Back by popular demand…Inner Tube Water Polo. Limited space is available for these one day events. Register online at IMLeagues.
Author: Paul Bazzano
The George Mason football club team defeated the Longwood Lancers this past Saturday in a 21-0 shutout. Mason spent the day dominating the Lancers in all three phases of the game. The offense moved the ball. The defense swarmed the ball. The special teams put on a show in the return game. Overall, it was a solid start for the team in their bid to win the Mid-Atlantic Conference title for a second time.
Mason’s offense was led by quarterbacks, Matt Sexton and Brandon Woodson, who both threw touchdowns passes. Sexton connected with receiver Michael Girdy in the corner of the endzone on a leaping catch over a defender and tight end Anthony Bedward caught a quick pass across the middle for his touchdown. Woodson also scored on a pass to Bedward as well. One of the highlights of the day was a Sexton 55 yard bomb to senior wide receiver Jasper Willis. The running game was not as dominant as the coaches hoped, but it showed flashes of potential which Mason will use their bye week to improve.
The defense dominated Saturday, allowing no scores from Longwood. Mason clogged up the running lanes, forcing the Lancers to throw. When they threw, Mason smothered them with a pass rush which caused complete disruption of their offense. Mason generated three sacks while consistently putting the quarterback under pressure. Sophomore linebacker Brayan Pozo produced on sack while Manny Willis managed another. Sophomore Ryan Sepulveda, added another sack while. Mason had multiple tackles for loss and only gave up a few big plays.
With a bye week this week, the next game will be at home against long time opponent Williamson Tech on September 27th. Last season, Mason lost to Williamson in overtime, 29-22.
In 2010, David Fuentes was hit from behind by a car while riding in a bike lane. Just four years later, in 2014, Fuentes joined the Mason Cycling Club and finished first overall in the A-ranked race of the Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship. Quite the turnaround.
Fuentes went directly in to surgery after the crash. He suffered from a loss of blood that required 3-4 transfusions, an open compound fracture on his femur, a shattered vertebra in his back, his shoulder being broken in three places, and all the scars that came with being flung across asphalt. Fuentes stated, “They told me that I had a 50/50 chance to walk again, not to mention ride again.”
After being bed-ridden for the first month out of the hospital, Fuentes began going to rehabilitation three times a week for the next six months. Fuentes was determined to recover and ride again and he credits his astonishing recovery to his prior level of fitness and the drive he had to recover.
After the recovery, Fuentes and his wife decided that it was time for him to switch jobs. Fuentes previously worked as a security guard at a department store and that job would require physical exertion that could end with him re-injuring his shoulder permanently. Fuentes decided to go back to school and enrolled at our very own George Mason University where he heard that a cycling team was just about to start up. He had quite a bit of experience in the sport, riding professionally from 2002-2004, and thought he could help the team get off the ground by playing a helpful role. If only Fuentes knew how strong of a role he would play.
Fuentes helped the team to make quite a statement in their first year of competitive play and his first place finish in the ACCC Championship was quite the cherry on top.
This past weekend, Fuentes, along with teammate Steven Kendall, traveled down to Richmond to compete in the Cycling Nationals Competition. Fuentes raced in the criterium race, while Kendall competed in the road race.
In a field of 120 racers, Fuentes was in the top 30 in the call-ups; however, that did not end up making the race much easier. Fuentes described the course stating, “It was a tight, hilly course with narrow corners.” Add 120 cyclists to a tight course and it becomes even more difficult. Unfortunately for Fuentes, he got caught behind 3 crashes early on in the race and these pushed him back to the middle of the pack. When he had straight away opportunities he surged forward in an attempt to move up towards the front again, but expended too much energy on his bursts to have any real shot keeping his endurance up as well. Fuentes pulled himself out of the race with 30 laps of the 75 remaining. Kendall finished the road race in the 139th position.
When asked if he would prepare any differently if he were to do it over again, Fuentes answered, “I would prepare no differently. Fitness is only one part of a race. Races come down to experience as well and anything can happen on any given day.” For a 41-yr old racing against students half his age, Fuentes admits that he exceeded his expectations and is happy with the way his season ended, as well as the club’s season.
