Thursday, April 13, 2017 Volume 101 Issue 48
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Faculty voice concerns on Vision 2020 ‘Reorganization will require a lot of trust between people’
KAITLYN WATKINS
news editor
As of April 2017, Vision 2020 stands as the plan with which the university will rearrange departments and their faculty and staff. Faculty Senate President David Holt said the plan is set to be fully in place by fall 2019 - 2020, with the plan’s beginning stages to be implemented in fall 2017. The academic reorganization plan’s foundation is not open for change, but the Office of the Provost allowed a comment period until April 17 for feedback from individual departments. The new organization plan
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proposes the consolidation of departments into the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education and Human Development and the College of Nursing and Health Professions. A central advising center will be created under the Office of the Provost. Professor of Biology Kevin Kuehn said 10 days was not enough time for the departments to get together and discuss the plan. “We now have 10 days to provide commentary back to the provost – less than two weeks,” Kuehn said at the Faculty Senate meeting held on April 7. “It’s clearly not enough time for effective departments
that are reorganizing to schools to meet and discuss [Academic Reorganization].” The Faculty Senate asked for a 30-day extension of the comment period, to which the provost agreed, according to Professor of Political Science Bob Press. Press said faculty members felt some serious questions pertaining to savings and the duties of the new positions have remained unanswered. “Declining state funding is the big challenge, but initial [admission] applications are up significantly with new recruitment efforts underway,” Press said. Department Chair of Mathematics Bernd Schroeder
said he has a positive view of the academic reorganization plan, having previously worked at Louisiana Tech University where a similar structure to the one proposed at USM is in place. “[Reorganization] will certainly require a lot of trust between people,” Schroeder said. “We need to understand each other a whole lot better than we do right now. And that is something that again so far hasn’t happened or at least hasn’t happened enough, I think. And so more communication probably is needed as we are moving into this reorganization. He gave an example of how the new departments collaborated by sharing faculty because the
structure allowed for resources to be moved around which Schroeder believes is a large part of the new reorganization. Schroeder said on one hand, you want this to be an inclusive process, but also, you want this to be an effective process. “Input was solicited through proposals. If you didn’t write a proposal and then say that you didn’t have input, well you could have written a proposal,” Shroeder said. “A lot of the things that are currently unclear need to be clarified. The big key is communication and trust.” continued on page 3
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INTRODUCTION THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
MEET THE STAFF SPRING 2017 Daisy Stutts
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OPINIONS Opinions expressed in The Student Printz are those of the writer and not necessarily those of The Student Printz, its publication manager, USM, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or the USM Board of Student Publications.
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NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
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Academic reorganization cont. continued from page 1
Vice President of Finance and Administration Douglas Vinzant, who resigned his position on March 31, explained the current financial situation in the Faculty Senate meeting. According to Vinzant, four reductions in the current fiscal year have occurred while the statues of the 2018 fiscal year is unknown. At the beginning of the Faculty Senate meeting, University President Rodney Bennett said he wanted everyone to understand how complex this issue is. Bennett said the academic reorganization plan is a response to
a lack of funding coming from the state legislature. “Our ability to remain relevant, our ability to have a sustainable way forward will force and require us to approach this work differently,” Bennett said. “There’s no evidence that the budget from the state is gonna rebound quick enough to allow us to not have to do something differently.” Currently, the academic reorganization plan will not be introduced to the president’s office until departments have had time to suggest improvements to the plan. A professor who wished to remain anonymous said the reorganization
does not appear to be saving us money and might even be more expensive. “It does not get at the root causes of budgetary problems,” they said. “It mixes together programs that operate differently and thus should not be lumped together. It has left the faculty in chaos all year, making it difficult to get other work done. “There is reason to believe that this chaos will continue as reorganization takes effect. The claim is made that faculty have always been involved when, in fact, this is rather much of a top-down imposition. Many universities are reorganizing, so it is difficult to
take exception to that part. Our reorganization, however, appears not to accomplish what it says it will.” Head of Design and Technology Stephen Judd said at the April 7 Faculty Senate meeting that his biggest concern is “[USM’s] story.” “I believe deeply that we are the kind of university which serves a truly diverse population of students, many of whom are first generation college students, many from underserved communities and from school systems that do not always adequately prepare them,” Judd said. “I have felt over the years that we have been reluctant to embrace
this story, celebrate who we are and commit ourselves to this identity which I believe to be unique and true, rather than emulate other universities.” Judd said he is excited about the collaboration among the dance, art, theatre and film departments. “It remains to be seen if the new reorganization will make the tasks of education and learning qualitatively better for students and for faculty,” Judd said. Student, faculty and staff can view the plan through the Office of the Provost with a university ID number and password on the SOAR info center website at info.usm.edu.
