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Athletics stay busy during homecoming week

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To begin the week, the volleyball team fell to the Embry-Riddle Eagles on Tuesday night.

The Panthers lost in straight sets but kept each set close. Each set was lost by only five points or fewer.

They finished the match with 33 kills, 33 assists, five service aces, four blocks, 64 digs and 63 total points. Soccer continued the week on Wednesday night, both taking on Rollins College.

The No. 6 ranked men’s team was undefeated entering the game with a 9-0-1 record.

Their game against the Tars was the Panthers second of the season to go into overtime but this time they came up short, losing 2-1.

Guillermo Segovia scored Florida Tech’s only goal of the evening, tallying his goal total for the season to a team-high seven goals.

The women’s team had similar results at home against the Tars, losing 3-0.

Maria Munoz, Brittany Etrick and Alexis Sheely each challenged the Rollins goalkeeper, putting a shot on goal.

The football team wrapped up homecoming week Saturday afternoon as they took on the West Florida Argonauts.

This game was not only the homecoming game but the fourth annual Coastal Classic rivalry game between Florida Tech and West Florida.

The winner gets to keep the Coastal Classic Trophy for the full year until they face off the next season.

In last season’s game, the Panthers overcame an 18-point deficit and beat the Argonauts 30-28.

This year, Florida Tech fell to West Florida 38-14, making their overall record 1-3 in the rivalry game.

The 24-point difference was the greatest so far of the four-year rivalry.

Similar to last year, the Panthers found themselves down early, trailing 17-7 at halftime.

After falling down 31-7 in the third quarter, it was too great of a deficit for them to overcome this year.

Freshman quarterback Mike Diliello was featured in both of Florida Tech’s touchdowns.

The first was a 91-yard run by Diliello that at the time brought them within three points of the Argonauts.

The second and final touchdown scored by the Panthers was a seven-yard pass from Diliello to tight end Kenny Hiteman late in the third quarter.

The trophy is now back with West Florida but the Panthers will have their chance to reclaim it next season.

Florida Tech began their season 3-1 but have now dropped four straight games, leaving their record at a 3-5 with three more games remaining in the regular season.

They next take on West Alabama at Panther Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Pay to play for Bahamas relief

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Florida Tech volleyball representatives posing with their prizes from the volleyball game. A participant in the event caught a shark. Picture // Ashley Letendre

With Hurricane Dorian devastating the Bahamas and leaving the country in need of funding for repairs, Florida Tech’s Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society hosted a Bahamas relief fundraiser.

According to Ashley Letendre, the president of Phi Eta Sigma, the honor society has previously hosted activities and events to help benefit the community and the school.

“We have done community service events before,” Letendre said. “We help bring emotional support dogs to campus during finals week. We hope to find ways to help students every day.”

This time around, Phi Eta Sigma sought to get the student body involved and raise money for the Bahamas.

“We wanted to do a fundraiser that we knew a lot of students would come to,” Letendre said. “Volleyball was our choice for an activity because most people can play that sport.”

Ashley Faubion, the advisor for the event, said teams paid ten dollars to play while individuals paid five.

The tournament was held at Southgate, with pizza being donated by the Civil Engagement office.

The volleyball tournament had first place, second place and third place winners, with prizes being awarded to podium winners.

Representatives of the Florida Tech Volleyball Club took first place, while Gabe Quinn and Spencer Somes from Residence Life placed second.

Third place went to representatives of SGA. Eric Hu, representative of the volleyball club, took home a pair of wireless bluetooth speakers as his winning prize.

“It felt nice to play for a good cause,” Hu said. Letendre said the fundraiser was able to raise 120 dollars.

Phi Eta Sigma plans to donate the money to the Salvation Army, which has a direct link to the Bahamas relief effort.

Letendre said the event was a lot of fun, and it was great to see people come out and support a good cause.

Fishing Club hosts second annual shark fishing event

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  • A participant in the event caught a shark. Picture // Christian Martinez and Xingman Jiang

Rather than spending a calm Saturday afternoon leisurely waiting for fish to take a bite on the line, Florida Tech’s fishing club choose a more thrilling pastime while baiting sharks.

