Sam Poulos Wins First-Year Athlete of the Year!

Sam Poulos (far right) along with his fellow First-Year Athlete of the Year winners, (L-R) Nate Kolacia, Hayley Levin, and Alissa Hirsh

Pioneer quarterback Sam Poulos '16 along with three of his Grinnell College student-athlete peers were honored with the 2013 G. Lester Duke '25 First-Year Athlete of the Year Award at the annual GOAL ceremony Sunday night in the Joe Rosenfield '25 Center.

Alissa Hirsh '16 and Hayley Levin '16 were named the top female athletes representing a team and individual sport, respectively. Hirsh is on the Pioneers' basketball team and Levin is on the swimming and diving squad.

Poulos and Nate Kolacia '16 were tabbed top male athletes representing a team and individual sport. Kolacia competes in cross country and track and field.

Jake O'Polka Wins College Triathlon

Sophomore transfer Jake O'Polka was the top student finisher in last weekend's Grinnell College Triathlon.  This was Jake's first triathlon competition and he did it with little training!  Read his story below:  

My times were: 
Swim Time (750 meters): 13:26 
Transition 1: 3:07 
Bike Time (12.5 miles): 22:39 
Transition 2: 1:24 
Run Time (3.2 miles): 22:20 with a total time of 1:02:56. 

This was my first triathlon and I didn't really know how to prepare for it, and honestly I didn't really prepare for it that much. The week before spring break I was in the pool for an hour a day, doing a lot of intervals switching going from pulling, then kicking, then swimming. And that's all the swimming I did beforehand. I went on a couple 20-30 miles bike rides during spring break, and that's all I biked beforehand. And I really didn't do any running outside of the football running sessions in preparation for the triathlon.

Congrats Jake and hopefully this is just the start of high-level triathlete career!

Max Keller Abroad in Australia!

This spring we'll be bringing you posts from a few Pioneers that are studying abroad this semester.  Defensive back Max Keller '14 is currently in Melbourne, Australia and this is his third installation.

Australia is known for its unique biodiversity which displays a range of ecosystems and organisms unlike any other on earth. The “Land of Oz” is inhabited by marsupials, spiders, and of course the most venomous snakes in the world. Sometimes I like to think that the first English settlers would have been better off with Dorothy’s yellow brick road and a few flying monkeys. But even then the sound of the laughing Kookaburra, native to Australia, is eerily reminiscent to that of a monkey. If there was a lesson to be learned from our adventures it was that nature will do all that it can to best you. Whether it was huge fruit bats defecating on our car, giant white tailed rats potentially gnawing through our tents, Cane toads covering the camp site, swarms of mosquitoes, or a tent held together with twigs and duct tape. Nature was more prepared than we were.

What I did discover was that such events pleasantly surprised me. Things were made a little more interesting and maybe a little stressful at times. However, this was the excitement of coming to Australia; the adventure, the struggles, and the increasing absurdity of our situation. As it has always been wisely pointed out to me, things could be worse. So when a sign read, “Beware of giant white tailed rats, they gnaw through tents…” I was a little enthralled with the adventure that may present itself. But that did not stop me from waking up and spot-lighting my tent for signs of entry.

I’ll attempt to spare you from the minute details and convey some of the more interesting events from our trip. As mentioned before in a previous post we were fortunate enough to snorkel and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. In the following days we then hiked to Mossman Gorge and several waterfalls in the surrounding area. I must admit these hikes were much more enjoyable than the one a fellow teammate, Cody Weber, led me on just two years ago. Not once did I envision the events of 127 Hours. Instead I was able to safely appreciate the scenery and cool off underneath a few waterfalls. The next two days were spent white water rafting down the Tully River and navigating the beautiful beaches of Whitehaven Island.

After traversing a number of sea side towns and completing approximately twenty hours of driving we reached Sydney. There we were greeted with great hospitality and our first home-cooked meal in the past ten days. To say we were thankful to have completed our 2,500 mile journey and returned our Ford station wagon safely would be an understatement. After spending a few days in Sydney checking out the sites we boarded our plane back to Melbourne. Left to reminisce about the events of the past twelve days and look forward to the prospect of a bed and a roof that wasn’t held together with duct tape.

Schaid and Blumberg Named to NFF Hampshire Society

Drew Blumberg (#44) and TJ Schaid (#28)

Two Grinnell College football players have been named members of the 2013 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society.

Those earning the honor were Drew Blumberg '13 and TJ Schaid '13.

The society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who maintained a 3.2 GPA or better. A total of 703 players from 259 schools qualified for membership in the society's seventh year.

Blumberg, a 6-1, 191-pound defensive back, was an All-Midwest Conference second-team selection in 2012. He was among the MWC leaders in pass breakups (eight), interceptions (four) and tackles (72). His tackle total ranked second on the team. He is also a two-time Academic All-District first-teamer.

Schaid, a 5-9, 187-pound running back from Walworth, Wis., was a two-time All-MWC selection, having earned the honor in 2010 and again in 2012. He led Grinnell in rushing in 2012 with 570 yards and a touchdown, and ranked second in receiving with 36 catches for 241 yards and three scores. He was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's National Scholar-Athlete Award.

See the NFF Hampshire Release here.

More Than Just Words

This video is a bit old (pardon the "Season's Greetings" at the end) but the words used by the students to describe their experiences at Grinnell and what they hope for post-Grinnell will never be outdated!