Annual McCarthy lecture features documentary filmmaker, war correspondent CAM BONELLI
executive editor
Award-winning war correspondent and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger presented his lecture “Tribe: War Veterans” on Tuesday, April 11 at The University of Southern Mississipi in Bennett Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. In conjunction with The Dale Center for the Study of War and
Society, the University Forum organizers invited Junger as speaker for its 12th Annual Richard McCarthy Lecture and as the last University Forum for the 2016 – 2017 school year. Junger published his fifth book “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging” in May 2016 which “combines history, psychology and anthropology, to explore what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging and the
eternal human quest for meaning,” according to his website. Junger’s lecture focused on the interpersonal connections armed forces make in hostile situations, how adversity affects a community’s ability to thrive in dangerous situations and how transitioning from a “tribe mentality” into civilian society affects veterans psychologically. Special Adviser to the University President on Military Veteran
Cam Bonelli | Printz War correspondent and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger presents his lecture at Southern Miss in Bennett Auditorium on April 11, 2017.
Student Affairs at USM Jeffery Hammond introduced Junger. “Tonight’s guest speaker is, in my view, our generation’s version of Joe Galloway,” Hammond said. Hammond said Junger came to share one thing thing tonight – truth. Junger said conflict is close to the energy of connection. “The other thing we see is how easily humans can affiliate with each other [through adversity],” Junger said. “Group allegiance is important to the human experience.” Co-director of the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society Susannah Ural said what she liked most about Junger is his ability to connect war to society – which is the Dale Center’s main focus of study. “Junger explains that as we’ve become more affluent, as we separate from each other , we lose the ability to help each other through challenges,” Ural said. “He explains how we’ve separated from the tribal mentality and with affluence comes isolation, which can have a negative impact on society.” Ural said he looks at the loss of tribes and tribal culture, but it’s more complicated than that. Junger said the United States has one of the highest rates of post traumatic stress disorder at 25 percent.
“What is it about our wonderful society where people would prefer [being at war]?” Junger said. “What happens with soldiers is they are picked up and put into our evolutionary past – they are eating together, they are sleeping together, they become emotionally dependent on each other. There were people in the platoon that hated each other, but they would die for each other.” Junger said the highest depression rates occur in urban America. “Although there are enormous benefits from affluence, there are some downsides,” Junger said. “What happens when you take modern society and collapse it? Do we revert? Yes, we do.” Junger served as the 12th McCarthy lecturer. The Dale Center for the Study of War and Society founded the series in 2006 to “provide the campus and Hattiesburg communities a broad range of programming, ranging from a panel discussion led by veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to more academic programs including talks by leading historians of war and society and military history,” according to the Dale Center’s website. More information about The Dale Center for War and Society and The Annual Richard McCarthy Lecture seires can be found at usm.edu/ war-society.
