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The Health and Wellness Center releases fitness schedule for spring

James Fowlkes | Freelancer

Contact the author at jfowlkes18@mail.wou.edu

The fitness schedule for spring term 2022 is now active at Western’s Health and Wellness Center. Available fitness classes vary from yoga, cardio, spin, pilates to full body, lower body, paddle board yoga and more. Most fitness classes range from 45 – 50 minutes, which is just enough time to get a good workout — whether one wants to focus on cardio, core, mind or full body. To sign up for classes, use the IMLeagues app to reserve a place in a class. Make sure to bring a water bottle and a sweat towel — it’ll come in handy.

The fitness schedule for spring 2022 is presented as planned:

Monday:

Detox Yoga: HWC room 253 from 9:15 – 9:45 a.m.

Cardio: Indoor Track from 4:30 – 5:20 p.m.

Spin: HWC room 201 from 5:10 – 6 p.m.

Pilates: HWC room 201 from 6:30 – 7:20 p.m.

Tuesday:

Pilates 101: HWC room 253 from 9:15 – 9:45 a.m.

Yoga: HWC room 201 from 4:30 – 5:20 p.m.

5k Social: Outdoors from 5:10 – 6 p.m.

Full Body: HWC room 201 from 6:30 – 7:20 p.m.

Wednesday:

Pilates HIIT: HWC room 253 from 9:15 – 9:45 a.m.

Pilates: HWC room 201 from 5:10 – 6 p.m.

Spin: HWC room 201 from 6:30 – 7:20 p.m.

Thursday:

Lower Body Barre: HWC room 253 from 9:15 – 9:45 a.m.

Women Lift Intro: HWC room 201 from 4:30 – 5:20 p.m.

Yoga: HWC room 201 from 5:30 – 6:20 p.m.

Paddle board Yoga: Pool from 6:30 – 7:20 p.m.

Friday:

Spin: HWC room 201 from 12 – 12:45 p.m.

New operating hours for the Health and Wellness Center facility are also available, along with new hours for the Aquatic Center and the wall climbing area.

Health and Wellness Center:

Monday – Thursday from 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Friday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Saturday from 12 – 5 p.m.

Sunday from 12 – 4 p.m.

Aquatic Center:

Monday – Wednesday from 2:30 – 3:50 p.m. and 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

Thursday from 2:30 – 3:50 p.m. and 7:40 – 9:30 p.m.

Saturday from 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Wall Climbing:

Monday – Thursday from 4 – 9 p.m.

Saturday from 12:30 – 4:30 p.m.

The Western Howl

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Spring term intramural sports open for sign-up through IMLeagues

Find out what intramural sports are being offered during spring term

James Fowlkes | Freelancer

Contact the author at jfowlkes18@mail.wou.edu

IMLeagues, available on desktop, laptop or mobile devices, allows students access to a multitude of fitness classes and intramural sports activities that they can sign up for. When COVID-19 was surging around campus — and all over the world — students were required to sign up for facility and fitness class reservations. Before entering, students had to agree to wear a face mask and maintain physical and social distance while getting a workout in. With the mask mandate being lifted, signing up for facility use is no longer required, but students will still have to sign up for other fitness activities if they’re planning on participating.

IMLeagues also provides a list of intramural sports and drop-in activities available for all members. This spring term offers soccer, corn hole, volleyball, softball or home run derby, golf and tennis. Drop-in activities available for sign-up are volleyball, table tennis, basketball and futsal. Schedule-wise, basketball and futsal are held Wednesday nights at 7 p.m., and volleyball and table tennis are held Thursday nights at the same time at the Health and Wellness Center.

To get set up on IMLeagues, students have to create an account using their student email address. One can find a drop-in or fitness activity within the intramurals section, sign up and agree to the terms and conditions. Overall, it is a simple process.

IMLeagues has previously offered virtual or esport activities such as Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. 1v1 tournaments. As far as this spring term, there’s no news on when or what virtual competitions will take place, but until then there are drop-in intramurals and fitness classes on IMLeagues.

The Western Howl

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headline: Recap of 2022 Masters

A summary of the Masters golfing tournament

Mollie Herron | News Editor

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

The 2022 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia finished up on Sunday, April 10. Here are the most notable things that happened at the tournament.

25-year-old Scottie Scheffler won the tournament with ten under-par claiming his first major title. He not only received the priceless green jacket but a record setting $2.7 million from the $15 million purse.

Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, finished second with a score of negative seven. He took home $1.62 million from the purse. McIlroy started the final round at 1 over and 10 strokes behind Scheffler in ninth place. He kicked it into high gear and shot a front-nine 32 and ended the back-nine with an incredible hole out from the bunker leaving him with a score of 64.

