Hilltop Views (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Page: 4 of 12
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41 SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2,2015 | HILLTOPVIEWSONLINE.COM
Shedding light on conflicts of adding recreational lighting
-FROM PAGE 1 -
The seemingly simple so-
lution.’ Adding more lights
around the outdoor sports
fields and courts. However,
the seemingly simple solution
is proving not to be so simple.
Michael Peterson, vice pres-
ident of Facilities, said the
challenges with adding lights
include:
♦ Providing an electrical
source for power
♦ Light cost and installation
♦ Low profiles to minimize
visual obstruction
♦ Developing a new policy
addressing time of operation
& schedules of fields
♦ Cost of light operation
♦ Damage from unauthor-
ized use of fields
♦ More playing time stress-
es the condition of the grass
fields
♦ Competition with mini-
malistic irrigation schedules
♦ Potential complaints from
neighboring residence halls
and neighborhoods
Currently there are only
lights around the track. And
the those who live in the
neighborhood surrounding
the university would like to
keep it that way.
Edward Esquivel lives close
to St. Edward’s. He says that
lights and night games and
especially excess traffic would
disrupt the neighborhoods
“tranquility in the evening.”
“Residents have — put up
with’ is not a good word for
it, tolerate’ is not a good word
for it — ‘have been accom-
modating,’ Esquivel said.“We
know there’s a campus there,
and students. But I think that
would really be pushing it,
with lights and having night
events on campus, I really do.”
As far as St. Edward’s is
concerned, there may be
more benefits to adding
lights around campus.
“Students have told us each
year, during our end of year
assessment, they would pre-
fer to play intramurals dur-
ing the week, however, due to
limited amount of daylight,
we cannot accommodate this
request,” Director of Campus
Recreation Andy Lemons
said.
Scheduling without lights
and a lack of practice fields
has forced Campus Recre-
ation to deny new club re-
quests for Ultimate Frisbee,
Quidditch, Women’s La-
crosse and Cricket, Lemons
said.
While Campus Recreation
is deeply affected,
the university’s
NCAA teams also
have challenges due
to inadequate light-
ing.
The outdoor
sports athletes on
the tennis, soccer,
golf, baseball and
softball teams have
to sacrifice more
of their class time
during the week to
play under the hot
Texas sun.
Lights would allow for later
games, which in turn would
allow for more students, par-
ents and fans to attend the
games outside of their class
schedules and work days,
baseball Head Coach Rob
Penders said.
Sometimes, the baseball
and softball teams have to cut
late games and doublehead-
ers short because of the lack
of lighting. This ultimately
impacts the scores of the
games.
Peterson says lights are
a future possibility for the
volleyball courts and recre-
ational field at Teresa Hall;
the practice soccer field; the
apartments; and the basket-
ball half court at the Satellite
Chiller Plant.
For the varsity sports ven-
ues, the game soccer field,
baseball and softball fields,
tennis courts and practice
soccer field are all possibili-
ties for lights in the future,
Peterson said.
However, as far as a time
frame of light expansion, Pe-
terson says it is “unknown”
when this will take place, but
adds that “student safety is
paramount.”
Approved in 2011, the
Campus Master Plan identi-
fied the university’s priorities
by using feedback from all
campus constituents (stu-
dents, faculty, staff and the
Board of Trustees), Peterson
said.
“Lighting could be added
to an upcoming Master Plan,
if it is determined that it is
necessary and beneficial. Any
decision would also need to
meet building codes and ob-
tain all appropriate city ap-
provals,” Peterson said.
The St. Edward’s Recre-
ation and Athletics depart-
ments are currently exploring
the Master Plan to address a
variety of concerns.
“Without lights for our
recreational fields, we put
our club sport and intramu-
ral athletes at risk, we limit
our students’ recreational
opportunities, and we miss
the chance to improve the
healthy experiences of our
campus,” Lemons said.
7 THINK THAT WOULD
REALLY BE PUSHING IT,
WITH LIGHTS AND HAVING
NIGHT EVENTS ON
CAMPUS I REALLY DO."
EDWARD ESQDIVEL,
LIVES NEAR SED
Bittersweet: Women's soccer finishes season with tough loss in Sweet 16
SABRINA ROHWER/HILLTOP VIEWS
The women’s soccer team lost on Nov. 19, 1-0 to Dallas Baptist.
By AMANDA GONZALEZ
@AmandaDG620
The rematch of the season
finished with a season-end-
ing loss for the St. Edward’s
University women’s soccer
team.
In the Sweet 16 round of
the Division II NCAA Tour-
nament, No. 5 St. Edward’s
lost 1-0 to conference rival
No. 2 Dallas Baptist Univer-
sity (DBU) in Bellingham,
Washington.
“The game was a close one
— we got scored on early
and that affected our mental-
ity in the game. At half time,
we re-grouped and then we
dominate [d] the second half.
Unfortunately we were un-
able to score the tying goal,”
women’s soccer Head Coach
Nick Cowell said.
Earlier in the season, at the
Heartland Conference (HC)
championship on Nov. 8, and
in regular season games on
Oct. 15 and Sept. 24, DBU
was the winner. This time,
in the third round of the
playoffs on Nov. 19, history
would repeat itself.
Despite seven different
scoring attempts in the sec-
ond half, the greatest scoring
opportunity came
with less than five
minutes left in reg-
ulation, after a foul
on DBU resulted
in a penalty kick
for SEU.
The HC Player of
the Year and senior
captain, defender
Katie Donahue
stepped up to take
the penalty kick,
which did not find
the back of the net.
In the past five seasons,
both teams have been on the
winning side. Last year, SEU,
this year, DBU.
For Cowell, this is his fifth
Sweet 16 appearance in the
past 10 seasons, and seventh
consecutive season being se-
lected to the NCAA Tourna-
ment. SEU also earned the
NSC A A Team Academic
Award again.
“We are proud of our team’s
consistency ... Our athletes
excel academically while also
representing the university
on a national level in soccer,”
Cowell said.
After winning two shutout
victories against nationally-
ranked teams in the first two
rounds of the NCAA Tour-
nament, the SEU women’s
soccer team finished their
season with losses to only
three different teams. They
finish the season at the Di-
vision II South Central Re-
gional Championship with a
record of 14-6-1.
“Overall the season was
a good one ... The most im-
portant thing is that the team
improved from the begin-
ning of the season to the end.
We had many freshmen and
sophomores who got lots of
playing time which should
hold our team in good stead
for the future,” Cowell says.
"OVERALL, THE SEASON
WAS A GOOD GOOD ONE
... THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING IS THAT THE TEAM
IMPROVED..."
HEAD COACH NICK COWELL
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Hilltop Views (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 2, 2015, newspaper, December 2, 2015; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1006927/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting St. Edward’s University.