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NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
USM hosts first Craft and Construction Day ANNIE JOHNSON
printz reporter
On April 11, the School of Construction at The University of Southern Mississippi hosted its first Craft of Construction Day to invite Mississippi high school students to USM. The School of Construction organized the event, which included an Info Session, school tour and classroom presentations, lunch, an alumni panel, an advisement session and a campus tour. Ethan Laprade, student from Green County High School said she was excited to be on campus. “I’m here to see how the college atmosphere is and what you all have to offer,” Laprade said. Dean of the College of Science and Technology David Hayhurst said the area he gets most excited about is construction. “The reason is because it’s an incredibly interesting field,” Hayhurst said. “It involves a lot of different things. Think about this building right here [Trent Lott Center] it started from a bare piece of ground.” Hayhurst said there is no discipline more involved in teaming than the people in construction. “You get to deal with trades and other professions,” Hayhurst said. “It’s a good school and a good university,” he said “I think you can hear my words, but the evidence is going to be when you walk around and see it for yourself. Claire Hamilton, Interior
Design Coordinator, and Doris Kemp, Construction Engineering Technology provided a more detailed description of their particular field and encouraging words to the students. The students were then taken on tours through the Bobby Chain Technology Center and the Interior Design Studio and given industry presentations throughout these locations. After this, students were provided with a box lunch and were given the opportunity to sit down and mingle with professors, faculty and students. After lunch, the students were divided into groups to attend different sessions. The Alumni Student Session included a question and answer session between students and a panel of five alumni students. The session was incredibly interactive and engaging between the two bodies. One student started the session off by asking the panel, “How was your experience at USM?” Haley Wood, Interior Design Intern for Mainspace Office Solutions, said, “I have nothing bad to say about my program. My professors were great I was a little afraid as a nontraditional student, but everything went great. I was well-accepted here.” Rachel Myrick, Building & Design Project Manager at Newk’s Franchise Company, said, “All of my professors had a passion for what they do, and they truly poured that into the students.”
Shraddha Bhatta| Printz Construction Day 2017 Marcus Davis, Project Manager for Hensel Phelps, ended the Alumni Session with a quote from Henry Ford, “whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” This session was followed by a short advisement session to inform the students on what courses they would have to take during their four years at Southern Miss. The day ended with optional tours of the campus led by the Office of Admissions. Bianca Manzanera, a senior student in the School of Construction, felt like the event was successful, “Today was great!” she said. “I got to hang out with potential transfer students and I’m really excited. I became interested [in construction engineering] in my ninth grade year in a workshop at my high school so this is a very important time to talk to students.”
Keg & Barrel to celebrate 12th anniversary JAMIE MASSENGALE printz reporter
The Keg & Barrel will celebrate its 12-year anniversary on Thursday, April 13 with chargrilled oysters and the launch their new late-night bar area in the upstairs of the Neal House. Owner of the Keg & Barrel John Neal said the business went through some growing pains in the early years but has really blossomed in the past five years. “We opened in April of 2005 with a tiny kitchen, a tiny menu, we only sold beer, and we were the first non-smoking bar (by choice) in the state,” Neal said. “We struggled in the beginning.” Neal said that the building next to the Keg was owned by a church, and there were laws against selling alcohol (higher than 6 percent alcohol) within so much distance of church property. Seeing that he needed to get a liquor license and more parking to expand his business, Neal decided to purchase the property in 2008. That property, The Neal House, became home to Neal’s catering kitchen and was initially separate from the Keg, but after Neal had an epiphany to merge the businesses, things really started to take off. “Since the beer law changed – Mississippi allowing beers with higher alcohol by volume – on July 1, 2012, our business has grown nearly 30 percent every year,” Neal said. “I give full credit to Raise Your Pints for that.” Raise Your Pints is a grassroots advocacy group formed to modernize Mississippi’s beer laws and raise the ABV (alcohol by volume). Prior to July 1, 2012, beer could not be above 6
percent ABV and now the limit is 10 percent ABV. “So we’re opening up the upstairs of the Neal House to be a game-room late-night bar,” Neal said. “We’re going to expand our operating and our kitchen hours. Upstairs we’re going to have foosball, pingpong, some old-school video games – it’s going to be great.” Head brewer at Southern Prohibition Brewing Ben Green said the Keg & Barrel will always hold a place in his heart. “They gave me my first opportunity, and I was able to start my brewing career at Keg,” Green said. “[The] Keg is one of those places that is a cornerstone of Hattiesburg, at least it’s always been a cornerstone for me. I love the atmosphere. It gave people that really loved craft beer before the laws changed a home. [The]Keg & Barrel really helped push craft beer in the state with Raise Your Pints.” Barry Herring, owner of Southern Fried Comics, said he loves the atmosphere at Keg and Barrel. “It’s very relaxed,” Herring said. “Since they’ve expanded the back it is great for events. I love hanging out there when the weather is nice. They have great beer selection. “Part of small businesses and the appeal of small business reflect back on the owners. John Neal is a great guy. He’s given back to this community and Keg and Barrel has a great neighborhood feel.” Greg Prine, a Hattiesburg local, said he fell in love with the Keg & Barrel from the get-go. “They have great food and great beer and I can take my dog,” Prine said. “They keep expanding. They’ve done a lot for that part of town.”
