The Love Hypothesis by New York Bestselling Author, Ali Hazelwood would leave nothing to be desired if you were into science and fake relationships. This story begins before the main character, Olive Smith’s first year in the graduate program at Harvard. This book’s continuous love story gives readers something to look forward to, it is a good mix between a bright character as well as a grumpy character.
Olive Smith, Ph.D. student, thinks that she will never have a lasting relationship. When Anh, Olive’s best friend, needs convincing that Olive is not completely hopeless when it comes to romantics, Olive has to prove to Anh that she is not hopeless. Trying to prove this to Anh she kisses the first person that she sees. Olive ends up kissing Adam Carlson, hotshot professor. Olive and Adam come up with a plan that will benefit the both of them and they begin fake dating. The more time they spend together the hotter that their little experiment got. Olive is suddenly thrown into a big science conference that takes a turn for the worst. Adam shocks Olive with how caring and compassionate he is, which furthers the feelings that their little experiment might be heating up.
This book was definitely not my style. Apparently I am not super into romance books. I feel as though I did not like this book just for that small fact. I also think that this book was very slow coming, there are a lot of pages for a story that could be told in half as many words. It was a good book, however, it was not my favorite.
Overall, I give this book a 3/5. This book was not for me and I think that is reflected in my rating.
I would like to introduce you to Steve Engel. He is the Assistant Professor of English and Director of Composition. Dr. Engel has been a professor at Defiance College since 2019. He decided to work at Defiance College because he has always been drawn to small liberal arts colleges. He stated that he went to a smaller school as an undergrad and liked the strong sense of community. Before he came to Defiance College, he was a professor at the University of Michigan.
In the interview, I asked him to state what his favorite thing about Defiance College is. He responded, “Right now, I am really enjoying hosting the English Teas. We have one once a month. We bring in a guest (usually virtually) and talk about English things. Personally, I love being able to interview some really fascinating people.”
Dr. Engel was asked what his favorite class is to teach at Defiance College. His favorite class to teach was a course that was offered last semester, “Making Writing”. During that class, they got to do many different writing technologies. They learned how to write in cuneiform, make their own ink, write poetry on a papyrus scroll, and construct a hard-covered book.
The last couple of questions of the interview were focused on Dr. Engel outside of the classroom. A fun fact about him was he was in a sketch comedy group, and they performed with a Canadian group called The Vacant Lot. A hobby that Dr. Engel has is traveling, cooking and letterpress. During the interview, I asked who was his role model growing up and why. He responded, “Growing up, I really admired Steward Copeland (the drummer of The Police) because I was a percussionist (and not a very good one), and I wanted to be able to play the way he did. I also Looked up to the comedians on Second City Television, like Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Martin Short. They had a certain level of commitment to their characters that was impressive.”
Desire is a Senior here at Defiance College and is a self-design major in Business Administration and Music. When I asked her about the combination, she talked about her future goals in life. When asked to describe herself in one word, she said ‘goal-oriented,’ which became abundantly clear as we continued to talk. While discussing her career goals, she said she wants to start her own business, design her own clothing line, and eventually produce music. Her goal is to someday own multiple businesses and have a diverse income in order to give back to all the people and institutions that helped her make it to that point. Desire talked a lot about her family and how they had really impacted her career decisions.
Beyond her academics, Desire is involved in Choir and the Defiance College Cheerleading Team. While she loves both, cheer seemed to be what she was most passionate about. She told me about her growth from just being on the team her Freshman year to really leading and being a mentor her Senior year. She also said that her view on cheer has really changed over the last several years and that now it’s really about “building the girls up and making them better as people and make it almost like a sisterhood.”
She went on to say that she wants them “to be able to take away those friends that they made on the cheer team after college and know that they’ll always be there for each other.” Ultimately, she wants “them to get the best results and be able to grow from the experience.” Desire also said that she would love to teach cheer someday in addition to her other career goals. She said that cheer had given her so much, and she wanted to give back to the program, no matter where she was at the time.
When I asked her what her most significant accomplishment was, she simply said making it this far and being able to be successful. She also pointed to becoming the leader of the cheer team here at Defiance College, as well as just developing into a better person throughout her four years here. To finish the interview, I asked her to say a final farewell to the students, faculty, and staff here at Defiance College. She said, “While you’re there, make a change. Instead of complaining about a situation, be the person who fixes and makes the change. Don’t put it on other people to make the change, do it yourself. While you’re here, make the best of it. For the students, go to class, do your homework, study, because there will always be another party. Just take advantage of the opportunities that you have in front of you. Make the best of each situation and call your parents. Call your family. As you get older, appreciate the people who brought you up in this world because there may come a time when you can help them.”
Don’t forget to come to graduation in the spring to congratulate Desire and her fellow classmates, and if you’re looking for a super easy gift, I heard from a very reliable source that her favorite candy is Reese’s.
Best Quote: “If you’re to gossip about me, at least spell my name correctly.”
