Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Come on, dude. Where's your mayor's apparel?
[00:00:02] Speaker B: Dude, we're champions, celtics.
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Come on, man.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: We're champions.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Come on.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: We're champions. I know. I've been really good this year of wearing EMA's purse. Okay, I guess I'll. I guess I'll take it off. So sorry. Sorry, Matt.
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Uh oh. Uh oh. Uh oh. Boom.
Look at that. Look at that.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: And welcome back to the official Emmaus athletic podcast in the nest. I'm your co host, Shane Douglas, here with my fellow co partner, Matthew Thompson. How you doing, buddy?
[00:00:38] Speaker A: I'm good, Shane. How are you?
[00:00:39] Speaker B: It's great to have you as my sidekick.
My co host.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: We're both sidekicks.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: Yeah, we're each other sidekicks. Great to be back. It's only been a week. We didn't have a sabbatical this time, which is great. Still get a little bit of hate from that. But either way, we appreciate you guys. We really are listening, making us a part of your daily routine. If it's in the morning at 09:00 a.m. you're listening to it live, or if it's, you know, during your morning routine on the way to work, sitting on your couch before you go to bed. Shout out to Andy Fessler. Love you, Andy. Give him a. Give him something. Ah. Give him the doo doo doo thing.
Boom. Andy Fessler. Shout out to Andy. Love you, dude. And he's always showing us some love, and so is Mary Ellen and everyone. That whole Festler household love them, so. But I just, you know, I really love Matt is every time we go to a game or there's an activity going on on campus, and family's in town of our athletes, and either they recognize or parents or people. Oh, they're the podcast people. They're the talk people. The people who talk.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: They talk about sports. Oh, yeah.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: I listen to you. I love it. So thank you.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: I know you, but I know your voice.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
Yeah. I thought you were. I thought you were prettier on. On camera. Either way, we're so thankful and we're appreciative of everyone.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Showing your love, support. So continue to continue to be involved, subscribe, like, share, share, share, and. And just continue to pray for our athletics and our school here at Emmaus. But for today's episode, we are going to talk about.
Not too much, actually, a lot. Kind of a lot. It's been a average week for athletics. Great, great week.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Very good. Not as good.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: Yeah. But we're just me and Frank, I guess, right. So cross country didn't have a meet last week, so not much to say, but a lot of hype moving forward as they have a regional race this weekend. Let's go.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: A home regional race.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: It's home. It is. Ooh, it's gonna be awesome. We'll talk more about that later in this podcast. We also have a recap of our last three soccer matches, as well as our last how many volleyball.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Three volleyball matches.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: Three for volleyball as well. The thing is, they have double headers, and it always confuses me cause I just see one match one day. But that's not how it works with volleyball. So volleyball recap and to look ahead for both volleyball and soccer as we prepare for conference and regionals and hopefully maybe a little bit of nationals.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Hopefully some nationals.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: We already know cross country are dogs.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: Dogs.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: And they go into nationals. Will volleyball or will soccer or both join them on that journey? Yes, look ahead to that later in this episode.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: But we also have a fun interview.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: One of our avid supporters of the college. So keep an eye out for that later in the episode.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Yeah, we will get to that halfway through.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: But, Shane, before we continue the episode. Come on, dude. Where's your mayor's apparel?
[00:03:57] Speaker B: Dude, we're champions.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: Celtics. Come on, man.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: We're champions.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Come on.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: We're champions. I know. I've been really good this year of wearing. Amazing. Okay, I guess I'll. I guess I'll take it off. So sorry. Sorry, Matt.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Uh oh. Uh oh. Uh oh.
[00:04:11] Speaker B: Boom.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Boom.
Look at that. Look at that.
Emmaus University.
Boom. Whoa.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: And now you're off brand. You're off brand. Look who's.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Oh, no. I wonder what. You hit the crew. I wonder what's gonna happen.
[00:04:30] Speaker C: What?
[00:04:30] Speaker B: No. Shut up.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Emmaus University. In case you guys haven't seen the most recent announcement for our school, we have become Emmaus university.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Yes, sir.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: With the approval of our new master's program in Bible and ministry. What an exciting time to be an eagle, Shane. What an exciting time.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: I mean, we say it at the end of every podcast, but it is truly exciting to be an eagle. Today, yesterday, the next week, the next year, the next five years. It's an exciting time to be here on our campus, involved, supporting the school. And the thing is, Matt, a lot of people, of course, have been hesitant, have been weary of the name change. But the phrase that is going around is, you say it, you say it. I'll just say it's same mission. No, same.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Same mission.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: We just totally.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Mission. New name.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Same mission.
New name.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Right. So nothing has changed here on our campus.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: The only thing that has changed is the addition of a Bible and Ministries masters program.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: It's not even just Bible and Ministries masters program. It's just a master's program, which is. So we have it. So, to clarify, we have been approved to carry graduate level programs. Of course, the first one. The first one we're gonna do is in the Bible.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: The roots of our school.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: It still is the roots of our school. Doesn't matter what the name is.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Does not matter the name. The Bible is interwoven. Every single thing that we do.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Yep. And the thing is, Matt, when we were told about the name change early on, early on, pretty much was a day before.
And there's a lot of fun stories of Easter eggs and whatnot, people stumbling cross the name on accident. But that's not important either way. When we were told, I was a little hesitant, for sure. And it's taken me a while to process the name change and everything within Mays university.
I don't like saying dropping the Bible or getting rid of the Bible. That's not true.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: It's not true at all. That's not true at all.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: So, like, essentially, the word. The word Bible is not here, but at the core on our values and in those classrooms and in our worldview. And what we're teaching has not changed at all. The Bible is still part of it. The gospel, the scripture is still there.
So I'm attached. I am attached to the word bible. I am on that side. You know, it's like captain America, team cap, team iron man, like silver warrior here, but I'm definitely attached to the word bible. And I had to learn that. I had to learn that. Why am I attached to the word bible? Map? And I came across, or I came across. I figured out I had a revelation of such that it was a pride. It was a pride issue. I was proud to be from Emmaus Bible college. I still am, of course. And really.