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NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
University hosts first hackathon event PRESS RELEASE Southern Miss News The University of Southern Mississippi organized and hosted the first iD 8 Hackathon, held April 7 and 8, on the Hattiesburg campus. During the hackathon, nearly 50 female African-American students representing six Mississippi high schools worked in teams to design and build a mobile application. The students were challenged with developing a social media app designed to bring about a positive change in the world. Each team included an adult teacher or sponsor. Computer science professors and students from the university provided technical assistance as needed. “I was very impressed with the interest and talents of the girls who participated,” said Andrew Sung, director of the School of Computing at Southern Miss. “The
hackathon busted all myths about minority interest in programming and computing in general. The tremendous success of the event provides great momentum for USM to recruit more students from this most under-represented group into computing fields to increase diversity and serve critical national interest needs.” The hackathon was kicked off with a welcome from USM President Rodney D. Bennett, who encouraged the girls to take advantage of this event to change their lives. Throughout the hackathon weekend, participants heard from a number of accomplished women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. Speakers included Sheena Allen, the founder and CEO of Sheena Allen Apps; Mary Moore, an aviation engineer at GE and founder of S.T.E.M. Discoveries; Yetunde Adewunmi, a doctoral
candidate in Biological Sciences at USM; Deidra Minor, director of Applied Technology at USM; SherRhonda Gibbs, associate professor of Management at USM; and Julie Cwikla, the iD 8 lead organizer and USM Director of Creativity & Innovation in STEM. At the hackathon’s conclusion, each team presented their app to judges Henry Jones, Ph.D., the cofounder and CEO of Kopis Mobile; Thomas Avery, Ph.D. a senior electrical engineer at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems and Jennifer Sequeira, Ph.D., associate professor of Management and International Business at USM. Once the scores were tallied, J.A.M. Inc., a team from Petal High School, was honored as the hackathon’s winner. Their app, called Fishhook, is designed to protect social media users from online predators that use fake profiles. Team members included Myla Cox, Jasmine Gibbs and
Abbey Gallager, and SherRonda Gibbs served as the team’s mentor. Winners received the iD 8 Hackathon trophy and $100 Amazon gift cards. “The entire experience was really enjoyable,” Cox said. “I got to learn something new and create a product that people could actually use in the real world.” All participants received an iD 8 medal and a copy of the book, “Hidden Figures: The Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race.” “The iD8 event was a visceral reminder of the power of creative young people who tap into their passions,” said iD 8 Hackathon judge Henry Jones. “All of the teams accomplished an impressive amount of work in a very short amount of time. We had a difficult time choosing just one winner.” “The iD 8 Hackathon was a truly
amazing experience,” Gibbs said. “It challenged the young ladies on our team to perform tasks well beyond their comfort zone. By the end of the event, two of the three girls on our team expressed a desire to major in science or engineering. I couldn’t be more pleased. As a team mentor, the experience reignited my passion for software engineering, and most importantly, the girls loved it.” Cwikla, who organized the hackathon for the university, is working to turn the iD 8 Hackaton into an annual event. “The hackathon exceeded all of our expectations,” Cwikla said. “Not only did the teams learn basic coding, app development and excel at it all, but the USM computer science professors, students, guest speakers and judges were all inspired and challenged. Nobody left this event untouched.”
