By MARLON SCOTT | Senior Staff Writer
While for many students fall means the start of classes and the end of summer vacation, for a lot of student athletes and their coaches, fall means hope.
All the running, lifting, jumping, sweating, eating, kicking and swearing in the heat of summer finally comes to an end in the fall. Coaches in every sport drill in to their players the mantra “what you do in the offseason, pays off in the regular season.”
The following is a list of the sports that begin in the fall and some of the athletes who play them at APSU. Now is the time when predictions fade to the background because everyone is 0-0.
FOOTBALL
Who doesn’t know it is football season?
The talented legs of runningbacks Terrence Holt and Ryan White will power the 2010 Govs. The two combined to lead the OVC in rushing last year and plan to do so again this season. Expected to lead them on offense will be redshirt sophomore quarterback Jake Ryan.
However, White, Holt and Ryan are three of only 15 starters who returned this season. Of those 15, only three are on defense. The rest are made up of new faces including the over 25 freshmen who joined the team this year.
“You don’t know what the freshmen are going to do until you get them in the first game,” said head coach Rick Christopel.
“Hopefully, they won’t get too over excited and too nervous, and burn out before they get out there on the playing field.”
“We have a good nucleus of guys. If we can keep them healthy and get the freshmen some game experience, I think we will be okay down the road.”
The Govs will open the season at home Thursday, September 2, against the Cumberland Bulldogs.
CROSS COUNTRY
They are always on the road. All they do is run.
Less than 20 people make up the men and women’s cross country teams at APSU and they are hardly recognized except when seen running around campus early in the morning.
Unheralded, the two teams will hear the first starting gun of the season at Belmont on Friday, September 3. They were picked eighth in the OVC preseason poll. However, head coach Doug Molnar told APSU Sports Information he expects his team to finish better than the prediction.
“We finished eighth in both the men and women’s competitions last year so that’s probably where we should be picked,” Molnar said. “I believe we are going to be stronger than both those finishes by the time the championship rolls around. I really like theses two teams and how close-knit they are with one another.”
VOLLEYBALL
Serve, block, dig, set, and kill.
In the Dunn Center the Lady Govs volleyball team is ready to prove they will not miss a step under their third coach in three years, newly promoted Haley Janicek. For two straight seasons, they have won over 20 games in the regular season. However, it’s the post season where they are focused on showing their most improvement.
A player like last season’s OVC Player of the Year, Stephanie Champine, cannot be replaced. However, seniors Sarah Alisaleh, Jessica Mollman and Taylor Skinner will be leaving their marks on the court and possibly in the programs record books.
SOCCER
The Lady Govs soccer team is already on the field erasing the bad taste of winning only one game last season. They have already scored 15 goals to win their first three games and are looking to continue the streak as hosts of the Lady Govs Invitational.
Michelle Johnson is one of seven seniors on the team who are determined to end their career with a winning season. Johnson made the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute of the Lady Govs game against Lipscomb Monday, Aug. 24.
According to APSU Sports Information, she is excited about the way the team is playing so far.
“This is very exciting. We’ve been working really hard this year and we’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Johnson said.
“All the freshmen have contributed and we’ve been creating a lot of scoring opportunities. This is good momentum for our team; it’s looking better every day.”
GOLF
They are the best-dressed teams at APSU and usually receive polite claps instead of loud cheers when they play.
OVC Champion and Player of the Year, senior Chelsea Harris will start her quest to repeat as champion by playing on the greens in Paducah, Ky. at the MSU Drake Creek Invitational Monday, September 13.
She is one of the seven total Lady Gov golfers and one of the four seniors on the team.
Also swinging clubs in red and white for APSU will be five men led by seniors Brian Balthrop and Luke Sherrod.
The “home game” for our golf teams is the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate. It begins Monday, Oct. 18.
After the Lady Govs Invitational on Friday, Aug. 27, the Lady Govs will not return home until Tuesday, Sept. 14, against Alabama A&M. TAS
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