As we prepare to graduate, senior staff is engaging in the requisite nostalgia and contemplation of our time at Oberlin, so it’s impossible to avoid addressing the evolution of this paper. All three of us have worked on the Review for our entire Oberlin careers, and in that time, we’ve seen changes to the Review take shape alongside the major developments in mainstream media.
Articles: Chris Landers
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Journalism Finds New Footing in Digital Age
May 24, 2013
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Student Senators Should Be Subject to Pay Limits
May 10, 2013
Following the controversy surrounding Student Senate Liaison Eliza Diop’s billing issues and subsequent resignation, Senate is initiating a reform of the rules regarding the payment of its members. Diop claims that the timecard discrepancy was a simple misunderstanding of the work senators can legitimately bill for, spurring the conversation on ambiguities in the Senate bylaws. But the reform could also address a much larger problem that has gone unchecked in Senate and SFC for years — until very recently, members of both groups could bill for unlimited hours each pay period, a privilege no other student workers enjoy.
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On Reproductive Rights, Obama Abandons His Base Once Again
May 3, 2013
Back in November, Barack Obama rode a massive victory in the battle for the female vote — 55 percent to 44 percent for Mitt Romney nationally, and that gap was even larger in swing states like Ohio — to a second term in office. Admittedly, Mitt Romney (and, really, every level of the GOP) made things a bit easier by systematically alienating himself from women across the country, but the Obama campaign successfully positioned its candidate as the Enlightened One — binder-free and ready to lead American society into the 21st century.
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Expanded Transit Access May Burst the Oberlin Bubble
April 26, 2013
Last week, Student Senate and the Public Transit Working Group established a local weekend shuttle system for Oberlin students. The move is a much-needed step in the right direction, providing students with the ability to better connect with the community in which they live. But the move is simply that: a step.
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Failure of Gun Control Bill a National Embarrassment
April 19, 2013
Even in an age when Congress has a lower approval rating than most reality television stars, this has to move the needle even ever so slightly, doesn’t it?
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OPIRG Benefits from Keeping Students in the Dark
April 12, 2013
This week, Mudd, Wilder Bowl and the Science Center atrium came to feel more like midtown Manhattan than a small liberal arts campus, as Ohio Public Interest Research Group canvassers have become a ubiquitous presence.
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Health Services Fee Has Potential for Positive Change
April 5, 2013
According to the Office of Financial Aid’s website, the cumulative cost of one year for a full-time student at Oberlin is set to rise $831 next year, as the price jumps to a jaw-dropping $59,474. It’s hard to justify a price tag that huge, and certainly many items contributing to the rapidly rising costs at Oberlin (and at similar schools across the country) can be attributed to extravagant and unnecessary administrative spending. But at least one chunk of that increase is necessary — it’s a long overdue acknowledgement of an area of Oberlin’s student services that desperately needs reform.
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Status Quo Reigns Supreme at Vatican
March 15, 2013
When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on Wednesday, the event was hailed as a sign that the Catholic church was finally, mercifully beginning to evolve to reflect the interests of its 21st-century membership. Bergoglio — or Francis I, as he will be known from here on out — is a native of Buenos Aires, making him the first non-European pope in over a millenium. And such a shift is apt, considering that the majority of the world’s Catholics now reside in the global South; in the Church as elsewhere, Europe is losing its supremacy.
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Workplace Flexibility Best for Both Employer, Employee
March 3, 2013
Perhaps it was unfair to place Marissa Mayer on a pedestal she never asked for. When the 37-year-old Google wunderkind convinced Yahoo! to make her the youngest Fortune 500 CEO — while she was pregnant, no less — she was preemptively hailed as a role model for working mothers. It seemed as though, finally, biases surrounding women in the workplace were beginning to fade.
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The Meteors Are Coming! The Meteors Are Coming!
Feb. 22, 2013
Last Friday, we earthlings got a wake-up call of cosmic proportions.
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Dubya Exposed, in More Ways Than One
Feb. 15, 2013
Last week, the public got a sneak peak at the products of George W. Bush’s post-presidency hobby: his self-portraits. A hacker, who goes by the alias Guccifer, broke into the e-mail accounts of multiple Bush family members, sharing private documents that included photos of the paintings in question, which Dubya had e-mailed to his sister. Independent of the news of this hacking and the current Secret Service investigation into it, the self-portraits present themselves as a curious conversation piece.
