College first-year Lilly Crook walked into Perlick Commons on Tuesday morning wearing a long, flowing yellow dress with a floral pattern on it. She laughed and said, “Marija will probably be late.” A couple minutes later, she laughed again. College fourth-year Marija, her older sister and cross country teammate, entered the room wearing a long and flowy red dress with a floral pattern on it.  “We don’t usually do this,” Lilly said. “Everyone always says we look so alike, but...

This week, the Review’s sports editors decided to attempt an athletic endeavor known for its test of strength and agility, as well as its controversial recent popularization as a fitness practice: pole dancing. The Cleveland area has a number of locations that offer pole dancing classes as a form of exercise, and after extensive research, we settled on Expressions Fitness’ Beginner Level 1 & 2 class in Berea, OH. As sports editors and recreational athletes, we felt confident going into the class. But even Khalid McCalla, our contributing sports editor and a former Division-III varsity football player, was breaking a sweat just ten minutes into the class. We were very naive. Pole dancing is physically d...

In the midst of significant institutional change due to Oberlin’s mounting structural budget deficit, investments in spaces like the Shanks Health and Wellness Center and the Knowlton Athletics Complex have left some community members wondering where the money for such projects comes from. The answer, according to Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo and Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos, is complicated, and has to do with the specifics of fundraising strategies and logistics. “Athletics fundraising at a Division III school is like breathing — you need to do it and it’s always happening,” Winkelfoos wrote in an email to the Review. “I have regula...

College athletics are highly competitive and every athlete is unique in how they respond to and handle the tense moments that arise during competition. One method is a favorite among many: trash talk. While from the outside, players who trash-talk may appear to be letting the moment overwhelm them, for many, it can be a way athletes ground themselves and, at times, gain a competitive advantage. The reason a player trash-talks is just as varied as how a player trash talks, with different players preferring different approaches. “I usually try to refrain from trash-talking during lacrosse games because, [personally], I find it distracting to have verbal altercations with an opposing player,” said Josephine An, a C...