Spending the whole afternoon at Bonsteel Park on Oct. 5, the fishing club held their second annual shark-fishing event.

Two, three-to-four foot sharks were reeled in, while another was hooked but snapped the line.

Based on the sharks’ appearances, the club said they believe they were spinner sharks.

The event was held not only for fun, but also to tag sharks for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Once we reel them in, we take measurements, find out the breed and tag the sharks,” said Nicholas Tolentino, the fishing club’s president. “We release them after, and then NOAA takes the data to keep an eye on the sharks.”

Since the sharks at the beach aren’t large, Tolentino said, “They aren’t likely to attack anyone. Sharks are everywhere, you just don’t see them.”

Both spinners were reeled in by fishing club member James Hinson, who has had experience catching sharks.

“I joined the fishing club as a way to make friends on campus and to get me out of my room,” Hinson said. “The fishing club has remained a place to just gather friends who all enjoy the same hobby of fishing, and spend a day at the beach to get away when you’re stressed.”

Anyone is allowed to go shark fishing as long as they complete a free online course by the Florida Fishing and Wildlife Conservation Commission to get a permit.

The FWC’s website, which the event’s CORQ page linked to, also includes a list of harvestable and prohibited sharks with limits based on species and size.

Breeds allowed to be caught include finetooth, blacknose, bull, nurse, spinners and other small breeds.

Prohibited breeds include the likes of lemon, Galapagos, tiger, whale and white sharks.

Armed with this knowledge, their permits, fishing rods, spare lines and enough bait to last the day, the fishing club was glad to have anyone join the event.

“This is the first time that this event was as open to the public as it was,” Tolentino said.

He also said that the only things to worry about were hooking other people and handling the sharks.

Fishing club meetings are held every other week from seven p.m. at Olin Life Science room 130.

“I hope more people come out to our events and club meetings,” Tolentino said. “It’s chill with no dues or anything. We’re all just out here having a good time fishing.”

Men’s soccer undefeated despite injury

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The men’s soccer team is now 6-0 on the season and 2-0 against conference opponents.

Most recently, the Panthers took on defending NCAA Division II national champions, Barry University.

After taking a 1-0 lead, scored by Guillermo Segovia, Florida Tech struggled to further the lead and allowed Barry to tie up the game 1-1.

Senior midfielder Luca Campanini had a penalty kick opportunity to give the Panthers a one-goal advantage but it was blocked by Barry’s goalkeeper.

Campanini said after the game, “I need to make up for this and we need to win.”

With less than two minutes remaining in the match, Guillermo was fouled inside the box and was able to put his penalty kick in the back of the net.

“When the final whistle blew it was a sigh of relief,” Campanini said. “We should have really beat this team more easily than we did but they made it hard for us.”

This gave the Panthers their sixth win of the season, but along with their great success, there has also come heartbreak.

Graduate Student Solomon Wheatley was lost for the season as he suffered a torn ACL during their match against Limestone.

Wheatley had an assist on the game before the injury but he said he thinks he was getting tired because it was the last 10 minutes of the game.

“I tried to turn as players ran by me and my left foot was stuck in the grass as I turned,” Wheatley said. “I then heard a loud pop noise as if I had broken something and fell the floor.”

He said that normally when he gets injured he knows he can recover fast but this injury was different.

“I had to be carried off the field by my trainer so I knew it was more serious than other injuries but had no clue on what was to come.” Wheatley said if he’s being honest he’s in a difficult place right now.

“It’s been very hard for me to accept my injury and it’s going to get harder after I have my surgery,” he said. “I stayed back in the UK during last spring and trained myself to get in good shape for this fall, so for me to start off as well as I did, it’s been extremely upsetting.”

Senior midfielder Craig McCall said the loss of Wheatley has been massive and that the team was “gutted” when the news broke he’d be out for the season.

“The boys are going to have to fill a big void on and off the field with his absence, but we believe Sol will still have a big role in the team’s dynamic off the field with his character and leadership,” McCall said.

Graduate Student midfielder Morgan Gauthier said that the early season injuries have affected their play.

