Monthly Archives: May 2011

Lakeland heading to Prague

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Lakeland Sports Information Director David Gallianetti is blogging the team’s trip to Prague.

In a few hours, the journey for the Lakeland College men’s basketball team begins as we head to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for nearly an eight-hour flight to London Heathrow, then a two-hour flight to our destination – Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. We’re scheduled to land in Prague at 10:55 a.m. on Sunday, and we’ll be here for six nights to play some basketball and take in all the amazing things this 1,100-year-old city has to offer. Now approximately 20 years removed from Communist rule, Prague is a hotbed of culture and history in Central Europe, and we’ve got plans to make the most of it during our stay.

The Muskies are scheduled to play three games, and will spend the rest of the time seeing the sites including the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, the Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall and the Communism Museum (to name a few). Some of the 44 people in our travel group will likely check out the 10th annual Fringe Festival, a nine-day mix of comedy, theatre and music with companies from across the world. We’ll also be there for the final week of the 66th Prague Spring International Music Festival, a showcase for the world’s best symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles.

The team making the trip has a roster of 11 student-athletes, including nine returnees and two seniors who recently graduated, Trevor McKown and Sam Schroeder. Coaches, family members and some Lakeland alumni and friends round out the group.

The trip is through Moose Tours, which has booked international basketball experiences for teams at all levels since it was founded in 1972 by legendary Lakeland basketball coach and athletic director Duane “Moose” Woltzen. Woltzen’s son, Scott, a 1982 Lakeland graduate, is president of Moose Tours today and will be joining the Muskies on this trip.

This trip is a throwback of sorts, and many alumni who played for Moose will remember that trips to major U.S. cities and international play were a staple at Lakeland under Moose. He took Lakeland teams on trips in 18 of his 23 years at Lakeland. The Muskies played in Denmark, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands and Aruba.

One of Lakeland head basketball coach Aaron Aanonsen’s goals is giving his players the best college basketball experience possible. “We want to offer opportunities that aren’t possible with every program,” Aaron said. “Coach Woltzen made trips like these a priority, and I’ve spoken to our alumni who still talk about the value of those trips. We’re excited to be able to provide a similar experience for our players this year.”

Two of Lakeland’s 11 players have been to Canada, but no one has been outside of North America. “This will be a memorable cultural experience for these young men, and having a chance to do this with their teammates and members of their family will make it extra special,” Aaron said. “Playing against teams in Prague will be a unique experience on the court, and getting a chance to explore a city with such a long, rich history will be an incredible experience off the court.”

That’s it for our first installment. I’ll post again Sunday night (Prague is seven hours ahead of Wisconsin time) to recap the trip and get some early reaction from the players on their first trip to Europe. This is going to be fun!

Oglethorpe heading home

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Oglethorpe is on the road, all the way to Central America. They’re checking in with occasional blog posts. Rising senior Andrew Steioff writes.

It is currently 5:30 in the morning and we are waiting at our terminal to head back home to Atlanta. After a week full of non-stop sightseeing and traveling, it seems we are all sleepwalking through the airport and even the wonderful coffee of this country can’t help wake us up.

The last few days have been filled with a couple days at the beach, zip lining, and a game against the Costa Rican national team. The beach resort we stayed in was one of the most serene and relaxing scenes we could have hoped for, with the rainforest stretching all the way up to palm trees and the stunning beach. The surrounding landscape was mountainous so it felt as though we were enclosed in our own beach paradise separated from the rest of the world. While swimming in the pool the first afternoon we experienced a tremble and most of us really thought nothing of it; moments later we were ordered to evacuate the pool because just 40 miles away a 6.0 earthquake had taken place. Living in California in my young life, I had experienced earthquakes before but it was a first-time experience for most of my teammates to add to the list of firsts already accumulated during the trip.