Exactly. And for us, in a roommate, we see that most. We see that most of standing out being a Bible college, and we can be over here in the corner and say, hmm, hmm. Yeah, we are a bible college. You know, better than others, but you over there. But it's the truth. As much as we like to play fun with it, it is the truth of our conversations typically always go as, yeah, but we're a bible college, and we're smaller intentionally, and we're better than. We're better than others. Right. At the end of the day, there's a lot of good christian schools.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Very many out there.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: A lot of good christian schools. Yeah.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: Christian schools, Bible colleges, whatever they are.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: And we know what we got here.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: And, of course, we're super proud of it, proud of our name and the standout. But like I said, we're in the corner where nobody's giving us those looks. And the change wasn't for enrollment.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Nope, it was not.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: Change was institutional for the name change to better, better explain, better explain, better.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Describe of who we actually are for, you know, for 30 years, we've had more than just Bible degrees, which our Bible degree is so important. Everyone at Emmaus, regardless of what major they are in, majors in Bible and theology. But we also have our tent making degrees. We have an avenue to provide and offer other degrees, like business, like counseling, psychology, like nursing, like pre professional health, teacher education is a big one. And so since 1994, we have been more than just the Bible college. And a lot of people even, even yesterday, just found out that we offer more than just ministry and Bible degrees. And so the name reflects more of the identity of Emmaus that we are. You know, we are a university now that emphasizes the Bible. The Bible is in everything we do. And you're able to get professional degrees.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Exactly. And the thing is, with the name Emmaus university and what it represents, what it stands for, Emmaus itself has not changed. Emmaus is actually in the Bible.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: It's a very, very biblical name.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: The word Bible is not in the Bible. Emmaus is in the Bible.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: It is in the Bible.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: And the story has not changed. For our mission here to train and equip young believers about things concerning Jesus, 24 27, if that's through, obviously, we want students to come here to be involved in ministry and academics for athletics. That has not changed one bit. And it will never change.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: It will never, ever change.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: And we need to have faith. We need to have trust in the higher ups, from top down to president boom, who runs the school, to Anita Jennings, who cleans the school, that when we do walk away from our core values, these people will leave. And our alum friends of the school, you have to know at least one person that is still employed here and went and trust them and know where they're at in their walk. And that the. The day, if the day comes, and.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: It won't, it will never come, that.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: We walk away from core values. We're gone. This podcast is over. Because, host, we're one, we're two of many people who will leave this school. And then at the, at the bottom university, university is. Is a word that better represents our institution, our academia, more than a college would.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: And because we have a robust catalog of degrees, a lot that you just said.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: And given that we just started or been approved to have a graduate level.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: So exciting.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: So exciting, we're able to upgrade the name to university.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: And this is going to help in a lot of ways. We don't want to stay on this a lot too long, but since this is an athletic podcast, but it's going to help in a lot of ways.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: A lot of ways.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: Some being missional and ministry wise, there's a lot of graduates of the school either that go into ministry overseas, here abroad, or here in the states. And it's hard for them to get in countries because they have a diploma or transcript that says Emmaus Bible College. This will help. This will help our graduates go and complete the great commission. And then this is also going to help our graduates who want to go into the secular world to use their professional degree as an avenue.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: To bring in the Bible. And it's recently because of our woke culture.
[00:11:49] Speaker A: It's unfortunate.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: There's a stigma against the word Bible and Christianity, and people don't want to hire christians. They want to hire people who are more woke, who are more in trends of the culture of society, and where it's going. And where that's going is further away from Bible, further away from Christianity. And that is not where Emmaus is headed.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: And that's not the reason why we change our name again. Don't. Don't misconstrue or have a false conception of, oh, that's the reason they changed your name, is because we're adapting. We're adapting to this world culture. No, not at all. There are plenty of valid reasons why we're doing that, and that is a reason that's gonna. That helps with the name change. We are still Emmaus University. We still have the Bible centered and everything. Everyone still goes to chapel four days a week. Everything is the exact same. And it's. It's been a little frustrating hearing all these people whining about it, but at the end of the day, the core of whatever the name is, the core is the same. What we teach is the same.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: Yes, sir.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: It's what we've taught for 84 years. Everything is the same. And it's so encouraging and so exciting for this new era of Emmaus University, because we are now one of the only universities out there that has so much Bible requirements. Everyone still, like I said, everyone's still double majors in the Bible. That is what we are. That is who we are. And this is only going to go and help us grow.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: We can't be too sad or too hurt from the name change of us moving away from Bible College. And what I encourage everybody out there, and I understand your hurt or your confusion of this. I get it. I was where you're at.
Look at yourself. Look at yourself and check yourself a little bit and ask yourself, why are you mad about it? Are you mad because of the pride, maybe the ego? Because that was me. That was me. I was very proud of the name Bible in our name, because I loved showing it off, floundering it around like, ooh, look at me, Bible college.
And I want you guys to reflect on that, reflect on why you truly are upset about the name Bible college.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: It's your name, even if you. Cause there are plenty of people that aren't.
[00:14:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And the name doesn't represent the core values of the school, but. And what I want to encourage everybody as whole is don't be upset about the name change away from Bible College. Be encouraged and be excited that there is a christian university, Emmaus University, that is in our nation. A university in our nation, that has the values that we have.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: Yes. And is so Bible centered and Bible focused.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: That is huge. That is huge.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Huge. So we're excited.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: And with that change, we have a new color scheme, which we're super excited for. Our new colors. We have navy. We have kind of a beige gold, as you can see. And we have baby blue as our accent.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: That's baby blue.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: That's gonna look so cool.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Which will be mostly used for athletics.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: So really cool with that. But I am excited for Ms. University.