WUSM to host annual golf tourney PRESS RELEASE Southern Miss News The WUSM Round for Southern Miss Radio will take place Monday, April 24, at the Timberton Golf Club in Hattiesburg. As the radio station’s largest fundraiser, the golf tournament brings a together a wide range of individuals and businesses in order to raise funds for WUSM radio station. WUSM 88.5 FM is the only community radio station in the Pine Belt, and it is also considered by many listeners as the station with the most unique voice. Event chair Lewis Myrick, Jr., said the station has had an impact on his life in a letter to potential sponsors. “WUSM has always been eclectic when it comes to music selection,” Myrick said. “I’m very thankful that
it matured me – that I didn’t have to listen to the same songs every hour – that I was introduced to new music.” The golf tournament, sponsored by American Graphics and the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, gives those involved at the station the opportunity to spend time with community members who make a difference by sponsoring, playing or volunteering at the event. Registration starts at 11:30 a.m. with lunch sponsored by Cooperative Energy and Keg & Barrel and live music by Scott Chism and the Better Half sponsored by Robert and Dana Simmons. Players will tee off at 1:00 p.m., and during their round, will have a chance to win $15,000 in cash sponsored by Newk’s Eatery, The Hattiesburg Area Homebuilders and John W. Lee, Jr. Participants will also have a chance
to compete for $10,000 off a new Infiniti sponsored by Herrin-Gear Infiniti of Jackson, as well as a chance to compete for a shot at $1 million in the Fiesta Bowl Million Dollar Holein-One Challenge final round. The 19th Hole will be open all day for players, sponsors and guests. Refreshments for participants are sponsored by Southern Beverage, Fine Wine & Liquor Loft and Hattiesburg Coca-Cola, and the event will end with a crawfish boil sponsored by Battery World and Triangle Seafood. Persons interested can register for the event at WUSM’s website. Participants can register as individual duo, trio or team. Registration for the event ends April 15. For information about the tournament, call the Southern Miss Student Media Center at 601.266.5188.
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OPINION THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
Trump cuts arts, impacts low-income students ALYSSA BASS
printz reporter
In mid-March, the Trump administration released the 2018 budget blueprint. While the agencies of defense, veterans affairs and homeland security received budget increases ranging from five to 10 percent, others saw significant decreases in funding or the plan to be completely eliminated. Among the latter is the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Currently, the NEA is annually allocated $148 million. The NEA then appropriates a portion of that money to the states, allowing for state art agencies to decide what to do with the money. However, individuals and organizations are allowed to apply for grants used for new and existing projects. Completely abolishing the NEA would be most devastating to poverty-stricken neighborhoods. In the NEA’s revamped FAQ section in response to Trump’s proposed 2018 budget, the NEA denies accusations of funding elitist programs According to the NEA, 40 percent of NEA-supported activities take place in high-poverty neighborhoods while 36 percent of NEA grants go to organizations that reach underserved populations such as people with disabilities, people in institutions and veterans. Finally, the NEA claims that more than half of NEA-funded art events take place in locations where the median household income is less than $50,000. The NEA is well-intentioned and has been since its inception in 1965 with the support of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. When signing the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act into effect, Johnson said, “A high civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone but must give full value and support to the other
Courtesy Photo | great branches of man’s scholarly and cultural activity.” In a world where STEM majors have a superiority complex, I absolutely agree with Johnson. Without contributors to the arts, America nor any other nation would have a meaningful source of culture. The arts are a way of entertaining the masses, but also a way for the performer to have a creative outlet to release frustrations in a healthy, sociallyacceptable fashion and actually, make him/her a better chance at success. According to a 2012 NEA report, students who came from low socioeconomic backgrounds but
exhibited high engagements in the arts were found to be more likely to graduate from high school, attend and finish college and register to vote than students who came from similar backgrounds and did not engage in the arts. With those statistics in mind, it is obvious why advocates of the NEA endorse its funding. With low-income students being able to put their energy into something positive, they are less likely to engage in crime-related activities – something the Trump administration has been vocally adamant in defeating. The Trump administration has also adapted and popularized the