Mason Cycling is still a young club, but as far as first year statements go, they made quite the declaration. Here’s to many more good years to come!
Mason Cycling fielded its largest team ever on Saturday, April 26th, by sending a seven rider team to the ACCC Championship Road Race, hosted by the United State Naval Academy (NAVY) at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. Mason’s Division One collegiate team consisted of three riders in CAT-D (Chris Belin, Zachary Price, and Kyle Bondo), one rider in CAT-C (Michael Levesque), and two riders in CAT-A (Dave Fuentes and Steven Kendall).
The Men’s CAT-C race (with 31 riders) started off the event with lone Patriot Michael Levesque in the mix. Levesque held with the pack for five brutal, 7-mile laps until just two miles from the finish when a rider went down in the middle of the group as they all surged forward on a final hill. The crash cut the field in half resulting in a big finish for those forward of the crash. Fortunately, Levesque managed to recover quickly from the wreck and press forward to take 29th Place.
Next to race was the Men’s CAT-D pack of 16 riders which got off to a shaky start. Just 5-miles into the race saw Kyle Bondo collide with a rider from WVU as they transitioned into the first lap. Both riders recovered without injury, but Bondo was quickly left behind by the pack, setting the stage for Chris Belin and Zachary Price to lead the Mason Team through four 7-mile loops. At the finish, it was Chris Belin with a last minute surge that had him rocket across the finish line in 5th Place, Zachary Price finished close behind in 12th Place, and Kyle Bondo (with a bent front tire) completed the course coming in a respectful 15th Place finish. It was a great finish to the very first — and last — collegiate race for both Zachary Price and Kyle Bondo who graduate from GMU in May 2014.
The Men’s CAT-A race (with 34 Riders) was a nail-bitter until lap 3 when two riders (VCU and ASU) broke free from the pack and took a commanding two-minute lead. Two laps later, another 3-man group broke free and managed to put another two minutes between themselves and the main pack. However, at the finish, after the five break-a-way riders crossed the finish line, it was the pack that surged into a photo finish that found Steven Kendall taking 9th Place and Dave Fuentes dropping back to take 26th Place.
Sunday proved that bike racing is a fickle sport. Mason fielded only a three (3) rider team that included Michael Levesque (CAT-C), Steven Kendall (CAT-A), and Dave Fuentes (CAT-A). Unlike their middle- and back-of-the-pack finishes during the road race, Sunday’s US Naval Academy hosted Melford Circuit Race, a shorter and faster race, would be the event that all other Mason Cycling road events would be compared to for years to come.
The day first began with Michael Levesque in CAT-C race. He again rode shoulder-to-shoulder with a monster pack of 30 other riders for almost thirty long minutes before an all-out sprint to the finish spread the group apart. Levesque sprinted hard to the finish and had his efforts pay off with a fantastic 20th Place finish; much improved from the road race standings just a day before.
Meanwhile, it was Dave Fuentes and Steve Kendall’s turn to show how much speed they had left after the previous day’s road race. Any disappointment either one of them may have had about their road race standings was replaced by a historic surge during the final stage of the circuit race. Working as a team, Steven Kendall blazed a path for Fuentes in the final straightway, allowing Fuentes to snatch a photo finish 1st Place — a Mason Cycling first — with just a bike length separating him from 2nd through 5th Place! Kendall, still with some energy left, managed to power through to 7th place, rounding out the top 10 with Mason Cycling on top! Both Fuentes and Kendall where essential in making the first Mason Cycling Statement to both the ACCC and USA Cycling community: Mason Cycling has arrived!
When the dust cleared from the ACCC Championship event, the final results provided George Mason Cycling Club with enough points to qualify not ONE, but TWO riders for the CapTech USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships in Richmond, Virginia on May 2-4, 2014! Dave Fuentes will try to repeat his circuit race performance in the Collegiate Championship Criterium Male D1 race at 3:30pm on Saturday, May 3rd. While, Steven Kendall will attempt to break the top 10 again in the Collegiate Championship Road Race Male D1 race — the final event of the weekend — at 4:20pm on Sunday, May 4th.