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After Too Many Free Passes, Obama Must Answer for White Paper
Feb. 8, 2013
First, it was the financial disaster he inherited upon taking office. Then it was the impossibly obstinate three-ring circus known as the House of Representatives. Then it was his re-election campaign. Then it was the entirely self-imposed fiscal cliff crisis. For the past four years, left-of-center mainstream media pundits have defended Barack Obama time and time again against accusations of passivity (if not downright timidity). Now, following one of the boldest modern inauguration addresses, the clock has been reset and the waiting game will begin again.
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Election Results Should Be Wake-up Call to GOP
Nov. 11, 2012
If ever there was a vulnerable incumbent, Barack Obama would seem to fit the bill. With unemployment hovering around eight percent and a still-lagging economy, the GOP was handed a golden opportunity to wrest the White House back into its control (for a nice contrast, look at the electoral upheaval that took place in Europe amid its economic meltdown.) Yet Mitt Romney — a man who has essentially been running for President full-time for the past decade — fell just short again on Tuesday, and it’s time for the Republican Party to take a long look at itself.
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‘Documentary’ Sheds Disturbing Light on Racial Perceptions of Obama
Oct. 7, 2012
You didn’t watch Dreams From My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception so much as it washed over you in a wave of disbelief. A pseudo-documentary purporting to expose the “true origin of Obama’s life and politics,” Dreams From My Real Father tells the story of how President Obama’s father was a card-carrying member of Communist Party USA — not a goat herder from Kenya who came to America in search of an education.
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Lectureship Series Well-Meaning Yet Fundamentally Divisive
Oct. 7, 2012
The always-divisive Ronald Reagan Political Lectureship Series began anew on Thursday, kicking off its 2012–2013 calendar with a talk by political commentator Bill Whittle advertised as “What We Believe: Why the Right is Right” — although Whittle was quick to de-emphasize the second part of that title in favor of the first. He told us he didn’t expect to convince us (“us,” apparently, meaning the all-consuming liberal monolith otherwise known as the Oberlin student body); as long as we realized that conservatives were not “motivated by meanness, anger, or a desire to see people get hurt,” that was enough for him.
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Angry Mob at Art Rental Reveals Oberlin’s Ugly Side
Oct. 7, 2012
Art rental is one of the most treasured Oberlin traditions, not just for the opportunity it presents — priceless art spending a semester in your dorm or apartment — but for the event itself: renting a tent from the Outings Club and camping out in the courtyard, imbibing illegal substances on school property after dark and listening to classmates howl their favorite songs late into the night. It’s a fundamentally communal event, which is why last weekend was such an unfortunate sight.
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Different Coach, Same Story for Ohio State Football
Dec. 1, 2011
He strolled into the Ohio State University pressroom, as commanding a presence as ever, decked in his finest scarlet and gray. Here was Urban Meyer, looking every bit the part of the Midwestern Messiah, the man seemingly destined to resurrect his home state team.
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Student Protests Reveal Lion-Sized Problems at PSU
Nov. 20, 2011
Last summer, in the athletic void created by the prospect of nothing but Major League Baseball games for three months, ESPN aired an obnoxiously saccharine special entitled “Difference Makers: Life Lessons with Paterno and Krzyzweski.” That would be Joe Paterno, the former Penn State head coach who was recently fired for his moral — if not legal — culpability in failing to report accounts of sexual abuse by assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I’ll let you fill in that punchline.
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Editorial: Al Davis Stirs Controversy, Even in Death
Oct. 13, 2011
As it turned out, Steve Jobs wasn’t the only Bay Area pioneer to pass away last week. Al Davis, owner of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders for thirty-five years and one of the league’s foremost leaders since its inception in 1970, died early last Saturday morning at the age of 82. The posthumous outpouring of love and praise from all corners of the media painted a picture of Davis as a universally beloved man, a monumental figure who was a blessing to all the lives he touched in his six decades in pro football.
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Editorial: Perceptions of Race in Modern Sports
Oct. 3, 2011
Maybe we haven’t come as far as we thought. When Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election of 2008 was announced, many were trumpeting a radical change in the way America viewed race. Yes, there was work still to be done, but the possibilities suggested by the image of an African American in the White House were simply too intoxicating to resist. But after watching five minutes of college football this weekend, I’m starting to question just how much work we have left.
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Editorial: Lessons from Homecoming Weekend
Sept. 29, 2011
Another Sept. 11 has come and gone, time indifferently trudging on, as it always does, despite how often we could swear it would never move again. The obligatory perspective pieces flooded in to publications large and small, pausing to reflect on just how much the past 10 years have transformed us. And yet, for all of the ink dedicated to this anniversary, my most indelible memory from 9/11 seems to have been somewhat forgotten.
