TEXARKANA, TX —- Kicking off the season strong: This is exactly what the Eagles Softball team did this month. To open up the season, the Eagles hosted Avila University of Kansas City, Missouri for a 4 game series on Saturday, February 5 at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The two teams met up again on Sunday, February 6 at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
On the 5th, Avila held the lead through all 7 innings, until the Eagles fought hard during their last at bat to put 4 runs on the board opposed to Avila’s 5. Anna Westberry and Lauryn Henson pitched for the Eagles.
Shortly after the first game, both teams took to the field again to compete for the last game of the day. TAMUT took the lead in the 4th inning when Erika Richardson hit a home run to put 2 runs on the board. After 326 days out from an injury, Molly Harrison was released to play again. The first pitch of her first at bat, Harrison hits a homerun that adds another run for TAMUT. Speechless, all Harrison could say after her home run was “God is good.” 3 more strong innings played by TAMUT resulted in an 8-5 win.
Sunday morning the 6th, bright and early, both teams met at the field. This time, TAMUT was determined to win both games, which is exactly what they did. Game 3 and 4 of the series came and went, giving the TAMUT Eagles a reason to celebrate their opening weekend at Bramlett Field at Spring Lake Park.
The TAMUT Eagles were back in action on Saturday, February 19, 2022 for a 1 day, 2 game series against Lyon College and Park University, then again on Saturday, February 20 for a 1 day, 2 game series against Lyon College and Park University. The Eagles looked forward to improving their 6-1 record this coming weekend at the Lyon College Tournament.
Homecoming week always ends with a football game, right? It’s basically a rule in Texas. Texas A&M University-Texarkana does things a little differently, closing out the spirit week with fútbol (soccer) games.
TAMUT’s soccer teams are in the thick of their season. With only a few conference games left, every match is extremely important. Both men’s and women’s teams have had their ups and downs throughout the beginning of the school year. It has become a tradition on TAMUT’s campus to host homecoming soccer games to engage students and boost school spirit around the beginning of October.
Homecoming week is usually filled with fun student activities and dress up spirit days while the soccer teams train to battle it out on their home field in front of their biggest crowd of the season. This year’s homecoming was exciting and one to remember on and off the field.
The outcome of every game has become crucial for the TAMUT soccer teams as the Red River Athletic Conference tournament approaches. Teams must rank in the top six of their conferences to make it into postseason play. It’s every team’s dream to win the conference tournament, take home a ring, and continue on to nationals. Both teams stepped onto the field ready to fight for a homecoming win against Louisiana State University-Shreveport and the fans were given two very intense matches.
Photo by Suzanna Summerlin
The women’s game was back and forth. TAMUT’s Alex Martinez sent in a cross in front of the goal and one of the LSUS defenders accidentally scored an own goal, giving TAMUT the lead. The rest of the game was intense as fouls became more frequent. Martinez accumulated two yellow cards, which forced her off the field so TAMUT played one member down for the remaining 30 minutes of the game. LSUS took advantage and scored a goal in the last few minutes of the game, sending the match into “golden goal”: first team to score wins. LSUS had a hand ball right on the 18-yard box, giving TAMUT a free kick right in front of their goal. TAMUT stormed the field after Emily Juarez scored off the free kick– bringing the final score to 2-1.
Photo by Amanda Johnson Vaughan
It is tradition to introduce homecoming court between the men’s and women’s games and announce the homecoming king and queen winners. School organizations such as Campus Rec and the Path Program submit nominees, who are voted on by the student body to narrow down to the final five of homecoming court. Ellie Kemins and Zak McCarthy, king and queen last year, escorted TAMUT’s president Dr. Emily Cutrer to the middle of the field to crown the 2019 winners. After a drumroll from the crowd, Philip Derouen and Sharnell James were named homecoming king and queen.