Not long after McIlroy’s bunker shot, Collin Morikawa ended the eighteenth hole with his own chip-in bunker shot. Morikawa ended with a total tournament score of four under-par in fifth place.

Tiger Woods made a strong comeback after his car accident in 2021 that almost cost him his leg. He pushed through and played the full 72 holes despite his noticeable limp, finishing No. 47 overall with a score of 13 over par. The injuries he sustained did not seem to affect his swing much, but changed the way he moved through the course and followed his ball. Woods has won five green jackets and this weekend was about his comeback rather than winning the tournament.

Once a golfer wins the Masters tournament they win an invite back for every future year. So, with this win, not only did Scheffler bring home a new jacket and millions of dollars, but the opportunity to bring more home in the years to come. The 87th US Masters will be held in Augusta again between April 6 – 9, 2023.

The Western Howl

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From influencer to boxer

Why social media influencers are swapping careers

Mollie Herron | News Editor

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Social media influencers seem to be everywhere these days. Because of their ability to rapidly grow their platforms, influencers have been able to make unexpected career leaps. Some have gone from YouTubers to professional musicians; Instagram models to full-time fashion designers; or, in more recent and somewhat confusing news, vloggers to highly competitive boxers.

Popular influencers like Logan and Jake Paul, KSI, Austin McBroom and Bryce Hall have all pursued careers in boxing. While they did not all succeed, the new boxers did manage to attract a lot of attention and brought more viewers to the sport.

The most notable of the new boxers are Logan and Jake Paul. They have taken the boxing world by storm by booking fights against popular fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.

So, why are these influencers starting to box instead of sticking with their usual creator content?

One factor pushing for more influencer matches is money. People like Logan and Jake Paul are making millions and are able to earn even more for every match and rematch they schedule. It is suspected that this is why many of the matches end in a draw, as they can easily earn more through holding a rematch. Forbes estimated that Jake Paul made $40 million from participating in three matches in 2021.

The training and preparation it takes to become a boxer is also an opportunity for more content creation. Many of the influencers making this strange career transition have been on the internet for several years. If they run out of content ideas they are out of a job, so having a whole new career that they can film is an easy way to diversify their branding. The more posts involving boxing and calling out world famous boxers, the more attention the influencers receive.

Many die hard boxing fans are against having people like the Paul brothers in the ring because they feel that these influencers are not respecting the sport. The argument could be made that they are bringing more money and attention to the sport, but they have been heavily criticized for their lack of commitment and amateur status.

The fights the influencers try to create are also only against big names, which leads many to suspect there is no real intention to become a boxer and they only care about the potential fame and glory. Logan Paul was rumored to fight Mike Tyson in early 2022, but seeing as Tyson retired in 2005 the match was likely a ruse to garner more engagement. Jake Paul has publicly addressed one of the greats, Conor McGregor, after only fighting a few matches. The skill it would take to challenge one of the big names in the scene like McGregor compared to the short time Jake Paul has been fighting leads one to suspect it is all for publicity.

Only time will tell if these matches truly make boxing a more popular sport, or if these influencers will merely pass by to their next attention-grabbing schemes.

The Western Howl

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Western Wolves baseball team wins against the Saint

Wolves win 3 of their 4 games against Saint Martin’s Saints

Mollie Herron | News Editor

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Western’s baseball team faced off against the Saint Martin’s Saints on April 1 and 2.

The Wolves split with the Saints on Friday, winning the first game 9-2 and losing the second 3-2. The next day the Wolves had a clean sweep and beat the Saints 2-1 and 8-0.

Mike Peterson pitched eight of the nine innings of the first game in the sun and allowed only 2 runs from the Saints in the fourth. Top scorers of the game included Justin Herzog, Anthony Zellner and Spencer Weston. Herzog led the team with 3 runs with Weston and Zellner scoring the second most at 2 runs each. Levi Cummings and Jacob Maiben both had 1 run in the bottom of the fourth inning to get the Wolves at an 8-2 lead before Herzog scored the final run of the game in the seventh.

The second game was a pitchers battle as both teams were low scoring. Our own Wolves only had two hits and 2 runs, one each by Herzog and Derek Maiben. Unfortunately, those 2 runs were not enough and the Saints scored the final run of the game at the top of the fifth.

On Saturday, the Wolves had a slow start as the Saints scored an early lead of 1-0 in the first inning and continued to hold it until the fourth inning. At the bottom of the fourth Derek Maiben and Logan Ho each scored, putting the wolves at a 2-1 lead. The Saints had one hit the next inning with no runs, with the rest of the game in a standoff with no further hits or runs for either team leaving the Wolves with the victory score of 2-1.