“It might be one reason why we are not playing our best football in the first few games as we aren’t able to rotate players as we would like to and get tired,” Gauthier said.

Regardless of maybe not playing to their full potential, the Panthers are undefeated and Wheatley said they show a lot of promise.

“My advice for the team is to just give everything into every opportunity whether that be in practice or games,” Wheatley said. “If we work harder than all of the teams there’s no doubt the soccer will take care of the rest. We have a lot of talent in our squad we just need to believe it.”

The Panthers next head on the road on Saturday, Oct. 5 to take on Nova Southeastern and try to remain undefeated.

California sets precedent for NCAA

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Playing under the NCAA is a privilege to earn that lasts once in a lifetime.

A dedicated athlete puts in hard work for their dream to pay off in their future.

Any athlete that wants to be great, fantasizes themselves being the next great player of their generation.

They dream of winning, making money signing big endorsements to companies such as Nike and Adidas.

In California, those dreams can now occur sooner to an athlete.

A new bill, known as the Fair Pay to Play Act, has been passed unanimously., in which college athletes in California are now able to get paid through endorsements and sponsorships, without any punishment.

The main limit to the bill is that an athlete that attends a school sponsored by Nike cannot sign an endorsement deal with any other brand, such as Under Armour.

The new bill was covered all over sports networks, creating some heated debates from constantly getting.

One of the most notable responses came from former University of Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow, where Tebow stated “It changes what’s special about college football,” Tebow said. “We turn it into the NFL, where who has the most money.”

The bill has been approved and is expected to be signed by the governor very shortly.

It will become official in 2023.

Florida Tech’s athletic director, Bill Jurgens, associates with the NCAA frequently due to his job as the A.D. Mr. Jurgens was well aware of the new law that was passed, and he said he is not surprised by the law.

He believes the NCAA “does a great job governing athletics and prepares athletes for professional sports. No one works harder than the NCAA with physical safety and mental safety.”

With the new bill being passed, Jurgens’ remark of preparing athletes for professional sports comes into play, as athletes are now making big decisions for themselves with endorsement contracts.

There is one concern the school’s athletic director has; “The safety of the college athletes are very important, and they must be smart with their decisions and life skills.”

College athletes in California must now make life-changing decisions.

Less than two percent of college athletes in all of college sports combined become professional athletes.

California college athletes are given a responsibility and an opportunity of a lifetime at a very young age, and must make their choices carefully.

Jurgens added a fact that the bill has been discussed with Florida, bringing all the terms passed in California, as a possible new bill coming to Florida as well.

If the new law moves to have an impact on Florida college athletics, this may expand on a big change coming to the NCAA.

Perspectives from college athletes are debatable, depending on what the athletes claim as their top priorities and what they focus on. Senior baseball player Blaise Maris is an athlete not in favor of the new bill.

“Not every college athlete has professional qualities. Getting paid makes it a job. College is stressful enough with classes, practices, and workouts. If you are not performing, then that ‘job’ weighs on your mind more, adding more stress.”

Athletes who are not qualified for business deals will have trouble managing their priorities with school and their sport.

If they are unable to keep their grades up to the appropriate GPA, the athlete will not be qualified to play, resulting in the athlete to lose out on their endorsement deal.

Maris also adds onto the thought of an increase of athletes going to play in California because of the Fair Pay to Play Act.

“I think that there are a lot of athletes that believe they should be getting paid right out of high school, so those people will probably go to California to start their journey. You will start to see better talent levels across the board in California.” Florida Tech football player Daniel Welch added his opinion towards the Fair Pay to Play Act.

He was able to view it as a benefit and as a possible concern.

“I think it could create an opportunity for athletes to be rewarded for being successful. However, I do agree with what Tim Tebow said earlier in the week, that it takes away what college football is about. It takes away some of the team aspect and makes it more individual.”

If athletes become selfish, and have problems as a team, the school’s team will not perform as well, which will lead to problems for the selfish athletes.

If the athletes struggle, they will not be awarded with endorsements, and possibly lose their deals and scholarships.

The college athletes must remain humble and focus on the main goal of winning and competing.

The Fair Pay to Play Act is the start of a new chapter in NCAA sports.