“America First” policy. Just by glancing at the phrase, one would interpret the phrase to mean that America’s involvement in international affairs is going to be decreased. According to the White House website, the Trump America First policy can be divided into two main sections: Foreign Policy and Energy Plan. In the foreign policy section, the Trump adminstration plans to defeat ISIS, rebuild our military, embrace diplomacy and make trade
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deals in the interest of the average, blue-collar American worker. The energy plan section briefly speaks about maximizing the use of American resources while lowering costs. The 2018 budget blueprint reflects the Trump administration’s goal of being seen as a force to be reckoned with in regards to national security, thus putting America as a whole first. However, by decreasing funds for the education, housing and urban development and agriculture, the administration does not appear to be prioritizing American citizens. While I do understand that the administration clearly values national security, there has never been a time when we have not been a military power. Therefore, increases in budget pertaining to defense do not seem necessary. The education, housing and urban development and agriculture departments surely could have used a budget increase instead. That being said, while the Trump administration is certainly not a fan of the arts, I see no reason to eliminate the NEA. The NEA has seen many budget fluctuations over the years. In 1966 they received about 2.8 million dollars. The highest amount that has been appropriated to the NEA was 175.9 million dollars in 1992. The annual amounts are a reflection of the administration’s views on the arts. Though legislation has been introduced to abolish the NEA (the most recent time being 1981), no administration has succeeded. By 2018, with future generations in mind, President Trump will decide to decrease the NEA’s funding rather than abolish it completely.
SPORTS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
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McGee may be future of USM distance running ANDREW ABADIE
printz reporter
Regen McGee, a freshman on the cross country and track and field teams, has begun to lay her foundation for the future as possibly one of the best female distance runners in school history and maybe even Conference USA history. Yet, Regen and her family have seen this type of success from her older sister Cory McGee. Cory ran for Florida, where she was a two-time SEC champion in the 1500m race, runner-up in the NCAA championships in 2015 and ran in the Olympic trials in 2012 and 2016 just to name a few of her accomplishments. As proud as Regen is of her sister’s accomplishments, Cory has created a tough standard for her and her sister Devin, who also runs on the team. “My sister Cory has definitely set a standard in the family,” Regen said. “Devin [and I] constantly get asked the same question, ‘Is Cory your sister?’ There’s definitely a standard and I’m not unhappy about it. It’s a great goal to have.” Rather than having pressure of having to become a great runner like her sister, she has found what many runners have, which is the simple joy to run and the love to race with her team. “I’ve never had a team my whole life,” Regen said. “I had my sisters, but that was all I had. We grew up in a town that doesn’t really care about running. So coming here and getting into this whole new life and different atmosphere of running with a real coach and a real
team is amazing. I love it a lot, and everything has gotten so much better.” However, running in college was not her immediate plan and Regen was ready to end her career after high school. “I worked with Cory a while back when Regen was really little,” Head Coach Aaron Kindt said. “So I’ve known them for a long time. Coming out of high school Regen had a lot of success, but towards the end of her career she had lost a little bit of the fire and wasn’t sure if she wanted to do it.” McGee received her scholarship offer her junior year of high school but originally turned it down. After taking a season off for most of her junior year, she returned to the track her senior year of high school. After meeting her future teammates and rediscovering her love of running, she planned to walk on to the USM team. “Most scholarships for runners come junior year and I was surprised [head coach Aaron Kindt] still had money, but I wouldn’t have cared,” Regen said. “I knew it was what I wanted to do.” Kindt was not afraid to give Regen a chance despite her draw back towards running at the end of high school. Despite the success of her sister Cory, it has been her sister Devin that Regen credits her love of running. Devin originally chose to sign for soccer at USM, which was different from the family status quo. “Cory got this success out of running, everything seemed to fall into place, everything was given to her, she went to college for free,” Regen said. “She got