The Wolves shut out the Saints in their second game on Saturday when Parker Johnson pitched seven innings with only one hit from the Saints in the first. At the bottom of the third, brothers Jacob and Derek Maiben both scored, earning a comfortable 2-0 lead. In the fifth, the Maiben brothers each scored again along with Cummings creating a larger gap for the Saints to try and come back from. Johnson kept the Saints from scoring and Cummings, Herzog and Zach Valdez scored 1 run each in the seventh, ending the game with a score of 8-0 when the Saints failed to get a run at the top of the eighth.

The next home game for the baseball team is Friday, April 22 at 1 p.m. against Northwest Nazarene University. Support the Wolves while breathing in fresh air and soaking up the sunlight during their game against the Nighthawks.

The Western Howl

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Intramural sports return

Intramural recruiting for Fall 2021 begins

Mikayla Coleman | News Editor

The recent return to campus life leaves many students questioning just what extracurricular activities are resuming for fall term. Intramural sports have made a strong willed return.

Intramural sports programs are open to all Western students, faculty, staff and spouses. They are a great option for those who want to participate in sports, but may not necessarily have the commitment level or developed skill set for a school sports program.

“Intramurals fill a unique void. There are no practices, no coaches — it’s just show up and have fun and play with your friends,” said Andy Main, assistant director for Campus Recreation.

Intramurals have less emphasis on qualities that make sports a stressful event and weigh more on getting involved within the campus community.

“It’s a unique way to blow off steam, maybe take your mind off of a stressful final coming up — for me, most importantly is to meet and bond and get to know new people,” Main said.

Western’s intramural program has thirteen different sports that they are currently recruiting for. Each sport does have a cost associated with it depending on the scope of the league, tournament or event. This fall term they plan to offer many exciting in person events including Badminton League, Corn Hole League and Volleyball League. Amidst the pandemic panic we have all endured, they also plan to grow with the technical times and implement two virtual sports and activities: the NCAA Bowl Game Pick’em and esports.

All rules and regulations can be found on imleagues.com/wou.

Contact the author at newseditor@thewesternhowl.com

The Western Howl

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Western prepares for spring sports season

Western athletics is moving forward with plans to begin a socially distanced season of games

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Western’s athletics department has announced the return of spring sports pending any changes from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

“Spring sports — baseball, softball and track — are expected to be allowed to have games/meets starting next month,” said Western’s President Rex Fuller in a spring term email update sent out on Jan. 21. “We don’t know to what degree spectators will be allowed, but if they are, we encourage you to come out and support your WOU Wolves!”

Western is currently the projected host for GNAC championship games for softball and track and field this coming May, according to the GNAC website.

“We are so excited to host the championships this year,” said softball coach Lonny Sargent. “Being able to go to tournaments all summer and most of the fall is a normal year for us and this year that wasn’t possible.”

Currently, Western’s athletics department is reflective of Phase Two of the National Collegiate Athletic Association revised three-phase plan — the Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Sport. In Phase Two, groups larger than 50 must have measures of physical distancing and sanitization, restricted staffing, workout areas and facilities must be sanitized and nonessential travel is permitted. In preparation for the conference schedule this year, teams will continue with socially distanced practices and personal scrimmage matches.

“We haven’t been indoors at all this year due to the strict guidelines,” said Sargent. “Since we are an outdoor sport and can stay socially distant from one another, we have been able to have practices.”

According to Sargent, player safety is a priority.

“Our players wear their masks, all their equipment bags are at least six feet apart from one another and each player is required to do a health check every morning by 10 a.m. on days they will be on campus,” said Sargent.

Traditionally, athletic teams practice as an entire group, but the department has broken the players down into smaller groups. Practices will be held at various times throughout the day to ensure maximum social distancing and limited contact.

“It’s very exciting,” said sophomore undecided major and Western baseball pitcher Matthew Dunaway. “We’ve been working hard in the fall, and hopefully we play this spring.”

According to Dunaway, the team has been participating in more scrimmages this winter in comparison to fall term. Dunaway explained that players had been assigned to arrive at certain times for small team meetings.

“Our athletic department has put together a great plan and we’ve been able to follow the protocols to ensure safety,” said baseball coach Kellen Walker. “Our players have done a great job of being flexible with changes to practice times and locations. We’ve obviously had to make adjustments to get our work in, we’ve been creative in making sure our guys are staying as healthy as possible while getting back into shape and ready to compete in the upcoming season.”

Going forward into spring term, the GNAC Senior Management Council will be evaluating whether students will be permitted to gather at upcoming functions.

“We hope to have the fans of Monmouth come out and support us this spring,” said Dunaway.

To learn more about the games, visit wouwolves.com/calendar.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

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Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

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New hours available for fitness classes and facilities

Spring term intramural sports open for sign-up through IMLeagues

headline: Recap of 2022 Masters

Western Wolves baseball team wins against the Saint

Intramural sports return

Western prepares for spring sports season

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