It's hard to. It's gonna take a while to get used to. I'm still. I'm still, like. I still missed a bio. I still missed a Bible in the name, but.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: But the Bible says still in there.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: It's still there.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: Still there.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: It's still there. A lot more to say about this subject, but we are boring your time.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: If you. If you have any questions, please reach out to Chad Cunningham. He is the director of our advancement. He's actually Will's father. He encourages those conversations, and he's willing to talk to anyone about pretty much anything.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Especially when you give money to the school and become a talent club member.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:30] Speaker A: That aside, Shane, we have some games to cover.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Yes, sir.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: Starting off with.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Yeah, take a breather.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Soccer, Shane.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: After the national coaches poll came out for division two and we were ranked the number five team in the country.
Some not as fun things have happened after that. It was not.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: We just gotta be frank. There was not a good response.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: There was not a good response. We played three games. We traveled up to Grace and Great Lakes over the weekend. Michigan in Michigan, two big, big regional games.
One of those teams is going to. We're going to have to go through one of those teams to get to the regional championship and we're having to go through the other team to go to nationals. But we played Great Lakes last Friday and unfortunately, 20 loss, we ended our seven game winning streak or seven game shutout streak turned around, played grace the next day and ended up losing who was also ranked 8th. And we lost three to one.
And then on Tuesday we went down for a rematch against Spurgeon, who's ranked number ten at Spurgeon and lost five to one.
Shane, you were part of the vol of the soccer team, volleyball team, soccer team for a few years.
When you're in this position, like when you had, when you, when you perform so well, I mean, we were eight, two and one. And then, you know, we've had three consecutive losses. Like, what's your mindset? Like how, how do you, you know, find the good and kind of get out of this kind of rut that we're in? Yeah.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: I'll tell you what, it's not. It's very hard to find that good.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Right. The boys are, they're kicking themselves.
[00:17:18] Speaker A: They are.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: They know they didn't play a good game. Like if maybe the other team, maybe the fans are like, man, you guys really tried. You played your heart outs. But the players know how much effort they truly put in. The players know what went wrong. And if they don't, if they don't, coaches included, we gotta go somewhat. There's gotta be a meeting. They gotta go back to their drawing board and figure out what went wrong. Because I'll tell you what, Matt, this is extremely Uber talented roster. We have this team and if they can't make a far run this year and I don't want to put any pressure on anybody, any coaches or players. And I apologize if I, if we are for we have in this season, we know we have in the past and we don't want to because we're.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Just two guys that have our opinion.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Mean, we're the media.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: Nothing.
[00:18:00] Speaker B: We are, we are the media here at Emmaus University.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Emmaus University.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: So.
But I don't, again, I don't want to put that pressure on them. But this, but you, we would have to go back to that drawing board and figure out what's going to happen. This is a team that can go far.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: And I don't want to say I can stay here and say they're a national bound team. They have the talent to compete at a national level. And they do. They truly do. But we can't get there unless we do the small things first. And we had to build from that. Build from that. And this whole season looked like they were building. They were building. They were building and then they hit a wall.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:18:38] Speaker B: So to respond from that is going to be huge for this upcoming, for this upcoming games this weekend and the following into, especially because the next three.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Games are super important.
[00:18:47] Speaker B: It's true. And then following into conference play, tournament and then hopefully into when we go into regionals, our response is critical.
[00:18:55] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: And that's what, that's what is my best advice or what I would say is, is what will help you move past these games is how you respond.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: And you can't, has to be good. You can't, you can't really look too much at these losses. It sucks. It stinks. The fans on either side are saying what they're saying.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: But, you know, you guys know where you're truly at as a team, where your skill is, where your strengths and weaknesses are.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: Let's get there.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Let's get it. Let's get it. We say it consistently over and over. We don't have next year and we know, we know some of the players aren't going to be around next year. We have hope some will stick around. Louie and, but thank you, Emma. But.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: We, we have time is now.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: The time is now. And like, I stumble. I made myself stumble with so many jokes.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: At least, at least this came losing when it came. At least this came. At least these, this bump in the road came now and not next week and not the week after. At least there now we can take these next three games before we go into postseason and figure out what we need to do to get back up to that level that we were at. Because it's not like we were playing, you know, bad teams and running over them like the three games we played, you know, top ten team, three top ten, you know, two top ten teams and one who's right outside the top ten and we're right there. Cause we've, we've been playing super well against great competition and we just need to find that next step, that momentum to continue us moving the direction we wanted to go for the conference tournament and for the regional tournament and hopefully to go to nationals.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: It's a weird thing to say, but it's good to get punched in the face.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: It is.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: And of course there's some teams that have undefeated seasons and no Matt. He would. This guy attacked me earlier in my cube.
[00:20:44] Speaker A: You attacked me.
[00:20:44] Speaker B: No, I didn't. I was sitting there minding my own business. You're like, the heck, man? That was my arm, not my head. I don't want to paint Matt in a bad. Wow.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: I literally just offended you, man.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: We're like, you threw me what I do and try to dig me out of the hole.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: What hole?
[00:21:02] Speaker A: I'm just joking. Okay. Anyway.
[00:21:03] Speaker B: No, no. What hole?
[00:21:04] Speaker A: I'm saying you painted me as bad guy. Actually, he's not that bad.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: No.
Soon that. This is their neck for you listeners on. On whatever's not YouTube. I'm like hugging the. Get off me. I'm hugging the mic stand right now. Eric Rasmussen would kill me if he was still here.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: Our listeners that don't have the visual.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: Of the podcast, Matt always hits.
[00:21:25] Speaker A: No, you hit me too.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: There's gonna hear that they don't know who hit.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Who?
[00:21:31] Speaker B: He hit me.
[00:21:31] Speaker A: No, Shane hit me. No, you did not.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: You gotta watch YouTube to find out.