Overall, it has been a great year for Mason Cycling! Three years in the making, it took only the past 3-months to for Mason to come out of nowhere and see riders on the ACCC podium for the first time ever; and this was just Road Cycling season! Mason Riders have yet to tackle mountain bike and cyclocross racing seasons that will start in Fall 2014.
The final standings for Mason’s first year include earning enough points to take 12th Place (12/16) in the ACCC 2014 National Qualification Standings overall. Earning 206 total points for the season after only racing in three (3) out of seven (7) events (W&M, VT, and NAVY).
As we close out Mason Cycling’s first school year as a collegiate club sport, the 11 members of the George Mason Cycling Club can look back with pride and sanctification that they have created a team that has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Great job Patriots!
This article was written by Natalie Mullins, one of our very own Women’s Rugby Club players.
Over the last seven weeks I have learned many things about Rugby:
Keep your head up or you will end up with your face in the dirt.
Stay the hell out of the channel. (Thanks, Shaggy)
Jersey tan lines/ burns are as inevitable as they are unattractive.
Similarly, the neck holes in jerseys are entirely too small – it takes as many as three players to remove one player’s jersey.
Adrenaline is the best remedy for pain, followed by ice packs and Tylenol.
You are going to get hit, no matter how hard you try to avoid it.
There seem to be more incorrect ways to tackle someone than there are correct ways to tackle – if you did it right it will hurt a bit less than if you did it wrong.
Your body will inevitably be covered in bruises of all shapes, sizes and colors – and you will not remember how you got most of them.
Same goes for scrapes, scratches and scars.
Though I have learned a lot about the game, the lessons I have learned from Rugby are the most valuable:
Your size is not directly correlated to your power, ability, or drive.
Although no one likes to be underestimated, it can serve as a huge advantage on and off the pitch. Your patience will certainly be tried and may have to work a little (or a lot) harder to prove yourself, but it always pays off (maybe not when you want it to, but it will). My boss and mentor once gave me a great piece of advice – never let anyone make you feel inferior because of your age, experience or ability – and he was right. For the last seven weeks I have pushed myself mentally and physically in order to keep up with very talented and experienced ruggers and prove that weighing a buck twenty-seven was not necessarily a disadvantage as a forward – and it totally paid off.
Believe in yourself, no matter how terrified you are,
because if you don’t, why should anyone else? Yesterday was the last game of the season, but only the second I had played. We showed up at Field 4 and went through our typical warm-up, then met up in the huddle before the whistle. Near the end of the standard pep-talk and recap of objectives, Squirrel, our coach, assigned positions and numbers. As it was only my second game I expected to have to wait awhile before hearing my number. Surely I would not be starting, I didn’t know all of the plays and I had just learned how to pass properly. Midway through a day dream I heard Nat, go put on number four, you’re starting. I would have paid twenty dollars to see my expression; I’m sure I looked absolutely ridiculous. Immediately, I knew that Thursday’s practice was a mistake. During practice earlier in the week we ran a tackling drill, and for one reason or another I turned into some sort of animal – maybe it was the copious amounts of protein I had been consuming or the fact that I had hit the gym right before practice – whatever it was, it allowed me to pull out all the stops when it came to hitting. I got low and I pushed hard until both my partner and I were shoved into the dirt. At one point the coach asked where all this power was coming from, and I told him I had absolutely no idea, but I was not going to question it. But come Saturday, all I could do was question myself. When I heard what number I would be wearing, I frantically ran over to my gym bag and scrounged for my inhaler. I questioned my judgment (and Squirrel’s judgment, for that matter) and ability until I “played scared.” I could hardly play a whole half during my first game, how in the hell was I supposed to start this one? After a while I managed to talk myself down, get angry, get pumped, and get my head back into the game.
Play as hard and as well as you can, because you never know when you will be pulled off the field.
Not long after the whistle blew for the second half I was subbed out. During my first game I would have been ecstatic to be pulled off the field, but it was different today. I was slowly getting the hang of it and my head was finally in the game. When my number was pulled I walked off the field, I didn’t argue, but man was I frustrated. I understood Squirrel wanted everyone to play, it was the last game after all; and since reading my previous post about my experience as a rookie and learning about my asthma he had been cautious when running me, but it wasn’t stopping me today. I watched from the sidelines and cheered for my teammates, the whole time knowing that I should and could have played harder. And next time I will.
