Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with sophomore athlete Emma Kircher. Kircher plays defense for the women’s field hockey team and also ran track up until this past season. 

Unfortunately, a fractured back has put her track career on hold, at least for the time being. When asked about short term goals over the next few months she said, “My top goal is having a full recovery and playing at 100% with no pain.”

So far, Kircher’s athletic career has been highlighted by making the MAC Championships for track. She also has made academic honor roll and played in every game for field hockey. Not only has she played but has also been one of the top scorers on the team. 

When asked about what makes her a great athlete, Kircher said, “I stay positive, I am very encouraging to my teammates and a good communicator on the field. I put extra work into practices and outside of practice.”

Outside of field hockey, Kircher’s other interests include hanging out with friends and watching sports, whether it be local sports, Eastern teams or professional. Recently, she has especially been following the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team. She is involved in the kinesiology club and the Nest club and is also team chaplain.

Kircher is majoring in exercise science in pre-athletic training. With early morning practices, classes, lifts, physical therapy for her back and work, it takes a lot of discipline to manage and stay on top of everything. She emphasized working ahead on assignments for classes, going to the library to get work done and keeping a planner to stay organized. 

Eventually, Kircher plans to use a fifth year of eligibility as she will be continuing her education with two years of graduate school. During her second year, she would like to have a coaching role on the field hockey team. 

As far as the future for Kircher, one thing is for sure. With her work ethic and devotion to academics and sports, she will be successful in whatever she puts her mind to.

Iga Swiatek first became popular when she won the 2020 French Open as a teenager. She was unseeded at the tournament and did not drop a set en route to winning her first grand slam title. After winning a major, Swiatek cooled off for quite some time, but after an incredible start to 2022, the drought seems to be over.

Swiatek came into the year with little confidence after not performing well at the majors last year. However, throughout the tournament, she found her rhythm as she made the semifinals of the Australian Open. 

Starting in Doha, Swiatek began to play unbelievably well and started a 17-match win streak. Since then, her ranking has been rising with each tournament. Swiatek started the year ranked ninth in the world. Now, after compiling a record of 26–3 on the year, she has reached number one for the first time in her career. 

What makes this so significant is not only the personal achievement of becoming world number one at the age of 20 but also that Swiatek is the first tennis player from Poland to ever hold the top spot. 

It became official when Ash Barty from Australia surprised everyone when she retired from tennis at the age of 25 earlier this year. Barty had just won the Australian Open and said that she had to step away from the sport because she could not push her body anymore. With Barty’s retirement and being taken out of the ranking system, it meant that Swiatek would automatically become world number one.

Swiatek had just won Indian Wells to send her to number two in the rankings. She had started with a few tight matches at the beginning of the tournament. Ultimately, she found her form and ended in dominant fashion, beating Maria Sakkari 6–4, 6–1 in the final. 

Swiatek’s amazing performances continued in Miami. She did not drop a set the whole tournament and destroyed Naomi Osaka 6–4, 6–0 in the final. This was huge for Swiatek because it showed that she truly was the woman to beat and she deserved to be number one in the world. 

It has been an incredible year so far for the Polish number one, and she has won all three of the Masters 1000 level events on the women’s tour, becoming the first lady to ever accomplish this. Swiatek will hope firsts like this continue throughout the year as she heads to the clay season, which is her preferred surface. 

Sources: WTA Tennis

Nobody was expecting Taylor Fritz to win his first Masters 1000 tournament, especially when his opponent was Rafael Nadal. Nadal up until the final had a perfect 20-0 record on the year, had won three titles and won a historic 21st Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open.

Nothing seemed to suggest that Fritz would stop Nadal from getting to 21-0 and a record tying 37th Masters 1000 title. Things looked even worse for Fritz as footage emerged hours before the final of him collapsing and barely being able to stand during practice. The doctors advised Fritz to forfeit the match but Fritz refused to give up the opportunity to play the biggest match of his life. 

Many, including myself, were expecting a routine win from Nadal. The first game proved that it would be anything but. From the very beginning, it was clear that something was not right with Nadal. In his previous round against Carlos Alcaraz, Nadal had called the trainer to work on his ribs and back. It did not seem major at the time, but obviously the pain was still bothering the Spaniard. 

Fritz, sensing that Nadal’s movements were compromised, used his powerful forehand and angling backhands off the court to build a 5-1 lead in the first set. He was able to close out the first set 6-3. 

Nadal called for the trainer and apparently was worked on in the locker room and given pain killers for his injury. The medicine seemed to kick in and Nadal got his first lead when he broke Fritz for 2-1 in the second set. 