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Yeah, Shane's quit hitting me.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: I have no idea where we're at, but soccer team guys, I just want to encourage you. Courage you. You have this year. You don't got next. And you know what you got to do. You know what you gotta change.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: Go find it.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: It's good to get punch in the mouth in the middle of the season. Especially before important games conference play. Know that you are not unbeatable.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: No.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: Yes. But you are a great team that is gonna go beat great teams. You already have shown that.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: We know. We know where you're at. We know how good you are. Now it's time to prove it.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Okay. These games, regular season doesn't matter too much, of course, where you stand. And if you're able to make the tournament, we've made the tournament. We can go to regionals, we can go to conference. We've made it. Now how are we going to respond there? How are we going to respond there? Honestly, the rest of the season. Scrap it. It doesn't matter.
Rankings doesn't matter.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Does not matter.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: You can be ranked one in a nation and then drop your gun.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: We've seen happen already.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: Don't win the whole thing.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: Nope.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: It doesn't matter. What matters is winning the last game of the season.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: Yep. When. And then winning the next game. And then winning the next game. And then winning the next game.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: So. And, of course, we're talking about it within the sport context. We know what truly matters.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: We do.
[00:22:50] Speaker B: Which is Jesus.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: Okay. In the sports context of winning a game, honoring him on the field. Don't want to get too far away from it. Right. But winning that last game of the season, it's always important. It's a champion. It's a champions mentality.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: And going with that, like, these three games have been super important because, you know, in these three rocky, rough losses, that's really showing these guys where they stand is in themselves, is in soccer. Or is it in Jesus?
[00:23:21] Speaker B: And it's the same for all of our sports. Yes, it's the same for our cross country team, which they have an awesome race this weekend. We'll talk to. We'll talk more about them as we go into the looking ahead.
But cross country looks hot. They look good this year. I'm excited to see them race against people at their level.
Not to get into that too quickly, but what you're saying just now, volleyball. Volleyball's been killing it. And is not to use soccer as a. As an example, but soccer laying an egg, lack of a better term, and really getting punched in the face, which might be really good, hopefully really good for their growth in rest of the season. Volleyball has.
[00:24:05] Speaker A: I mean, that's what happened to us when we won our regional championship in basketball. We got punched in the face right in the tournament before we went on that big run.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Volleyball was kind of punched in the face earlier in the season. And every game that goes by, they get better.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: Oh, boy, do they.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: Just better and better and better and better. They. The thing is, I don't know why, but I feel like in a volleyball world, there's a lot of talk. Yeah, a lot of talk around every team. Every team. Like, even us, maybe us. I don't know. Every team is like. There's a lot of chirping of, like, who's good? Who's. Who's overrated later, the other, like, earlier this season. We won't go into details. There's a student section chanting overrated to our girls. It's like, I wonder what the final score of the game was. 30, of course, but us.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Oh, wait, we won that.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: The thing is, there's a lot of talk going around and.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Yeah, they're.
[00:24:51] Speaker B: Soccer was ranked five, volleyball ranked eight. Maybe they should be five. You know, maybe they should be higher because they're killing it.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: Oh, dude. Holy cow.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Three and oh, last three games.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: Three and oh, three. Amazing.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: Last three games.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: Undefeated in regionals, undefeated in conference. Still.
Still.
Is he gonna press it? Is he gonna press it?
He pressed it, but yeah, huge, huge weekend. Volleyball.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: Volleyball is now 15 and 415 and four. Shane. Soccer was eight, five and one.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Yes, 15 and four start for volleyball is the best since 2018. And cross country started 18 and.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: Crazy, but yeah. Three massive wins this weekend. They traveled up to Michigan and played grace along with soccer. Grace ranked number nine. We're ranked number eight and 30. Sweep. Our girls did to sweep regionals. They beat every single regionals team in the region. Give them something.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: Give them something.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: What else you got there? Is that the only two things?
[00:25:59] Speaker A: That's crazy.
[00:25:59] Speaker B: That's it. You don't ever use your mic anymore. I miss hearing your voice, but, yeah, we got you hooked up again.
[00:26:05] Speaker A: Zero victory against Grace to sweep regionals. And then on Tuesday, we had that doubleheader like you talked about. They moved some games around.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: There's just one game. Been one day, one game.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: They moved Friday's game to Tuesday for the other school because there are some things that were going on. But played Calvary and then played faith.
Both rematches from games that we won early in the year. Beat Calvary three to one. Huge game. And then the big one beat faith again to sweep the season series three one. It was such a trophy in here.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: What the heck?
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Such a great showing by the girls, by the ladies. It was just amazing. They are playing really good right now, and they are right before they have three more games left in the regular season before we host the conference tournament.
[00:26:53] Speaker B: That's gonna be.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: But, man, it's been. It's been a fun season to watch.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: We're hosting conference. Yeah.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Yep. We're hosting conference. It's gonna be awesome. But, yeah, the volleyball team has been playing lights out, and it's been super duper encouraging to see that.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: I'm looking at his notes.
I'm super excited for volleyball. I mean, there's. There's what, what, you know, what you say, really, that explains everything, is just the record. 15 and 415.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: And 415.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Two of those fours coming from larger schools.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Two, no, three. Two of the losses are from any I schools. Two of the losses are firm. Top.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: We lost a Judson, which is d one.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: Bethany, which is in the IA.
[00:27:36] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:27:36] Speaker A: Yeah. We lost a crown in north central, which are in.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: What's it called you, Mac there.
[00:27:40] Speaker A: D three. Yeah.
[00:27:40] Speaker B: Yeah. You Mac and their north central is pretty good.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Yeah. In the U. Mac rankings, and I.
[00:27:46] Speaker B: Would love to run it back with crown.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:48] Speaker B: So. Wow.