Perseverance is one of the most important and most difficult traits to acquire.
Perseverance is as important in Rugby as it is in everyday life. Mental and emotional perseverance seem to be the internalization of physical endurance. Whether it is asthma, an injury, a tough hit, or a hard shot to the throat, there always seem to be a few moments during the game – or even practice – when some part of me says I can’t. Overcoming these moments on the pitch are the biggest decisions made during the game.
You won’t get anywhere without communication.
This past Friday, the Men’s Club Rugby team joined with Mason Life, a “post-secondary program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities”, to teach these awesome students the basics. Some of us from the Women’s team tagged along to play a little Rugby and have a lot of fun. During the game, our Mason Life teammates would huddle up and discuss what we were struggling with during the game what we were doing well. I have never seen such positive and constructive communication, even during official games. Not only did they communicate with one another, but they listened to one another, which made these huddles all the more effective. The lady ruggers on the field looked at each other in disbelief during the huddles – these were all of the terribly obvious things we should be using during our games, but seemed to forget about on a regular basis.
Sometimes you have to get back to the basics.
Playing with our friends from Mason Life taught us this, and many other valuable lessons. When asked what the most important part of passing was, our new found teammates simply stated You always pass backward! Again, the lady ruggers looked at one another with confusion and disbelief – we had no idea what the answer was until they reminded us. We had become so focused on the details and technicalities of the game that we had forgotten the basics.
Humility is essential.
hu·mil·i·ty
noun
the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc. (dictionary.com)
Just like perseverance, humility is one of the most important yet forgotten virtues on and off the pitch. Our new friends from Mason Life taught us this invaluable lesson. This past Friday, everyone gave their all for two hours’ worth of drills and pick-up games – something many of us have a hard time doing during practices and official games. There were people of all skill levels on the field, but you wouldn’t have known it by watching – no one became frustrated with the others’ abilities, the points didn’t seem to matter, and at one point the score was said to be Fun to Fun. I have never seen a happier, more dedicated group of people, and I hope we are blessed enough to play with them in the future.
During the last seven weeks I have met so many wonderful people and learned so many life lessons through Rugby. Showing up to that first day of practice was honestly one of the best – if not the best – decision I have ever made. I only wish I had made the choice sooner.
Until next season,
Mullins/Cargo/Bones/Nat
*Article taken from Natalie’s blog located at http://secondhandsweater.blogspot.com
Sectionals: the most important tournament of the season for an ultimate team. One bad loss can ruin the chances of a team moving on to the next round of this championship series, which consists of Sectionals, Regionals, and then Nationals. The men’s ultimate team competed in Sectionals on Saturday April 12th and Sunday the 13th at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.
The road to Sectionals was nowhere near a straight path, nor was it an easy season to manage due to the bizarre and wet weather this semester. The ultimate team had only had six practices that were held outdoors, and only two of those six had the entire 26-man roster due to various complications. Mind you, the ultimate team has been practicing three days a week since January. The rest of those practices were either held in the Field House at night or inside the RAC’s Cage gym when space was available during the day. Sectionals was going to be a test for the team to match-up against the other eight Virginia colleges that were competing. The other eight were UVA, JMU, Virginia Tech, VCU, William & Mary, ODU, Liberty, and Radford. The top six teams of the tournament became eligible to move onto Regionals.
On Saturday of Sectionals, Mason was matched up against Liberty, VCU, and UVA, respectively. With a solid start, Mason earned themselves a 15-6 victory over Liberty. VCU was up next. Mason had battled back-and-forth up until the last few minutes of the game, but recorded a 12-9 loss against the rival, and then had to prepare for the #1 seeded UVA. Their intensity was no match as Mason recorded another loss, ending their day 1-2.
Sunday of Sectionals had a different energy. The ultimate team knew they were still a contender for Regionals, as long as they won all three of their games that day. The team had 150% concentration on their goal, and would not let anyone stop them. Their opponents for the day – ODU, William & Mary, and Radford – did not know how to handle the fire that Mason had started. Mason outscored their Sunday opponents 43-6, beating the teams 15-4, 15-1, and 13-1, respectively.
