Student Athlete Blogs

Blogger: Kara Blankenship, Basketball
Date: 3/12/2010

It’s already Spring Break here at Evangel and the campus is empty! Mid-terms are over and the dorms are rather lonely these days as many students left the paradise of EU to travel home for a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of college life. Others are vacationing miles away, sipping fruity smoothies while basking in the warmth of the sun and sand. Still others have traveled over these oceans where their peers are surfing and swimming to embark on mission trips throughout the world. Evangel offers a variety of choices for those wishing to spend their break reaching others with God’s Word on a service trip. Teams were sent out this week to Kenya, England, France, the Bahamas, and various other places.

I, on the other hand, am sitting in a cozy, whirly chair in Evangel University’s Klaude Kendrick Library. Being a college athlete often means that sacrifices must be made to play your sport. The Women’s Basketball team has worked all year to make it to the National Tournament… and our time is here. As classes resume from break on the 15th, we will be rolling off of campus in our big green bus with Louie (our AMAZING driver) at the wheel.  Therefore, now we are on campus preparing for next week’s games in Jackson, Tennessee. We will be missing a full week of class, which means a lot of catching up to do, but in the end it’ll be worth it. In the end, spending break on campus with my teammates is worth it because we are family and together we are working towards something greater than ourselves… And through it all, we must always remember that nothing worth obtaining is ever achieved without sacrifice.

Blogger: Colton Moos, Football
Date: 3/3/2010

Spring semester is under way and it is a change of pace for me. I am still getting barely enough sleep to survive at night and then sleeping for most of the afternoons. It’s not the best life and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but until I learn how to go to bed at an unreasonable time, that is what is going to happen! Other than that my classes are going great and I can’t complain. I am counting down the days until Spring Break though! Just a few weeks left, and the sad thing is I do not even have plans. The reason is because I am a poor college student without any money, so I signed up to do a scientific medicine study for money! HAHAHA! Hopefully I don’t start growing extra legs or anything like that! If I get this study, I have to stay at a clinic during one of the weekends over Spring Break.

So far my favorite course is a class where Evangel brings in homeschool students and I get real experience teaching them. It’s pretty awesome, and the class I am in now focuses on individual sports. At the moment we are teaching racquet sports. It’s a blast. My favorite is teaching the tiny little guys who can barely hold the racquet. They are learning quickly though and it’s an enjoyable experience.

Well, Valentine’s Day is over and I had one unforgettable experience. If there are any female readers out there, I know you are dying to hear a story and the males are tuning out right about now. In a quick summary, this is how my night went with my girlfriend:

• Cooked for the first time and surprised myself without burning anything down.
• Did a little slow dancing to some old school jams.
• Put roses in different places that were meaningful to our relationship.
• Made a scavenger hunt for Katie to find the roses.
• Ended with her choice of watching Dear John (waste of time, don’t go watch it!)

Well that sums up what has been going on in my life lately. Sorry for any male readers who had to read through my night of mushiness. I had a great time though, so I had to put it on here.

Peace

Blogger: Kara Blankenship, Basketball
Date: 2/8/2010

It’s amazing how time flies. The new semester is now almost a month old as the snow continues to fall upon Evangel’s campus. My Christmas break flew by even faster than the Spring semester has gone so far…. My days were spent sleeping, staying in shape for basketball, and seeing as many old friends as possible. Everyone was cleared off of the campus for a month, except the Women’s Basketball team. We all went home for a couple weeks, but returned to the dorms the day after Christmas to practice and get ready for games. It was kinda fun having the whole dorm to ourselves, though I’ll admit it was a bit creepy at first knowing we were the only ones here.

Cutting the break at home short has been beneficial for the team in 2010 as we have won our last 10 games and are now first place in our conference (the HAAC). In yesterday’s game Coach Neal and his daughter Tasha were both recognized for their outstanding play at Evangel during their college years. They had their jerseys retired after a big win over Baker University.

The next few weeks are busy for us as we wrap up conference play with a couple long weekend road trips. If you find yourself willing to brave the cold weather in the next few weeks be sure to come cheer us on! Until later… stay warm!

Blogger: Colton Moos, Football
Date: 1/26/2010

Here we go again, new semester is under way. I had a great Christmas break where the average time I decided to roll out of bed was about 1:30 and it was fantastic. I slept a lot, ate a whole lot, and worked very little! My grandparents were fantastic to me once again, and provided me with more than enough to eat. They took me in for another month and gave me everything I could have wanted over break.

There were only two bad parts of my break. First, not being able to be with my girlfriend. And second, having a tendonitis scope surgery on both knees. I was planning on being down in Oklahoma City with my girlfriend for New Year’s but was upset to find out I was scheduled to have surgery on both knees on the morning of New year’s Eve. So Katie, I’m sorry about the doctor’s terrible planning that ruined our plans. This did make for a better reuniting after the monthlong break was over.

As far as surgery goes, I have been recovering well and hope to be good as new soon! After a couple weeks of going down my grandparent’s stairs on my booty, I only have a slight limp to deal with. The hard part is going to be not doing any athletic movements for four months, when I am the most active person in the world. It has almost been a month and I am going crazy right now, so remember to pray for me to be lazy.

So far this semester isn’t too bad, but is a definite change in the way my life flows. I have an 8 and 9 o’clock class five days a week and terrible sleep discipline. I have yet to get more than 6 hours of sleep in any given night, but I usually make up for my lack of sleep in the afternoons because I can’t do much working out with my knees. That is the latest news in my life and I am starting to get pretty good at being a zombie all morning! Hopefully in my next blog I will have been able to force myself to sleep a little more! Enjoy yourselves!

Blogger: Kara Blankenship, Basketball
Date: 12/14/2009

2 down, 1 to go …. Finals that is! Like most students around the globe, we here at Evangel are working diligently to prepare for finals this week. Not only does this mean a lot of late-night studying and stressed out students running frantically to and from the library and dorms as to avoid the cold, but it also means a lot of late night eating! The other night Burgess provided hot chocolate and a cookie decorating party for all us girls … this was only after B2N enjoyed their Christmas Party with their Brother Floor, K3N. We enjoyed fellowship and a nice White Elephant gift exchange with the boys.

Get-togethers like these around the Christmas season and during a stressful time like Finals Week are great for getting away from the stress for a while …. before returning back to the books of course.

An update from the Ashcroft … both the men’s and women’s basketball teams brought home conference wins on the road last night. The boys had a HUGE win against the #6 team in the nation … we girls were pumped for them after the game and enjoyed a 3-hour bus ride back to campus filled with some fun, some studying, and some sleeping. Being an athlete can be hard when classes are busy, as studying the night before finals on a bus is not ideal, however I wouldn’t trade those nights of basketball and friendship for anything.

Hope all of you are enjoying the Christmas season and taking time to count your blessings as we remember why we celebrate.

Its back to studying for me …

Until 2010 … Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!