Author: Jennifer De La Rosa

Graduating Senior – Alex Horn

Alex lives by the motto ‘You can always be better – a better referee, a better player, better in fitness.” That personal credo has carried him from being family-oriented and an excellent athlete, to being a stellar student and employee.

Alex grew up in Glen Allen, VA with four sisters: two older and two younger. He takes his job as brother seriously by setting a good example in whatever he does. He’s been an athlete his entire life starting with pee wee soccer at the age of 4. As he grew up, he played football, basketball, track, baseball, ice hockey and swimming. In high school he won the state champion gold medal for butterfly and the bronze medal for breast stroke. After coming to Mason, Alex continued to participate in sports by joining some of the intramural teams.

During his sophomore year, he applied to be a referee for intramural so he could make some extra money to pay his bills. Soon after, he realized it was also an opportunity for personal growth. Alex was an official for one year and became a supervisor the next year where he continues as program assistant and staff development program assistant.

Alex is also the Extramural basketball team captain. Their recent participation at the University of Maryland Basketball Tournament proved to be a success. While they lost their game with Maryland after winning the first two pool games, making them a number two seed, they finished with the 2^nd best record for the tournament. He says, “Extramural ball gives the younger guys an understanding of how important it is to practice and what’s needed to be competitive. It’s fun to play with a group of guys you don’t really hang out with and then you learn about them as you practice and play.” Alex credits his Dad for instilling respect and humility into him. He says he wants to be an ambassador of fun and the embodiment of good sportsmanship to promote a safe and competitive environment for sports.

Alex feels like Mason is what you make of it. He says, “Since it’s a commuter school, some people just come and go without really connecting. But Mason has a ton of ways to get connected. There’s always something to do. Living on campus, the smaller sense of community makes it easy to connect.”

He adds, “Mason Recreation really represents making the best of the Mason experience. People who live on campus have three great centers to go to. If you go to the gym, you get to know the people who are always there. With fitness, you can get better, have fun, and get involved in a positive way. Recreation is so important in college. It becomes part of your life and fosters a healthy lifestyle. With sports there’s always a way to get involved. I’ll probably play basketball as long as my body will let me.”

Alex graduates in May with a degree in Government and International Politics. He’ll be attending the University of Oklahoma starting Summer 2015 and will work as their Intramural Sports Graduate Assistant.

By Jennifer Lehman, MS RYT

Trap & Skeet Club Aims to Give Back

After the heaviest snowfall this winter, the Trap & Skeet Club arose early Wednesday morning and donned their warmest coats and gloves. The club set out to their usual practice facility, The Arlington Fairfax Chapter of The Izaak Walton League (IWL), in order to clear the snow from the trap and skeet fields. After clearing off three trap and skeet fields, the club was able to shoot almost twenty practice rounds, including one break for chili—provided by Coach Gary Olin.

The Trap & Skeet Club, founded in 1977, established a permanent home at the IWL in the 1980’s. (Fun Fact: the first Trap & Skeet Club Team had one member—Mike Thompson, who went on to compete in the 1983 Olympics as a skeet shooter.) The IWL is a private facility for members only, but allows Mason club members to come in and practice under the supervision of Coach Olin. Since the 1980’s, the IWL has welcomed Mason shooters, supported their growth, watched their National scores every March from home, and hosted the annual “Geezer Cup,” where Mason shooters compete against members for coveted prizes and bragging rights.

After Wednesday’s practice, the team prepared to head to Brooks, Kentucky where they would compete in an invitational tournament; however, the tournament was postponed—perhaps other clubs are not filled with professional Eskimos like Mason’s. Instead, this weekend the club will compete in a local skeet tournament and attempt to take advantage of the potentially warm weather on Sunday for practice.

The GMU Trap & Skeet Club extends a warm thank-you to The Izaak Walton League for its continued support and friendly competition! Be sure to follow them on Facebook and cheer them on as they prepare for Nationals in March!

by Hali Haskins

Graduating Senior Rachel Stepien

Rachel Stepien

Labeled a natural athlete by her youth / school coaches and teammates, Rachel Stepien says she’s been in sports her whole life. In her hometown of Robbinsville, NJ, she grew up hearing she was very coachable and a good athlete. She enjoyed playing sports and making friends in her small hometown and it became part of her every-day life.

Rachel’s parents considered her to be an energetic child. They first enrolled her in pee wee soccer and she progressively moved into other sports. In high school she played basketball, lacrosse, softball, and track. In fact, Rachel made Varsity Basketball as a freshman. She says school sports are where she made most of her friends.

After arriving at Mason, Rachel began working out at the Mason Recreation fitness centers. Spring of 2012, she applied to be an official for intramural sports and soon after began working on a regular basis. Rachel says, “I’ve always been independent, so when I came to Mason from out of state, I wanted to make sure I was financially set. I was at the gym working out and playing ball anyway, so I thought working there would be the perfect fit!” She says while being involved in sports her whole life, being an official is completely different. “It makes you look at play from a different perspective. You can’t have any biases.” Since then, she’s worked for Mason Recreation as an official for intramural sports and is currently also working as a program assistant and supervisor.

Rachel says, “Mason Recreation made my transition from a small town to such a large school easier. Working out at the Recreation facilities, and then also working for them, helped me find a positive niche. It’s a place to go to and find friends to connect with.” She recommends both working out and working for Mason Rec. “You just have to take the initial step to get involved. Everyone here is doing the same thing so it’s easy to make friends. I feel like In college everyone is in the same place – finding themselves, so being able to experience that with people who have similar interests gives you a group to rely on.”