a job in Boston because of her running. Everything was given to her because of her success. So when Devin wanted to do something else, my dad questioned on why she wanted to do that instead of doing what my sister [Cory] did.” With the change of soccer coaches and Regen coming to USM, Devin decided to join the cross country/track team. Devin could not pass up the chance to be on a team with her kid sister and simply wanted to race with her sister. “[Devin’s] the reason I’m running,” Regen said. “The chance on being on a team with my sister that did everything for me. Devin made [me] who I am since I was a kid. She’s my best friend. She inspired me in every aspect.” Regen is already on pace to have a historic distance career at USM. In the current outdoor season, Regen has one win on the season in the 800m run at the Mississippi State Relays. In the indoor season as a member of the Distance Medley team, she received second place in the Conference USA indoor championships while also qualifying for the finals in the mile race in the conference indoor championships too. Her most notable accomplishment occurred during the indoor season breaking the 5:00 mark, a mark that is considered to be a hard milestone for many female college runners. “She’s always had the talent,” Kindt said. “I think finding a place where we could feed her passion and [help] rediscover what she loves about running. I don’t know what her ceiling is, but she is going to do a lot of great
Andrew Abadie | Printz Regen McGee, the sister of a two-time SEC champion, hopes to build her own legacy at Southern Miss.
things for us.” Her biggest goal is to one day make it to nationals as possibly the first female distance runner from Southern Miss. If Regen can stay healthy, she can be the best distance runner in school history
and can easily walk away with several conference titles in her career and her goal of going to nationals. “I see the fire in her now and I think for the first time in her life she is loving running,” Kindt said.
USM stays strong at Crimson Tide Invitational ANDREW ABADIE
printz reporter
After dominating in their home meet, the men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to compete in the Crimson Tide Invitational. The Golden Eagles kept momentum by putting strong times against a much tougher competition. The Golden Eagles faced several strong teams from the power five conferences some of which were Alabama, Missouri, Louisville and Mississippi State. Some other notable teams in attendance were Western Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Lipscomb and Memphis. The men’s short distance put together a strong outing against a tough field. Junior Cra’Vorkian Carson won the 100m dash running a 10.45. In the men’s 200m dash, junior Alexander Richemond ran 21.49 to finish ninth overall. In the men’s 400m dash, senior Curtis Walker ran a 47.86 to finish fifth. In the women’s short distance, the best performances came in the women’s 100m dash with sophomore Kadaria Thompson and freshman Keiyana Gaskin finishing sixth and seventh running 11.97 and 11.98, respectively. For the rest of the short
distance, the stiffer competition prevailed, but the times remained solid. In the women’s 200m dash, freshman Paris Warner ran 26.09 finishing 27th overall and in the women’s 400m dash freshman Aireanna Taylor finished 16th running a 57.14. The women’s distance team had another record-breaking weekend. In the 800m run, senior Courtney Filliben finished fifth overall running a 2:09 and freshman Natalya HallDekleva finished 11th running a 2:13. In the 1500m run, freshman Regen McGee ran a 4:28, eight seconds faster than her season best finishing fifth. The Golden Eagles won both the men and women’s 5000m races. Senior Dana Dillistone broke another school record in the 5000m run. illistone won her event, running a 16:44 and beating Louisville’s Claire Noser by .47 seconds. For the men’s 5000m race, freshman Patton Little ran 14:45 and picked up a second win in a row after winning his first 5000m race. “Dana [Dillistone] was as smooth and steady as ever,” said assistant coach Aaron Kindt. “She was fantastic getting into position early in a big race and finding her rhythm. With each lap, she gained more confidence, and you could see her realize not
only could she hit the record, but also could win the race.” Both the men and women’s relay team struggled. The men’s 4x100 placed fourth running a 40.37 and the women’s 4x100 finished seventh overall running a 46.03. The men and women’s field had their weakest performances of the year. In the men’s shot put, freshman Robert Watson finished last throwing a 12.91m and junior Donald Daley fouled out. Watson and Daley had
similar results in the discus where they threw 46.59m and 45.85 and finished 13th and 14th overall, respectively. Watson continued to have a rough meet finishing last in the hammer throw and throwing a 43.89m. Daley finished eighth in the hammer throw throwing 50.97m. In the javelin throw, senior Emron Gibbs threw 67.39m to finish second and sophomore Thomas Peters threw 63.94m finished fifth. In the women’s shot put, junior Brashe Wood threw 15.15m to finish
sixth and sophomore Danisha Jones threw 13.92 to finish tenth. In the women’s discus throw, Jones threw 50.54m finishing fourth, and Junior Brashe Wood threw 46.81m to finish seventh. In hammer throw, freshman Nadia Maffo finished second throwing 59.33m, missing first place by .21m, and Jones finished 11th overall throwing a 51.36m. The Golden Eagles return to action on April 13 at the South Alabama Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.