College athletes in California are now gaining the chance to get paid through endorsement deals.

If the bill is spread to other states, it will spread across the country, completely changing college sports, starting a new era that will continue to be debatable.

Grissom hall basement soon to be men’s lacrosse locker room

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Florida Tech students have seen many upgrades to buildings around campus this summer, and the players on the lacrosse team are no exception.

The Panther lax players team locker room will soon be relocated to Grissom Hall, next to the FITV studio.

The old locker room in the Varsity Training Center, once shared with the football team, was a tight fit, housing both athletic programs.

James Aulicino, the senior project manager of Florida Tech facilities construction and renovation, played a role in the new location for the lacrosse locker room.

“It was a necessity for the lacrosse team to have their own home field locker room,” Aulicino said.

There are connections between FITV and the lacrosse team, which lead to an open-armed welcome.

More specifically, FITV worked with the lacrosse team prior to the move-in.

The film club collaborated on the documentary “On the Prowl” that some lacrosse players put together.

“We were planning on making the space of the old ELS classroom into an extension of our current studio, or possibly even a rehearsal stage area since the Grissom basement is the location of all media related activities on campus,” said Brett Twery a senior in biomedical engineering and the president of FITV. “I, personally, am very welcoming to the idea of lacrosse moving in.”

Even with a group of athletes next door, Twery said he believes any future issues will be resolved.

“It’s no secret that walls in the basement are pretty thin and that the rooms are relatively close, so there is a possibility that these factors could come into play,” Twery said. “But we’re confident the men’s lacrosse team will work closely with us in solving any concerns that may arise.”

According to Aulicino, Grissom Hall was an obvious choice for the new locker room.

“It was big enough to support the number of players; it has a shower and two restrooms that are getting renovated to suit their needs,” Aulicino said. “And it has the media equipment set up for reviewing practices and games, which is in the office right across the hall.”

Although FITV has not confirmed any use of their equipment by the lacrosse team, Twery said he will be in contact with them very soon.

Aulicino said he believes the locker room will impact the team in a positive way.

“The locker room will give the team their own identity and self pride of having a home of their own–a home where they can come together as a team and really feel good about themselves,” Aulicino said.

“A home where they can celebrate their wins, decorate with all their accomplishments for future Panthers to come and visit.” Aulicino also said he wanted not only himself but also his teammates to be happy, and for the team to have a tighter bond. “I feel blessed that I have a small part in building this for them,” Aulicino said. “This locker room will be a perfect fit.”

Panthers prepare for football kick-off

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Florida Tech football team leaves the inflatable Panther to start the game. Photo by Daniel Welch.

Classes have begun, students have started to get into the groove of their academic rigor and fall sports are in full swing, meaning Saturday game days have finally arrived with the kickoff of college football.

The Panthers posted a solid eight-win season last year, with just four losses, and were awarded an NCAA playoff spot.

While they were defeated in their lone playoff game last year, this season Florida Tech look to uphold their spot within the top 25 for the Division II football rankings.

According to players, the team trained three hours a day; combining weightlifting, conditioning and studying the playbook to develop their style of play and to get stronger.

Based on performances from last year, the Panthers have an optimistic perspective for this upcoming season and are looking to improve.

“Our program has never won a playoff game, so our first step is to win a playoff game and see what we can do,” said Daniel Welch, defensive leader and captain.

Despite losing key players, such as J.T. Hassell, who was at the time recruited by the Cleveland Browns, Welch remains positive and confident that the defense can get the job done.

“We lost some key guys, but we have a lot of returners and with the help of a new strength coach, we are ready to take the next step,” Welch said. “With every new season comes a new freshman class, hungry and ready to work at the next level of their athletic careers.”

Football players take a breather. Photo by Daniel Welch.

Welch added that the freshman class looks “strong and promising” as the newbies study the playbook for future game day success.

On the offensive side, quarterback and captain Trenton Chmelik hopes to make the best out of his senior season and leave a legacy behind.

“As a captain of the team, I try to emphasize to the younger guys to play with passion and to make every opportunity count, and to complete every obstacle with tenacity and discipline,” Chmelik said.