The men’s game began quickly after the homecoming announcement. The game started off intense. LSUS scored in the first ten minutes but TAMUT’s Yassin Ghasemi tied it before halftime by scoring off a penalty kick. LSUS fought back with another goal at the beginning of the second half, but Ghasemi tied it up again to keep it interesting at 2-2. The game got rowdy as players and fans almost broke out into a fight after LSUS scored a third goal. Play continued after the referees calmed everything down and LSUS went on to win 4-2.
Photo by Amanda Johnson Vaughan
It was an eventful week on TAMUT’s campus as another homecoming is put in the books. Both teams played their hearts out for their student body and left it all on the field. The women’s team earned their first conference win, making their record 1-3, while handing LSUS their first conference loss. The men’s team has started to catch momentum and has a bright future ahead of them if they continue to play with such passion. Good luck to both teams as they finish out their seasons and to the student body as they buckle down for midterms.
Does a two day trip to Oklahoma with over forty of Texas A&M Texarkana’s soccer players sound like a good time? There’s WiFi on the chartered bus. There are plug outlets every other row of seats. There’s even a bathroom in the back, a nice little closet with a toilet that does not flush located right behind the men’s team! If you’ve never been on one of these away-game-trips, buckle up. You’re on one now.
Walters carries the ball up the field against SCU. Photo by: Suzanna Summerlin
Madison Walters began her journey at TAMUT in August of 2016 at her first preseason training camp for the Women’s Soccer team. Since then, she’s grown as a student athlete and been named team captain. We’ll be following Walters on her last preseason away trip of her career to play against Southwestern Christian University and Oklahoma City University.
Rise and shine! It’s 5:30 A.M. and it’s time to get moving. Walters is on the chartered bus surrounded by her teammates by 6 A.M. Everyone quickly dozes off to sleep after the team prayer and the 6 hour drive began. “My whole body hurts,” Walters commented during the pit stop the bus took at the halfway point of the journey as she stretched her legs. The bus made a brief stop for lunch before heading to the field so the women’s team could begin to warm up.
After a 3-1 win against SCU, Walters was exhausted, playing the full 90 minutes. She changed into clean, dry, clothes and sat with her team to watch the TAMUT men’s team win 2-1 in overtime. The bus smelled of sweaty trash as both stinky teams piled onboard to head to the hotel. Walters was dead asleep by 10 P.M. after the teams ate a feast at Golden Corral.
The next morning the hotel lobby was packed with soccer players as they ate breakfast before loading the bus at 10:30 A.M. The teams were eager to play as they arrived to the OCU field around noon. Walters was frustrated after the women lost 2-1 in overtime. She led the team towards the locker rooms to shower off before watching the men’s team battle it out on the field.
Photo by: Suzanna Summerlin
After two frustrating loses against OCU, the bus loaded up with freshly showered athletes and began the 6 hour trek home. A hectic pit stop at Chick-fil-a was made for dinner– restaurants usually struggle to handle the soccer program and their large appetites. “I want to be home already,” Walters said as she opened up her laptop to begin a Kinesiology test; putting in earphones to drown out the noisey men’s team. The bus arrived safely to campus around 1 A.M. and the bus unloaded quietly as everyone headed their separate ways.
Just like that, Walters’ last preseason away trip was over. “Next week is going to be brutal,” Walters sighed as she looked over the soccer schedule. The women’s team has a week off from games before conference play starts and they’ll put in work until it’s time to load the bus again.
The student body at Texas A&M University – Texarkana have had an exciting 2019 as the Patterson Student Center opened with a beautiful basketball court, a gym filled with new equipment, a game room, fitness room, trainer’s office, and classrooms. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this new building is the opportunity is has brought to student athletics. TAMUT has welcomed men’s and women’s basketball teams to the sports offered at the university. Women’s Basketball Coach Kevin Dobbs was excited to share how he feels about his inaugural team starting.
