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IT’S A COLD FEBRUARY when the Spartan wrestler sets
out from Schwalm Hall to practice in the PERC. As he
walks across campus, the shouts and sounds of
physical activity surround him. On the mall, Ultimate
Frisbee players are flinging the disc, as they do every
weekday – rain, sleet, snow or sun. Crossing East
Street, a group of lean, ear-muffed runners sprints by
with the camaraderie and speed of a pack of wolves
chasing down prey.
If he had detoured by Cordier Auditorium, he would
have discovered both cross country teams warming up
in the basement, under the stage, before they hit the
roads.
On the walk up to the PERC is a good view of rush
hour in Brown Fitness Center. Then it’s past the rolling
thunder of bouncing balls and rubber-soled feet in the
gym en route to the locker room. He weaves among
the football and softball players stretching and steps
into the sweltering wrestling room.
Manchester College has 430 student-athletes (a
dramatic increase from the 355 student-athletes only
two years ago) competing in 17 NCAA Division III
sports. Factor in more than 800 intramural
competitors in 12 sports and the 100-or-so students,
faculty and staff who use Brown Fitness Center every
day. And don’t forget the pick-up games and the lone
runners.
… and P.E. classes in weight training, wellness, Tai
Chi, bicycling, badminton, bowling, canoeing,
racquetball, golf, karate, fitness walking, softball,
square dancing, tennis, yoga, weight management,
stress reduction … and the south end of the PERC,
where classes for exercise and sport sciences majors
are under way.
“We’re full,” says Athletic Director Rick Espeset,
who’s also head baseball coach. During winter, teams
consume every bit of court time available in the PERC,
with the gym lights off only four hours or so within
the 24-hour day.
Those practices keep the Spartan tradition strong at
Manchester, and its trophy cases also bulging with 65
conference championships, All-Americans, All-Conference teams, players and coaches, and (for
awhile) the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
Commissioner’s Cup.
Division III opportunities have a lot to do with the
College’s popularity among student-athletes. At this
level, the focus is on the development of the student-athlete,
not the entertainment (or expectations) of
spectators.
Manchester students get to play, and contribute to
scoring, and even travel to NCAA regionals and
nationals. They’re breaking school records left and
right. For example, under Head Coach Brian
Cashdollar, Manchester’s track and field athletes have
crushed 23 school records … probably the records of
some alumni reading this. Sorry. Well, maybe not. And
women’s tennis: They’ve collected six consecutive
conference titles and three consecutive trips to the
NCAA Tournament since 2002.
But sports aren’t just for the athletes … no way. The
College’s intramural schedule continues its tradition
with an enormous schedule that attracts about 75
percent of our 1,150 students. Students, faculty and staff compete together in activities for the body and mind ranging from indoor soccer to table tennis,
volleyball and whiffle ball, and the quieter but not
necessarily calmer challenges like billiards and euchre.
Lots of the sports are in the PERC – when there’s an
opening in the team practice schedules.
With enrollments setting records – buoyed by feverish
student-athlete recruiting by Spartan coaches,
including 95 football players each of the last four
years – Manchester’s athletics facilities are bulging at
the girders.
“We have to do our core routine in the basement of
Cordier because it is the only place big enough to
house all of us (70 to 80 student-athletes),” said
Cashdollar, who is head coach of both cross country
and track and field.
The solution? A field house, for starters.
In addition to supporting Manchester’s student-athletes,
a field house could open up sports and fitness
options for all our students, said Coach Espeset. A
field house would give the College an indoor track,
more locker rooms, another weight facility, possibly a
cardio room and practice courts. An indoor track
could serve community runners and walkers, too.
That would please Andy Williams ’10, a national
NCAA qualifier in cross country last fall. “I could train harder and become a better runner if we
had an indoor track facility, which would
allow me to train hard through the winter
months when the snow and ice make it
impossible to run fast outside.”
The football field, which suffered through 15
games last season as the College shared it with
Manchester High School, also tops the athletic
director’s fix-it list. One solution is field turf,
costly at $500,000 to $1 million, but used at
most Indiana colleges, including Manchester’s
major recruiting opponents.
But in the meanwhile, Manchester will still
produce championship teams and athletes,
academically strong students and genuinely
good people on the mats, courts, tracks and
fields and off.
That’s because Manchester College’s athletics
program is proof of the adage, “It’s not what
you have that matters, but how you use it.”
“Regardless of what facilities we have, it’s
still about the students and coaching,” said
Coach Espeset. “It’s still about the
relationships with the athletes.”
BY NATE HODGES ’10
Spartans say …
“Some people think that being a Division III athlete
is just for people who aren’t serious, but
everywhere I look, I see athletes who are training
to compete at the highest level they can so they
can win. My athletic performance has improved so
much since I have come to college. I have
teammates at my level to train with, a great coach
who believes in me and challenges me without
discouraging me, and an amazing athletic training
team that is willing to help with anything that is
bothering me.” — Jessica Bremer ’11,
cross country and track and field (exercise science)
“To me, being a Spartan means showing
leadership and representing the student body. It
means being a role model to my peers, being
looked up to for encouraging words and support
and representing myself and the school to the best
of my ability.” —
Jasmyne Ahmad ’11,
track and basketball (political science)
“I was recruited to come
here as early as my
sophomore year of high
school when Coach
(Cashdollar) sent me two
handwritten letters
congratulating me on my
successes and
encouraging me to look
into running for
Manchester. My senior
year he came and
watched me perform at
some of my meets. His persistence definitely got
my attention.” —
Andy Williams ’10,
cross country and track (athletic training)
Auburn Golf Outing to raise $120,000 for Spartan athletics
Over the past 19 years, the
Auburn Golf Outing has provided
75 percent of the non-building
donations to MC athletics – from
bleachers to press boxes and
shot clocks, and, especially,
fitness equipment.
Organizers Ken Metzer ’67 and Til ’47 and Dortha King ’47 are driving for
$120,000 at this year’s outing,
scheduled for June 12 at
Bridgewater East Golf Club in
Auburn, Ind. Call the Alumni
Office, 888-257-2586, to play. |