Let’s get one thing straight, Wednesday Addams is an absolute QUEEN. From the first scene, she had viewers hypnotized. The outfit, the hair, and her deadpan voice are absolutely perfect. She is an inspiration, but you should probably take her actions with a grain of salt (especially regarding piranhas and men.) After the water polo team bullied Pugsley, Wednesday got her revenge. “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein,” which translates to “No Regrets,” was a perfect piece to back her up. Iconic.
As for the casting, Jenna Ortega was the perfect woman to play Wednesday. If you saw interviews, she admitted she never blinked when the camera was on her. Talk about dedication. Luis Guzman played Gomez Addams, and he rocked. Gomez is 10000% dad goals. The weak link of the cast was Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams. She was not the supportive mother she was supposed to be, and Zeta-Jones’s attitude as the Addams matriarch fell flat. The young lady who played Enid, Wednesday’s roommate, is a rainbow personified. Emma Myers did a fantastic job playing Wednesday’s future best friend. If you’re a fan of Taylor Swift (and you should be), the lyric from her newest album, “Midnights,” says, “he was sunshine; I was midnight rain,” which describes their relationship perfectly. The main star of the cast, however, was Thing (give him a hand, everyone. That was a funny joke, please laugh.) Thing has so much personality and expresses it wonderfully. Especially considering he doesn’t speak with words. His sign language skills are on point. The show, as a whole, has an interesting sense of humor. The stoner jokes to match the Gorgons? Hilarious. Wednesday playing dead, and the mortician saying she had entered rigor mortis? Iconic.
If you still need to watch Wednesday, you need to ASAP. You’re really missing out. The casting, plot, and soundtrack are phenomenal (I’m still jamming to Vivaldi’s “Winter.”)
A Walk to Remember by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Nicholas Sparks, not just tugs, but yanks on the reader’s heartstrings. The story starts off in 1998 in Beaufort, North Carolina, then the book flashes back forty years to 1958. The love that the two main characters share is a major part that the reader keeps reading.
The town of Beaufort puts on a Christmas play every single year; however, it is not the typical A Christmas Carol; this one was written by Hegbert Sullivan the minister at one of the churches in town. Every year the high school puts on this play when Landon Carter is cast as one of the main characters, he starts to spend more and more time around Jamie Sullivan. The more time Landon spends around Jamie, the more, she teaches him about humanity. The depths of the human heart go deeper than what Landon could have ever imagined. Jamie also teaches him one of the biggest lessons yet, the joy and pain of living in this world.
This book truly is a tear-jerker; the character growth that Landon finds in this book is truly amazing. Even through some of the toughest adversities, he maintains everything that Jamie taught him. The ending drives me nuts every time; I hate that there is no complete conclusion, and there is room to kind of interpret the ending.
Overall, I give this book a 4/5. This book was truly a tearjerker, and there are many lessons that can be learned throughout its pages.
1/26: Defiance 71 (6-12), Mount St. Joseph University 57 (6-12)
The Defiance College men’s basketball team welcomed the Mount St. Joseph Lions to the Karl H. Weaner Center Thursday evening for an HCAC conference showdown. The starters in this contest included (senior) Marell Jordan, (senior) Te Jones, (sophomore) Landen Swanner, (freshman) Cole Wojciechowski, and (freshman) Ried Jury. Twenty-four seconds into the contest (19:36 left in the 1st), freshman Cole Wojciechowski scored the Yellow Jackets’ first points of the game, as he was able to find a crease in the Lion’s defense for an open layup (2-0). Nearly a minute later (18:49 left in the 1st), sophomore Luke Collinsworth answered Cole’s basket with a layup of his own, to tie the game at two apiece. With 17:02 left in the first half, sophomore Landen Swanner returned the lead into the hands of Defiance, as he splashed home a mid-range jumper from the right wing (4-2). Forty-three seconds later (16:19 left in the 1st), freshman Cole Wojciechowski would add another two points to his early point total, as he connected on a pair of free throws following a Mount St. Joseph foul by sophomore Dayne Gardner (6-2). Senior Te Jones connected on a mid-range jumper forty seconds later (15:39 left in the 1st), to end the Yellow Jackets’ 6-0 scoring run. Wojciechowski scored his sixth point of the contest at the five-minute mark of the first half (15:00 left), as he found his way to the rim once again for a layup, to put Defiance up six (10-4). Freshman Mathew Menninger would add his name to Lion’s scoring sheet twenty seconds after Wojciechowski’s layup, as he managed to find separation in the Yellow Jackets’ defense to score a layup (10-6). Senior Marell Jordan would go on a mini four-point scoring run of his own, as he connected on a pair of mid-range jump shots (13:34 and 12:51 left in the 1st), to stretch the Defiance lead to eight (14-6). With 11:49 left in the first half, freshman Mathew Menninger finally ended the Lions near a three-minute scoring drought, as he splashed home a deep three-pointer from the left wing (14-9). Sophomore Alex Totton would splash home another Mount St. Joseph tray moments later (10:05 left in the 1st), to cut Lion’s deficit down even further to four (18-14). Senior Te Jones went on a mini 5-0 scoring run of his own minutes later, as he splashed home a shot from downtown (9:18 left in the 1st) and also connected on a short-range jumper from the left wing (8:42 left in the 1st), to put Defiance back up by seven (23-16). Freshman Cam Martin scored his first points of the contest off a layup with 8:09 left in the first half, and he shortly followed that up with another layup thirty-nine seconds later (6:44 left in the 1st), to extend the Yellow Jackets lead to nine (27-18). With 5:15 left before halftime, sophomore Landen Swanner would help Defiance reach their first double-digit lead of the contest at eleven (31-20), as he connected on a mid-range jump shot from the right corner. The Yellow Jackets’ momentum would continue throughout the remaining five minutes of the opening half, as Defiance led by twelve (38-26) at the break. Senior Marell Jordan led the Yellow Jackets with 11 first-half points, while sophomore Luke Collinsworth and freshman Nate Kratzer each led the Lions with 6 points apiece. Fifty-five seconds into the second half (19:05 left), sophomore Luke Collinsworth for Mount St. Joseph found his way around multiple Defiance defenders, to put up his first points of the second half (38-28). With 18:22 left, senior Evan Wiehe splashed home his first three-pointer of the contest, and this cut Lion’s deficit to just seven (40-33). Freshman Ried Jury would respond to Mount St. Joseph’s quick 5-0 scoring run, as he scored via a short-range basket, to extend the Defiance lead back to nine (42-33). Senior Te Jones would put the Yellow Jackets back up double-digits (46-36) with 15:25 remaining in the game (off a Marell Jordan steal), but this double-digit lead did not last long, as the Lions managed to cut the deficit back to six (46-40) with 14:35 left to play. Mount St. Joseph would trim the Yellow Jackets’ lead to five (49-44) just prior to the under-twelve media timeout, but the lead for Defiance was quickly pushed back to seven (51-44), as Marell Jordan converted on a contested layup. Just past the midway point of the second half (9:43 left), sophomore Dayne Gardner managed to cut Lion’s deficit to just four (53-49) as he muscled his way to the rim for the layup. With 7:23 left, freshman Jakob Trevino was fouled hard by Gardner as he went to score the layup, and thankfully for Defiance, Trevino was able to continue on. Trevino used this unfortunate moment as a confidence booster, as he easily knocked down the ensuing pair of free-throws moments later, to bring the Yellow Jackets’ lead back up to eight (57-49). Defiance’s momentum would continue throughout the remaining seven minutes of the contest, as the Yellow Jackets took the victory 71-57. Defiance finished with a trio of players in double-figures, including senior Marell Jordan (15), freshman Cole Wojciechowski (14), and senior Te Jones (11). Meanwhile, Mount St. Joseph finished with two players in double-figures, including sophomore Luke Collinsworth with 20 points and sophomore Dayne Gardner with 10. The Yellow Jackets shot 58.3% (28-48) from the field, while the Lions shot 46.9% (23-49). Defiance shot well from beyond the arc, as they hit four threes on ten attempts (40%), while Mount St. Joseph hit three threes on fourteen attempts (21.4%). Both teams shot well from the charity stripe, as the Lions shot 88.9% (8-9) and the Yellow Jackets shot 84.6% (11-13). Mount St. Joseph had a slight advantage in the rebounds category 25-24. Bench points played a large role in this contest, as Defiance’s bench outscored Mount St. Joseph’s bench 20-13.