She believes she’s learned a lot from working at Mason Recreation explaining. “I’ve learned time-management as well as other transferable skills such as conflict resolution and prioritizing. Plus I’ve learned you can’t make everyone happy. You need to prioritize what’s really important to you. Too many people try to make everyone else happy and put others first. I learned that I need to think about what’s important to me and to not try to impress others.”

Rachel is graduating in May with a degree in Psychology and a minor in business.

by Jennifer Lehman, MS RYT

We Need your Help: Our Future Depends on You

Eat, Sleep, Train – A Day in the Life of John Baldwin

John Baldwin is not your average college senior. In addition to preparing for graduation in Applied Information Technologies in May, and working up to 20 hours per week as head guard for the Aquatic and Fitness Center, he’s also preparing for his 5^th ½ Iron Man. So how does he fit everything into a 24 hour day?

John grew up in a family of swimmers. From the age of 6 until 18, he swam as much as 23 hours per week. Growing up with swimming being a part of his family life, this lifestyle just seemed natural to him. But at the age of 18, John decided to find a more total body way of competing and decided to pursue triathlons: swimming, cycling and running.

That same year, John competed in his first ½ triathlon as well as his first marathon and that’s when he fell in love with the competition of swimming, cycling and running. By his 21^st birthday, he’d prepared for his first full Iron Man held in Lake Placid. He admits he didn’t train or diet properly for the race and after a grueling 23 mile run, he decided he was going to finish for his family who was waiting for him at the finish line. That’s when he decided to get serious about his training and nutrition.

John acquired a running coach to increase his speed and to work on his nutrition. He says he’s very futuristic, “Everything I do one day affects what happens in the next few days. Every workout I skip affects my results. I basically eat, sleep, and train.” To prepare for his upcoming ½ Iron Man in Puerto Rico, most of John’s workouts are indoors since the climate is very warm in Puerto Rico in March. To prepare for the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run, he works out where he can and when he can.

John’s routine consists of lots of planning and scheduling to fit everything in. The following is an example of his daily routine:

Early morning workout
Schoolwork
Mid-day workout
Classes
Evening workout
One hour of “fun”

Depending on what his workouts consist of determines what his daily food intake is. He says his diet is “clean” and is usually around 3500 – 4500 calories. He says he prefers to drink his calories since chewing that many “clean” calories is hard to do. He has homemade smoothies throughout his day to maintain his energy.

His current training focuses on getting his speed up for ½ Iron Man’s so he can eventually move back into full ones. Since 2012, he’s achieved is own personal records in all the races he’s competed in. He says he uses the competition to make him faster. Instead of zoning out, which many competitors do, John stays focused on who’s around him and maintains a certain amount of pain he knows he can tolerate.

During the World Championships in Canada last year, John placed 46^th overall in his age group of 2600 competitors and placed 13^th in the swim. He hopes to compete again this year in the 2015 World Championships being held in Austria.

John says this is a lifestyle for him. His family members and friends are all athletically active. But since training can be somewhat isolating, he’s trying to spend more time with people. He says he’s seeing an increase in his energy levels since adding more face time with friends and family to his busy schedule.

John sees himself doing this forever. “I don’t mind winning or losing. I just like to know I’ve given it all I can.”

John’s Puerto Rico 1/2 Iron Man will be March 15. Wish him luck!

By Jennifer Lehman, MS RYT

Partner Workouts Work! by Jennifer Lehman, MS RYT

Are you looking for better results from your work outs? Recent research shows that having a workout partner or a virtual partner can make a difference in your workouts. From being accountable to someone to pushing yourself harder, working out with a partner is proving to be the way to go.

Research shows that exercisers not only achieve better results when working out with a partner, they achieve even greater results when working out with someone who has a higher fitness level. Additionally, when the exerciser is put on a “team” who works out with someone at a high fitness level, the results are even better. Results vary with some doubling their workout times and intensities up some even quadrupling their efforts. This not only suggests that greater results are achieved by partnering, but group exercisers often see the most dramatic results.

Other reasons to work out with a partner are:

You’re more likely to go to work out if you’re accountable to someone
You get to socialize while working out
Workout partners tend to keep each other “honest” with their nutrition goals
Partners who vow to make healthy life changes are more likely to succeed
Partner exercise preferences may vary providing opportunities to engage in activities you may not normally choose to do.

Whether you work out with one or more people, or you prefer a virtual partner, results show that more than likely, you’ll see better results. Below are a few virtual apps to choose from:

Runkeeper.com

Mapmyrun.com

Zombiesrungame.com

Sports-tracker.com

Spring Training for Club Baseball

Mason Recreation’s Club Baseball team is headed to Florida over spring break to participate in NCBA’s Spring Training 2015 Showcase. While there they’ll play against five of the 27 teams attending that week. During the four week event, 63 teams from all over the country come together to practice, train, and play the great game of baseball.

Nate Berlin, Club Baseball’s president and a junior majoring in Finance, says most of the 20+ player team is going to Spring Training. Following last year’s District 3 win, Nate feels like the trip will make the team even stronger. “Our team is talented and we work well together. The trip will be good prep for us to do even better than we did last year.” He adds, “While we play for the love of baseball, we also know that by attending Spring Training, we show that George Mason’s Club Baseball team is strong and competitive. It gets Mason’s name out there.”

Because the team is considered “young” due to its number of freshmen and returning sophomores, Club Baseball has a good chance to have another very successful season that could continue into one or two more years. Nate says that baseball is a very strong sport and they have lots of interest from both freshmen and transfers. He credits the interest to its timelessness. He explains, “Baseball has no age limits. It’s available for young and old. It truly is for everyone.”

Club Baseball’s season begins Saturday, March 14 when they’ll play the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. Game time TBA. If you are interested in joining the club, please contact Club Baseball via email.

Article Written By: Jennifer Lehman, MS RYT