Bryan College Triangle

by Kaity Kopeski
Editor-in-chief

Current rugby team (stripes) showed their skill by beating rugby alumni (solids) last Friday at the Homecoming match/Photo courtesy of senior Zach Bradshaw.

Just two matches into preseason, the Bryan rugby club has already set a school record with 2 wins.

The team played its first match against Chattanooga Men’s Club on Sept. 25 winning 22-12.

The team’s strategy was to the run the “hammer,” or slow ball, which the team did well. According to junior Clayton Schmidt, rugby player and team secretary.

The team played again this past Friday against alumni for Homecoming weekend.

Both Schmidt and caption Josh Jones, a senior, said the atmosphere was friendly, although the competition was heated. Read full story »

Catherine Rogers
Staff Writer

This past Saturday, the Bryan College Rugby Football Club played its final match of the season at Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.). Before the game had even begun, things didn’t go as planned.

While Lee took the victory, it was one of toughest matches the Bryan Rugby Club has ever fought against the University. Photo courtesy of Lana Douglas.

“Lee is going through some transitions as far as coaches and secretaries and so they didn’t really have good communication with us,” said Phillip Kohler, president of the Bryan Rugby Club. “They didn’t tell us where the field was until the night before the game.”

Michael Palmer, associate professor of communications and the rugby club’s faculty sponsor, drove to Lee University on Friday evening to find the playing field, according to Kohler.

“He even got the police to try and take him to where the rugby fields were, and they couldn’t find them [at the university] because the fields where we played were 10 minutes north of Cleveland,” said Kohler.

However, the surprises didn’t end there. When the Lions arrived at the game, Lee forfeited the game. They did so for three reasons according to senior Josh Jones, the team’s lock. They had no official referee, the field was not appropriately marked and they allowed alumni as well as their coach to play in the game.

“They pulled in some really big 25-26 year old guys and so it quickly became just one of those informal rugby games—let’s get out and have fun—which would have been fine if they had just communicated that ahead of time,” said Kohler. “We could have pulled in some alumni too and had some extra players and just had some fun with it.”

Read full story »

By Billy Findley
Sports Editor

Last Saturday night at 8 p.m., four worship teams conducted one of the most elaborate worship events ever held at Bryan College. The event, Respond, was orchestrated by Seniors Timmy Sunday and Alicia Schulze and junior Patrick Roberts.

The purpose was to lead a worship service unlike any other, a service that would promote action, not just singing, and would evoke a prayerful mindset, not a passive gesture of piety. This was the goal of these three Bryan students, and the result was a thing of beauty, according to Sunday.

Sunday, Schulze and Roberts contacted no fewer than 30 churches in an invitation to join with Bryan students to seek God and pursue justice in the world. They also made arrangements to receive food donations for the Chattanooga Rescue Mission and money donations for Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company in Rwanda.

Respond' last Saturday night. The event was geared not only toward worship through songs but also through charitable actions. Photo courtesy of Sarah Becker.

Read full story »

by Lana Douglas
Staff Writer

“It’s the barbarian sport played by gentlemen,” said Vickie Gesellschap, the referee’s wife, at Saturday’s rugby game between the Bryan Lions and the undefeated Sewanee Purple Haze (Sewanee, Tenn.).

Bryan's rugby club clashes with Sewanne's Purple Haze. Triangle photo by Lana Douglas.

The final score of the match was 42-7.

Injuries prevented four of Bryan’s starters from playing. However, Bryan was still able to score more points that any other team Sewanee has played this year, said senior Phillip Kohler, president of the Bryan College rugby football club.

According to Kohler, the struggle to get possession of the ball coupled with multiple smaller penalties, made it difficult for Bryan to advance on the field.

“We played very competitively,” said Kohler, “I was hoping the score would be a little bit closer.”

After the match, Brian Stringer, Sewanee’s head coach, complimented Bryan’s progress as a team.

“I remember the first time we played Bryan College; when they were a ramshackle bunch,” said Stringer, “…they [Bryan] are a very competitive team…and I have nothing but praise for them.”

by Billy Findley
Copy Editor

Senior Melissa Longoria with her little pal of four years, 10-year-old Selena DeLuna. Photo courtesy of Phillip Kohler

Pals is a PCI ministry dedicated to befriending and mentoring children in need. Throughout each week of the semester, members of this team travel into neigbourhoods, trailer parks and government housing in Dayton and other residencies in the southern Tennessee area. According to Pals team leader senior Phillip Kohler, the ministry’s mission is to match children (little pals) with specific college students (big pals) who will spend at least a few hours a week hanging out and getting know each other. According to PCI Director Ben Norquist, most of the children are recommended by people in the community.

Read full story »