When senior Grant Johnson was asked by The Defender about his thoughts following Thursday’s victory over Mount St. Joseph, he expressed, “It feels good to get back into the win column. With the way the past few games have went, we definitely needed this win. Now we’ll focus on picking up another victory on Saturday.“
1/28: Hanover College 95 (12-7), Defiance 82 (6-13)
Senior #24 Te Jones splashes home a three-pointer vs Hanover
The Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team hosted the Hanover Panthers (HCAC conference opponent) Saturday afternoon at the Karl H. Weaner Center for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The starters in this contest included (senior) Marell Jordan, (senior) Te Jones, (sophomore) Landen Swanner, (freshman) Cole Wojciechowski, and (freshman) Ried Jury. Both teams combined to miss their first seven shots of this contest, but that finally came to an end two minutes and four seconds in (17:56 left in the 1st), as senior Te Jones splashed home a three-pointer from the right wing (3-0). Thirty-nine seconds later (17:17 left in the 1st), sophomore Coleman Sater responded to Jones’s basket with a bucket of his own, as he capitalized on an open look from mid-range (3-2). The Yellow Jackets would lead by as much as four (7-3) with 16:21 left in the first half, but Hanover would fight back to take their first lead of the game (10-9) with 14:27 before the half. Both teams would trade baskets for the next nine minutes of play before the Panthers went on a 6-2 scoring run (4:55-3:51 left in the 1st) to take a comfortable lead of 38-30. Fifteen seconds later (3:36 left in the 1st), senior Marell Jordan would end the Hanover scoring run and cut the Defiance deficit to six (38-32), as he was able to splash home a mid-range jumper from the left wing. Following Jordan’s jumper, both teams struggled to find the back of the net as the next basket did not occur for nearly two minutes. Sophomore Coleman Sater ended the cold shooting streak (1:42 left in the 1st), as he split a pair of free-throws at the charity stripe, to give Hanover a seven-point lead (39-32). Fourteen seconds later though (1:28 left in the 1st), senior Te Jones would splash home yet another three-pointer from the right wing, which cut the Panther’s lead back to four (39-35). Hanover would end the final minute and a half of the first half on a 6-2 scoring run, which allowed them to walk into the locker room with an eight-point lead (45-37). Ten seconds into the second half (19:50 left), sophomore Landen Swanner opened up the Yellow Jackets second half scoring as he managed to fight his way to the rim for the layup (45-39). Defiance would trim the deficit down to just three points (45-42) with 19:05 left to play, but they struggled to get any closer. Hanover would splash home two consecutive three-pointers in the next forty-eight seconds, as first senior Jack Wininger hit a three from the left corner (18:52 left), and then senior Ty Houston buried a triple from the right wing (18:17 left). The duo of threes allowed the Panthers to stretch back out to a seven-point lead (51-44). With 17:56 left, sophomore Landen Swanner would once again fight his way to the rim for a layup to cut the deficit to five (51-46), but Wininger responded by splashing home yet another three-pointer from the left corner, which expanded the Hanover lead to eight (54-46). The Yellow Jackets would not back down, though, as in the next minute and a half (15:27 left), Defiance went on a 4-0 scoring run of their own, to cut the Panther’s lead back to four (54-50). Following a made (senior) Marell Jordan free-throw with 14:45 left, the Yellow Jackets had found themselves down by just three (56-53). Hanover, once again, though, would push out to a comfortable lead of eight (63-55) with 13:38 left to play, following yet another scoring run, this time 7-2. Defiance would trim the deficit back to within four (65-61) with 12:05 left following a pair of mid-range jumpers from sophomore Landen Swanner, but the Yellow Jackets’ momentum would not last long, as junior Max Greenamoyer splashed home his first triple with 11:46 left to give Hanover a seven-point lead (68-61). Greenamoyer’s triple started what would lead to a 10-0 Panthers scoring run, as they took a fourteen-point lead (75-61) with 9:48 left to play. Hanover would stretch their lead out to as much as seventeen (84-67) in the final six minutes of play, and Defiance simply had no response. In the end, the Panthers took home the victory 95-82. Hanover finished with five players in double-figures, including junior Max Greenamoyer (20), junior Matt Munoz (19), senior Jack Wininger (17), junior Brice Gilman (13), and sophomore Michael Donoho (11). Defiance finished with a trio of players in double-figures, including senior Marell Jordan (24), senior Te Jones (21), and sophomore Landen Swanner (17). The Yellow Jackets shot 57.4% (35-61) from the field, while the Panthers shot 55% (33-60). Three-pointers made a huge difference in the outcome of this game, as Hanover hit 16 triples on thirty-six attempts (44.4%), compared to Defiance’s 40% (6-15). The Panthers shot an impressive 76.5% (13-17) from the charity stripe, while the Yellow Jackets shot 66.7% (6-9) from the line. Both teams had an equal 29 rebounds apiece, but Hanover was able to convert their offensive rebounds into four second-chance points, while Defiance failed to score on second-chance opportunities. The Yellow Jackets dominated the points in the paint category 44-32, while the Panthers dominated bench points 30-13.