The first home game for the Panthers is Saturday, Sept. 28, against West Georgia; this is one of five home games scheduled this season.

Soccer suffers cancellations due to Hurricane Dorian

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Due to Hurricane Dorian, Florida Tech men’s soccer canceled a trip to Georgia for an exhibition game against Young Harris College scheduled for Friday, Aug. 30.

Senior midfielder Luca Campanini said the team was disappointed when they heard the trip to Georgia was canceled.

“We have been on trips like these over the past couple of years, and they are always full of laughs and great team bonding,” Campanini said.

The men’s team is also missing out on another game that was scheduled for Sept. 5 at Rollins College against Wingate.

Campanini said the cancellations are “tough” but also feels that it is just a matter of how the team handles the situation.

“This transition period is gonna be very important and we need to stay fit during the time off,” Campanini said. “As soon as it’s passed we will get straight back to work.”

The women’s soccer team hasn’t had to cancel any games, but they are losing nearly a week of practice.

Senior midfielder Brittany Etrick said the storm is putting a curve on the team’s training plans.

“We tried to have a really good practice Friday morning and our coach told us to maintain what we’ve been working for by doing abs and bodyweight exercises that we can do inside,” Etrick said.

The women’s team is scheduled for a game against Flagler on Sept. 7, but Etrick said they might not be able to practice before game time.

“It’s very important players try to maintain themselves during this time away,” Etrick said.

Despite the lack of practice, Etrick remains confident that she and the team will be ready for the game.

“It’s all about adapting to circumstances and this is just another circumstance we can’t control,” Etrick said. “So we are just gonna have to take initiative and adapt the best way we can and I know all of the girls will.”

Women’s ex-golf team continues collegiate career

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In the spring semester of 2019, the Florida Tech Athletic Department dismissed three of its sports programs: the men’s and women’s tennis team, and the women’s golf team.

“In a five-minute meeting, the athletic director told us we were being cut because we weren’t competitive enough,” said Noelle Beijer, one of the eight women on the women’s golf team.

Instead of wearing Panther apparel this season, Beijer will be sporting Tiger attire at the University of Missouri.

She is one of three from the women’s golf team to transfer to another university to continue her collegiate golf career.

A key player for the Panthers, The Dutch native has an impressive golf career, scoring an average of 76.33 during her time at Florida Tech, as well as being a medalist honors at the 2018 World Golf Invitational.

Continuing her education path and majoring in global management and finance, Beijer is excited for her future at Mizzou but is saddened that she will no longer be playing on the field with her best friends and old teammates.

“The fact that I don’t even know when I will see them all again makes me sad,” Beijer said.

According to Florida Tech’s athletic director, Bill Jurgens, there were multiple factors that led to the team being cut, including a lack of competitive edge, facilities, the size of the team and the number of athletes that would be affected by the cut.

“We knew the team had not performed well in the fall, but by no means were we poor performers,” said Lauren Watson, a senior and member of the women’s golf team.

Although the women did not start off strong at the beginning of their season, they proved to leave their mark by the end of the season.

“The day we were cut, February 7, we were ranked 21 in the nation,” Watson said. “By March 26, we were fourth.”

The Scotland native described the news of being cut as giving her a sense of “betrayal” and leaving her feeling “undervalued.”

“Why us?” Watson said. “Why now?”

Refusing to go down silently, Watson challenged what she saw as discrimination with the backing of Title IX by talking to coaches and NCAA compliance directors.

After doing so, the NCAA ruled that she, as well as another woman, on the golf team could play and compete with the men.

“I know playing on the men’s team will be far more challenging due to the length of courses they play and the lack of strength and power I have in comparison,” Watson said. “It’s going to be a big adjustment because as I much as I love the guys, I’ll really miss the girls.”

Even though the news of the cut came in the middle of their season, the women persevered in the wake of what Watson described as disappointment, confusion and anger.

By mid May, the women’s determination and competitiveness led them to bring home a gold trophy with the label NCAA Division II Champions.

“Winning nationals was simply the best thing we could do,” Beijer said.

One key player that helped the Panthers take home a massive win was Megan Dennis.

