athlete of the week – The Hilltop Monitor https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu The Official Student Publication of William Jewell College Tue, 26 Oct 2021 21:46:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/cropped-3-32x32.png athlete of the week – The Hilltop Monitor https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu 32 32 Athlete of the Week: Blake Alexander https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-blake-alexander/ https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-blake-alexander/#respond Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:00:49 +0000 https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/?p=951 Senior nursing major Blake Alexander was recently named the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week. He added this title to an extensive list of achievements, which he has compiled throughout his career at William Jewell College.

During his time at Jewell, he has set school records for both the 60 meter hurdles and 110 meter hurdles. With a time of 13.88 seconds, he also holds the GLVC record in 110 meter hurdles. Alexander was named the GLVC Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in both 2015 and 2016, an indoor NCAA II All-American for the 60 meter hurdles in 2016 and NCAA II All-American in the 110 meter hurdles in 2016. He received All-American honors again March 11 at the NCAA II National Championships.

Photo by Amy Kontras

“Being an all-American has to be my biggest accomplishment,” said Alexander. “Becoming an All-American is just a sign that all the work you put in during the off season and season has finally paid off.”

Despite all these accomplishments, Alexander continues to push himself further. At the beginning of the season, Alexander laid out his goals for the year: he wanted to break his own records, claim the conference championship in the 110 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles and be named All-American.

“I have not met all my goals yet but here in the next couple weeks hopefully I can put together some solid races to achieve my goals,” said Alexander.

He will prepare for the rest of these races in the same manner that he has all season. Like most athletes, he maintains a consistent pre-race routine.

“Before I race I like to walk around the track surface and get a feel for it,” said Alexander. “Then I usually do my warm-up to prepare for my race and try to get some block starts in to make sure I’m prepared to race.”

When asked about his favorite memories, his accomplishments on the track were not the first thing that came to mind. Instead, he values the experiences he has shared with his teammates.

“My favorite memories about Jewell track and field would have to be the bus rides back to Jewell,” said Alexander. “They are always fun and you never know what’s going to be said or done in the back of the bus.”

The Cards will hop on the bus and head for Missouri University of Science and Technology for their next track meet April 23.

]]> https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-blake-alexander/feed/ 0 Athlete of the Week: Luke Lucchetti, baseball https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-luke-lucchetti-baseball/ https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-luke-lucchetti-baseball/#respond Fri, 10 Apr 2015 15:00:41 +0000 https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/?p=3253

Luke Lucchetti, senior and outfielder for the Jewell baseball team, became the first William Jewell College (WJC) Cardinal in history to be named Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Player of the Week for baseball. The Conference announced the award Tuesday, Mar. 31.

“ Being named GLVC Player of the Week for me is about how hard this team works to turn William Jewell Baseball into a winning program. You can’t get too low over a strikeout or too high over a home run. You are always on to the next at-bat or fielding your position. I believe anyone on this team is good enough to be the next player of the week. As far as getting to this point in my career, I would say that it is my passion to play this game. There are countless hours of weightlifting, batting cages, sore muscles and mental preparation. God has gifted me with running speed, and I use that speed with an occasional bunt. I am blessed with tremendously talented teammates, and none of this would be possible without the love and support from my parents,” said Lucchetti.

The senior outfielder bolstered the Cardinals to a 4-2 record during a one-week span, sweeping non-conference opponent Lincoln as well as splitting the series with conference opponent Truman State.  During this span, Lucchetti went 10-14 at the plate, a .714 batting average.  In the five games he played, he had two hits in each appearance, half of his 10 hits going for extra bases. This also included two home runs, two doubles and a triple. He scored five runs as well as and racked up nine runs batted in (RBIs). The opposing team walked Lucchetti one time and managed to strike him out only once.  The senior put up a 1.429 slugging percentage along with netting an on-base percentage of .688 to wrap up his performance.

Luchetti developed a passion for baseball at a very early age.

“When I was 4 years old, I was put in t-ball, and from that point on I couldn’t wait for spring to come so that I could play baseball. I just had a passion to play the game from the first time I played it,” Lucchetti said.

He played for and graduated from Yorkville High School in Yorkville, Ill. However his first sport in high school was not baseball.

“When I was in high school, I played basketball my freshmen and sophomore year. I began playing baseball my junior year of high school, and when the schedules between the two sports conflicted with one another, I decided to quit basketball to focus more on baseball,” Lucchetti said.

A continual role model for the Yorkville native has been his stepfather. The two of them built a connection over the years through baseball, sharing their enthusiasm for the game.  Since then, his stepfather has been his mentor and coach.

“I wanted to be the man my stepdad was,” Lucchetti said.

Lucchetti is a junior college transfer from Illinois Central College; he was recruited by Jason Middleton and Mike Stockton.

“Their philosophies of hard work, dedication and pride on what it means to be a William Jewell Cardinal are a few things that stuck out to me I believed in,” Lucchetti said.