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Blend of Experience, Newcomers Lead Yeowomen Soccer
Sept. 8, 2011
The Oberlin women’s soccer team has gotten off to a solid 1–2–1 start to its 2011 campaign, as it looks to rely on a combination of fresh faces and returning starters to improve on last years 4–14 record.
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A Word with William
Sept. 7, 2011
Late last April, William Roth was hired to replace Joe Karlgaard as Oberlin’s athletic director. A former member of the University of Pennsylvania’s athletic department, Roth is now entering his first fall season as the head of Oberlin athletics. The Review recently caught up with Mr. Roth to discuss the challenges of his new job, the upcoming fall season and the recent string of recruiting scandals in Division I college football.
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Editorial: The Oberlin Oasis
Sept. 7, 2011
The scramble for the Saturday New York Times is somewhat of a weekend-morning ritual in my family — I, the fresh-faced challenger armed with a day off from work and way too much free time, attempt to wrestle as many sections as possible away from my father without losing a limb. It’s normally quite the spectacle; familial bonds are shredded, and swearing becomes commonplace. Except for one July morning when my dad simply watched as I slid the Sports section out from under his nose. Stunned at this unexpected victory, I shot him a confused look. “Take it,” he said. “There isn’t anything worth reading in there anyway.” I wasn’t about to question my gains, so I made my way outside to read.
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Men's Rugby Sets Sights Even Higher for 2012
May 12, 2011
Another season of Billygoats Gruff rugby has come and gone, and the club continues to show improvement as solid recruitment translates to wins on the field. The Gruffs finished their spring 2011 campaign with a 4¬–1 record overall, highlighted by a win over arch-rival Kenyon College in the home opener on April 23, their first victory over the Lords in five years.
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William Roth, Oberlin's New Athletic Director
May 9, 2011
On May 2, Oberlin College named William Roth as the newest Delta Lodge Director of Athletics. The Review recently sat down with Mr. Roth, who previously worked as the Associate Director of Athletics at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss the academic challenges of Oberlin, his vision for the program and German soccer star Michael Ballack.
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Sports Editorial: Texas Excess Highlights National Concern
May 5, 2011
There’s a scene in the first season of Friday Night Lights in which Dillon High Panthers’ head football coach Eric Taylor is reprimanding Buddy Garrity, a big-money and big-haired booster for the team, for cheating on his wife. Buddy’s family is crumbling around him, yet, true to form, he can only focus on football. “[My wife] can cut off my head and stick it on a pike!” he exclaims. “But I’ll always care about the Panthers!”
This moment has been running through my mind a lot lately. It could just be because I have a soft spot for portly men with Texas drawls, but I’m inclined to believe it has something to do with the unsettling fact that American athletic culture has seemingly lost touch with reality.
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"Sportsphobia" Symposium Talk Aims to Break Barriers
April 28, 2011
The Community at Oberlin Symposium continued last Friday with a panel discussion titled “Sportsphobia at Oberlin.” Over 100 students, student-athletes, coaches and community members alike attended the event, created in order to open a dialogue about negative student-athlete stereotypes and a perceived lack of support for athletics in the Oberlin community.
The panel was headed by senior men’s rugby player and Review Sports Editor James Blankenship, sophomore men’s lacrosse player and Student Senator Eli Clark-Davis, sophomore women’s lacrosse player and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member Molly Bloom and Director of Recreation and Club Sports Betsy Bruce. After a brief opening speech by each panelist, the floor was opened up to questions and comments from the audience.
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Miller Doc Reminds of Jewish Stars, Heroes
April 22, 2011
This past weekend, award-winning documentarian Peter Miller, OC ’84, came to Oberlin to screen his new film Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, an exploration of the relationship between Jewish Americans and our nation’s pastime.
Through interviews with Jewish players past and present, as well as other Jewish-American personalities and even baseball-loving rabbis, Miller provides a vivid account of the special place Jews have had in the game — along with equally harrowing and inspiring tales of the bigotry they faced and the heroism they displayed. To complement this special event, the Review outlines some of the greatest Jewish athletes in American sports history.
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Sports Editorial: Wasted Talent Becomes Lasting Legacy of Steroid Era
April 14, 2011
This past week was an odd one for baseball, with everything wonderful and everything reprehensible about the sport blending together to create a panorama of images equal parts bizarre and beautiful.
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Men's Rugby Out to Make a Statement in 2011
April 14, 2011
The Billygoats Gruff kicked off their 2011 season this past Saturday, with a home game against Denison University. The Gruffs battled hard through the rain, but it wasn’t enough, as they would eventually fall 7–13.
