Winter Activities at OU

Erica Toussant,
Senior, Civil Engineering

Athens, OH 4 February 2013 – Athens can get pretty cold in the winter time with the unpredictable weather. While this makes walking to class undesirable, there are other activities worth braving the wind and snow for including 1) the men’s basketball games 2) Ohio Hockey games and 3) recreational skating hours at Bird Arena.

The men’s basketball program has been progressing over the last few years, and of course, last year they made it to the Sweet Sixteen. This has only intensified the atmosphere surrounding basketball season. The Ozone could quite possibly be one of the best student cheering sections. With everyone chanting together and the pep band playing classic OU songs, you can’t help but get pumped up during the game. If you want some school spirit, the varsity men’s basketball games are a sure way to get it.

Bird Arena isn’t exactly the most noticeable building on campus, but it holds some fun and exciting events. Men’s Hockey can be a pretty big deal. Though it’s not a varsity sport, opponents can be from pretty big schools across the country. It’s awesome how fast the game is played, and the drama and fights between players is an added bonus to the experience.

For a little more participation on your part at Bird, recreational skating occurs on Tuesday and Thursday nights as well as weekends. Students get in free, though skates can be rented for a few dollars. It’s a great place to go with friends, and in my case, try something new. Bird Arena is where I first ice skated. I could possibly be the worst ice skater ever, but it sure was fun. As I continue to go back every now and then, I am improving. Whether it be hockey or ice skating, be sure to dress warm because you really won’t escape much of the cold in Bird.

Recreation Opportunities at OU

Sam Williams,
Senior, Computer Science

Athens, OH 8 December 2012 – Going to college can be stressful. My experiences here have made me grow up, and with increased age comes great responsibility. Taking care of an apartment, homework, chores, and friendships takes a lot of concentration.

When under this sort of pressure, I always find that exercise relieves a lot of the stress. Athens offers a lot of opportunity for exercise. There’s Ping (with its weights, machines, track, sports courts, climbing wall, martial arts, and exercise classes of all kinds), the bike path, countless hills for hiking, an aquatic center, and an ice rink. I think that covers pretty much every form of exercise known to man.

Personally, I don’t have much of a favorite when it comes to recreation. I’ve run, I’ve lifted weights, I’ve played sports, I’ve done martial arts, and I’ve gone to exercise classes. I find that, oddly, variation in exercise type helps me keep consistent overall in working out without burning out.

If someone were looking for a recreation opportunity in Athens, I would definitely recommend intramurals. It’s a lot of fun to get a group of friends and acquaintances together and go school the opposing team in your favorite sport. It can make you grow closer to friends, give your brain a break from large projects, and keep you healthy. I’ve played both indoor and outdoor soccer as well as broomball, and I can say without a doubt that those games are some of my most cherished college memories.

Ping Recreation Center and Wallyball

Weston Martin,
Junior, Computer Science

Athens, OH 3 December 2012 – During my time here at Ohio University, I have had stressful times as the pace of courses gets busy. One of the things I do to relieve stress is workout to get my mind off of things. Lately I have been going to the weight rooms in Ping Student Rec Center and when time permits, I jump on the ergs (rowing machines) a few times a week. There are two big weight rooms in Ping and too many cardio machines to count. They also have a whole indoor track on the third floor! I think it’s safe to say that Ping Center is one of the most awesome rec centers I have ever been in.

Apart from just working out, Ping has a rock climbing wall, racquetball courts, basketball courts, squash courts, indoor soccer courts, and just about every type of court you could ever possibly want.

One of my favorite things to do at Ping though is play wallyball. Wallyball is like volleyball but instead of having a huge open court, you play inside a racquetball court with walls all around you. The rules are very similar to volleyball except for my favorite rule; you can hit the ball off the walls. Although I’m rather bad at it, playing wallyball with my friends is something that always refreshes and in a way relaxes me.

Spending Time with Cross-Fit

Colton Moran,
Junior, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Athens, OH 1 December 2012 – There are a variety of things to do in Athens Ohio, from exercise to an active nightlife or involvement with clubs that have sparked your interest. I like to spend a portion of my free time participating in cross-fit. For those of you who don’t know what cross-fit is, it’s less of an exercise regimen and more of a community of people who enjoy challenging themselves with a multitude of different workouts, both aerobic and anaerobic.

Cross-fit workouts are usually broken into three parts. First, there is the step usually skipped by many athletes, the warm up. After the warm up there is the WOD or workout of the day. This can entail just about anything under the sun, with the usually recurring skilled lifts such as a snatch, press or jerk. These workouts come in different styles, such as an AMRAP (As many reps as possible) in a given timeframe, or just base workout with different exercises set with rounds. Then after the workout comes another usually skipped section, the cool down stretch. This can be seen as more of a five minute yoga session to help with mobility.

In all cross-fit in a simple definition is a new way to workout that is based off the oldest methods from all around. For me this has been a great hobby to have and is one of the best ways to stay in shape that I have found. I encourage anyone who’s looking for a new extracurricular activity, and likes to work out to try it.

Intramural Sand Volleyball

Steve Burns,
Senior, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Athens, OH 16 October 2012 – I have participated in intramural sports throughout my years in college. I have found it to be a great way to take a break from school work for a while, spend time with friends, and get some exercise. I have normally participated on basketball or softball teams over the years, but this fall my friends and I decided to try something new, sand volleyball.

Joining the sand volleyball league has definitely turned out to be a fun time. Every Monday evening our team and three others converge on the sand volleyball courts here on campus to play for an hour or so; playing each team in our league multiple times over the 7 week season. It works out great because it seems as though all the teams in our league are in it to have fun, yet the games are still competitive and exciting.

Playing sand volleyball in the fall has also made this league quite entertaining. When the league started near the beginning of the semester the weather was perfect, games were played in shorts and t-shirts. This has changed drastically over the past month. Now the fall weather is starting to really cool off and apparently rain isn’t an issue in volleyball because two of our matches have been played in the rain. This makes the end of matches interesting because everyone is covered in cold, wet, cement-like sand. Sounds fun, right? With our last match of the season approaching, I am now looking forward to finding a new sport to try over the second half of fall semester.