For the second year in a row, Mason will be competing in the next round of the College Championship Series, Regionals, which will be taking place on Saturday May 3rd, and Sunday May 4th in Axton, VA. Regionals will be a sixteen team tournament with the top teams from the Atlantic Coast region, which consists of college teams from Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, and both Carolinas. Best of the luck to the ultimate team and their continued success on their road to Nationals!
This article was written by Natalie Mullins, one of our very own Women’s Rugby Club players.
As a perpetually anxious individual, I have never been one to try new things. I rarely deviate from my standard sandwich order, and I never try out new gym equipment for the fear of making a fool of myself. I am the person that dreads updating their email account because it takes twenty minutes of utter confusion and frustration to find out how to send a new message and I will protest for weeks before reluctantly downloading the newest iOS update.
During the start of my third year of college I had grudgingly made the decision to try new things – or attempt to try new things. I rarely utilize the term love, but I lovefamiliarity, so much so that I have owned the same bedraggled sweatshirt since the eighth grade based solely on the fact that I have owned it for so long (in all reality it would serve better as a rag due to the insurmountable number of holes it has and its lack of a functional zipper). This year has been more-or-less dedicated to pushing my very rigid boundaries, which began with my 3,000 mile, cross-country move from California to Virginia. Since moving across the country I have done many things that would typically fall far outside my personal level of comfort. Over the last eight months I have tried Indian food, gone to a drag show (and enjoyed it), joined a fraternity, made friends (scandalous, I know), and last but not least, joined the Women’s Club Rugby team.
My childhood was not filled with soccer matches or Tee-ball practice. I was not shuttled to and from practice and I never engaged in team dinners. I was the kid that dreaded running the mandatory mile and had to be taken into special consideration when involving class activities. I was the gawky, pale child with glasses and asthma. I was covered in scrapes and bruises caused by my own clumsiness, serving as testaments of my uncoordinated nature. Even the class nerd poked fun at me, sarcastically asking me what I wasn’t allergic to – surely it was much smaller than the list of things I was allergic to. Sports involving fields of grass were out of the question unless I planned on main-lining Benadryl and applying the highest grade of SPF.
The closest I ever came to playing a recognized team sport was my brief stint with volleyball, which I thoroughly enjoyed but did not excel at. I discovered dance during elementary school. Dance allowed me to exercise without dosing up on allergy pills or slabbing on sunscreen. Despite my lack of coordination, I wasn’t half-bad at dancing, this probably had to do with the fact that I did not undertake the art of ballet or something equally as elegant; rather, I chose hip-hop. Needless to say, this was a far cry from a contact sport, but the amount of dedication required was equivalent.
For years I danced on various school teams until school and work and life in general got in the way. A new school and a new state permitted me to try something new. I wish there was an interesting story behind why I chose to take on rugby of all other sports. The thought process went something like this:
Rugby looks cool. I think I’ll try it out.
Some people doubted me, which probably had to do with my habit of rarely following through with my extravagant proposals and a general lack of an exceptionally athletic appearance. Friends’ giggles and half-hearted remarks of support only made me more driven to stick to my plan. I started to waver in my decision until a friend said she had joined the team. A few days later I had passed the team as they were recruiting new girls, and not long after that I found myself sitting near one of the team captains, and I knew something or someone was telling me to take the opportunity (or, if we are being totally realistic, my subconscious desires manifested themselves in a sequence of coincidental events).
I started weighing the pros and cons of joining the team:
It was a chance to get some exercise – at the risk of (extreme) physical harm
Meeting new people (this is a pro and con in-and-of itself)
Rugby would be an outlet for stress and frustration – the “outlet” required one to tackle and be tackled, going back to the risk of (extreme) physical harm
You’ll be covered in bruises and scrapes – all the more reason to wear pants, let’s face it, I’ve never been the type of girl to wear a dress
I heard the team needed more players, and being a club sport, there were no tryouts, all you had to do was show up to practice – doable
So I showed up to my first day of practice expecting to be hassled by a group of seasoned ruggers that had no patience for a scrub like me. I projected that I would throw up 2-3 times on account of the rigorous activity and return home with a black eye and/or bloody nose. Nervous, I showed up on the field expecting the worst, but ready to go. I was pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by the team, each player showing me the ropes: explaining plays, demonstrating throws, and volunteering as tackle dummies. By the end of practice I was exhausted and had a grin from ear to ear. Everyone had an obscure nickname, which reminded me of every prison film I had ever seen.