Lucchetti made it a point to do some research on William Jewell and learned that the College atheltic teams had been moved up to the NCAA Division II level. After this discovery, he wanted to have the opportunity to be part of this program.

Right now Lucchetti is studying business administration. As for the future, he might possibly want to try out for an independent ball team, but if he decided not to, then he would start looking for a job in the “real world.”

Lucchetti emphasizes that he sees constant improvement as a necessary goal that every player should have.

“My expectations are to never let my team down,” Lucchetti said.

He pointed out that the team as a whole is focused on winning one game at a time.

“Together we are building the traditions and winning pride for William Jewell baseball. In order to keep doing well, we as individuals have to stick to the process improving and succeeding together,” Lucchetti said. “The success we have seen thus far is due to all of the hard work we accomplish in practice and sticking to the process of becoming a great team.”

Lucchetti and the Cardinal men look forward to their next game Saturday, April 11 at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. at University of Missouri – St. Louis.

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Amery Clews, sophomore, is from Canberra, Aus recorded two singles wins this past weekend for the men’s tennis team. Photo courtesy of Kyle Rivas.

Amery Clews, sophomore, played exceptionally well at the last William Jewell men’s tennis match with the team going 2-2. He clinched two wins in the number two singles spot for Jewell but narrowly losing in doubles. The biology major from Canberra, Australia was excited with the team’s result this past weekend.

“It was a pretty good result, our goal this season is to finish with a .500 win percentage or better, so we did well. We certainly did not underachieve,” said Clews.

Clews’ biggest strength on the tennis court is not necessarily his size but rather his ability to read his opponents.

“What do I bring to the court? Well I don’t have a lot of strength or height, so I figure out my opponents, including their strengths and weaknesses,” said Clews.

Clews transferred to Jewell this year from Northwest Missouri State University (NWMSU). Clews said Jewell is the best school for him and credits his agent and his mother for all the hard work they did in getting him here over summer break.

Clews is hopeful that the tennis team will continue to reach their goals this season.

“We have a good team, and I think we can do well this season. I believe that the least we will achieve this season is to meet our goal of a .500 win percentage,” said Clews.

Clews will most certainly be vital to Jewell’s success in tennis this season and for seasons to come.

The men’s tennis team’s next tournament is Sunday, Mar. 1 2015 in Liberty, Mo. at 11 A.M. against University of Illinois at Springfield.

]]> https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-amory-clews-tennis/feed/ 0 Athlete of the Week: Faith Song, softball https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-faith-song-softball/ https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/athlete-of-the-week-faith-song-softball/#respond Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:00:05 +0000 https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/?p=3387

Faith Song, senior, is a nursing major and pitcher for the softball team. Song has been playing since she was a young girl, and has developed a great love for the sport.  Song has earned wins the past two games she has pitched, and hit three home runs in the past three games.

Song was the recipient of the William Jewell College Omar William Nadler Award in both 2013 and 2014 and was the recipient of the 2014 William Jewell Softball Golden Glove Award.

Song believes the team has given back to her in much bigger ways than just victories and accolades, though.

“Softball has taught me that everything is not going to be perfect in life and that you are always going to have to work to get better. You are going to have to keep perfecting your skills,” Song said.

Song initially played baseball for a year when she was seven, and then switched to softball.  She continued to play on the same softball team from age eight to 14.

“I found that playing softball with a bunch of girls made me a lot happier.  There’s better team camaraderie,” Song said.

By the time Song left that league, the team had gone through a drastic transformation in just a few years.

“We turned the program around. Nobody knew about us. We didn’t do very well at first, but by 14-and-under we were winning district championships,” Song said.

Song’s father had coached her all through her softball career until she came to Jewell, so finding the right coaches was a critical factor in choosing where to play at the college level.  Coming from California, Song had never even heard of Jewell.  She met with Coach Combs and Coach Bower at two separate tournaments, toured the campus and said she fell in love. Song is passionate about the team’s success as a whole, both about having a winning season and the players’ well being. Song said she wants to go out with a bang.

“My goal is to carry my team as well as I can.  I think the ultimate goal for us is to go to regionals this year.  We’ve been to the conference and now we want to take it one step further and go to regionals afterwards,” Song said.

Song attributes her success to her father who coached her all through her pre-college career and now, her coaches here at Jewell.

“Coach Combs and Coach Bower have really made a huge impact on my life.  They’ve taken what I had and turned me into a better player,” Song said.

Facing her upcoming graduation, Song said that softball has prepared her for a career.  Not only has she had fun times on the team, but she has gained valuable skills that she plans to carry into the future.  Song has learned teamwork, hard work and respect for her elders and others, which she believes will help her greatly throughout the rest of her life.

The softball team has two games coming up Feb. 21 against Rogers State University and Northeastern State University.  The next home game is Mar. 8 against Upper Iowa University.

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