Pioneers Kick-Off 2012!

Tomorrow at 1pm, the 2012 season gets officially underway, when the Carleton College Knights come to town to take on the host Grinnell Pioneers.

This weekend is also Athletics Reunion Weekend and we expect more than 50 former Pioneers on hand to enjoy the best kind of Saturday in the fall... a Pioneer victory on Rosenbloom Field!

A live webcast will be available here.

Go Pioneers!

Teatherball? TEATHERBALL!

The Pioneer Football team recently headed out to our former Director of Admissions Nancy Maly's house for our annual pre-season dinner and social time.  Social time quickly turned into a heated teatherball match between Harnak Mann '14 and David Ternes '15 that lasted 20+ minutes of back-and-forth play.  At the time, Harnak had beaten four consecutive teammates without much trouble.  This was the cellphone video from the final seconds of the match that saw Ternes finally put the defending champion away...

Honduras!

This June, Pioneer Football players Clayton Desjardin '15 and Seth Howard '15, along with Official Pioneer Photographer Alysia Horcher '15 spent a couple weeks in Honduras.  Here's a recap of their experience along with some photos!

We went as a student-led group representing Grinnell College through an organization called Global Brigades. Quick break down of what we did: brought 25 suitcases full of medicines with us, counted the pills and put them into individual bags for patients with enough for a 1 month supply, went to 3 communities and created clinics in the schools (we had a dentist, 2 general doctors, 1 gynecologist, we also set up a pharmacy), saw and treated around 500 people as well as create electronic medial records for everyone. On our last day, we partnered up with San Diego State University and went to a 4th community and dug trenches, which will eventually become a completed plumbing system, bringing water to every home from a well 3 miles from the town. 

Alysia Horcher '15, Seth Howard '15, Clayton Desjardin '15, and Pioneer Women's Basketball  Player Rebecca DeGroot '14

Clayton Desjardin '15 and a young Honduran

Counting pills for distribution

Scarlet & Black Scrimmage

On Saturday, we took to Rosenbloom Field and held our annual intra-squad Scarlet & Black Scrimmage.  Both sides of the ball had highlights and we avoided major injuries, which is always the main goal.  Official Pioneer Football Photographer Alysia Horcher '15 was, per usual, on hand to capture the event.

Barrett Morrissette '16 attempts to elude Clayton Desjardin '15 and David Ternes '15

Colton Feller '14 snaps during our FG competition

Sam Poulos '16 scrambles for a gain

Graham Fisher '16 lets loose on a punt with Brian Taylor '13, David Ternes '15 and Tom Brinkman '13 protecting 

Danny Reynolds '15 avoids John Mertes '15

Kevin Hwang '14 is MWC Breakout Player in D3Football.com Preseason Publication

Junior safety Kevin Hwang '14 was named as the potential Midwest Conference's Breakout Player in 2012 according to D3Football.com's Kickoff 2012 publication.  Saying that after suffering a season-ending injury in 2011 saying that "the explosive defensive threat won't escape attention anymore."

Media Day 2012

Last Saturday the Pioneers held their Media Day 2012.  Local media, including radio, print and photographers were on hand to collect information on the upcoming season.  As usual, Official Pioneer Football Photographer Alysia Horcher '15 was there to take our official photos.

2012 Captains Drew Blumberg '13, Brian Taylor '13, Cody Weber '13, Tom Brinkman '13, and Morgan Kinsinger '14 cast a large shadow apparently

The Chicago Crew (from L-R) #60 Ki Harris '14, #49 Ed Hardman '16, #63 Eddie Guen-Murray '15, #24 Danny Reynolds '15, #70 Quinn Rosenthal '15, #7 Sam Poulos '16, #55 Cedric Abdul-Hakeem '15, #3 Brendan Ramirez '16, #33 Barrett Morrissette '16, and managers Alysia Horcher '15 and Brieuana Bradley '14

The Offensive Line or "The Drove" as they are more affectionately known

Linebacking Corps

The Defensive Line makes life miserable for the bottom three guys

The California Guys (L-R) #80 Jayson Campos '13, #2 Rich Renteria '15, #54 Jeremy Wiles '14, #52 David Ternes '15, #4 Harnak Mann '14, #12 Graham Fisher '16 and manager Lorejune Fernandez '13

Annual Fishing Derby Photos

Every year during Fall Camp, the Pioneers head out to equipment manager, Roger Bauman's farm for a BBQ and a Fishing Derby.  Official Pioneer Football Photographer Alysia Horcher '15 was on hand to capture the event:

Head Coach Jeff Pedersen holds the 28" catfish caught by his 3 year-old daughter Frances on the first cast of her life!  Frances won the award for Biggest Fish, obviously!

Safety Ed Hardman '16 and others wait their turn

Wide Receiver Harnak Mann '14 celebrates his championship for Most Fish Caught

Wide Receiver Jake Meixler '15 sits patiently hoping for a bite

Linebacker David Ternes '15 holds up a catch

Pioneers Make Donation to World Vision

In years past the Pioneer football team has sold t-shirts at every home game, with proceeds going to various charitable organizations.  After the 2011 season the money was used to help purchase and ship athletic equipment to children in Burkina Faso, Africa.  

This year the Pioneers have donated the remaining unsold t-shirts to World Vision, a charitable organization that re-distributes unused clothing to impoverished youth around the globe.  World Vision has gained recognition as a result of their partnership with the NFL, distributing pre-made Super Bowl and AFC and NFC Champion t-shirts of the wrong team.  After last year's Super Bowl, the t-shirts were sent to Zambia, Armenia, Nicaragua, and Romania.  The Pioneers donated nearly $1400 worth of t-shirts, though we don't know exactly where they will end up, we know World Vision will take them where they are most needed.

Ryan Creps '12 Heads To Egypt

Ryan Creps '12 will be heading to Egypt at the end of this week to begin a one-year position at the American University in Cairo.  Creps was a three-year starter at Linebacker for the Pioneers, and was named the Steve Kreigel Award winner for the 2011 season, given to the person who most represents the ideals and characteristics of a Pioneer.  Originally from Grinnell, IA, in this short video Ryan talks about why he chose Grinnell, as well as a few of his unique experiences during the four years he was a student-athlete at Grinnell College.

Flat Black Helmets Make Their Pioneer Debut!

In the 123-year history of Grinnell Pioneer Football, no team has ever taken the field wearing a helmet that wasn't either leather or scarlet.  Until now!

Sunrise On 2012 Pioneer Season!

Sunrise over Grinnell College campus

Today marks the beginning of the Grinnell Pioneers 2012 Football Season as players report to campus this morning.  Tomorrow we open our first practice and we're gonna get rolling from there!

It's been a quiet summer on the blogfront, but new features are sure to keep the next few months entertaining around these parts.  Parents, alumni, coaches, and current players will have a chance to share their experiences with Pioneer Football.  Weekly highlight videos and photo galleries are coming back.  Not to mention plenty of talk about awards, wins, records, and fun!

First game is exactly three weeks away, on September 1st as we open against our rivals from Minnesota, Carleton College at 1pm on Rosenbloom Field.

Go Pioneers!