We practiced for two hours on a turf field in nine degree weather with winds nearing 20 mph. The water began to freeze in our bottles and we began to lose the feeling in our faces and extremities. I had decided to wear shorts to practice; this was a rookie mistake for two reasons: 1) It was well below freezing outside 2) Turf fields feel like enormous cheese graters in temperatures under 50 degrees. Midway through practice someone stopped me and asked if I was okay, pointing to my knees. I looked down and realized that there was nearly no skin on my uncovered knees, but of course the adrenaline, coupled with freezing temperatures had taken care of most of my sense of pain – until the next morning. The lights on the field went out not long into practice, so we played in the dark, hoping not to be hit in the face by the nearly invisible ball. Other teams sharing the field left after several minutes in the dark (Men’s Club Rugby and Club Ultimate Frisbee – I’m calling you out), but we stayed.
Turf burn and bruises didn’t keep me away. Despite the fact that I felt as if I had tackled a bus head-on the day after practice, I came back for more. After several weeks of bumbling down the field and ramming full-speed into my new teammates the coach said I owed him a game.
Yesterday we met at 6:45 in the morning. Most of us were wearing sweatpants and little to no makeup – evidence of a late night and a reluctant wake-up. We drove three hours to William and Mary and ran through plays during the few moments we were not napping, the whole time my stomach was in knots due to nerves and the two cups of black coffee that felt more like battery acid in a nearly empty, morning stomach. When we arrived at the field I was in a full-blown panic. I didn’t know how to pass, I only knew the names of plays, but not what was to actually happen in them, and I was certain I wouldn’t last an entire half.
I waited on the sidelines with the other subs and rookies, bringing water to the players during timeouts. Then came the half, and it was time for us to prove ourselves. Several, first-game rookies were placed on the field, all looking at each other with eager yet frightened glances. We were placed on the field and the second half started; the ball was up and we were running. Hit after hit we were driving forward, then pushed back. Every once in a while an opportunity would arise for a rookie to prove themselves, and that we did. Don’t get me wrong – there were many times I was completely certain this was my first and last game. My asthma had kicked into full gear and my body was not appreciative the second-to-second, full-contact nature of the game. After a few minutes and several hits into the game the adrenaline sinks in and you don’t feel the pain of a hit unless it really lays you out – which happened on many occasions. Asthma, coupled with an elbow to the rib sent me running to the sidelines with dry heaves. After a minute or two I my brain forced my body back on to the field. Hit after hit we pushed forward, each of us being slammed into the ground at one time or another.
Finally the whistle blew and the game was over. In what seemed to be the most drastic transition all players – from both teams – formed lines and hit one another again, this time as celebratory high-fives rather than high-impact, enraged tackles. Once the lines had filed through we ran to the sidelines and attempted to violently peel off the constrictive jerseys. Form-fitting doesn’t begin to describe the nature of the spandex uniforms, which only seem to get tighter throughout the game. Many of us got them stuck over our heads – who ever designed the neck holes seriously underestimated the size of the average human skull. We ran around looking like cats with their heads trapped in tissue boxes (we’ve all seen the Youtube videos), many of us pleading with the others for assistance as we simultaneously laughed and panicked.
If you had told me this time last year that I would be playing rugby on a whim I wouldn’t believe it. Me, the allergy ridden, un-athletic asthmatic tackling people for fun? Absolutely not. I have never been so happy to be wrong. I can honestly say that Women’s Club Rugby has been the best thing to happen to me in college. I am so blessed to be part of a team as amazing as this one, even if I am just a rookie. I have never met a nicer, more welcoming group of people. These women have each other’s backs, on and off the field.
Bodies of brick, hearts of gold.
SATURDAY IS A RUGBY DAY
Your New Rugger,
Mullins/ Cargo/ Nat
*Article taken from Natalie’s blog located at http://secondhandsweater.blogspot.com