The next morning we embarked on our zip-lining expedition through the rainforest canopy. We glided through the trees on 14 zip lines traveling at speeds of 35 mph on some of them. The most uneasy part of the whole experience though was standing on wooden platforms built around trees suspended hundreds and even thousands of feet above the ground. After the zip-lining we had the rest of the day off at the beach to relax and enjoy our last days of Costa Rica and its beautiful scenery.

The last day we had our final friendly game against the Costa Rican national team, only it wasn’t as friendly as advertised. The teamas extremely physical and coupled with their excessive size, the game became a little chippy from the get go. One of their best players even got ejected after throwing a elbow into the jaw of Branden Jovaag. Exhausted from a long week of travel, we did not bring our best effort and eventually fell to the team 87-64. It was amazing to play top tier competition though, as this is the team that represents the whole country of Costa Rica when competing for a bid to the Olympics and other international competition.

Overall, Costa Rica was an experience that surpassed everyone’s expectations: from the food, to the sights, to the basketball competition, to the friendly people, and most importantly the memories and companionship we formed as a team. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that everyone on this team will cherish for the rest of their lives. Saying goodbye to this country and this experience is a tough pill to swallow but the thought of sleeping in our own beds tonight is enough to ease the transition.

Hot springs, sea bass and whitewater rafting

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Oglethorpe is on the road, all the way to Central America. They’re checking in with occasional blog posts. Rising senior Andrew Steioff checks in.

OglethorpeHalfway through our excursion through Costa Rica has our team feeling cultured and a bit tired.

The past couple days have been filled with a game against the five-time defending champs of the top professional league in Costa Rica, a community outreach activity, sightseeing of an active volcano, a relaxing night indulging in natural hot springs, and a whitewater rafting trip.

Our game against Barva was highly anticipated by me and my teammates to see how we stacked up against top flight international competition. We would not be disappointed as the Barva team was one of the biggest and most athletic teams I have personally ever played against on the collegiate level. Undersized and considerably younger (most of Barva’s players were around 28 or 29 years old), we struggled to compete early as Barva jumped out to an early double digit lead. Our team once again showed tremendous heart and defensive effort as we clawed back to take the lead halfway through the third quarter, only to eventually fall to the Barva squad. Barva’s best player, a wing from Panama, was one of the most athletic and best physical specimens I have ever shared the hardwood with.

Once again Alec Pitts was named the MVP followed closely by Sam Purdy who was once again lights-out from 3-point range. Two other players rounded out the night with double figures: freshman Tyler Courson and myself.

The next morning we embarked on a community outreach activity at a local children’s center in San Jose. We came bearing gifts of candy, coloring books, clothes, and of course some stuffed “Peteys” to share with the children. Unanimously, the most rewarding part of the trip thus far was when we spent a few hours with the kids playing on the playground, with the most favorite activity of the children being carried on our shoulders throughout the playground. Not to be outdone, Coach Ponder had a record crowd as he shared with the children some of his famed magic tricks.

VolcanoWhen the time to depart came it was hard to tell who was more upset we were leaving: the children or the players. After departing the center, we began our 4-hour bus ride to the famed Arenal volcano located in the rainforest region of the country. The scenery throughout the ride was breathtaking as we climbed through the mountainous terrain to views that were dubbed “postcard worthy” by Price Hamilton. We arrived at the base of the volcano to take some snapshots of the scenery and to explore the surrounding lake.

Later that night we traveled to a resort to experience some of the natural hot springs formed by the active volcano. The resort included 11 different hot spring pools of various temperatures with the hottest being a scorching 122 degrees. The most popular aspect of the resort was by far the three water slides which we rode for a good 2 hours straight. The most popular slide had a steep 10-foot drop that resulted in a few injuries as Coach Tulowitzski claims he experienced a slight concussion and I proceeded to inflame my bursa sac in my elbow that is still considerably swollen more than 24 hours later. Overall, the hot springs were a great experience that helped restore our sore bodies as well as relax us from our long day of travel.