8
SPORTS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
Ole Miss defeats USM in home game, 6-2 ANDREW ABADIE
printz reporter
In front of the third-largest crowd in Pete Taylor Park’s history, the Golden Eagles dropped their second meeting against Ole Miss 6-2, giving the Golden Eagles their second losing streak of the year. “Tonight we didn’t play the defensive side well and we didn’t hit well,” said Head Coach Scott Berry. “Four of their six runs were scored off of errors or defensive mistakes. We did not have that sense of urgency early in the game to pressure them.” In spite of Southern Miss’ pitching staff accumulating 16 strikeouts, the Golden Eagle bats were kept in check with only four hits. After remaining scoreless in the first inning, the Rebels struck first after a leadoff double from Ryan Olenek. One batter later, Olenek scored on a wild pitch from second base to put Ole Miss up 1-0. The Golden Eagles attempted to answer after getting a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second. Ole Miss’ Greer Holston soon clamped down by striking out the next two Golden Eagle batters. USM’s LeeMarcus Boyd followed with the Golden Eagles first hit of the game by singling up the middle to keep the inning alive. Yet, as quick as the Golden Eagles found life, Dylan Burdeaux grounded out to retire the side. Starting pitcher Taylor Braley ran into pitching trouble after he allowed a walk and a double to start the fourth inning. After Braley recorded another strikeout, Ole Miss’s Nick Fortes grounded out scoring the
Adriana Garcia | Printz
Adriana Garcia | Printz Rebel’s second run before the inning ended. Despite some minor hiccups, Braley allowed two earned runs on five hits and threw a career-high 12 strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched. As relief pitcher Colt Smith finished out the seventh inning for Braley, the Rebels scored again on an error to extend their lead, 3-0. The Rebels continued to find offensive success after Smith walked
the leadoff batter. Smith almost salvaged the inning by striking out the next two Ole Miss batters, but Fortes hit his second RBI on Ole Miss’ fourth double of the night putting the Rebels up 4-0. In the eighth inning, the Golden Eagles almost found life on a leadoff single from Burdeaux, which also extended his hitting streak to 11 games. However, the Golden Eagles missed out on the opportunity to
score as they closed the inning with two back-to-back strikeouts from Matt Wallner and Hunter Slater. The Rebels tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth inning on a two-out, two-run home run. Ole Miss relief pitcher Brady Feigl gave up a single to Cole Donaldson to lead the bottom of the ninth inning. Donaldson later scored on a wild pitch and Casey Maack, who was walked, scored on a throwing
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error from Burdeaux’s single. Yet, the two-run rally was not enough as Mason Irby struck out looking to finish the game. “We got to do a better job of pressuring people,” Berry said. “We got to learn from it. We have a double dose and we got to get ourselves ready to compete on Friday.” The Golden Eagles return to action against Rice on April 14 in Houston.