Dennis had five top 10 finishes in the 2018-19 season for the Panthers, and was also a 2018 Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar.

Additionally, she made the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

After the initial shock, Dennis said she immediately began to wonder what her future would look like.

“My first thoughts were complete sadness, but also panic because I knew I was going to have to transfer,” Dennis said.

Hence, The U.K. native made the decision to transfer to Pepperdine University in California to continue her degree in sports psychology for her remaining two years of undergraduate schooling.

Like the others, Dennis said replacing her previous Florida Tech teammates is impossible and she will never forget her time with them.

“I’m mostly going to miss the great atmosphere at Florida Tech,” Dennis said. “We worked hard, we were competitive, and we all shared the same passion.”

Florida Tech frisbee eyes national competition

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Alex Martin steps and throws a wide open backhand. Photo by Duncan Graham.
Alex Martin steps and throws a wide open backhand. Photo by Duncan Graham.

Florida Tech’s ultimate frisbee team will be competing in the Division III southeast regional tournament on April 27 and 28.

They need to place first in the tournament to move onto the national competition.

The Panthers went 4-3 in the Sunshine State conference game, good enough to move on to regional play.

Reed Antonich is a senior studying aerospace engineering and team member. He stated in a text message that they have been plagued by injuries this season.

Antonich said that after the first day of the conference games, they clinched a spot in regionals and took it easy through the rest of their games to avoid any more injuries.

“Health and injuries have definitely hurt our season immensely,” Antonich said. “At one of our biggest tournaments of the year, we were missing four of our top seven players due to injuries. Luckily, them taking a few weeks here and there off have put them in shape to help us perform optimally at regionals.”

Antonich said a lot of their motivation this year has come from a late-season loss last year.

“We lost in semifinals last year at regionals by one point to the national champs, and only lost two upperclassmen,” Antonich stated.

The team had a “rocky start” to begin this season, according to Antonich, but he said this may be causing other teams to overlook them now late in the season.

“The teams from our conferences learned last week that we finally got our mojo back,” Antonich stated. “We aren’t going in with the mindset that we have regionals in the bag, but we really have a good shot at winning.”

Fellow teammate Alex Martin, a junior studying aeronautical science with flight, stated in a text message that he also thinks they have a lot to prove at the regional competition.

Reed Antonich leaps for the catch between two defenders. Photo by Michelle Krenger.
Reed Antonich leaps for the catch between two defenders. Photo by Michelle Krenger.

“We’re trying to go into regionals and prove to all the teams there that they should be worried about playing us,” Martin said. “With all our players healthy, we’re going to have a really good showing at regionals.”

Martin also stated that this season has been a learning experience because of the injuries, loss of players and early struggles.

Hunter Davis, a junior studying computer engineering, also plays for Florid Tech’s ultimate frisbee team.

Davis stated in a text message that they have had more injuries this year than the past two years.

According to Davis, the Panthers usually have 18 to 20 healthy players for a tournament weekend, but they only had 11 players available for their last tournament.

“It puts guys who haven’t played as much and don’t have as much experience on the starting lines,” Davis stated. “Freshman have been able to step up more this year because of the number of injured players.”

Davis stated that he has “made some really good friends” that he definitely wouldn’t have made if it wasn’t for the ultimate frisbee team.

“I love this team,” Davis stated. “I came in as a freshman three years ago. I have had a history of playing team sports in high school, and coming here to a team that is really willing to teach new players was wonderful.”

Joshua Newman, a senior studying astronomy and astrophysics and member of the ultimate frisbee team, stated in a text message that he thinks his team’s full potential is not only making it to the national competition but competing in them .

“There is no one in the southeast [division] I don’t think we can’t beat,” Newman said. “I honestly believe our potential is only what we limit ourselves to.”

The teams that Florida Tech will playing against in the regional competition are University of North Georgia, Berry College, Stetson University, Embry Riddle, Samford University, Union University and Belmont University.

The Panthers haven’t beaten Berry College yet this season, according to Davis.

The schedule for the Division III regional competition hasn’t been released yet, despite the tournament being scheduled for April 27 and 28.