A silent lunch with communication disorders instructor Kendra Miller will begin at noon today on the front lawn of the Health Professions Building and the deaf games with the American Sign Language Society will begin at 6 p.m. in the Student Activity Center.

The last event for the week is ASL Rocks! at 6 p.m. Thursday.

American Sign Language Society President Mallorie Ceisel said Deaf Awareness Week celebrates culture and heritage, not necessarily those who cannot hear.

“It draws attention to the differences between the culture,” the Illinois senior said. “This way hearing people can understand why deaf people behave differently and have different perspectives.”

Learning sign language

According to signgenius.com, an estimated 2 million people use sign language as their native language. The language not only uses hand motions, but also gestures, body movements, facial expressions and hand positions.

Campbell Hall Vice President Natalie Gordinier would like to know more about sign language.

“I don’t know a lot about sign language, but I know a few words and some letters,” the Madison Heights freshman said. “It would be awesome to learn sign language so I can communicate with more people.”

Fabiano Hall Residence Assistant Justine Easter offered her residence to attend these events.

“I told my residents to knock on my door if they were interested in attending these events,” the Detroit junior said. “I wouldn’t mind showing my residents a new experience.”

Celebrations of Deaf Awareness Week are observed by various international, national, state and local organizations, and include events and public campaigns that draw attention to deaf people, their accomplishments and their issues.

I never realized how fast I had grown up in this program until now.

The freshmen arrived a few weeks ago and they have a lot to turn into in such little time. It is time to take what I learned and teach it to the other fellow running backs, even though I am still young myself.

Six months ago during winter when I walked onto the team, I struggled learning the offense. The signals were tough to remember and I always got the plays mixed up. Now, the freshmen will depend on me to teach them the things I once learned from veteran ‘backs like Carl (Volny), Tyler (Reed), and Bryan (Schroeder).

If I want to take on this position, that means I must be a leader at all times. That means to finish all the drills, remain standing when tired, come to practice on time and participate in film study.

Training camp begins in a few weeks, which means we have no time to make mistakes as we prepare for our first game on Sept. 5 against Arizona.

Nobody is infallible, but we want to get as close to perfect as we can.

Over the summer, strength and conditioning coach Dave Lawson harped on the characteristics of being a leader and how to lead the team to do right. It made me realize that I can be a leader even as a rookie in the program.

Setting examples is vital at this time. The freshmen are noticing the behaviors of the upperclassmen and are beginning to emulate them.

If I continue to do right, then hopefully somebody will follow, whether it’s in the weight room or even off the field.

Normally, the young don’t get looked upon as a leader, but sometimes you don’t have to wear the badge to take such a role.

You never know who is watching you and who may become a product of your leadership.

sports@cm-life.com

The third attempt Tuesday was a charm for the underdogs.

Seven runs in the top of the sixth inning helped the Oilers defeat the Spartans 10-5.

Mount Pleasant advances to the Division 2 semifinals at Bailey Park in Battle Creek and will face the winner of East Grand Rapids and St. Joseph.

The game will be played Friday between noon and 1 p.m. downstate.

Pinconning coach Jeff Sanak knew exactly why his now 37-3 Spartans fell short.

“We gave up too many runs and too many bases,” Sanak said. “That’s the bottom line.”

He also knew that his team came into the game overconfident.

“We came in expected to win and we knew we could win,” Sanak said.

The Oilers finished the game with ten hits, ten runs and one error; Pinconning finished six hits, five runs and two errors.

Pinconning fell behind 3-0 after three innings. Junior Johnathon McCann brought in the first run after a sacrifice bunt; after a 2-0 lead, senior Charlie Hisey hit a triple to left field to add in one more score.

Mount Pleasant coach Luke Epple believed that his team could pull off the win.

“Most of the time, I love being the underdog,” Epple said. “We wanted to play small ball and we got ahead early.”

The Oilers are now on a 16-game winning streak after going 11-10 early in the season.

“We had a couple of turning points,” Epple said. “We won some close games during tournament play and we gave Grand Ledge their first lost.”

Epple wants to return to the state finals and he tells his team that they can make it.

“I told my players that they can be champions and I think that they are starting to believe that,” Epple said.

Mount Pleasant placed runner-up in the state finals last year and won it in 2007.

After the game, the coaches met up while the players were shaking hands and Sanak said to Epple, “Let’s play again next year.”

sports@cm-life.com

Soccer
Neil Stafford was hired as an assistant coach on coach Tom Anagnost’s staff. Stafford came from Assumption College where he was head coach since 2001.
He leaves the program as its all-time winningest coach, compiling a 72-61-15 overall record.