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Baseball Hits Its Stride in Arizona
April 4, 2011
The men’s baseball team’s highly anticipated 2011 campaign got into full swing over spring break, as the Yeomen headed to Arizona for the RussMatt Greater Phoenix Invitational.
After splitting an opening doubleheader with Middlebury College, Oberlin used strong pitching and timely hitting to sweep a double dip against Thomas College. Senior Grady Campion started for the Yeomen in game one, delivering five shutout innings.
Oberlin’s lineup did just enough to get him the win, scoring the game’s only two runs in the top of the third. Senior catcher Brandon Cantrill delivered an RBI single and a wild pitch soon followed to score fellow senior infielder Ben Puterbaugh. Senior pitcher Phil Brua followed Campion, pitching two scoreless frames to lock down his first save of the season. Sophomore outfielder Max Phinney led the Yeomen with a 2–3 effort from the plate.
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Spring Break Sports Rewind
April 4, 2011
Just because we got to relax during spring break doesn’t mean our sports teams did. With that in mind, the Review is here to recap all that happened in the world of Oberlin athletics over the break.
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March Madness Reminds Us Why We Love Sports
March 14, 2011
It’s that time of year again. The snow is beginning to thaw and the calendar has flipped to that most glorious of all sporting months: March.
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BYU Player's Suspension Sheds Light on Hypocrisy
March 7, 2011
The Brigham Young University men’s basketball team was the darling of the 2010-2011 season. Led by charismatic star Jimmer Fredette (and his ridiculously awesome and chant-friendly name), they sprinted to a 27–2 record and reached as high as third in the national rankings. As the media fell over themselves for a piece of the team, it seemed as though the Cougars were destined to fill the role of Cinderella as March approached.
But the storybook script was rewritten last week. Forward Brandon Davies — a starter and a vital presence down low — was suspended for the season for violating the BYU honor code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend.
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Yeomen, Chrapczynski Look Strong in Preparation for NCAC Championships
March 3, 2011
It was a record-setting day for Oberlin track and field at the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Pentathlon last Saturday.
Junior Shawn Chrapczynski set a new school record for total points in the event, racking up 3,105 and finishing just behind Andrew Diehl of Ohio Wesleyan University, who won the event with a total of 3,107 points.
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Chun Leads Yeomen to a Perfect Week
March 3, 2011
The men’s tennis team was on fire this week, defeating Heidelberg University on Saturday by a score of 7–2 and picking up a 6–3 win over Mount Union College on Wednesday. The Yeomen, who improved to 3–2 on the year, won with dominant singles play in both contests.
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Poor Shooting, Missed Opportunities Doom Yeowomen
Feb. 24, 2011
The women’s basketball team saw its season end in a frustrating fashion this past Wednesday, as it fell to the second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops, 67–60, in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.
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Scores and Notes
Feb. 18, 2011
A quick look back through the week in Oberlin sports
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Handicapping the Carmelo Anthony Situation
Feb. 14, 2011
Each year, the National Basketball Association’s trade deadline wreaks havoc upon the league and its general managers. Contenders contemplate which moves will put their teams over the top, while bottom-dwellers look to rebuild. It’s a time of year when the only constant is chaos, and it is upon us once again. In the face of all of the mind-numbing information, the Review is here to sift through the mess and make sense of the possible scenarios.
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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Feb. 10, 2011
The Review’s take on everything you missed on the track, in the pool and on the court over Winter Term.
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News from Natalie
Feb. 10, 2011
The Review recently chatted via email with Associate Director of Athletics Natalie Winklefoos to talk about her role as co-interim Director of Athletics, the accomplishments of former AD Joe Karlgaard and the weather in Palo Alto, Ca.
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Editorial: NFL Owners' Greed, Hypocrisy Clouds Their Finest Hour
Feb. 10, 2011
As the confetti streamed down onto the victorious Green Bay Packers at the end of Super Bowl XLV, the National Football League and its fans should have been rejoicing. The Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers — arguably the two most storied franchises in the game — had just played one of the tightest contests in recent memory. An eminently marketable star was born in Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A whopping 111 million people tuned in to the game, making it the most watched event in American television history. And yet, during the league’s finest hour, that confetti in the air felt more like a storm cloud.
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Individual Performances, Team Effort Guiding Track and Field So Far
Feb. 10, 2011
Both the men and women’s track and field teams started off strong in the first team-scored event of the 2011 campaign. The season kicked off with the North Coast Athletic Conference Relay Meet on Jan. 29.