Women’s Basketball: Tue. Jan. 24 and Sat. Jan. 28
1/24: Mount St. Joseph University 72 (11-8), Defiance 64 (6-12)
The Defiance College women’s basketball team traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio, Tuesday evening for an HCAC conference showdown against the Mount St. Joseph Lions. The starters in this contest included (graduate) Taylor Day, (senior) Taylor Steinbrunner, (senior) Nicole Sims, (junior) McKenzie Cooper, and (freshman) Kalista Friday. Thirty-seven seconds into the contest (9:23 left in the 1st), junior Madison Drummonds scored the first points of the game for either team, as capitalized on an open mid-range jumper from the left wing (2-0). Almost a minute later (8:39 left in the 1st), graduate Taylor Day would tie the game at two a piece as she scored via a hook shot. Moments later (8:30 left in the 1st), senior Chloe Jansen put Mount St. Joseph back ahead by a pair, as she found separation in the Defiance defense for the layup (4-2). Twenty-one seconds later (8:04 left in the 1st), junior McKenzie Cooper would miss an open three-pointer from the right wing, but thankfully she did not give up on the play, as she grabbed the offensive rebound and finished at the rim for two (4-4). Cooper would find the bottom of the net once again, just prior to the midway point of the opening quarter, which cut the Defiance deficit to one (9-8). To end the first quarter though, the Lions would go on a 9-2 scoring run, to take a 24-14 lead. The Mount St. Joseph run continued into the second quarter, as they would add six more points to the run (15-2) to take an early sixteen point lead (30-14). Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds into the second quarter (7:33 left in the 2nd), graduate Taylor Day pushed her way through the Mount St. Joseph defense for the layup, which put an end to the Lions scoring run (30-18). Following a Yellow Jackets timeout just past the midway point of the second (4:50 left in the 2nd), Defiance finished the quarter on a 12-0 scoring run to trim the deficit to just six (39-33) into the halftime break. To start the second half though, the momentum went right back into the hands of Mount St. Joseph, as they would start the third quarter on a 11-1 scoring run to take a sixteen point lead (50-34). With 6:50 left in the third quarter, freshman Kalista Friday found her way past the Lions defense to score an easy layup, which cut the Yellow Jackets deficit to fourteen (50-36). Defiance would end up trimming the Mount St. Joseph lead down to just eight (54-46) with 2:10 left in the third, but the Lions unfortunately ended the third on a 7-2 scoring run, to take a twelve point lead (60-48). Forty-five seconds into the fourth quarter (9:15 left), sophomore Anyiah Murphy splashed home a deep three-pointer from the left corner to put the Lions back up fifteen (63-48). Nearly two minutes would tick off the clock before the next point was scored, as Murphy once again found the the bottom of the net, as she split a pair of free-throws at the line (64-48). With 5:52 left, graduate Taylor Day scored via an open layup, which began what would lead to a quarter concluding 16-4 Defiance scoring run. Unfortunately, the Mount St. Joseph lead was just too much for the Yellow Jackets to overcome, as they came up just eight points short of the victory 72-64. The Lions finished with a trio of players in double-figures including sophomore Anyiah Murphy (17), freshman Karlee Mills (14), and senior Carlee Daulton (10). Defiance also finished with a trio of double-digit scorers including graduate Taylor Day (17), junior Kylie Brinkman (11), and freshman Kalista Friday (11). The Yellow Jackets shot 52% (26-50) from the field, while the Lions shot 45% (27-60). Mount St. Joseph was able to hit nine shots from downtown in this contest on twenty-one attempts (42.9%), while Defiance shot 41.7% (5-12) from three-point range. At the free-throw line the Yellow Jackets shot 70% (7-10), compared to the Lions 69.2% (9-13). Defiance out-rebounded Mount St. Joseph 31-28. The difference in this matchup came from the turnover category, as the Lions scored 30 points off twenty-five Yellow Jacket turnovers, while Defiance only scored 23 points off nineteen Mount St. Joseph turnovers.
When junior McKenzie Cooper was asked by The Defender about her thoughts following the loss at Mount St. Joseph, she expressed, “I think we did a lot of things well, but ultimately we just turned the ball over too much, myself included. With that said, however, we had a lot of girls do a lot of really good things. Unfortunately for us, we just dug ourselves too deep into a hole to overcome it at the end. We hope to get back into the win column this Saturday against Hanover.“
1/28: Hanover College 67 (12-5), Defiance 55 (6-13)
Junior #14 Kylie Brinkman drives to the rim for the layup vs Hanover
The Yellow Jackets women’s basketball team hosted the Hanover Panthers (HCAC conference opponent) Saturday afternoon at the Karl H. Weaner Center for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The starters in this contest included (graduate) Taylor Day, (senior) Taylor Steinbrunner, (senior) Nicole Sims, (junior) McKenzie Cooper, and (freshman) Kalista Friday. Thirty-seven seconds into the game (9:23 left in the 1st), sophomore Kady Clancy scored the first points of the contest for either team, as she connected on a layup (2-0). Fifty-three seconds later (8:30 left in the 1st), senior Taylor Steinbrunner would tie the game at two a piece, as she answered right back with a layup of her own. Both teams would trade baskets through the next two minutes of play until sophomore Grace Bezold was fouled by graduate Taylor Day, which resulted in a made free-throw for Bezold (7-6). Bezold’s free-throw would begin a 9-3 scoring run for the Panthers, which took place over the course of a five and a half minute period (6:05-0:36), to give Hanover an early six point lead (15-9). In the final thirty-five seconds of the opening quarter, however, Defiance went on a 5-0 scoring run