Giving
Mind-Body Challenge Newsletter
Issue 4
From the Director’s Chair
By: Leo Pickens
The Holiday Invitational Tournaments in both the men's and women's basketball leagues came to an end this past week. In the men's league, the Spartans, last year's basketball champions, proved that they are still the team to beat with a narrow victory over the Hustlers, 61-60. Given the size of the Spartans' A team, the fact that the Hustlers kept the game close came as a surprise to most observers in the Temple. The Hustlers' tenacious Bee Team full-court press, and the non-stop ball-hawking defense of the diminutive but big-hearted Russell brothers—that's Luke, Tobias, and James—kept the Spartans off balance and the Hustlers in the game. On the women's side of things, the Maenads romped over the Amazons in the tourney final, 32-14, paced by some solid play by the sister duo of Rachel Ulrich and Leah Lasell (Mrs. Lasell, when she is not bringing her formidable basketball skills to bear, doubles as the wife of tutor Brendon Lasell and the mother of their two daughters-now the littlest Kunai in our fold).
The sailing team hosted its fifth annual intramural regatta in late November. Thomas Myers took home the Katrin Fink Cup as the top single-handed sailor, and Anna Dirkse teamed with Molly Moran to win the Joseph Toenjes Cup as the top team racers.
Speaking of sailing, I just received this email from Greg "Rook" Singer, A07:
"Tomorrow around midnight I'll be sailing out of the bay we know and love, destined for the Virgin Islands. It brings me back to the first day I went sailing on Fayaway, on a whim, and the amazing effects that one day has had on my life. At St. John's I learned to sail and take care of boats, enough to get jobs working on boats, enabling me to buy a boat and fix it up to the point where it is ready to traverse the ocean. I am greatly in debt to the boathouse and St. John's, without which I would not be standing here staring out into the darkness of the Atlantic."
In a similar vein, here's another note I received from Gregory Brandt AGI '94:
"I very much enjoyed your email from the Temple. It was good to hear about the fall sports, especially crew. Given the number of boats listed at Occoquan, it sounds as if rowing at St. John's is thriving—and that makes me happy to think about. Getting out on the Severn at 6:00 a.m., learning to row, working with my boat mates to create the swing, and pulling our brains out—these experiences shaped me as much as anything that happened in Seminar."
I crank on the erg about once a week; mostly, though, I run. I can still get below 30:00 for five miles—not bad at 46. I'm not racing much anymore, but it's always delightful to fall in with some younger runner out on the road and smoke him.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you and what you're up to athletics-wise these days. Email me at leo.pickens@sjca.com
Iglehart over the Years::
As we ring in a new decade, let's pay tribute to the decades before us. Click here to experience the memories the Temple has created in the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's.
New Year's Resolutions:
Bob Gray, friend of St. John's, plans to incorporate fitMusic into his workouts. (www.fitmusic.com)
Lea Brock, AN98 & SFGI01, aspires to build an elevated, wooden, indoor track.
Jamaal Barnes, AN10, can't wait to begin attending SJCA's lunch-time yoga classes to improve his flexibility.
Dolores Strissel, AN Staff Member, strives to improve her posture and balance by using her new stability ball five times a week.
Kristi Durbin, A04, seeks to run the Bluegrass 10,000 Foot Race (10K) on July 3, 2010 in Lexington, KY. She also wants to run this race to help raise $1,000 for charity.
Strengthen and Support the Mind-Body Challenge Campaign today
Click Here to donate.