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A Look Ahead at the Spring Season
Feb. 10, 2011
A look at what’s coming up this semester in the world of Oberlin athletics.
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Fall Sports See Progress, Success In 2010
Dec. 9, 2010
This past fall, Oberlin athletics took an unprecedented step forward. New heights were reached, records were broken, and through it all many Yeomen and Yeowomen exhibited the work ethic and integrity that has been their trademark through the years — regardless of the final score.
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Oberlin Gridders Caught Conference, Fans By Surprise This Season
Dec. 3, 2010
The football team took a definitive step forward in 2010, putting up impressive offensive numbers behind the conference’s most underrated unit. After posting consecutive 2–8 campaigns in 2008 and 2009, the Yeomen finished with .500 winning percentage in the North Coast Athletic Conference at 3–3 and a respectable 4–6 overall — with a near upset of nationally ranked Wittenberg University to boot.
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Johnson Named Runner Of The Year As Yeowomen Advance To Nationals
Nov. 19, 2010
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams took to the course on Saturday for the Great Lakes Regional Championship Meet at Hope College.
For the Yeowomen, Joanna Johnson continued her magical season. The senior from Chico, CA, remains undefeated on the year, winning the meet with a time of 21 minutes, 14 seconds — a full 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
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Yeomen Football Wins Back-to-Back Victories
Nov. 11, 2010
Football was able to notch its first set of back-to-back victories since 2007, with a 16-12 win over the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops at Savage Stadium on Nov. 6. The Yeomen now stand at 3–3 in North Coast Athletic Conference play and 4–5 overall.
For the second straight week, it was the Oberlin defense that led the way — forcing two interceptions and consistently coming up with big plays on third and fourth down — while the offense made enough plays to overcome a few turnovers and dropped passes. Sophomore linebacker Dane Stritt led the way with eight tackles and a forced fumble, as the OWU offense was held to just 28 rushing yards and 277 total.
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Men's Soccer Plays Toe to Toe with Nationally Ranked Ohio Wesleyan
Oct. 14, 2010
The season was looking bleak for the men’s soccer team heading into their draw with the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops on October 9.
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Johnson First, Yeowomen Second At All-Ohio Championships
Oct. 7, 2010
The women’s cross-country team continued its strong campaign this season, competing in the All-Ohio Championships in Cedarville, Ohio, on October 1. The Yeowomen entered the tournament on the heels of a second-place finish at the Great Lakes Colleges Association Championships, as well as a win in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational that propelled them to a national rank of 26th overall.
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Oberlin Tennis Up and Swinging
Sept. 30, 2010
Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams participated in their respective Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional tournament events this past week, with the Yeowomen heading to Fredericksburg, VA on Sept. 25 and 26, and the Yeomen making the trip north to Kalamazoo, MI, on Sept. 24 and 25.
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Field Hockey Loses Luster, Falls Against Ohio Wesleyan
Sept. 23, 2010
The Oberlin women’s field hockey team suffered its first loss of the year on Sept. 17, falling 2-0 at home against the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops. The Yeowomen fought hard for the duration of the game, but in the end they could not overcome several missed opportunities on offense.
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Men's Cross Country Grabs GLCA Title
Sept. 13, 2010
The Yeomen traveled to Ohio Wesleyan University to participate in the Great Lakes Colleges Association Championships on Sept. 11, marking the official opening of their competitive season. In the first scored meet of the young season, Oberlin exhibited the commanding style that propelled their run in the opening week.
In the GLCA Championships, sophomore Eric Line once again asserted himself as the top Yeomen finisher. He placed second overall out of over 200 entrants in the 8k race, clocking in at 25 minutes, 42.9 seconds. Junior Stephen Williams closely followed, placing fourth with a time of 25:55.0.
Fellow classmates Derek Lange (13th at 26:29.1), Ben Schild (17th at 26:46.8), and Matt Bernstein (19th at 26:50.2 seconds) also turned in solid finishes in the 8k. First-year Jimmy Taylor placed just outside the top 20, placing 22nd with a time of 27:05.7.
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Women's Cross Country Poised For Another Successfull Fall
Sept. 10, 2010
Sept. 1 marked the unofficial start of the season for the women’s cross country team, as they traveled to the College of Wooster for a tune-up meet. The Yeowomen delivered a very strong performance, building on their great success from last season.
In 2009, Oberlin went from being unranked in the preseason to qualifying for Nationals, where they earned a respectable 23rd place finish. This season the team looks to a key component from their successful run last fall, senior two-time All-American Joanna Johnson, to spearhead their efforts.