of their own, as junior Kylie Brinkman splashed home a three-pointer and senior Lexie Sparks connected on a layup, which allowed the Yellow Jackets to trail by only a single point (15-14) at the end of the first quarter. Forty-two seconds into the second quarter (9:18 left in the 2nd), freshman Kalista Friday found separation in the Hanover defense and she capitalized off this separation by converting on an open layup (17-16). With 7:58 left in the second quarter, Defiance was able to take their first lead of the afternoon (18-17), as senior Lexie Sparks splashed home a contested mid-range jump shot from the left wing. Nearly two minutes later (5:59 left in the 2nd), junior Cait Good converted on a layup to extend the Yellow Jackets lead to three (20-17), thanks to a defensive rebound by junior McKenzie Cooper. Over the next four minutes of play (1:59 left in the 2nd), Defiance went “cold” as the Panthers went on a 11-3 scoring run, to jump out to a 28-23 advantage. With just thirty-seven seconds left until the half, senior Lexie Sparks ended the Yellow Jackets cold streak, as she was able to convert on a short-range jumper to cut the deficit to three (28-25). Thirty seconds later (0:07 left in the 2nd) though, sophomore Grace Bezold would find the bottom of the net once again, this time via a layup, which gave the Panthers a 30-25 lead into the locker room. At the half, sophomore Katherine Benter led Hanover with 10 points, while senior Lexie Sparks led Defiance with 6. Seventeen seconds into the third quarter (9:43 left in the 3rd), freshman Kalista Friday scored the first points of the second half for either team, as she found her way to the rim for the open layup (30-27). After a pair of made free-throws from sophomore Kady Clancy (9:28 left in the 3rd), Friday responded with another made layup, this time coming from the opposite side of the rim, to cut the Yellow Jackets deficit back down to three (32-29). The next basket would come two minutes and fifteen seconds later (7:13 left in the 3rd), as junior Taylor Heath connected on a pair of free-throws (34-29). Twenty seconds later (6:53 left in the 3rd), Defiance responded once again with another two-point score, as this time graduate Taylor Day converted on a layup (34-31). With 6:32 left in the third quarter, junior Maddi Sears pushed the Panthers lead back up to five (36-31), as she managed to connect on a mid-range jumper. Graduate Taylor Day responded to Sears bucket just nineteen seconds later (6:13 left in the 3rd), as Day connected on her second-straight made basket, this time coming from mid-range (36-33). In the next two minutes though (4:13 left in the third), Hanover went on a 6-3 scoring run, which pushed their lead to six (42-36). The Yellow Jackets would trade baskets with Hanover in the remaining four minutes of the third quarter, as Defiance still found themselves down by six (48-42) heading into the fourth quarter. One minute and thirty-three seconds into the fourth quarter (8:27 left), junior Kylie Brinkman splashed home a deep three-pointer from the left wing, as she cut the Hanover lead to three (48-45). Eight seconds later (8:19 left), junior McKenzie Cooper fouled junior Taylor Heath, and Heath capitalized by converting on both free-throws at the charity stripe (50-45). With 8:10 left to play, freshman Kalista Friday found an open look from downtown, as she was able to knock it down to trim the deficit even further, to just two (50-48). Nearly two minutes later (6:23 left), sophomore Katherine Benter joined the “three-point party”, as she connected on a corner three, to push the Panthers lead back up to five (55-50). Moments later (6:04 left), senior Taylor Steinbrunner would put Defiance back within three (55-52), as she connected on a pair of free-throws following a foul by Hanover sophomore Grace Bezold. Both teams would have trouble scoring for the next two minutes and thirteen seconds, until junior Taylor Heath found the bottom of the net off a (senior) Lexie Sparks foul with 3:51 left, to give the Panthers a four point lead once again (56-52). The Yellow Jackets though just kept responding, as with 3:31 left, graduate Taylor Day managed to push her way into the paint for the layup and the foul, to cut the deficit back to just one after a made free-throw (56-55). Hanover, however, would respond to the Defiance pressure once and for all, as they finished the game on an 11-0 scoring run to take the victory 67-55. The Panthers finished with four players in double-figures including sophomore Kady Clancy (17), sophomore Katherine Benter (16), junior Taylor Heath (13), and sophomore Grace Bezold (11). Freshman Kalista Friday was the lone double-digit scorer for Defiance, as she finished with 15 points. Defiance shot 37.5% (21-56) from the field, while Hanover shot 37.3% (22-59). Both teams struggled from three-point range as the Panthers shot 28.6% (2-7), compared to the Yellow Jackets 15.8% (3-19). Free-throws made the difference in this contest, as Hanover went to the line twenty-seven times and they converted on twenty-one of those attempts (77.8%), while Defiance went to the line thirteen times and they converted on ten of those attempts (76.9%). The Panthers out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets 41-36. Defiance’s bench outscored Hanover’s bench 20-6.
Men’s Track & Field: Sat. Jan. 28
The Defiance College men’s track & field team traveled to Tiffin, Ohio, Saturday afternoon for the Tiffin Invitational at Tiffin University. Sophomore Gavin Maratea and freshman Landon Sensmeier each competed in the 200 meter dash, where Maratea finished in 18th with a time of 25.13, while Sensmeier finished in 20th with a time of 27.13. Tiffin University sophomore Michael McNeil picked up the 200 meter dash victory over the twenty-one competitor field, with a time of 22.69. Freshman Isaac Miler finished in 4th place (5.95m) in long jump competition among five competitors. Lake Erie College sophomore Dakota Harvey picked up the long jump victory with a distance of 6.39m.
