Men’s A-Level Hall League (Tuesday-Thursday)

Eastern director of intramurals Kevin Linker had to be shocked to see the kind of athletes that signed up for this league because it will be a showcase of talent.

The spot of favorite to be awarded the coveted championship T-shirts, is a dead heat between two teams that consists solely of Panther football players.

“OVC Champs”, named after the football team who won the Ohio Valley Conference title in the fall, consists of the entire starting defensive for Eastern football backfield over the last two seasons (Ben Brown, Albert Brown, Chad Cleveland, George Love and Fred Miller) along with Stephen Washington (backup linebacker in 2005 and three-time basketball letterman at Jenkins High School in Lakeland, Fla.) and concludes with two jet fast wide receivers in Alfred Osbourne (lettered in basketball at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Jermaine Mobley (lettered in basketball at Deerfield Beach (Fla.) High School). While this team does lack size, I predict they will attempt to turn these games into glorified track meets and run their opponents into submission.

While the Eastern football coaching staff may be worried about possible injuries especially a knee blow out, Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said that because of NCAA off-season practice restrictions, his players are encouraged to compete in intramurals to prepare them for spring football and summer training camp.

“Our guys always find ways to keep themselves in shape in the offseason,” Bellantoni said last August. “Anything they can do that makes them faster, quicker or stronger is a positive, no doubt.”

“D-line” is a team that is correctly named, as it boasts eight current defensive linemen on the Eastern football team. Tim Kelly (lettered in basketball at Chicago Marian Catholic High School) is the only defensive starter on the squad but he will have help from fellow teammates Michael Torres (captain), Ray Meyers, Nick Kray, Aaron Black (lettered in basketball at Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School), Andre Lima, Will Hodor and Tom Kaatman. The final member of this team is a lineman that according to Bellantoni may be the most athletic defensive lineman on the current team, sophomore Pierre Walters. This team doesn’t have a player under 220 pounds and will use strength on the block and rebounding to win games.

Fans will not have to wait long to see how both teams match up. Linker has highlighted these two squads by putting them against each other to open the intramural schedule on Tuesday at 8 p.m. It is the only time all spring that these two squads will face each other and the loser probably will have to win to make the playoffs.

“Actually, I’m not surprised to see the football players in one division because friends enjoy playing against each other for the bragging rights,” Linker said. “Matching them up on opening night was completely luck of the draw with no manipulation on my

part.”

Men’s B-Level Hall League (Monday-Wednesday)

Like most B-league divisions, this league is wide open but may be taken by another Eastern football dominated team. Punter Tom Schofield and fullback Dave Campione feature a lineup that has to be favored in a seven-team league.

The “Landfill Boys” may be at a disadvantage because their roster only consists of five players and they will be unable to substitute the entire game but they do not lack talent. Before being a first-team all-OVC punter for the Panther football team, the 6-foot-4, 221-pound Schofield was an all-everything athlete at Merrill (Wis.) High School, earning nine letters in football, basketball and baseball. Schofield was team captain of his high school basketball team, was a Wisconsin Valley all-conference selection on the hardwood as well as the gridiron. This senior duo of Schofield and Campione, who lettered one-year at Glenbard North High School, might be the best in the B-level this spring.

Women’s Tuesday-Thursday League

Twelve teams have been split into two, six-team leagues and the most surprising news is the Eastern Soccer team will not be going for a three-peat as they failed to sign up a team.

The team that featured players including Beth Liesen, Audra and Morgan Frericks, Tiffany Groene and Rachel Dorfman had rolled through the women’s division the past two seasons but they have left the door open for a non-EIU athletics team to take home the title this spring.

“During the Captains meeting, I was told there are two women’s teams made up of soccer players,” Linker said. “But no, they aren’t the defending champion team.”

The team Linker is referring to is called, “Yo, Yo, Yo.” It is comprised of several underclassmen on the Panthers soccer team and will look to continue the tradition of bringing home the championship T-shirt.

One of the interesting teams in the Purple division is the “Average Joes,” who may as well be referred to as Team WEIU. The television station, located on campus that broadcasts throughout 12 counties, boasts five members of the eight-person team.

Captain Amy Smith recruited co-workers Whitney Self, Kate Henderson, Angela Taylor and Laura Fennema to play. This continues the tradition of former WEIU sports anchor Jared Brooks, who played two intramural sports for four years but failed to acquire a championship T-shirt.

“I know (my softball team) could have been there and taken home the intramural championship but we just didn’t do it,” Brooks said. “It still haunts me to this day.”

This WEIU-based team has speed and quickness with Smith, Fennema and former cross country athlete and DEN employee Julia Bourque. The x-factor will be the play of its tall, athletic sophomore forward/center Angela Taylor.

In the Red Division, the “Ballers” team is captained by Elizabeth “Libby” Tamalunis, who saw playing time at Danville Schlarman High School and whose younger sister currently plays for the Hilltopper basketball program.

All 12 teams will try for a limited number of tournament spots when the two divisions come together to the playoffs.

“I would certainly say the women’s division is wide open with a number of teams having a good shot to win it,” Linker said.