Fritz immediately dug in to get the break back and kept his nose in front for the rest of the set. Leading 5-4, Fritz had a match point that Nadal saved. Nadal ended up leveling the set and having two break chances of his own in the next game. Fritz again was able to shake off the unforced errors and dig out of the game for 6-5. 

Eventually the set went to a tiebreak and the score stayed close in the beginning. It was Nadal that had a chance to set up two set points but he missed an uncharacteristic swinging volley. Fritz settled down and won the next two points to seal the victory at 7-6 (5) for his biggest title and became the first American since Andre Agassi to win the event. 

For Nadal it was very disappointing because injuries have plagued his whole career and it was tough to see him hampered again in an important match. An MRI later revealed that Nadal had a cracked rib and will miss four to six weeks. 

For Fritz it was a proud moment as he did well to hold his nerve in the big moments and become the first young American to break through at a big event. Hopefully, for Fritz he will be able to continue playing well and continue to make it deep in tournaments like Indian Wells.

March Madness has been a great tournament so far for both the men and women’s tournament. Throughout the tournament there have been a fair share of upsets and thrilling games. At this point only the National Championship game is left for the women, while the men are at the Final Four stage of the tournament. 

For the men, the first upset of the tournament came when the Kentucky Wildcats lost to the St. Peter’s Peacocks by a score of 85-79 in overtime. Most people, including myself were shocked to see the Wildcats bail out of the tournament so early. Credit goes to the Peacocks, as they stayed composed throughout the game and played well in overtime to complete the upset. 

The Peacocks proved that their win against the Wildcats was not a fluke as they followed up the upset with a 70-60 win over the Murray State Racers. In the Sweet 16 they performed another upset against the Purdue Boilermakers, winning by a narrow margin of 67-64. Their dream run ended when they came up against the North Carolina Tar Heels, losing 49-69. The Peacocks made NCAA history, becoming the first 15 seeded team to make the Elite Eight. 

Another upset, though not as big, came when the Arkansas Razorbacks beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Sweet 16. The score ended up being 74-68, and in my opinion, was one of the better games of the tournament so far. Gonzaga was not the first number one seed to fall but the Baylor Bears losing to North Carolina was not as surprising. Auburn and Arizona were other high seeds to be upset early. 

The Final Four are set for the men and the remaining teams are North Carolina, Duke, Villanova and Kansas. Out of the remaining, Duke and Kansas are favored to win. 

The women’s tournament has had fewer upsets and surprises, in terms of seeded teams. However, a lot of the games have been very close and coming down to the final seconds. 

The Creighton Bluejays were the lowest seeded team to make a deep run in the tournament. The tenth seeded Bluejays overcame Colorado, second seeded Iowa and Iowa State to make the Elite Eight. The game against Iowa specifically was a nail biter and came down to the final seconds as they edged out a 64-62 win. They were the lowest seeded team to reach this point of the tournament but the run ended when South Carolina defeated them 80-50. 

Another great game in the women’s tournament was in the Sweet 16 when North Carolina State and Notre Dame played. North Carolina State had an incredible come back in the game, as they were able to rally in the fourth quarter to defeat Notre Dame 66-63.

The UConn Huskies are a team that have been in a lot of tight games so far. Three out of their five games have been decided by five points or less. 

Their opponent in the National Championship will be the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks have for the most part dominated all of their games, with only one win being less than a double digit victory. The Gamecocks will be favored against the Huskies, but with how the Huskies games have been going, one could expect the Championship game to be a tight affair.

Sources: NCAA, ESPN

This past season for the Eastern’s men’s basketball team was the best in the program’s history so far. The Eagles compiled a record of 21-6 throughout the season and made the championship of the MAC commonwealth tournament. They lost a heartbreaking championship game by four points to Hood College, whom they had beaten both times in the regular season. 

This season was particularly special because it was the first time in Eastern’s history that the men’s basketball team made the NCAA tournament. In the first round they found themselves up against the University of Rochester Yellowjackets.

The Eagles started strongly and played a good first half. The Eagles were shooting well at just over 60 percent and were protecting the ball, with few turnovers. The Yellowjackets were shooting even better at nearly 75 percent at one point in the first half. This helped them to build a substantial lead that the Eagles had to chip away at for the rest of the half. After ending the first half on a solid run, the Eagles turned an 18 point deficit into only six heading into the locker room down 44-50. 

The second half unfortunately was a drop off from the level in the first for the Eagles. They shot at just over 22 percent from the floor and turned the ball over more in the second half. While the Eagles dropped off, the Yellowjackets still shot at over 50 percent and made twice as many free throws as the Eagles. The score stayed fairly close at the beginning of the second half but the Yellowjackets eventually had a 15 point run to put them up by 20 about midway through the second half. The Eagles eventually fell 65-88 to the Yellowjackets.

