Giving

By Curtis Dunlap

 

People Enjoy the Little Things

 

During a routine trip to McDonalds one night, I was with a friend, my roommate Tyler Beauchamp. We were ordering our food like normal. For me two mcdoubles, a large fry and a large hi-c with no ice, Tyler got his usual French fries and chicken nuggets. While we were ordering a car pulled up behind us. I hardly noticed because when doesn’t this happen? That’s a normal occurrence in a McDonalds drive through line. We get our total and pull up to the second window and hand the cashier the money. After this exchange we receive our food and immediately check it because fast food restaurants are notorious for messing up my simple orders. Everything seems to check out and look good. I glance behind and see the car still in line behind us. I had the thought to ask the cashier what the people behind us got and how much it was. Apparently it was a couple and they had ordered ice cream to go. So I decided to be noble and ‘that guy’ I handed the cashier 4 more dollars and paid for their ice cream. When we pulled up and let the other car get to the window they were surprised to find that they did not have to pay. We waited in front of them for a few seconds to see their reaction.  As I predicted they were surprised and in awe that someone would do that for them.

                I immediately felt great about what I did. I made this couples night, they got free ice cream and I got a good feeling. It was a completely altruistic action. Although I did like the feeling I got when I saw their faces from halfway out my window. They were smiling from ear to ear and waving at me. My act of kindness brought joy to this couple; maybe they went on and did something nice for someone else that day, or maybe even the next day. All I wanted to do was make them happy. Who doesn’t like to get free food? Especially when you think you are going to have to pay.

                It may not have been much; they may have been able to afford the ice cream six times over or however many. But I know I did something good that had some sort of impact on someone, whether it was the cashier, the man or the women. I could have made a difference, a movement that sparked other random acts of kindness. People should do that more often, randomly kind to strangers. It truly is a good feeling to know you made someone’s day, or even to just see them smile.



Avila Cross Country Conference Meet 2012

By Curtis Dunlap

Avila Finishes Conference

The Avila cross country program ran its final race at conference in Lamoni Iowa November 14^th. From last year it was a big step in the right direction. Freshman Tiffany Zinn finished with a P.R. of 19:58! The girls team went through a few injuries this year with one of the returning runners, Karli Lapointe, having heart problems and being out for the latter portion of the season and then toughing it out and running in the conference meet. Despite the injuries the girls finished with a team score, they did not place this year but finished as a team for the second year in a row and as a new program that is not bad, with only five runners as well.  it was a fast 5k for the girls on a warm windy day on long stretches of grass and up many fairly steep hills. They had fun and raced hard. The girls say goodbye to two seniors, Karli Lapointe and Katie Noland. To them this was their goodbye race, their swan song and they raced hard until the end.

The men’s team did decent this year at conference too. After losing senior Adam McGovern last year and battling injuries throughout the guys still came back and had a fairly well team score. Most of the guys can say this was a training year, a base for next year’s season. A learning experience and a way to gauge what goals need to be set. For all but one this was a first year experience. In high school races were only 3.1 miles. In college men race 5 miles or 8k’s. They need to know how to pace themselves and to learn to race smart and conservative. Coach Denny always says “a race is not won in the first mile, but it can be lost.” This was a year to prepare new runners for next year, a chance to see the competition and know what we are up against. Now they know. They know what has to be done to win, how hard they have to train and the dedication it takes to make yourself better.

the team in their legendary huddle before the conference race

Next year there will be more runners on both the men’s and women’s teams. Hopefully adding more depth to both teams and a fight for top seven position.  Next year the team is aiming at a higher finish in the conference meet and hopefully breaking into the top 15 at other races throughout the year. With the proper training and the amount each runner pushes not only themselves but the rest of the team it is a very attainable goal. Cross country is not an individual sport. It takes a team to win, a team that trains together, wins together and loses together. It is a brotherhood/sisterhood that only runners know. Next year will be different. Cross country will make itself known here at Avila. Cross country is going to make its mark.

