October sports coverage

Noah Chism
Reporter

Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team for the Mississippi University for Women is not off to the start that they hoped for when the season began. At this point in the fall season, they have amassed a record of one win, 13 losses and one tie. 

The Owls began the season with nine straight losses before they finished their match against Huntington College with a tie on Oct. 6, having a final score of two goals for each squad.

After this tied match, they continued struggling with four more losses until Oct. 20 when they faced off against Tougaloo College. The Owls would emerge victorious against the Tougaloo Bulldogs with a score of 5-3, giving the team its first win of the season. 

Simon Roth during the Spalding game
Photo by Dave Beyer

The Owls have been fighting hard all season, and this win could be exactly what they need to turn their season around. 

Along with some positive momentum, the Owls have had some stellar performances from individual players. Simon Roth, an impressive freshman from Germany, has put up a team high of six goals this season while only playing in 11 games. This is some nice offensive production from the freshman and hopefully this will only continue to grow the longer he is on the team.

Even though the Owls have had a tough season, there is hope for a turnaround as this recent momentum might provide encouragement for more wins.  

Women’s Soccer
The Lady Owls are off to an almost equally difficult start to the season as the men’s team, coming in with a slightly higher win total. 

The team has accumulated a record of two wins, 10 losses, and one tie this season. They earned one of those two victories in a contentious conference matchup against Eureka College.  The Lady Owls began the season with seven straight losses until they faced off against Eureka, where they won 2-0, to earn a very beneficial conference victory.  

Alison Ragoyta receiving the ball from Lucy Warner against USSU
Photo by Chris Jenkins

They followed this win up with a loss, a win, and a tie which seemed to indicate some positive momentum as the season carried on. However, the last three matches have all ended in a loss for the Lady Owls. 

Even in the midst of a tough season, the Lady Owls have seen some stellar individual performances from several players including the standout freshman Reagan Shinn. Shinn has appeared in 13 games, starting in all of them and has put up a total of six goals this season. This number becomes even more impressive when you learn that the Lady Owls have scored a team total of seven goals this entire season. 

As the Lady Owls get ready to bring their season to a close, there’s hope for more wins. Go Owls!

September Sports Coverage

Noah Chism

Sports Reporter

Men’s Tennis

As a new school year begins for Owls Athletics, there is an optimistic buzz in the air.

Our men’s tennis team has come out of the gate with wins against Blue Mountain Christian and Northwest Mississippi Community College. 

The tennis team is also welcoming a host of new faces to Columbus as it sets out to have a season more successful than last. Dylan Barber, a junior member of the team, who is a veteran on the squad, said the group is working together to build a strong team culture. 

“We are super excited about this upcoming season and all of the success that will come with it,” said Barber. 

Barber said that the team’s biggest challenge would be creating a team environment where everyone is held accountable.

“Because we are working so hard our culture has improved, and we believe that this will translate into a great season,” Barber said.

Athletes from every corner of sports will tell you just how important and difficult it is to build a culture like the Owls tennis team is creating. This is a detail about the team that is more commendable than most every accomplishment it could achieve. 

David Gimenez playing on home courts.

Photo by Dave Beyer

Last season the Owls finished with a record of 11 wins and eight losses, which is a winning percentage of around 57%. They are looking to build off last season with continued success this year. 

The fall season for the Owls will end with their tournament in Memphis from Oct. 2-4, and this will bring a wildly successful fall season to a close while leaving them with a great foundation as they head into the spring.

Cross Country

Along with the Owls Tennis squad, the MUW Cross Country runners have been very successful this season competing in two different meets.

The Owls travelled to Freed Hardeman, which is located in Henderson, Tennessee, to compete in the Freed Hardeman Speed meet on Aug. 29. On that day both the men's and the women’s squads were in competition. 

In Henderson our men's team came in 6th place at the meet while our women's team came in 5th.  These are some pretty stellar results considering the stiff competition that was faced during this competition. 

At the competition, Owl runner Hannah Owens placed 14th out of 38 runners with a time of 22 minutes and 10 seconds in the women’s 10K.

Hannah Owens at Freed Hardeman.

Courtesy of OWLS Athletics

The Owl runners also travelled over to Jacksonville, Alabama, on Sept. 4 to run in the Foothills Invitational. The women’s team came in 20th place while the men’s team came in 17th. 

These finishes at this tournament are impressive because of the nature of the competition at this tournament. There were several Division I teams who competed in the Foothills Invitational, including some schools from the Southeastern Conference.