Northwestern Posts Record Overall Team Finish at Chiro Games
Posted on Nov. 11, 2009
Thanks to silver-medal finishes by the men’s hockey team and a coed volleyball team, Northwestern Health Sciences University recorded its best overall team finish ever at Chiro Games by finishing in a tie for fourth place with 16 points. The women’s basketball team from Northwestern also earned a bronze medal.
Nearly 600 chiropractic students descended on Cocoa Beach, Fla., for the annual Chiro Games on Nov. 7-8, 2009. The games began in 1992. Northwestern had the largest contingent of competitors with 100 students. The best previous finish by Northwestern was last year, when Northwestern finished seventh among the chiropractic colleges.
Logan College of Chiropractic ended Parker College of Chiropractic’s five-year hold on first place by scoring 74 overall team points to Parker’s 64. Life University finished third with 36 points, and New York College of Chiropractic and Palmer University’s Florida campus finished in a tie with Northwestern for fourth place overall. Finishing first in an event earned the winning school 10 points; a second-place finish was worth six points; and third place was worth four points. All events were scored on team finishes. Events that were offered included men’s hockey, volleyball, tennis, running, swimming, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, flag football, women’s basketball, men’s basketball and golf.
“I was quite proud of our overall team effort this year,” said Emily Tweed, PhD, associate vice president and dean of students. “We have never had three teams win medals, and we have also never had more than one silver finish. I think our students did a good job of blending athletics and fun this year.”
One of the most compelling stories of Chiro Games was Northwestern’s women’s basketball team, which played in the qualifying rounds on the first day of competition with just four players. They still managed to post a winning record using just four players while other teams put five players on the court, and then earned a bronze medal by winning the third-place game on the final day of competition after adding two additional players. Playing for the women’s basketball team were Miaken Zeigler, Kalista Houselog, Callie Antonsen, Lindsey Brew, Abby Reverts and Courtney Larson.
Northwestern entered three coed teams in the beach volleyball competition. A team comprised of Kristin Rogney, Kaitlin Blank, Stephen Hill, Ronald Peterson and Whitney Franklin lost in the finals to Life University. This was the second straight Chiro Games that the same Northwestern team earned a silver medal in beach volleyball. Last year, they lost to Parker College of Chiropractic in the finals.
The men’s hockey team welcomed ice hockey back to Chiro Games for the first time since 2004 by earning a silver medal. The hockey team, called the Naturals, had 17 players from Northwestern’s collegiate club hockey team playing at Chiro Games. The Naturals qualified for the finals by crushing Palmer West College of Chiropractic 8-4 on Nov. 8, and then lost to New York College of Chiropractic 4-2 in the gold-medal game. The game was tied 2-2 with 1:39 on the clock when New York scored the winning goal. They got their fourth goal on an empty-netter. Members of the Naturals who played at Chiro Games were Andrew Erlandson, Jake Bohnen, Chris Trimner, Cassidy Quinton, Aaron Howe, Phil Toft, Dan Cianni, Nick Moe, Matt Freudenthal, Jeremy Heidt, Adam Garcia, Nick Okins, Tom Policano, Jeff Bjorklund, Drew Fautsch, Giles Stifter and Nick Ongaro.
The 2010 Chiro Games will again be in Cocoa Beach in early November.