Coach Dobbs has 12 seasons of college head coaching experience and was previously head coach at University of the Southwest, another team in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC), for three seasons. Coach Dobbs is confident heading into our inaugural women’s season due to his knowledge of the RRAC and its playing style, talent, venues, traditions, and what is needed to compete.
Coach Dobbs predicts there will be about 20 women on the roster, recruiting primarily throughout Texas with some from Arkansas and Oklahoma. However, he is not limited to these states, “If a young lady can make three pointers in bunches, I will go to Antarctica to sign her,” Dobbs said.
As our campus gets excited for what’s to come in the Athletic department, Coach Dobbs agrees he is most eager to train and develop these young women as athletes who represent the school proudly. Get ready to cheer on our new basketball team this semester, because from the sound of it, they’re going to be ready to compete.
** IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER, REFER TO THE A&M TEXARKANA WEBSITE OR CONTACT CORRINE HINTON AT CHINTON@TAMUT.EDU **
A&M-Texarkana will be hosing a worship for poets, aspiring authors, and lovers of literature! Both the workshop and reading will take place on Thursday, May 9th. The workshop will be at 5:30-7 p.m. in University Center room 230, followed by a reading from 7:30-9 p.m. in UC 217.
Joy Ladin is an American poet and the David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She is the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution. Joy Ladin is an American poet and the David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She is the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution.
In 2013, Ladin published a series of poems formed entirely from words and phrases found in popular women’s magazines. These poems, such as “Ready To Know,” link both trans women and cis women’s experiences of gender to the “commodity capitalist engine of the production of femininity.” This work emerged when Ladin gave herself a “writing assignment” to creatively engage with the “how-to” rhetoric of mainstream femininity.
“I am a teacher, widely published essayist and poet, literary scholar, and nationally known speaker on transgender issues” Ladin says. Ladin has given invited talks and readings at many universities and colleges such as Harvard and Smith College. After this Thursday, A&M University of Texarkana can be added to the list.
Campus Rec hosts a variety of intramural sports a year; dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, basketball, and more. While the diverse selection of sports keeps students engaged year-round there is one event that only occurs once a school year: mud volleyball. At the beginning of May, right before finals hit students, Campus Rec hosts two loss elimination mud volleyball tournaments with female, male, and coed leagues. Everyone is fighting for the championship– a championship t-shirt to be specific.
Intramural referees smile during the gloomy first match
At 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 4th, you could find two women’s volleyball teams, three intramural refs, and a cooler of water and snacks camped out behind the Judy Kelly Morgan Soccer field. All year an old tattered volleyball net held up by cemented tires waits for The Pit to be cleaned out and watered. The weekend before a handful of Campus Rec employees spent their Saturday ridding The Pit of rocks, garden snakes, and tall weeds before allowing a hose to fill the trench with muddy water.
From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. teams were splashing around in The Pit battling for a t-shirt. The day began gloomy with dark clouds and a constant mist, but the women’s bracket played on. By noon the men’s bracket had warmer weather as students began to gather around to watch the tournament and cheer on friends. By the time coed play began everyone was taking turns applying sunscreen and jumping into the cool brown water for relief from the sun. Referee Madison Walters commented, “I wish we could play mud volleyball more often, but it’s such a hassle to get The Pit ready…” She continued to reapply sunscreen regularly explaining that last year she got a sunburn at the tournament so bad it hurt to wear t-shirts for days.
The Pit was constantly filled with laughter as teams splashed about in front of a small audience of supportive friends. Three teams went home with a championship t-shirt, but everyone left with muddy feet. We’ll see you next spring, The Pit.
Texas A&M University Texarkana has over forty organizations on campus to keep students engaged and active in the community. Intramural sports is an extremely active organization, hosted by Campus Recreation, which holds weekly sports, games, and activities. For a few weeks this semester, the campus was covered in advertisements encouraging students to sign up for an intramural dodgeball team. Games were held from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Patterson Student Center with a variety of teams formed by students, faculty, athletes, Greek life, and other clubs.