Jon McGovern, My Roommate the Genius

By Curtis Dunlap

The Election and My Roommate

I live off Campus with a friend, Adam McGovern, who graduated last year from Avila, another friend, Carlton Kenny, the homeowner and Jon McGovern, Adams older brother. Adam works at an insurance company, Carlton works at Honeywell and Jon is a programmer. Little did I know my roommate would be on T.V. for his profession.  You see, Jon designed a website that could take information from social networking sites, see what was trending and then compile that data to see which candidate was more likely to be voted for.

I came home from class one day to see my three roommates gathered around our T.V. staring intently. I wondered what was going on and they called me in to see that Jon was on the news for his website. It could actually show how many people were logging onto his site and checking the stats of the votes. Although the newswomen misinterpreted what Jon was saying, he said that it cannot tell you who was actually going to win, it just compiled the data and made an estimate of who was more popular based on what people were saying on social networking websites.

Now Jon and Adam wanted Mitt Romney to win, and when they got the news that Obama had a second term they were a little frustrated. I still thought it was interesting and honestly pretty cool that my roommate was on T.V. the news no less, for a website that he designed to predict who could win the election. I don’t know what exactly they wanted out of Romney but I know they were upset, especially Jon. All I could do was tell him how cool I thought it was he was on T.V.. later they told me that he had been on the news before for being recognized as most likely to succeed. When I heard that I wasn’t surprised that he was on the news again. Turns out he is pretty much a genius. My roommates get on T.V. have high paying jobs, and are some of the smartest people I know. And now that the election is over, Jon can fix any bugs his website had and make it even better. There’s always next term.

Curtis's Cross Country Story

By Curtis Dunlap

The Story of Curtis and Cross Country

my first race with spikes. the bandanna was traditional at plainfield south

my junior open conference race, i took third overall 

senior year regionals second mile. one mile to go

finishing up the regional race, state is on the line

we made it to state for the first time in 4 years. one of my proudest moments

conference as a freshman in college, the beard is traditional at avila

 By Curtis Dunlap

An Avila Track Team?

           

             There has been talk of a track program here at Avila. Many questions have been asked by students, some of the more relevant about track are: will we be able to compete? Where will we train? How many people can go? Who will the coaches be? Will we actually go anywhere? Can we participate in the conference meet? These questions were asked by prospective runners a few weeks ago at a meeting with Gary Gallup. Who said “I am all for having a track program, anything you guys want to do I am going to back you up on. We just have to get the ball rolling.” Ultimately we cannot declare track a sport this year but hopefully by next year there will be enough people interested and willing that we can declare it a sport.

the cross country team (distance/mid-distance track runners)
pose after the conference meet

            The questions asked by people actually wanting to run were answered at the meeting. Like where will we train? There are two locations we can use that are close to campus; one is down 123rd off state line. There is a junior high track that the cross country team has used to train. The second track would be north down state line at a high school. There is another option as well, a school wants to partner up with Avila and make a theatre and if that happens we could potentially acquire land for a track. One of the options up in the air right now. as of now, the head coach would probably be coach Dave Denny of the cross country team. He would train the distance and mid-distance runners. Other coaches would need to volunteer or help out in other areas like sprinters and hurdlers.

            We will actually be able to participate in meets but not the conference meet this year because track is not a sport yet and runners would have to enter unattached. If however someone qualifies nationally then they could go to nationals. How many people train is just about how many will go. If people take it seriously then they will go. If people joke around and goof off then it could destroy what progress we have at declaring track a sport and moving on to field in the future. For those who do take it seriously, yes you will go places. We would not be able to go to all of the meets because of the lack of a budget but Gary said he would do everything he could to make it happen for us.