Impressive. What you guys don't really know is essentially, this is them beating everybody on our level. Everybody on our level in competition.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: We.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: We're winning. We're winning, and we're winning. Not just close games, like, these games are over, you know, when they start.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: I mean, of those 15 wins, only three of them been five sets.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: And the rest have been either four or three sets.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: Cause they did struggle at the beginning of the season. They got punched in the face, and they had to be. They went up two sets and then dropped two sets and then be able to win the fifth set, which has, you know, helped our. I think has helped our women's team grow mature as players, as athletes, as well as bring them together as a team to help them learn to play together. Because we have three freshman that we brought in to help with the rotation and everything and being able to have substitutes and what coach Hannah and coach Megan have done in substitutions as well as the lineup has just been just flawless this latter half of the season, which is great. Fantastic. It's a great time to be hot. It is great time to be hot going into conference. But the same thing we told the soccer, you got to carry that momentum in there. You know, soccer, they got to be able to recoup, regroup, and then attack. Right. Volleyball, continue. Don't let up.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: Like, you can't just ride that momentum. You have to ride that momentum and continue to let out, keep getting better.
[00:29:11] Speaker B: Who cares if you're 15 to four? Really awesome. Good accomplishment. Thank. Good job, girls. But it's not going to matter if you lose first game in the conference.
[00:29:19] Speaker A: Exactly. You know, drop that first conference tournament game, you know, you're. Then you're what? You're fighting for fifth place. You drop that first regional game, you're done. Yeah, you're done.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: You don't want to be someone that looks back at your career. Maybe it's your last season or whenever you knew you had the chance, you had the roster to go and say, what could have been? What could have been. I wish we did this different. Right. Don't be saying that.
[00:29:43] Speaker A: Matthew's 2018 senior year. I know, I know.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: Don't be saying that. Talk about your accomplishments, which hopefully is winning that last game of the season.
[00:29:52] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: Right. Oh, and doing so by honoring Christ on the court, because there's nothing better. There's nothing. Honestly, truly. And I mean, this like, sincerely, there is nothing better than stomping an opponent and being able to fellowship with him.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: Before or after a game. And when I say stomping, it could be a close game. It could be not a close game. Doesn't matter. But what, I mean, what I remember from being on the soccer team as a manager all my years is the fellowship we had with some of the schools, especially Calvary University, same with basketball, with us.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: And Calvary would hang out before and after the game. It was really cool. And while still being ultra competitive against.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: Each other, the sourness is always coming from when Christ is not honored.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: If that's coming from you, maybe you overhearing a fan or a team or a coach say something just, just out of pocket so bad, it's like, come on, what are you.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: Come on. Do.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: Come on.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: And the thing is, you would always say crit, like coming from a christian university. Christian college. Bible college, you know.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:58] Speaker B: So honestly, the name doesn't matter too much.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: No. And I'm not.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: Not to get back into it because we talked about that way too long, but the name doesn't matter because we go play christian schools all the time.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Matt, they're not Christian. There's some. Not Christian. Yeah, it is what it is.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: Yeah. They're cursing us, the fans are cursing.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Parents are cursing, which is what happened.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: Over telling our players to kill themselves. Sorry, this is getting a little explicit.
[00:31:18] Speaker A: But that did happen.
[00:31:19] Speaker B: But it's like you'd be surprised at what is said on the court as.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: An athlete and like how I always say athletics or does not build character, it reveals character for players, for coaches, for fans, everyone. Yeah, everyone.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: It's not the name, you know, it's the core.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: It's the core. Yep.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: When that's the same as a person. Right. It doesn't matter. When we, when we go see, man, we're getting, we're, by the way, when we go and see Jesus on the judgment seat, he's not going to judge us off of who we think we are. He's not going to judge us on who other, how other people perceive us. He's going to judge us on who.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: We are and what's in here truly.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: Are to the core.
And that's going to be the same for, that's the same for all of us. It's the same for, you know, you can bring that into this institution, change, but you can bring that into athletics, too, is you're not going to be judged on, you know, winning the last game of the season. You're not going to be judged on that. On, you know, laying an egg at a game and playing really bad. You're going to be judged on how you respond.
[00:32:23] Speaker A: How do you glorify at the core?
[00:32:24] Speaker B: How exactly? And how you glorify Jesus. So all in all, to say our volleyball girls are. Our women's team is killing it. They're doing a great job killing it. Our soccer team needs to respond strong.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: And I think, I know that they can and that they will.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:39] Speaker A: And they just need to take that step and do it.
[00:32:41] Speaker B: But in our cross country team, dogs. Dogs. But to encouragement to all of you athletes who are listening to this, either if you're part of these teams or not, or family, friends, respond with Christ. Respond in humility, because you're not going to. You're going to be. We will be judged at the end of the day, and it's not going to be off of who you think you are. If you think you're a good person or what other people think of you and perceive you, maybe you go to church and you serve all the time, but behind the scenes, you're nothing. You don't do anything. You don't. You don't fellowship with Christ. You will be judged on who you're at and how do you respond? Athletes, women's team, our women's team, our men's team are for soccer, volleyball, cross country.
Respond with a Christ like attitude in these upcoming games.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:33:30] Speaker B: Finish the season strong.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: Finish it strong and try to win.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: Let's win that last game of the season.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: So with that said, speaking of finishing strong, I just love that because, you know, in our interview that we're about to talk about with president and founder of the life group, KT Leverance, who's also in May Aslam. Yep, he talks about that in his interview. And I think you guys are really going to enjoy the interview with KT Leverance. And welcome, everyone, to our interview today. We're so excited to have KT Leverins joining us. KT, thanks for joining us. You are an alum of the school. You're also a huge advocate of Emmaus, huge partnership with the life group, being a platinum sponsor for our school, which we're so thankful for. So thanks for joining us today.
[00:34:11] Speaker C: Thanks for having me.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: We really appreciate it. But, yeah, I just want to jump into this kind of talk about you and your experience at Emmaus and how that's kind of helped you with your life group, as well as being an elder at great adventure and also kind of seeing how your daughters have come through Emmaus, but, yeah, tell us about your journey to Emmaus. We'd love to hear that.
[00:34:29] Speaker C: So I had loving parents that said, we really want you to go to Emmaus for at least one year.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: Love that.