The dodgeball games came to a close in mid February, the last night consisting of a championship tournament with ten games, back to back. Each game required two referees to monitor the ten people on the court and two ball retreivors. The gymnasium, where the games took place, was lively with laughter, music, competitive banter, and a few screams as balls were thrown across the court at opponents.
Time keeper Madison Walters commented on the games, “it’s pretty funny, boys take this so seriously while most of the girls have no idea what’s happening.” She continued to laugh about other intramural events, “you should have seen intramural basketball…that was so bad!” Walters went on to say they were surprised by the number of participants for this sport. Usually they struggle to fill out teams, but dodgeball had about ten games a night.
The center referee, Ellie Kemins, was getting visibly upset by some of the participants. This was the first year TAMUT hosted a dodgeball league in the new gymnasium and there were a few hiccups throughout the night. Kemins commented, “it’s just a game! We need to adjust a few of the rules so this goes smoother next year…a holding limit, no talking to the officials…” Intramural officials looked tired as they chased balls for the players and kept everyone accountable on the court.
While the event lasted for three hours the pace never slowed down. One game started as soon as the previous finished with students lining up for their turn to play. The dodgeball league was a success from all the looks of tired smiling faces as they enjoyed their time with friends. There is a first for everything, and although some hiccups occurred, it was a lively event.
Marie Stone comes to A&M Texarkana from Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. A native of Pittsburg, Texas, Coach Stone has earned her bachelors degree in Exercise Science at Texas Wesleyan University and a Master in Sports Administration from Texas Woman’s University. In 2010, Coach Stone started the softball program at Our Lady of the Lake University, a member of the Red River Athletics Conference in San Antonio, Texas. In 2013 Coach Stone became head coach of the Murry State softball team. Under the leadership of Coach Stone, the Lady Aggies won NJCAA Regionals in each of the last three seasons. During the 2015 season, the team received numerous honors and was ranked 17th nationally by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) for team grade-point average. In the 2016 season the Lady Aggies set single-season team records for total runs scored (218), home runs (26), stolen bases (45), hits (384), and highest batting average (.325). Coach Stone is entering her second season here at Texarkana A&M along with her assistant coach Jordan Gabriel. Coach Gabriel is in her second season and an alum of West Virginia Tech.
Things are looking up for the Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Team, led by head coach Jim Turley. For the first time, in the team’s third season, they have a winning record, 7-4 . Of fourteen players on the A&M Texarkana team, ten are from Texas. Coach Turley has done a good job of recruiting locally. The A&M Texarkana Tennis Team is an NAIA athletic program and competes in the Red River Athletic Conference.
Matt Teeters, used by permission.
After practicing four days a week, morning workouts, and traveling on the weekends, the members of the tennis team have to find a way to balance tennis and school.
“You just have to find a way to make time, put in work at practice, and then go hit the books” says Matt Teeters, a junior on the team. The tennis team spends around 20 hours a week between practice, workouts, and traveling. With a spring and fall season, tennis is a year-round sport that can become quite time consuming. Being part of a college tennis team requires a lot of dedication.
The A&M Texarkana Tennis team members get along with one another very well. They are a close-knit group of not just teammates, but also friends off the court. The whole team is supportive of one another and motivate and cheer each other on well during matches.
“I definitely think winning this season made the biggest difference within the team this year. Winning changes it and, and makes it so much more fun” Teeters said. There is a different feel to the A&M Texarkana Men’s Tennis Team this year, and it is all due to the success on the court.
While the Tennis team here at A&M Texarkana had a couple of rough seasons to start, they are now starting to show a promising future. With the whole team returning next year, along with new recruits, A&M Texarkana is excited for what the future holds for the Eagle’s Tennis Team.
Photo Credit, Tiffany Brown. Members of the National Society of Leadership and Success sign in before famous Top Chef, Carla Hall’s “Leading With Love” live-stream in Eagle Hall 6 p.m. Tuesday night.