            If we go to a few meets this year people will see that it is actually happening and not just a rumor, those people who want to run will come out and hopefully run this year. Then there is always the next year. If we declare track a sport we will get many more recruits and young runners. We have lost a great number of potential runners to other schools that have track and field. A list was compiled last year of all the students who wanted to run/would support a track team here at Avila. The numbers were impressive and there was promise. This year something is being done and if runners start training now, we could be a force to be reckoned with. Avila has great potential for a track team; it just takes one to make something happen. One person can make the difference. 

By Curtis Dunlap

Avila vs. Baker

    The game against baker went exactly how any Avila/Baker fan thought it would: insults and near-fights. During the game the refs were being extremely unfair towards our players and sympathetic and more ton Bakers side. At one point a Baker player slid tackled Trent Nichol and no foul was called and when Trent had a clean slide tackle he got a yellow card. The fans started getting restless because that was not the first bad call. Many more bad calls were made and the fans just got angrier. Overall it was a loss for Avila. Despite the bad calls and loss the team played rather well Trent Nichol would have had a goal in the final seconds of the game but the ref decided to blow the whistle and call the game just as the ball entered the goal. 

   Fights almost broke out during some of the refs bad calls and at the end of the game a rather rude Baker parent (or grandparent) was cheering in the Avila fans section. She had been drinking and was belligerent. When asked to leave she used profanities and stated that she could yell whatever she wanted where ever she wanted to yell it from. In the end she left or was picked up by her family and left without any more trouble. The baker fans and women’s soccer team were also being obnoxious; then again they must have felt the same about Avila fans. During one of the fouls called on Avila, against Trent Nichol for his clean slide tackle, he was pushed from behind and at that all the fans in the front row jumped up and were ready to throw some fists. Luckily they were subdued, but they did not like it. None of the baker fans got up but the soccer players were also ready to fight. Had a fight broken out it would have been all out chaos.

 Overall it was a game of name calling, miscalls and foul play. Another loss for this seasons Avila men’s soccer team. next year they will be better so they say. Eventually it has to happen. every game played is a chance to get better, an opportunity to improve and set goals as a team: to make goals. They may not have won many games this year but they do have the highest GPA of the sports program several years running though. There’s always next year boys, I’ll be there to cheer you on as usual. 

Avila Cross Country

By Curtis Dunlap

Eagles Cross Country Soar to the Finish

“People can't understand why a man runs. They don't see any sport in it. Argue it lacks the sight and thrill of body contact. Yet, the conflict is there, more raw and challenging than any man versus man competition. For in running, it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability, with brain and heart to master himself and his emotions.” –Glenn Cunningham. Your Avila eagles ran at the Gary Stoner invitational hosted by Central Methodist University this past weekend. Saturday was a chilly day, windy on the cross country course. “The course was hilly and tough but it was a good challenge for us at this point” said Will Ennis, current number one runner. Will finished with a time of 28:26 (which is a 5:40 per mile pace!) placing 51^st overall and first for Avila. Second to finish for the team was K.J. Nigg in 62^nd place with a 29:31. Third and fourth for the team was Curtis Dunlap, returning runner from last year and Tyler Bunton. Both finished with a time of 30:42 placing 72^nd and 73^rd. no score was awarded because five runners are needed to score.

 The women’s team despite only three runners, the girls ran fairly well. Tiffany Zinn finished 36^th with a time of 20:34. Joanne Kessler finished 43^rd with 21 flat and Katie Noland finished 60^th at 22:32. Eden Woodburry was suffering from leg pains and did not run, Karli Lapointe was also out due to heart related issues. Making 5 runners, but not this race, it still offered good practice and overall it was a decent race and a step in the right direction for this young sport.

 “we’re just trying to get in shape for conference now, we just need to keep taking care of the bodies and practicing hard” said coach Dave Denny who has coached at Avila three years now. With many years’ experience Denny is one of the greatest peaking coaches in the nation. He coached world record holder for the mile, Joe Falcon as well as Olympian Matt Tegenkamp. “With what we have we’re looking at beating a few more teams at conference than last year and gaining some experience. Next year we’re hoping to have a few more runners and have everyone run over the summer and build mileage.”