Grinnell Named One of North America's Best College Towns!

MSN.com recently published their list of the 10 Best College Towns In North America and, you guessed it, Grinnell, Iowa made the list:

Here’s a list of college towns so quintessential that some of the students walking across the quad for the first time will one day call them home.

Grinnell, Iowa

Though we often tout a large university’s impact on its home city, a small college’s influence on its rural community can prove even greater. An agricultural town with just over 9,000 people, Grinnell offers its residents a historical museum, art gallery and community theater in tandem with opportunities to attend symposiums, tour rotating cultural exhibits and take in live theater and musical performances at Bucksbaum Center for the Arts at Grinnell College, long considered one of the finest small colleges in the country. The college is situated on the prairie, equidistant from Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, but conversations here often reference faraway places, a benefit of this progressive college’s study-abroad program and top national rank among small colleges for future Peace Corps volunteers.

Septembeard!

This month the Pioneer Football team is raising money and facial hair in support of Prostate Cancer Research through the national foundation called Septembeard.

Traditionally, the Pioneers have held an unofficial team competition every October called "Beardtober" where there was no shaving allowed above the jaw line.  Some memorable beards from years past included John "Whiskers" Hereford and Ryan "I Wish It Grew Like This On Top Of My Head" Fletcher.  In 2012, we've altered the tradition slightly, while attempting to raise $1,000 for a good cause, one that affects a large percentage of males in our generation.

To help support the Scarlet & Beard, please donate on our Official Team Page.  As of this morning we are $263 short of $1,000 and every little bit helps.  We are also donating all of our profits from merchandise sales at home games towards Septembeard.

As we are just over the halfway point, here are some of the best, and worst, beards from September 1st to late last week...

Safety Drew "Don't I look good?" Blumberg '13

Special Teams Coordinator Ben "You Aged Quickly" Cooprider

Defensive End Clayton "Here's a Magnifying Glass" Desjardin '15

Cornerback Seth "Patches" Gustafson '14

Defensive Coordinator Jason "It's Itchy" Martinez 

Head Coach Jeff "Red Beard" Pedersen

Linebacker Rich "The 'Stache" Renteria '15

Receiver Jacob "Stubbles" Washington

Linebacker Colton "Don't Call Me He-Man" Feller '14

Vice President Joe Biden at Grinnell!

Today, Vice President Joe Biden comes to Grinnell as part of the Obama-Biden re-election campaign.  Biden plans to speak at 2pm in the Harris Center, right across 10th Avenue from the Athletic Facilities!

Regardless, of your political beliefs and values, it's pretty cool to have the Vice President of the United States coming to campus!

Pioneers Fall to Lake Forest

Despite a balanced game in terms of yardage, Grinnell fell to the Foresters from Lake Forest on Saturday 33-7.  Seven turnovers, including two interceptions returned for touchdowns, were the demise of the home squad.  Grinnell heads to the road for the first time in 2012, visting the Beloit Buccaneers Saturday at 1pm.

Here are some of the game photos from Official Pioneer Football photographer Alysia Horcher '15.

Rich Renteria '15, Drew Blumberg '13, Colton Feller '14, and Andrew Clark '14 combine for  a tackle

Andrew Clark had over 100 kick return yards

Colton Feller '14 sacks the Forester QB

Kevin Hwang '14 returns the opening kick of the 2nd half

Harnak Mann '14 with his first career reception

John Mertes '15 corrals a Forester

Quinn Rosenthal '14

TJ Schaid '13 turns the corner with help from Max Keller '14

Cody Weber '13 hauls in one of his 9 catches

Happy Birthday Coach Pedersen!

Happy Birthday to Pioneer Head Football Coach Jeff Pedersen!  Let's get a win tomorrow and put that icing on your proverbial birthday cake!

Grinnell College in the USA Today

Grinnell made some national press last week when the USA Today wrote a feature about how certain colleges pair-up First-Year roommates.  Just like at many schools, Grinnell's First-Years are randomly paired up, and the last three years the students are allowed to choose their own roommates.  But it's that first year roommate that can have such an impact on your college experience, and Grinnell goes the extra mile in making sure your match is a good one!