At the lakeToday we began our day with a whitewater rafting trip through the rainforest. With some views that seemed to be taken straight from the “Jurassic Park” series, we traveled more than 30 miles downriver that we all enjoyed except maybe for Alex Vital whose screams of terror from the rapids echoed throughout the forest. We ended our trip in a traditional lunch that included everything from chicken, beef, to fresh sea bass which I found to be extraordinarily delectable.

Exhausted from our rafting workout and a long day in the sun, we are now enjoying a few hours of relaxation at the hotel before another great meal later tonight. Tomorrow we leave bright and early for Playa Hermosa on the Pacific coast of the country to partake in a couple of days of sun and zip lining through the rainforest canopy which has been giving Tyler Cerone nightmares for the whole trip thus far. So far, the trip has been much more than advertised and by far the best vacation I have ever had the privilege to be a part of.

Oglethorpe leaves for Costa Rica

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OglethorpeOglethorpe is on the road, all the way to Central America. They’re checking in with occasional blog posts.

My name is Andrew Steioff, a rising senior and communications major from Duluth, Ga., and a member of the Oglethorpe men’s basketball team which is embarking on a week long tour of the country of Costa Rica.

Before the trip, my teammates and I were all anxious and excited to see what the trip had in store for us. Little did we know that our first day would end up being a little hectic. We departed for the airport at 6 a.m. Monday. Needless to say, it was a little earlier than most of us were used to waking up, but our excitement had our whole team wide awake. That quickly changed, however, as the majority of us were already asleep on the plane before takeoff. The plane ride was quite turbulent and it was funny to see my fellow senior Tyler Cerone freaking out at every patch of turbulence we hit along the way.

Shortly after touching down, we ran into a major speed bump when Sophmore Alex Vital could not find his bag that he checked. Even worse, the bag contained his uniforms, shoes, change of clothes, and the majority of his spending money. After frantically searching for the bag, we came to the conclusion that a man named “Lester” had accidentally taken the wrong bag, since his was still at baggage claim.

Accepting defeat for the moment, we called Lester to inform him of the mix up and continued to go check into our first hotel, the Barcelo San Jose Palacio, which is one of the nicest hotels most of us have ever stayed in. The view from our windows overlooks the whole city of San Jose.

We proceeded to have our welcome lunch with a selection of many of the native foods. We figured out quickly that we would be spoiled as far as meals went on this trip, considering our plates were overflowing with some of the best food many of us have ever had, along with the freshest fruit I have ever tasted. During lunch our tour company showed us a powerpoint presentation, including many interesting facts about Costa Rica along with the itinerary for our trip. We then had some time to hang out in our rooms before dinner and our first game later that night.

Dinner was not to be outdone by lunch, continuing the trend of amazing meals, and as a team we devoured the selection of fresh veggies, fish, and according to Christian Molinet, the best chicken dish he had ever tasted.

The last thing on our schedule for the night was our first game against Escazu, a professional team that finished second in the top professional league in Costa Rica. Even after a whole day’s worth of international travel, we came out on fire against Escazu, hitting 12 3-pointers in the first half. Lead by Brandon Jovaag and Sam Purdy, we raced out to a 49-31 lead at halftime.

We more or less hit a wall in the second half as Escazu adapted to our pace coupled with the fact we only hit two 3-pointers in the half. We stayed strong as a team, though, hitting clutch free throws down the stretch along with key defensive stops to squeak out a win 74-71.

Alec Pitts was voted MVP of the game by our opponent and awarded the trophy of a red Powerade.

Satisfied with our win, we were eager to get back to the hotel and take advantage of some well deserved sleep, considering we had been going basically non-stop since 6 am that morning.

Tomorrow we have a city tour scheduled followed by a game against the team that finished first in the top Costa Rican league. We are all anxious for the sights and for the challenge of some top-flight competition as we continue our trip tomorrow.