was necessary until it was too late to formalize the event, which the club and regional competitors in the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association thought was in place for Oct. 14 and 15.
When junior Nichole Birky died of cardiac arrhythmia April 5, she left behind dozens of friends and family members.