The Eagles top scorer for the day was forward William Blet, with 18 points. Sam Gallardo also contributed well for the team with 13 points. Jaron Fairweather was great from downtown and finished with 11 points. 

It was a disappointing ending for the Eagles, especially after the amazing season they had. That being said, there is a lot to be proud of from this season and by far this is the best men’s basketball team Eastern has ever had. Another positive is that the Eagles are a fairly young team and the majority of the starting lineup will be returning next season. One would have to think head coach Dan Pruessner will be excited to get back to work next season with this talented group and see if they can take it a step further next season. 

There were many people questioning whether there would be a tennis season this year or not a few months ago. That question has since been answered as Eric Houston has stepped in as the interim head coach for the mens and womens teams this season. Houston also coaches the women’s basketball team at Eastern University. 

For the past couple of weeks the Eagles have been practicing indoors to try to be as prepared as possible for the approaching season. Their opener is against Rutgers-Camden on Friday March 11, 2022. The Eagles will be away for their opening match and out of the 12 matches they have for the season, only four will be played at home. The home opener for tennis will be March 25, when the Eagles take on Penn State Brandywine. 

The women’s team is expected to have a rebuilding year. Luckily, enough women joined to have a full team this year. That being said, the women’s team will be looking to get some match experience and build for a great 2022-2023 season. Hopefully with some matches under their belts, some wins will come for the women’s team this season as well. 

The women will be led by Sophomore Gracehope Stevens. Stevens will have a lot of tough matches playing in the top position but she has a year experience playing at first singles and has been improving her game in the offseason. What is exciting about the women’s team is that of the six players in the starting lineup, only two of them are seniors. The rest of the roster is either a freshman or sophomore, which is exciting for the future of the team.

The men’s team situation is the exact opposite. Of the starting lineup for the men, only two will be on the team for next season. The men will be led by Senior Bryan Levi at first singles. Levi had a couple wins in the top position last year and will look to use that experience to add to his wins for this season. At second singles for the men will be Senior Cole Patti. Patti has played at the first, second, and third positions throughout his career and will be returning from a right shoulder injury that sidelined him last season. 

Another senior on the men’s team that will certainly make an impact is Senior Nick Wool. Wool is expected to play third singles this season and his experience over the past few years should help him to win a lot of matches for the team. 

Both teams will be exciting to watch this season for different reasons. Be sure to come out to the Eastern tennis courts on March 25, if you would like to support our school’s tennis teams in their home openers.

After the 2021-2022 season many Philly fans were pleasantly surprised with how the Philadelphia Eagles season turned out. Many analysts predicted the Eagles would not only have a losing season, but had the Eagles winning five games or less. Not only did the Eagles have a winning season of 9-8 but they also made the playoffs, shocking the doubters and even some of the supporters of the organization.

Now after a disappointing loss in the Wildcard playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, many believe the Eagles can be a super bowl contender for next season. For that to happen a lot has to change over the offseason in terms of filling holes in the roster as well as making smart decisions with trades and draft picks. 

Luckily for the Eagles they hold three first round picks in this coming draft with the 15th, 16th, and 19th overall picks. The Eagles main needs are a solid linebacker and to replenish a defensive line that was arguably the best in football a few years ago. 

They also need to be thinking about a center to replace Jason Kelce whether that be for this upcoming season or the next. Personally, I believe it would be beneficial to draft a center this year and give him a year to learn from Kelce before throwing a new center out to start their rookie season.

As far as the draft picks go, there have also been rumors about the Eagles potentially sending two of their three first round picks to try to trade up. With this trade the Eagles could potentially have a shot at acquiring quarterback Malik Willis or defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. 

Out of the two I would love to see the Eagles go for Hutchinson. The defensive line needs a playmaker now and Hutchinson is debatably the best player in the draft. A shot to get Hutchinson is the only way I believe the Eagles should trade away two of their first round picks.

Willis is a great athlete and has done a great job at Liberty University, but the Eagles also have Jalen Hurts who is still young and developing. Hurts had great moments throughout this past season and while I am not completely sold on him, I think giving him a chance to improve would be better than giving away a first round pick for a rookie quarterback with a similar playing style.

Another position that the Eagles have improved but there is still work to be done in is the wide receiver position. One free agent that I would love to see Howie Roseman go after this offseason is Calvin Ridley. Ridley is a young receiver from Atlanta and it would certainly be interesting to see Hurts, Ridley, and DeVonta Smith on the same field, since all attended Alabama University at one point or another.

There have also been a lot of rumors about the Eagles trying to trade for Russel Wilson, Aaron Rodgers or Deshaun Watson. The hope would be that one of these quarterbacks would make them a contender for this season and the Eagles would have a win now mentality. 