No less invested in their relationship is Andrea Conner, who led the process by which the two freshmen at Iowa's Grinnell College have become roommates. As director of residence life there, she oversees a staff of six who spent more than a week sifting through 450 housing applications to hand-match first-year roommates.

As ever-more sophisticated software takes on a growing role in college roommate selection, Grinnell remains one of the holdouts, arguing that humans can do a better job playing matchmaker than computers.

Pictures From Illinois College Game

Enjoy the following photos from local photographer Corey Hall from Saturday's game against Illinois College.

Pioneers during the National Anthem

Captains Tom Brinkman '13, Morgan Kinsinger '14, Brian Taylor '13, and Cody Weber '13

Dalton Davies '16, Issac Chadri '15, and Cedric Abdul-Hakeem '15 

Colton Feller prepares for the snap

Graham Fisher '16 lets fly on a punt

Ki Harris '14 tries to turn the corner on an IC offensive lineman

Barrett Morrissette '16 eludes the Blueboy defenders

Coach Pedersen and the offense talk during a timeout

Rich Renteria '15 returns the opening kickoff

Pregame team huddle

Pioneers Struggle Against MWC Leader

TJ Schaid '13 looks for room against an Blueboy defender

The Midwest Conference preseason co-favorite and current leader, Illinois College Blueboys posted a 53-20 victory over Grinnell College in football action Saturday afternoon at Rosenbloom Field.

The winners broke out to a 23-7 halftime lead as they improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the league. The Pioneers fell to 0-2 and 0-1.

Sam Poulos '16 completed 18-of-31 passes for 135 yards, while Cody Weber '13 had six catches for 80 yards. Defensively, David Ternes '15 had 11 tackles, Max Keller '14 added eight and Kevin Hwang '14 and John Mertes '15 had seven apiece.

Colton Feller '14 returned an interception 50-yards for a touchdown, Andrew Clark '14 also had an interception.

Grinnell is back at home for the third Saturday in a row next week when Lake Forest College visits Rosenbloom Field. Game time is 1 p.m. 

Ryan Creps '12 in Cairo

As we've mentioned before, recent Pioneer Football graduate Ryan Creps '12 has embarked on a adventure that is atypical yet so very Grinnellian.  After living his entire life in Grinnell, Iowa and never having traveled outside the country until his junior year, he's now spending at least one year living in Cairo, Egypt working at a University.

Follow Ryan's year along the Nile at his blog, which already has some great stories and photos from his first few weeks.

Photos From Carleton Game

We have a number of wonderful people that take photos at our games, one of which is Grinnell Baseball Player Andrew Kelley '14.  Here are some of his best from Saturday's game against Carleton.

Colton Feller (#45) and Max Keller (#20) look to help while Drew Blumberg (#44) has a ball carrier wrapped up

Barrett Morrissette (#33) turns the corner while Dalton Davies (#88) climbs to the next level

 

Max Jacobson had 7 catches for 46 yards

 

Sam Poulos (#7) awaits the snap from Quinn Rosenthal (#70)

 

TJ Schaid looks for the endzone on one of his 30 carries

Cody Weber tiptoes to haul in a catch

Heartbreaking Loss to Open 2012

Cody Weber '13 hauls in the second of his two TDs on Saturday

After jumping out to a quick 14-0 start, the Grinnell Pioneers fell in overtime to Carleton 20-14 in the 2012 season opener at Rosenbloom Field on Saturday.

The final three periods saw the Pioneers fail to score again, while the visiting Knights chipped away and tied the game with 11 minutes left in regulation, sending us into overtime where we failed to match Carleton's first TD.  It was a tough way to start the year, but there were so many positive aspects of the game that it's hard to be too down right now.  We are already looking forward to next weekend where we have a chance to redeem ourselves at Rosenbloom Field against Illinois College in the Midwest Conference opener.

Players of the Week:
Defense:              Drew Blumberg - 2 interceptions, 7 tackles, 1 PBU
Offense:              Cody Weber - 9 catches for 171 yards and 2 TDs
Special Teams:    Tom Brinkman - blocker extraordinaire on Punt and FG/PAT teams
Practice:              Morgan Kinsinger & Quinn Rosenthal - leaders of the Drove (Offensive Line)
Rookie:               Sam Poulos - 22-35 for 253 yards and 2 TDs

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."