Summer 2012 - "Education Perspectives" - Concordia University

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Navy & White “Success Breeds Success.” Those are the words head coach Randy Dalzell chose to explain it. “It was all unreal.” Those are the words thrower Kayla Xavier chose to describe it. Whatever can be said, the undeniable fact remains that the Concordia women’s track & field team won the 2011 NAIA Outdoor National Championship, the school’s first-ever team title. Making the title even more unreal to Xavier and others was that it came in only the program’s sixth year of competition. The Cavaliers scored in 12 different event areas with a whopping 55 points earned from the four different throwing disciplines: shot put, discus, hammer, and javelin. “Very few teams are able to score in a balanced way like that,” Dalzell said. “Most teams at the national meet have really only one or two areas that they excel in, but we’ve gotten to the point where we have all of our areas scoring.” Not quite thinking about the ultimate goal just yet, Aria Nojima gave a hint of what’s to come as she 28 concordia connection opened the meet by nearly capturing the individual title in the javelin throw as her best effort of 150 feet, 2 inches fell a single inch shy of first place. Meanwhile, the Cavs were a perfect 4-for-4 in preliminary qualifying rounds which set up future point earnings on the track. If the opening action was any indicator of potential, Friday’s competition was a defining moment for the Cavs. In addition to scoring a meet-high 38 points, Concordia had six more entries on the track moving on to finals on the final day. Several athletes outperformed their pre-meet rankings, especially Xavier who followed up an individual national title in the shot put on the second day with a surprising title in the discus on Saturday, an event in which she came in ranked 15th. From there the whispers of a potential team crown started to grow into an all-out buzz. “The throwers had done an amazing job on the second day and were talking all the runners up to boost our confidence,” said senior Andria Scheese. “They were telling us we could win the meet if we finished above our rankings. They wrote notes and taped them on our doors. It really pumped us up and brought us all so much closer together.” The message was certainly received as the Cavs gained three huge performances on the final day of action with Scheese grabbing silver in the 1,500-meter run, while Junia Limage and Catherine Sims took third in the 800 and 400, respectively, with all three finishing above their seeding. All told, 15 different athletes would score as individuals or members of relays for Concordia, while the team set six new school records en route to earning 13 All- American performances. When asked where the sudden across the board improvements came from, both Dalzell and Xavier
Junia Limage, Mid-Distance Runner Andria Scheese, Mid-Distance Runner Kayla Xavier, Thrower Randy Dalzell, Head Coach, Track & Field pointed to Dalzell’s idea that “success breeds success.” “Everybody was clicking at nationals and you just knew great things were happening,” said Xavier. “Everybody just came together as a team and said ‘I did this today, but let’s do something bigger tomorrow. We’ll be there cheering for you. Now, we want to see you do well.’” Besides building performances off one another within the meet itself, though, Dalzell claims the program and the athletes built off the successes they have had at both the conference and national levels in the past. “We felt very much at home Navy & White “Everybody was clicking at nationals and you just knew great things were happening,” at nationals last season because a lot of our athletes were making repeat appearances there and have developed confidence through their successes in the past,” said Dalzell. “As coaches, we’ve also been able to keep our athletes relaxed so they can enjoy and anticipate performing well at the meet, which is something you can’t expect in year one.” Having already surpassed the highest point total in school history with several events remaining, the only thing halting Concordia from hoisting the national championship trophy was a lengthy weather delay prior to the final event of the meet. After waiting for nearly two hours for a lightning storm to pass through the area, the Cavaliers, already assured of the title, took the track for the 1,600-meter relay where the Concordia contingent lined the oval before the official coronation. Having already scored in multiple individual events, the quartet comprised of Catherine Sims, Junia Limage, Eunice Makinde, and Stephanie Persaud nearly broke the school record for the second straight day despite the difficult conditions and finished seventh overall for the squad’s final two points of the meet. That last tour around the track » Kayla Xavier, CU Track & Field Thrower might have signaled the end of the meet for Concordia, but it has only enhanced the talk of repeating their performances as the Cavaliers sit primed for future success in both the men’s and women’s track & field programs. “The outdoor national championship has just fueled the fire for us,” said Xavier. “As a team we’re really excited for next season because we feel we have the chance to accomplish this again during the indoor season.” And if success really breeds success, what could possibly be next? � To learn more about CU’s track & field program, please visit: www.gocugo.com Summer 2012 29
Page 1 and 2: Concordia Connection P O R T L A N
Page 3 and 4: From the Editor: The spark for this
Page 5 and 6: “Our gratitude overflows for the
Page 7 and 8: Concordia Professor Dr. Terrill Rel
Page 9 and 10: MARCH 3, 2012 The honorary first pi
Page 11 and 12: Education unlocks the door to oppor
Page 13 and 14: In short, in order to truly reform
Page 15 and 16: In the course of our Oregon K-12 co
Page 17 and 18: significant impact on student learn
Page 19 and 20: Helping students from a young age -
Page 21 and 22: His vision - and the mounting resul
Page 23 and 24: They may have looked like street to
Page 25 and 26: 1 2 ALL CLASS REUNION - SEpt. 29 SE
Page 27 and 28: Jon Muhly and his wife, Julie, were
Page 29: Marielle Lopes was married to Loic
Page 33 and 34: BASEBALL The Cavaliers captured the
Page 35 and 36: Through a collaboration of Concordi
Page 37 and 38: Whereas before there was only one m
Page 39 and 40: Nailed to the Door Nailed to the Do

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