Fall Season Begins

Hello Bloggers!

Jordan Reid (right) and Coach Jackson (middle)

This past weekend of DSU Softball was fun-filled, as usual! To start the weekend off, DSU Athletics hosted their annual Hall of Fame night where new HOF inductees are honored with dinner and guests. DSU Softball was well represented at the HOF dinner with alum Jordan Reid and former head coach Jeff Savage both being inducted for their successful careers as player and coach respectively. In audience, showing their support, was Head Coach Amber Jackson and current seniors Khaliyah Flournory, Mika Lumsden, Jessica Shalongo, and Vanessa Washington.

Saturday was DSU Football's first home game which was rightfully named Hall-of-Fame Day. On top of being recognized the night before in a more intimate setting, new HOF inductees were announced on-field during halftime. Before the football game began, the softball team hosted a tailgate encouraging folks across campus to stop by and get acquainted with the team. On top of tons of food, games were played including Spike Ball, Corn Hole, Water Pong, and Water Balloon Softball. A special shout out to Mr. and Mrs. Shields for coming into town and helping to put together a very fun and successful tailgate!

Sunday (9/24) was the softball team's first of four fall doubleheaders. Sunday's games were held at University of Delaware, while the next 3 doubleheaders are as follows:

Sunday, October 1st @ University of Wilmington
11:00am & 1:00pm

Saturday, October 7th @ Towson University
3:00pm & 5:00pm

Sunday, October 8th @ George Washington University
12:00pm & 2:00pm

Although the weekend did not end with our intended results, the team has started this week off with a vengeance. We can't wait to see the product DSU Softball creates by the end of the fall and heading into spring! And another thank you to all of the fans who came to support on Sunday - we hope to see you throughout the fall and spring!

Marine Corps Training Day

On Saturday, the girls got the opportunity to train with Captain Derrick Oliver, Lt. Ellen Gleason, and Sgt. John Manching from the Marine Corps Selection Office in Newark, DE. The girls were put through the challenge of fighting both mental and physical fatigue. The staff put the girls through their combat fitness test that included three different events. The first event was a half mile run around the track in which all the girls finished in their respective times. Then, they had two minutes of lifting a 8 pound ammo cans over the head and our highest score came from  sophomore Hannah Shields in which she had 55 lifts in the two minutes. After, the girls had a “Maneuver Under Fire” drill which included a 10-yard sprint, 15-yard crawl (low then high crawl), hauling a simulated casualty(teammates) using two different carries: drag and fireman's while zigzagging through cones, sprints while carrying two 8-pound ammo cans through the same cones, throwing a dummy hand grenade(softball) into a marked circle 22.5 yards, and 5 pushups and a sprint with the ammo cans to the finish line. The last event with the Marine Corps was a leadership course where one player had to get their team through  many obstacles and find a way to strategically get all their teammates out alive. According to senior Khaliyah Flournory, she learned that “when a gifted team dedicates themselves to unselfish trust and combines instinct with boldness and effort, they are on the right track to attain success”.  The theme that all the players and coaches took from the experience and are going to focus on throughout the year were these five words: Loyalty, Dependability, Unselfishness, Decisiveness, and Mental and Physical Endurance. As you can tell, we learned a lot of things and the players learned a lot about each other but sophomore Jalen Wicher put it best, “I learned that no matter the circumstances my teammates will always provide the support I need to push through the challenging times both on the field and off”.  This experience was a great experience for our girls. Check out thefull video of the day at this link: https://youtu.be/y1jmLqxWa0A

I learned that my body is way stronger than my mind. And I was able to push myself to the limit with the encouragement from my team. -Senior Mika Lumsden