Track and Cross country
Willie Randolph, a former CMU track and field student-athlete, will be the new director for both men’s and women’s track and field and cross country, effective July 1.
Randolph earned two letters at CMU as a hurdler.
Randolph held a similar position at the University of New Orleans before taking a coaching job at the University of Louisville. There, he worked exclusively with sprinters and hurdlers for three years. He also held an assistant position at Vanderbilt University.

-Compiled by Staff Reporter James Falls.

CMU hosts Bowling Green and Toledo to close out the year. Friday’s doubleheader against Bowling Green will begin at 1 p.m., then a two-day series against Toledo begins at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Coach Margo Jonker said she is more concerned with winning in general than playing the spoiler role.

“I don’t care about the other teams, I just want to win,” Jonker said. “We have to show heart so we can go into next year with a mentally of knowing how to win.”

CMU is honoring the 1982 softball team, who had a 51-12 record and won a Mid-American Conference title.

All-American pitcher Linda Pagett-Young will have her No. 11 jersey retired.

BGSU and UT are tied with Buffalo (6-12 MAC) in the race for the eighth seed.

Toledo ended a nine-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against Akron on April 18. The Rockets’ tournament hopes were kept alive with wins against Kent State and Buffalo.

Senior Pitcher Ali Pettit will pitch for the last time this weekend.

“(I want to be known for) doing whatever it took to take care of the team and also that I gave my best effort every game,” she said.

Pettit garnered a number of individual accolades in her CMU career: tenth place in wins (41), fourth in strikeouts (354), eighth in complete games (54), seventh in innings pitched (534), fourth in appearances (118) and tied in fifth for saves (five).

Sophomore Amanda Patrick said she feels like a big piece of the team is going to be gone after this weekend.

“Losing our seniors is a big loss,” Patrick said. “They were like the parents of the team and we are going to miss them so much.”

Patrick said she wishes the team could have sent the seniors out with a better showing.

“They were the glue to our team and I feel bad that we didn’t go anything big for our seniors this season,” she said.

sports@cm-life.com

Reynolds leads the Mid-American Conference with 257 strikeouts. She was a Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Week nominee this week.

KSU (21-17 overall, 12-1 MAC) successfully swept six MAC opponents and is on top of the MAC East.

In need of a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Kim Cozat struck out; sophomore Amanda Patrick, junior Jill Schulz and Cozat were the only three Chippewas to bat in the last inning.

“She (Reynolds) threw me some inside pitches earlier in the game and that was what I was anticipating,” Cozat said. “We just were not able to put the bat on the ball.”

Coach Margo Jonker said her players need to find the right pitch.

“I tell my players to look for pitches in certain areas,” she said. “We need to relax and swing early in the count.”

Reynolds (17-10) only allowed one hit the entire game. Sophomore Brittini Merchant hit an infield single in the fifth inning.

The Golden Flashes scored in the top of the second inning. Lauren Brocklehurst, who came in as a pinch runner, stole second base and later advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Brocklehurst has seven stolen bases in as many attempts on the season, leading KSU. Chelsey Jones batted her in later in the inning.

Senior pitcher Ali Petit (6-19) struck out six batters and allowed only three hits.

After ending a nine-game losing streak with two wins over the University of Detroit-Mercy, the new losing streak is currently at four games, including an extra-inning loss to Michigan State. CMU has lost eleven straight MAC games.

“Like I said before, when we play our best, we can play with anybody,” Jonker said. “We were right there with Michigan, and they are one of the better teams in the area, perhaps even in the nation.”

All four games have been within two runs.

Jonker said practices remain up-tempo despite the losing season.

“We work hard everyday in practice,” she said. “The energy has not gone down at all.”

CMU (9-26 overall, 1-12 MAC) travels to DeKalb, Ill., on Friday to face Northern Illinois in a doubleheader.

Jonker said she wants to end the team’s struggles at the plate by looking for the best ways for her players to score.

“It is hard to score when we can not get the right players in the right situations,” Jonker said.

sports@cm-life.com

Amazingly, it also flies when the offense has to do up-downs after practice for turnovers during the scrimmage period. Too bad the time never flies while I am in class. However, it is all part of my crazy new life.

I am living that life right now – the life of a student-athlete here at CMU.

