Director of Men's Intromurols Jim Gowen speaks during the intramural award ceremony in chapel April 26, 2005. Gowen said more than 17 students worked toward earning their second jackets for the 20052006 school year. ·Jell Montgomery Tipping the boll for 0 foul, freshman Ashton Long plays in the women's all-star softball game Oct. 12. "I had a lot of fun and met a lot of good girls," Long said . ·Jonothan lindsoy Jackets, points, awards motivate competitors I n the f.111 of 2005, amo ng the students who signed up to compete for an intramural jacket, 17 students returned fo r a second time to comend for one more jacket. Byearning points through participation, students were able to win various awards at the end of the year. Despite the large number ofreturning jacket-holders, Harding imramural sports were accessible to both casual and dedicated players. Some players participated for recreational enjoyment, entering only the sports they liked, while morc serious players. by participating in everyacdviry offered, were able to contest for awards such as a letter jacket in intramurals or even the Intramural Athlete of the Year Award. Intramurals at Harding consisted of a wide range of acdviries, including team sports such as volleyball, foot– ball, softball and basketball; individual sportS like tennis, tacquetball and an annual cross country run; as well as skill ac(ivities, which were recreational sports like archety, jump rope, and the football pass and punt competition. Team sports played an important role as they held the possibili£y ofearning an intramural jacket in a single sport. The number ofpoints earned by a player in each event depended on how well the individual placed. At the end of the year, all the accumulated points of a player were tallied and ranked from highest to lowest. Those wi th the highest point rotals received an in– tramural letter jacket, and the parricipam who obtained the most points received the Athlete of the Year Award in the categories of male and female. The intramural department also recognized the athlete with the highest point rocal in the skill competitions as the Skill SportS Champion of the Year. Jim Gowen, director ofmen's intramurals, said a great aspect ofearning a jacket in imramurals was that players did nOt have to win every game, but simply had to show up ready (0 compete. Few people earned more than one jacket because of the dedication, devotion and time required to actively parricipare in all of the intramural activities. On average, nve to 10 men earned a jacket from the intramural departmem each year, Gowen said. Athletes wanting to eam jackets had to earn a toral of3,000 points throughout the nine-month academic calendar. Scheduling time for the activities was a difficuJt task, sophomore Casey McDonald said. McDonald, who earned a jacket in the 2004-2005 intramural season, said rhat athletes sometimes had ro play up to nve events each week, depending on the season. "Every week is very busy, and you must be very organized to be able to accomplish the feat ofearning a jacket," McDonald said. Graduate student Cade Smith acquired numerous honors due ro his dedicarion ro Harding intramurals. Smith played intramurals since he was a freshman in 2001 , earning three jackets in four years. Smith received the awa rd of Intramural Athlete of the Year twice, as well as the Skill Sports Champion of the Year three times. "The great thing about intramural spores is that you do not have ro be a great athlete ro take part in the activities; you just have ro show up and give it your all," Smith said. Smith said intramurals led him to find many new friends. Intramurals were popular among students as 80 percent ofmen and 70 percent ofwomen participated in at least one sport offered by' the intramural department. ·BarkleyTerry and Russell K"k intramurals ( ft.
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