[00:34:34] Speaker C: Probably the best thing they could have, could have done, because it was just a really transformational time in my life. So I think as I look back, the biggest thing that I took away is, you know, Christ is the foundation and God builds the church on that foundation. But I feel like Emmaus was a pretty initial bricklayer, so to speak, you know. So just having that basic Bible knowledge has just helped me so much. So my parents loved me enough to say, hey, we really want you to go there. So I graduated a semester early and got over here as quick as I could and just really enjoyed it.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: That's awesome. And your dad was a teacher here for quite a while, which we're super thankful for his years of service here. But, yeah, through that time of experience here, can you tell that really shaped you into going into the life group and kind of how that started and everything.
[00:35:22] Speaker C: So in addition to that biblical knowledge, I initially planned to just come for like one and a half years. I graduated early, got that semester, do one more year, and then before three and one was a thing, you know, that was my plan. So I was going to transfer over to Loras and finish up my pre med and eventually secondary ed at that time. But I just loved being here and I was given opportunity for leadership.
[00:35:48] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:35:48] Speaker C: And that's the big thing. In addition to Bible based, just being trained up as a leader, and I use that every day. So got that extra year in and was blessed to be head ra and be trained by Stephen R. Witter and others. And that's in addition to the knowledge of the Bible. That's what I use every day in my business, in my family. Is that leadership? Christ like leadership.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: That's really cool. Can you tell us about life group and what you guys do over there? Because we see the banners all over campus, especially in the gym and on the soccer field. So we'd love to hear a little about that. Yeah.
[00:36:20] Speaker C: So 21 years ago, I was teaching high school science at Tri State Christianity shadow Tri State. Yeah, that's right. Presented with a chance to switch into this and to start this business quickly, learn that it's just as much educational, it's just a little different demographic, so to speak. So we really focus on trying to help people have purpose and peace of mind with all of their finances and so we're big on helping them transform their approach from maybe a scattered financial view to just a real hone panoramic plan. The big picture, see how it all comes together. And that's as simple as paying back student loans to saving for retirement or college for my kids or whatever. It all comes under that financial umbrella. So that's our passion, is to help people find that purpose and peace of mind and their finances.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: That's exciting. 21 years strong of doing that. That's a huge blessing, and you guys have been a huge blessing to countless people out there and helping them navigate that financial journey of how do we get our finances in order and everything like that. You're an elder here at great Adventure Church, which is one of the assemblies in town. Can you talk a little bit about that and what you do over there, as well as kind of how your time here kind of prepared you for being an elder? Because a lot of people take eldership for granted with, it's a hard task and it's a hard job.
[00:37:36] Speaker C: Well, I love it. I was growing up here in Dubuque. I remember doing small groups at ACC back in the day, and Dave Glock was one of the best at discipleship that he was, along with my dad. And so Dave Glock invited me to join his small group when I was in about 6th or 7th grade. And that was big for me because, you know, most kids go with their parents, right? He said, kt, come over to our place, join ours. When I was there, he would then give me leadership. So he would say, I want you to lead the prayer meeting tonight. And I'll never forget, I finished leading the prayer meeting. He's so kind. He looked at me and said, well, you're going to be ready to be an elder in just about two years, you know? And of course he was joking, but I grabbed that. I'm like, okay, if that's where God wants, then that's where the ambition to lead in that way was really started. And so pursuing that and then through Emmaus to have that same kind of discipleship and training it just early on, I knew that I really wanted to be a shepherd. So that was cool. Then getting here and then just the example of discipleship, I mean, you see it every day, whether, you know, you're seeing it, and then it dawns like, oh, man, they're discipling me, right? And so that model is a passion. Now, I love spending time with, particularly men and just spending time building those relationships. Christy. And I love doing the time with couples and doing marriage counseling. So that's a big part of what we do. But I'll never forget, it seems like every time I'm blessed to preach the word, I refer back to what I learned at Emmaus. So just again, that base knowledge of the Bible comes into, I think, almost every sermon, if not a specific passage, at least the studying, interpreting and applying the Bible.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: Yes. And I love what you said earlier about how that first year, that first year and a half that you did, how that was the foundation and how everything you do, you kind of look down on that foundation and you look back because it really grounded you in everything that you do and whether it's being an elder, being a parent, being a husband, being in the life group, it's just so encouraging, like having that foundation in Jesus and in scripture. But, yeah. So you have two daughters, one who is here, Allie, and then Amanda. Can you talk a little bit about their experience and how you've seen them being shaped over these last one to four years?
[00:39:54] Speaker C: Yeah, you bet. Similar to my parents, we gave our kids lots of options of where they get to come. We asked them to spend at least a year here at Emmaus. I'll never forget Amanda coming in close to her second semester, close to the end of that, and saying, dad, I really feel like God wants me to pursue a four year degree in youth ministry. That was really cool, you know, to see the Lord. She knows that occupationally, she probably has other things to pay the bills, but at the same time to say, hey, I think it's going to help my ministry. And so wrapping up this youth ministry degree has been great for her. It's been great for us. She's been serving in the great adventure youth group all throughout. And the things we've learned from her and her professors and hopefully been able to share, it's been great. So that's Amanda's journey. And Lord willing, she'll graduate this spring. And then Allie started last year as a freshman and same kind of thing, finished up the year and said, hey, I want to keep rolling. I want to keep doing this. And so I love what they're learning. I love the training they're getting, not just in the Bible, but in, again, how to relate to other believers, how to serve other believers. So I'm really, as a dad, I'm just so proud of how they're kind of spreading their wings. They're finding people to join in ministry, they're finding people to serve in ministry. And you can't, I don't know that you can teach that your parenting goes so far and then you need others like Emmaus to come alongside us.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:41:18] Speaker C: And really help take them to the next level and take them to the next experience of growing in that.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: So encouraging. Wish there were more parents like you out there. But no, we really appreciate it. But, um, you life group, and you guys are such a huge advocate for our athletics teams here. We are so appreciative the support of that. But also, you were quite the football player back in the day at Hempstead.