Bravo’s Top Chef, Carla Hall leads the National Society Leadership and Success (NSLS) organization with love through a live-stream leadership conference yesterday evening October 23 at 6 p.m. in Eagle Hall. Hall’s tough, tedious experiences taught the united NSLS members the importance of following their passions, learning from failures and resilience, and leading with values and integrity within Eagle Hall’s conference room 6pm Tuesday night, October 23rd.
“If you feel frustration about something that happens to you, that frustration is about the teacher coming to you to teach you that thing. When all of those things happened to me at The Chew, it wasn’t about them, it was about getting me frustrated enough, so I could move from that”, said Hall.
Photo Credit, Tiffany Brown. National Society of Leadership and Success’ Founding President Philip Deuroen takes notes during famous chef Carla Hall’s live-stream.
The students took notes regarding accountability and self-diagnosis. “All this blame and not taking responsibility, you can play that game, but you’re going to delay your gifts and delay your lessons. If you are frustrated, then that’s your lesson. If you’re indifferent about what’s happening with someone else, you can just look and support them, while they’re going through it, but it’s not your lesson, it’s their lesson”, said Hall.
Upon learning Hall’s method of leadership, attending member Matthew Edwards and staff member Phillip Barnes discussed their definition of a leader. “To be a leader, be willing to listen to other ideas and not force your own ideas, be cooperative. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself, said Edwards. “Communication and empathy. It’s one of the coessential roles a leader should have. It shouldn’t be just working with different people of all shapes and sizes, you should understand where people are from. At one point, you will be always that’s under someone person and a leader. It takes a person that has round-about thinking pairing to understand everyone and working together to similar goal. Empathy is the goal”, said Barnes.
Photo Credit, Tiffany Brown. A Carla Hall poster lies on the National Society of Leadership and Success’s sign-in table.
The famous chef coincided her personal experiences with Barnes’ statement. “When I hired people at the restaurant, I wanted to teach young people work ethic, which is why I hired older people. I want this older woman to yank this kid up and be like look dude okay. Sometimes, it’s leading by example. Other people just don’t see it. You can not be a lesser than you. Nobody wants a lesser than you. Nobody wants an earnest, overly-righteous, pointing the finger, because what you don’t realize is by doing what you do other people are watching. They will flow with you or leave you”, said Hall.
Photo Credit, Tiffany Brown. Members of the National Society of Leadership and Success communicate briefly before Carla Hall’s live-stream leadership conference.
She also described the importance of teamwork during her hard-core, Top Chef competitive days. “When you’re in a competition, and it seems cut-throat and everybody’s trying to win, for me it was about doing me, and being true to myself and others, and helping others. If I am running away to get er done and I see somebody fall, I’m going to go back and get that person, because you don’t win by yourself. Top Chef was that thing, it was hard and it was a little bit of bullying. I learned you just have to say no.”
Photo Credit, Tiffany Brown. Founding NSLS chapter President Philip Deureon speaks positive messages toward the National Society of Leadership and Success.
Founding NSLS chapter President Philip Derouen and Phillip Barnes believe Hall’s advice will equip the organization to become future better leaders in their organizations. “She will give our members a live-stream about leadership, women’s foundation, and teach our members leadership and how they can use that in the real world”, said Founding President, Philip Derouen. “It will be another series of various speakers that exemplifies leadership and will intern inspire the ones in the room to grow and build upon those aforementioned leadership traits they carry”, said Phillip Barnes.
Besides being active, having boundaries, and achieving your goals, Deroeun states a necessity every leader should have. “For me your mindset effects everything, so if you have a positive mindset, you can accomplish anything that you want. That’s what I want to give all my members apart of this society.
During the live-streamed, Q/A session, Hall touched similar topics regarding the right attitude. “God goes before me making smooth, easy and clears my way. No person, place or thing or outside condition can affect me. I am powerful, worthy, free, creative, unique, confident, and so it is. I say that every morning”, said Hall.