The past three months for me have been life-altering. Since walking-on to the football team, my life priorities have changed.

My diet is not the same, my leisure time consists of lying around and reading and almost every decision I make revolves around football.

This change also affects my everyday routine with classes and my friends.

Partying is not really my thing, but I loved to stay up late with my roommates and hang out. Now, the latest I have been up since February is 1 a.m. They stay up late and watch movies while I lay in bed until my eyes close.

Everyday around 6:45 a.m., I arise to the darkness outside and the silence of Campbell Hall. After guzzling two yogurts for breakfast, I run in the chilly weather to the Indoor Athletic Complex to start my day.

Most of the day, I am in charge of doing the little things for the team: Doing the lights for my position meeting, holding the bags for the other running backs during drills and picking up the stretch bands at the end of practice.

Then my day perpetuates, until finally, I am done with class and I can speculate on my two new favorite activities: dinner and a nap.

At the end of the day, it is totally worth the experience. As I lay my head down every night on my pillow, I can say that I am living out of my dreams, playing Division-I football.

Friends from all across the campus tell me how they wish to be a part of something that special. That is why I appreciate each day that I am on the field or in the weight room. Not everybody has this opportunity, so I must try not to take it for granted.

Former NFL players, Hall of Famers and coaches alike occasionally drop in and speak with our team about how special the game of football is. I listened with open ears because before I got here, I was one of the thousands of fans watching from the sideline.

Many people have told me there was not a chance that I would make it.

One summer day at the YMCA, I ran into Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley (Saginaw High Graduate and University of Michigan alumnus) and he told me, “People can be your biggest adversary, but they can also turn around and become your biggest fans.”

I keep that quote with me daily because I see the outcome since I have been with the team.

I would appreciate any fans that will support me throughout the season, but I depend on the support of my teammates and coaches the most.

I am apart of a brotherhood that can not be compared to anything else in my college experience. Since my first day on the scene, teammates like Tyler Reed, Kito Poblah, Carl Volny, Jeremy Wilson and Steve Winston willingly showed me the ropes.

Now, it is my turn to hold the rope for those players along with the rest of my teammates to bring a MAC championship home after this season is done.

sports@cm-life.com

“We’ve got to score runs,” coach Margo Jonker said. “We’ve got to hit the ball and we did not do well with that.”

The Chippewas split a doubleheader with Ball State on Friday. CMU lost the opener 3-0 and used extra innings to beat the Cardinals 6-5 in the second game. CMU was swept by Miami University in both games Saturday, 2-0 and 8-1.

Against Ball State, CMU was held to three hits. Ball State took a 5-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning in game two before the Chippewas mounted a comeback.

Sophomore Brittini Merchant had an RBI-double in the sixth inning to close the Ball State lead ton one run. Sophomore pinch-hitter Amanda Patrick then drove Merchant in with a single to center field. Tied until the 10th inning, Merchant brought junior Christina Novak home and won the game with a walk-off RBI single.

CMU could not match that offensive output against Miami University.

MU freshman Jordan McElroy and sophomore Megan Mawn scored the first and only two runs early in the first game to shut out the Chippewas 2-0.

In the second game, the score remained tied at one for six innings before the RedHawks put seven runs on the board in the seventh inning.

Sophomore Kim Campbell gave up five runs off seven hits with most of the damage occurring in the final inning.

Senior Ali Pettit substituted for Campbell during the rest of the seventh inning, but could not slow down the MU offense.

Jonker said CMU could have pulled off the win if the players would have had more desire to win.

“We were right there,” Jonker said. “It is very frustrating to watch and right now I am not seeing the heart from the team.”

Freshman Ashley Gilson said the recent struggles bring adversity the team will have to overcome.

“We have the heart, we are just not producing like we should be,” Gilson said “Things aren’t going our way right now.”

Merchant said she wants to challenge her teammates to fill the void left by senior center fielder Traci Kaatz, who is out with an undisclosed arm injury.

“Since she is not in the lineup, our players have to step up, and then step up even more,” Merchant said.

CMU (7-14 overall, 1-3 MAC) is 5-7 in games that were decided by two runs or less.

The Chippewas went 14-7 in the MAC last year and claimed the MAC West Division title.

Jonker said things need to change if the team wants to repeat last season’s success.

“I am going to talk to my players and see what it is going to take to turn things around,” Jonker said.

sports@cm-life.com

Central Michigan University lost to undefeated regular season MAC champion Bowling Green 82-65 on Friday in Cleveland, Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena to end its season.