Women’s Track & Field: Sat. Jan. 28
The Defiance College women’s track & field team traveled to Tiffin, Ohio, Saturday afternoon for the Tiffin Invitational at Tiffin University. Senior Lisa Maria-Markau competed in the 60 meter dash, where she finished in 5th place (8.15 seconds) among the eight competitors. Toledo University freshman Paris Gosha-Foreman picked up the 60 meter dash victory with a time of 7.84 seconds. Lisa also finished 3rd place (26.83 seconds) in the 200 meter dash among twenty-three competitors. Tiffin University freshman Chelsea Janis picked up the 200 meter dash victory with a time of 26.67 seconds. Sophomore Lexi Coward and senior Brianna Snider competed in the one mile event. Coward finished in 7th place with a time of 6:54.77, while Snider finished in 8th place with a time of 7:06.29. Tiffin University sophomore Ines Macadam picked up the one mile victory with a time of 5:01.47. Freshman Shyla Pemberton finished in 7th place (1:06.91) in the 400 meter dash among fifteen competitors. Toledo University freshman Laryah Worthy picked up the 400 meter dash victory with a time of 1:01.67.
Wrestling: Fri. Jan. 27 and Sat. Jan. 28
The Yellow Jackets wrestling team traveled to Wheaton, Illinois, Friday afternoon for the two-day Pete Wilson Invitational at Wheaton College. Senior Seth Majewski was the lone Defiance wrestler to advance to the second day of competition. Majewski advanced to the 133-pound semifinal on Saturday after picking up three wins on Friday night. Majewski pinned his first two opponents and earned a 10-3 decision over Roanoke College sophomore Sean Hall, to secure a spot for Saturday. Majewski battled the eventual invite champion sophomore Ty Bisek of Concordia College in the semifinal and was defeated 16-2. Majewski was then sent to a consolation semifinal and lost 15-1 to senior Trevor Boryla from Augustana College. The impressive first day secured a 6th-place finish for Majewski in a tournament that featured 32 teams. The Yellow Jackets also earned opening-round wins on Friday night by senior Alejandro Castro in the 157 weight class and senior Keringten Martin in the 165 weight class. Castro pinned his Heidelberg University opponent in six minutes, but was knocked out of the main bracket with a 12-0 loss. Castro surrendered a medical forfeit in the consolation bracket. Martin outscored his first-round matchup 15-3, but was taken out with an 8-0 decision in the second round. Martin lost in the consolation bracket by fall in six minutes. Senior Rigo Villa (285), freshman Kelvin Ruffin (197), and sophomore Joey Perez (184), all went 0-2. Sophomore Kliever Joseph received a first-round bye in the 141 weight class, before getting defeated twice. Junior Brent Eicher lost his first match in the 149 weight class, then he received a consolation bye, where he then lost by fall to finish the weekend. Defiance totaled 18 points for the invite with 13 contributed by Majewski.
Home
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Men’s Basketball (6-13) vs Manchester University (11-8)
Location: Karl H. Weaner Center
(7:30 pm)
Thursday, Feb. 2
Wrestling vs Marian University-Ancilla (Ancilla Duel)
(Senior Night)
Location: Karl H. Weaner Center
(7:00 pm)
Away
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Women’s Basketball (6-13) at Manchester University (8-10)
(7:30 pm)
Saturday, Feb. 4
Men’s Track & Field at Trine University (Dick Gollnick Invitational)
(12:00 pm)
Women’s Track & Field at Trine University (Dick Gollnick Invitational)
(12:00 pm)
Women’s Basketball (6-13) at Transylvania University (19-0)
(2:00 pm)
Men’s Basketball (6-13) at Transylvania University (10-9)
Confess, by New York Times Best Selling Author Colleen Hoover presents to the readers a fictional story that leaves readers wanting to know all the secrets that lie within the pages. This story is set in Dallas, Texas. The book does have a little bit of a time-lapse at the beginning and end to give the readers some important details. This book leaves readers wanting to know what will happen to the main characters.
Auburn Reed is just trying to make ends meet in a big city after her life is shattered, and she is left to rebuild it. Living in Dallas and trying to accomplish all her goals have proven hard, especially when she has no room for mistakes. Then she finds herself inside a Dallas art studio after finding a helpful wanted poster. She was there thinking she was just going to get a job, she had no idea that she would meet Owen Gentry, an artist. Auburn and Owen fall madly in love, but Owen has a major secret he is trying to keep from coming out. This secret has the opportunity to ruin everything that he has with Auburn. What she needs to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it, to hopefully secure everything that she loved before. While Owen is left with two options: confess his secret and save their relationship or keep the secret and protect a different relationship.
This story kept my attention and made me want to continue to know what happened to Auburn and Owen. The feelings I have toward Owen and Auburn are unmatched by any other fictional couple. The last few chapters of the story are so life-like there would be a chance that those things could happen. That made the book that much better for me. This was a good book; however, it is not my favorite that I have read so far. This book seemed to have a couple of slower points in the story and I was less inclined to want to read it. There is also one detail that is talked about at the beginning of the book that is not mentioned again until the very end, which I find kind of annoying.