[00:41:40] Speaker C: Quite as a good way to put it. Slow as molasses. But I. Feisty as a hornet, I would say.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: Your time there, did you tell me your experiences when you were playing football and kind of how that also prepared you for life down the road?
[00:41:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I think probably the hard way, but I think the biggest lesson I learned was this idea of audience of one doing all things to the glory of God. And I'll never forget being too wrapped up in pleasing the coaches or making sure I wasn't making the mistake to look stupid. Right. And as I look back, my biggest regret is just not letting her rip. So I would go even to other scenarios and just have so much fun just, you know, crushing people and letting her rip. And then I'd get to the team and because I didn't have Christ as the main focus now suddenly it was. There were too many eyes, right? So I was so excited about two weeks ago, my son and I was blessed to assist in coach, and we were on the sideline and he was going through similar kind of things and being able to say, aaron, the Lord has gifted you. Let her rip. You got an audience of one. It doesn't matter if you screw up. It doesn't matter what these people think if you're giving your absolute best. And what was exciting is then he and Ollie, his teammates just really started to roll and it was so cool to see. So those are the lessons that I learned. Now, the other takeaway is my yellow football pants, and these are glorious. And I wore those all my years of Emmaus inner murals. So that was. That was very impactful. I say that my, you know, Christie came to a lot more games thanks to that.
[00:43:22] Speaker A: But, yeah, even seen through that with, when you're able to coach Aaron, you know, you guys were able to get third place, which is really cool. And I just love the theme that Tri said has had about, you said audience of one for his glory.
[00:43:31] Speaker C: Right.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: And just how, as we talk on this, on this podcast so often, like, that is the core thing. That is so important that you have that mindset that you remember. You know, you are playing for him, you're playing for your school, you're playing for him. You're not playing for yourself. You're playing for your teammates. And that's just something that, you know, is less common, unfortunately. But it's. It's so huge and it's so needed, especially not only in sports, but in all areas of life, which is so cool how, like we always say, like sports, there's so many things that correlate outside of the game that have give you the same ideas, same models. And that's the one beautiful thing, if you can do it the right way.
[00:44:05] Speaker C: Right?
[00:44:05] Speaker A: So that's.
[00:44:06] Speaker C: That's the bridge to making eternal value, isn't it? Tom Cook is leading us in a Bible study on the men we need. And just the idea of, hey, will we be serious for stepping up and being the men God has called us to be? And Aaron's in that with me, Sam's in that with Tom. And we're just growing like crazy and able to take it back to exactly what you said. Okay, Aaron, be the men we need on the soccer field. That this has eternal potential when you live for a play. For audience of one.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: Yes, KT, one more thing. If you could talk to us about, you know, how Emmaus students and Emmaus graduates have been super impactful within the life group because you guys do a lot of fantastic things with internships with our students, letting them do stuff with you. But if you could go into a little bit of that, that'd be awesome.
[00:44:51] Speaker C: So the internship program has been a serious blessing for us as a business so well over a decade. Just having different men and women studying business and other things, too, like leadership, ministry. But having those students be able to come and pour into our business while we try and pour into them, it's been huge. And what I see most is I see hard working leaders with integrity. And those three things are just so pivotal. And I've never had an intern or an employee where I was worried about the serious, confidential nature of what we do now. We have safeguards, we have screensh. The integrity is just so pivotal. So to be able to get to know them and get to know their hearts and their integrity, to have them come with recommendations. But then, secondly, just the work ethic. Again, I don't feel like I have to look over the shoulder of near as many interns as I would in other settings.
[00:45:46] Speaker A: So huge, right?
[00:45:47] Speaker C: And think about that as an employer, about just the mindset that brings me peace of mind. And then finally, it's just the leadership, you know, again, many come to mind, and you start naming, you better name them all. But just to think about the men and women that have come through with excellence and leadership, where they make everybody around them better. And that's part of why we're so passionate about the sports program, because a lot of the key people that have come, have come through the Emmaus sports program. And so to see them develop their leadership on the soccer field or the basketball court or others across country, and then come into our organization and impart that leadership and wisdom with others, it's been huge. So I just feel like any organization would be so blessed by including Emmaus interns, whether that's student teachers or business interns. I just think it's huge.
[00:46:38] Speaker A: Yes, very huge. So, so important. But, KT, we're so appreciative of you joining us today on the episode, being a huge supporter of the podcast of athletics teams of Emmaus in general. But you guys check out the link in the description to learn more about the life group. You guys definitely need to talk to them. If you need any help, they're there for you, and they do lots of great, great things.
[00:46:58] Speaker B: Man. The Lord is good, dude.
[00:47:00] Speaker A: All the time.
[00:47:00] Speaker B: I had no idea that you guys were gonna be talking about stuff like that. And we were. We just got into it right before the interview, so. That is so funny.
[00:47:07] Speaker A: I know. I love being an audience of one.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:47:10] Speaker A: And how it just happened, that. That's what we were talking about, man. It is. The Lord works things out. It's so cool.
[00:47:17] Speaker B: So cool.
[00:47:17] Speaker A: But what a great interview we had with KT. Super thankful for what an advocate he is for not only Emmaus, but Emmaus athletics, you know, with being alumni, with sending his two daughters here. Like, we love that support. And so thankful for the life group, being a premier sponsor of athletics. Like I said in the interview, make sure you guys check them out, because they have a lot of fantastic things going with their company.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: Yes, sir. And if you ever want to, you know, be part of the talent club in any way, just. Just hit us up. Send an info request to a mass. Call a mass, whatever it takes. If that's through the podcast or what. We would love your support.
[00:47:53] Speaker A: We would.
[00:47:55] Speaker B: Athletics, but also just as an institution. As an institution. Especially now with the name change, a lot of excitement going on, and we don't. We want. We do want to cater people. Well, I mean, I do. I don't want to. You know, hurt anyone's feelings of the name change. And I understand and I respect people's opinions. I do, truly, because I was there. I was there. But I had to really reflect on myself and ask myself why. Why am I truly upset about this or sad or hurt that, you know, the Bible isn't in the name anymore? And at the end of the day, Emmaus.