“The loss was hard to take, but our record (makes us) very hopeful for the years to come here at CMU,” junior Britni Houghton said.

Before entering the MAC tournament, the Chippewas entered the first round with a 17-13 record, nearly tripling last year’s record of 6-23 during coach Sue Guevara’s first season.

Guevara said the women’s basketball program has the potential to continue improvement.

“It says a lot about our players,” she said. “Our program has really turned the page and our talent has gotten better.”

Bowling Green’s 66 percent shooting in the second half led to a 23-6 run against the Chippewas.

Junior Kaihla Szunko posted her fifth double-double of the last six games for CMU, scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds. Houghton led the team with 15.

However, the Chippewas did earn 67-59 win against Akron – CMU’s first postseason win since 1992.

CMU’s 2008-2009 season ties for the third-best turnaround in MAC history and the largest in school history. The Chippewas have also set and broke many records.

Houghton and senior Angel Chan have joined the 1,000-point club. They are the 17th and 18th members of the club and it is the fourth time CMU has had 1,000-point members on the same team.

Houghton became the first Chippewa to earn second team All-MAC honors since 1997. Chan was named an honorable mention.

Chan also holds the school record for most 3-pointers in a single season with 92, which is seven away from the MAC single-season record. She also finished second in career-made 3-pointers in school history.

Senior Latisha Luckett is currently ranked ninth in CMU’s all-time steals record. Guevara said losing Luckett will be difficult.

“We’re losing the energy of Luckett,” she said. “But (we) have players that have tasted success and defeat.”

Freshman Brandie Baker, who was selected on the All-MAC freshman team, was awarded MAC freshman of the Year; the second member to receive the honor in school history along with Sue Nissen.

Guevara said adding Laura Baker – a transfer student – and Charity Green, who was red-shirted this year, will bring some muscle to the team.

Since improving from last season, Houghton plans to take the success from this season and use the momentum toward next year.

“This season was a great stepping stone for the future of this program,” Houghton said. “We all know that we are capable of playing with the best and just knowing that we have improved is a huge confidence builder.”

sports@cm-life.com

The women’s basketball team dropped to fourth place in the Mid-American Conference after its 81-66 loss to Northern Illinois on Saturday.

The win gave NIU a season sweep against CMU.

NIU head coach Carol Owens was pleased to send away her seniors with a comeback win at the Convocation Center in Dekalb, Ill.

“This was a great game to honor our seniors,” Owens said. “It was obviously a great comeback in the second half. I really think we started making stops and that was the key.”

With the loss, CMU will have the No. 4 seed in next month’s MAC Tournament.

The Chippewas committed nine turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the second half Saturday. NIU eventually capitalized on CMU’s 14 turnover and converted them into 13 points to take a 49-48 lead with 10:20 remaining.

The Huskies shot 62 percent in the second half, which also included a 3-pointer from junior Kylie York that concluded an 11-2 run to take a 68-56 lead with 4:51 remaining in the game.

York led NIU with 21 points, shooting 7-of-10 from the 3-point line.

“This is a disappointing loss for us. They were down, and they came back and caught fire,” said head coach Sue Guevara.

A 3-point play by junior Britni Houghton reduced CMU’s deficit to eight with 3:17 remaining, but a quick run by NIU gave the Huskies a 17-point lead, their biggest lead of the night.

CMU went scoreless in the last three minutes of the game.

Houghton shot 8-of-17 and led CMU with 24 points, her third 20-point effort in the last four games. The rest of the team shot only 16-of-46 (35 percent).

Senior Angel Chan was the only other Chippewas in double figures, finishing with 10.

NIU out-rebounded CMU 40-30.

“There’s a reason they are the number one team in the MAC in rebounding and you just saw it,” Guevara said.

Houghton’s first jumpshot started a 14-2 run early in the first half. Houghton concluded the run with a 3-pointer, assisted by freshman guard Brandie Baker.

A three-pointer shot by sophomore Shonda Long (assisted by Baker) and a jump shot made by senior Latisha Luckett gave CMU a 24-8 lead with 11:14 remaining.

A personal 5-0 run by NIU senior Jessie Wilcox stopped the run.

CMU shot 38 percent (24-of-63) from field goal range and 25 percent (5-of-20) from 3-point range.

NIU hit 10-of-22 (46 percent) from 3-point range, York scored seven of the ten.

CMU hosts Toledo at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Rose Arena.

sports@cm-life.com