Time will tell with what the Eagles do with the draft and in free agency but I think I speak for most Eagles fans when I say I do not want to see them go for Wilson or Rodgers if it means giving up a boatload of picks to get them when we have a capable quarterback in Hurts. As long as the Eagles draft a defensive end, a linebacker and get one more weapon for Hurts it should be a very successful season for the Eagles.

Sources: NFL.com  ESPN

As the 2022 winter Olympics draws to a close, the United States are behind only Norway and the Russian Olympic Committee for total medals with 19.  With eight of those being gold medals, the United States are also in third place in that category, behind Norway and Germany. Catching Norway in total medals will be a difficult task but with a couple promising events left, the United States could catch them in gold medals. 

So far the United States Olympic highlights have included a gold medal in the women’s 500m speed skating event. Erin Jackson made history when she became the first American black woman to win an Olympic medal in speed skating. Not only that but Jackson became the first American to win that particular event since the 1994 Games. 

Another gold medal came in the men’s figure skating short program. Nathan Chen was able to win the event in remarkable fashion as he set a world record with a score of 113.97, breaking Yuzuru Hanyu’s previous record. This was a huge achievement for Chen who had a disappointing 2018 Olympics, with several mistakes in the short program. Chen has continued to improve through the years and has performed very well at the World Championships the past two years. Everything came together in the short event this year for Chen, as he helped the United States earn another gold medal.

One of the coolest stories so far in my opinion for the United States was Kaillie Humphries winning a gold medal in the women’s monobob event. Humphries had won two gold medals before but never had she won gold for the United States. The former Canadian gold medalist became a citizen of the United States recently and became the first Olympian to win gold medals for two different countries. Humphries completely dominated the event but what was more special than the performance was the reaction of Humphries. Seeing Humphries excited to not only win another gold medal but to win for the United States and the emotions that she had was truly unforgettable. 

The United States will have an opportunity to add a gold medal when the women’s hockey team plays Canada in the final. So far the women for the United States have been playing well and have beaten both the Czech Republic and Finland 4-1 to play for a gold medal. Winning against Canada will be no easy task as Canada has scored 21 goals through their last two games. 

Another opportunity at gold will come with the men’s curling team. Currently, it is not looking good for the United States, especially after their round robin loss to Italy. There is a scenario where they will not make it past the round robin stage. However with a clutch shot maker like John Shuster, anything is possible and the men’s curling team should not be counted out for gold just yet, especially after winning gold at the 2018 Olympics.

With many events yet to take place, the United States could definitely add a significant amount of medals to their totals. No matter what happens during the remainder of the Olympics, the United States has a lot to be proud of with the efforts of athletes like Jackson, Chen, Humphries and Chloe Kim winning gold in their respective events. 

Sources: NBC Olympics; NBC Sports

With just one game remaining on the Eastern Eagles schedule the men’s basketball team currently has a record of 18-4 and has won the conference for the 10th time. The Eagles have won four straight games now and are undefeated at home. They have put together arguably the best season in the program’s history so far. 

Behind the team’s success is an offense that averages just over 76 points per game. Recently, the Eagles had a game where they put up 102 points against Albright. This season the men have averaged 45.6% of made field goals which is higher than the average field goal percentage against them. Other keys to the Eagles success is rebounding and turnovers. The men’s basketball team has outrebounded opponents by about three per game. They also have an average of two more steals per game than their opponents. It does not sound like that much more but when you have a team getting more rebounds, protecting the ball and shooting at a higher percentage, it is typically a recipe for success in terms of winning games. And win the Eagles have, as they have compiled an incredible 13-2 record in conference games this year.

Leading the Eagles in scoring is forward William Blet. Blet has averaged 12.4 points per game and has 261 points on the year. Blet is not just a scoring threat though, leading the team in rebounds and blocks. His defensive effort has played a huge role in the Eagles being in the position they are at now.

Another key player for the Eagles this season has been Kaeshawn Ward. He has also been one of the top scorers for the team. Ward, playing at the guard position, has put up 251 points this season so far. Ward also leads the team in assists and steals, averaging over two steals per game. The Sophomore also has the highest assist to turnover ratio on the team which has allowed for him to see a lot of playing time this season.

Sam Gallardo, who is a guard on the team and in his junior year, has also been an important piece of the Eagles team this year. Gallardo scores the most points per game on the team. As well as the points, Gallardo is one of the best three point shooters on the team and gets to the free throw line more than any other player on the team. 

What is really special about the Eastern men’s basketball team this year is the ball distribution and all of the starters putting up good numbers and playing well. There is no telling how far they will go in the playoffs, but no matter what happens this is certainly a year to remember for the men’s basketball team.