Overall, I give this book a 4/5. This book kept the reader’s attention and made me want to continue reading.
Abbegail Rank is a senior here at Defiance College and will graduate this spring. She will have not one, not two, but three majors when she leaves in the spring. Why you may ask? Well, when she first came to campus as a high school student, she was a Criminal Justice major. While she enjoyed the subject, she realized that the world of law enforcement wasn’t for her, so she added Social Work when she came to Defiance during her Freshman year and added Psychology later on. Also, because she didn’t have enough classes already, she added a minor in Autism Studies. This, to her, was her most significant accomplishment so far. She said that, even though people doubted her a little bit, “I still pursued it, and I’ll have three majors.”
Abbegail was very active outside of the classroom as well, joining both the Soccer and Track and Field teams as well as being a part of SAAC, and the Service Leader Program. She also worked as a peer tutor and a writing consultant. As I’m sure you can imagine, she was a very busy person and admitted that she probably forgot a few things, but wouldn’t we all? She did share a little bit about her time in the McMaster Program, however. Her group was supposed to go to Belize, but it was unfortunately during Covid, so she wasn’t able to go. Initially, she wanted to focus on “nutritional hydration and exercise,” but it evolved into “focusing on stress relief because Covid was stressful.” However, the experience was still incredible, and she was incredibly grateful for the opportunity.
When I asked her what advice she would give her Freshman self, she immediately said, “I would focus more on my own self-care. For the first two years, I just focused on my classes and stuff, and I just got burnt out. So definitely self-care.” She also pointed to how focusing on self-care also helped her in the classroom.
But enough about the past; let’s talk about the future. When I sat down to talk with her this week, she was excited about her future and about grad school. She told me that she is going to the University of Northern Texas to get her Master’s degree in kinesiology (the study of human body movement). After graduating from there, she plans to get her doctorate in counseling psychology, focusing on sports psychology. In terms of career goals, she wants to change how mental health is seen in sports and help athletes develop good mental health and physical strength and ability.
So please join me in congratulating Abbegail for her incredible accomplishments over the last four years, and wish her the best of luck in grad school and beyond.
Did you know according to “The History of Icecream: The Evolution of Ice Cream” states that “ Ice cream’s origins are known to date back as far as the second century B.C., although no specific date of origin nor inventor has been undisputably credited with its discovery.” Some people believe that ice cream evolved sometime during the 16th century. However, other people believe that England discovered ice cream around the same time, maybe even a few years earlier. According to “The History of Ice Cream: Ice Cream for America,” states that “The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen.” Until around 1800, ice cream was considered a rare dessert that only the elite could eat. From 1940 through 1970, ice cream production became relatively constant in the United States as the more prepackaged ice cream was sold to local stores and ice cream parlors. Even though most people believe that vanilla ice cream was the first flavor, it was actually chocolate ice cream.
According to “Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Ice Cream,” “It takes 12 pounds of milk to produce just one gallon of ice cream. “Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Ice Cream” also states that “The tallest ice cream cone was over 9 feet tall in Italy, and the average American eats 45.8 pints of ice cream each year.” Even though there is a wide variety of different ice cream toppings, chocolate syrup is the most popular! According to “Facts About Ice Cream,” “The largest ice cream cake weighed 12, 096 pounds.” In conclusion, ice cream is a very popular dessert that the majority of Americans will eat.
On Thursday, January 19th, an intramural eight-ball pool tournament was held on campus to kick off intramurals for the 2023 Spring semester. Three teams competed in the lobby of McReynolds hall for the title of best 8-ball players on campus.
The tournament accepted teams through email leading up to the day before the tournament. Teams consisted of Blake Bowman and Ryan Ahmed playing on “The Second Floor”, Shaun Hudson and Paige Roholoff playing on the “Socket Pockets”, and Zakary Klopfenstein and Zachary Centerbury playing on “CB#1”.
The tournament started with an elimination bracket with The Second Floor playing CB#1, CB#1 won this match. The second game was The Socket Pockets against The Second Floor; with the Second Floor winning this round, they stayed in the bracket. Game three was the Socket Pockets playing the lead with no losses CB#1. Though it was a close game, CB#1 came out on top, winning the tournament.
The final standing of the tournament was CB#1 with two wins and no losses, The Second Floor with one win and one loss, and Socket Pockets with a rough night walking away with two losses.
Overall the eight-ball pool tournament was a fun night spent taking a normal pass-time game to a new level on campus. We encourage you to try an intramural tournament or sport while on campus. Intramurals are hosted at random times to help with campus involvement and to help students try new activities, and they are open to all DC students living on or off campus full or part-time as well.
If you have any ideas for more intramural activities, you can reach out to Hailey Krawczyk through email to help with campus involvement, also, keep checking your email to keep up to date on when activities are.