Emmaus is biblical. And the story still Jesus literally walked the road.
[00:48:32] Speaker A: Emmaus.
[00:48:33] Speaker B: And we still want our students to do that with Jesus with the core.
[00:48:36] Speaker A: Values, still will continue to always do that.
[00:48:38] Speaker B: But with that, let's get. What games do we got? Matt.
[00:48:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Shane. So big weekend upcoming. We are hosting the cross country regional race.
[00:48:47] Speaker B: Let's go.
[00:48:48] Speaker A: So exciting.
[00:48:49] Speaker B: I'm really excited.
[00:48:50] Speaker A: Last race before the national race. So one thing that we've talked about is one thing that's so exciting about this race is this is a race against other teams in our conference, in our region, at our level. So I'm really excited to see how especially the guys team performs at this race and how, you know, the girls team performs and all of our individual runners because, you know, this is preparing us for nationals upcoming.
[00:49:16] Speaker B: I was supposed to go on a work trip this weekend, or I am. I am going on work trip this weekend. I was going to leave, like, right when I'm done with. With work and everything and go, but I'm postponing that just to be here at this race. And I'm excited, but I'm excited to see the race against.
[00:49:33] Speaker A: So excited.
[00:49:34] Speaker B: All of the schools in our. In our circle. Yeah. And honestly, it's a little taste of nationals. A little taste. National is a little too far for us, but maybe someday we get to host it.
But I'm so looking forward to see how our women's cross country team performs as well as our men's and not just individual. Honestly not. I don't know what I'm more excited for, individual times or team times? Like legit?
[00:50:00] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:50:00] Speaker B: Team times, they matching up against everyone else. See where our points are individually. See, you know, we're so exciting.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: So, yeah.
[00:50:08] Speaker B: Wait, is anyone different or new racing?
[00:50:13] Speaker A: I mean, this would be Williams first race back, so that's super exciting.
[00:50:16] Speaker B: William Kuranda, shout out.
[00:50:17] Speaker A: Yep, this will be Daniel second race. And so I'm excited to see, you know, how they perform, but also I'm excited to see how Ben just outruns the competition.
[00:50:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:50:25] Speaker A: Against our level.
[00:50:26] Speaker B: Don't, don't. Don't take away from everyone else.
[00:50:29] Speaker A: Nope. There's some great.
[00:50:30] Speaker B: Benjamin is good. Benjamin is good.
[00:50:32] Speaker A: But you got Samuel, I mean, Christian literally just pr ed. Caleb's still out there.
[00:50:37] Speaker B: And this is Matthew's. This is Matthew Hanselman's home court.
[00:50:39] Speaker A: It is his home race.
[00:50:41] Speaker B: So he knows the tricks, he knows the secret doors and everything.
[00:50:46] Speaker A: But yeah, that race is Friday and it's at four and 05:00 p.m. so please come out. Might be a chilly, outlandish. Might be a the race because, man, what an exciting year for cross country. Also on Saturday, shane, we have 69 degrees. Conference game for both soccer and volleyball. Volleyball plays Ozark Christian College at home here in the Pollard field house on the campus of Emmaus University at noon, followed by soccer. And they play at two.
[00:51:15] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:51:15] Speaker A: So volleyball's first time playing Ozark this season. Rematch for soccer after they won 20 at Ozark earlier in the year.
[00:51:22] Speaker B: Yep. And I believe the earlier match against Ozark is what match is what counted.
[00:51:26] Speaker A: Towards our director count.
[00:51:28] Speaker B: That is what the conference schedule says. That is not what our website says. But coach McHugh ensured me that the website is wrong. So this game kind of game counts.
[00:51:40] Speaker A: For volleyball but doesn't count for soccer necessarily.
[00:51:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:43] Speaker A: Incompetent standing.
[00:51:44] Speaker B: It is important for our guys to bounce back from this. Last weekend in Tuesday's match was a strong win against Ozark, so. But with all that said, a lot of excitement. Final stretch in fall sports, getting excited for winter sports. They just started some practices.
[00:52:00] Speaker A: We started practice on Monday, so we.
[00:52:02] Speaker B: Won'T tighten, won't talk too much about it. Cause this is a long episode already.
[00:52:05] Speaker A: 21 days until our first game til Christmas. Three weeks from now.
[00:52:09] Speaker B: I can't wait for Christmas.
But why you like me like that? Because I'm excited for Christmas. Me too.
[00:52:15] Speaker A: A lot of things.
[00:52:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:52:18] Speaker A: Let's go.
[00:52:19] Speaker B: But continue to pray. Pray for our athletes. Pray for our fall athletes to finish strong, to. For the ones who are injured, to heal, for our students to finish strong, too. With this. They're halfway through the first semester, which is awesome.
[00:52:34] Speaker A: It's crazy.
[00:52:35] Speaker B: Campus is awesome. The student life. Student life has been. Has been growing. A lot of excitement going on. Yes, a lot of events. So continue to pray for the institution.
Don't be worried. Be assured. Contact us if you got any questions. Be encouraged. Like we said, be encouraged. That there is. That. You know, that there's a strong christian university called Emmaus Bible College. Oh, my gosh.
[00:52:58] Speaker A: Was called rewind. Rewind Bible College.
[00:53:00] Speaker B: That there's a strong christian university called Emmaus University in our nation that has Bible to its core. And all of our students are Bible majors, so be encouraged by that.
[00:53:13] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:53:13] Speaker B: So. But continue to pray for our school, our athletes, our winter athletes as they start rolling. Yeah, and thank you for supporting our podcast and being listeners, making us part of your day. Continue to like, subscribe and support and share. You got anything to say?
[00:53:29] Speaker A: Matt I shane it's a great day to be an Emmaus university Eagle Ptn Wow.
