UK brings tournament to campus for first time in 8 years

March 30, 2008

By Kenny Colston

For eight straight years, the UK boxing club had come within a punch of its ultimate goal: a regional championship.
This year, the Cats hoped to finally end Navy’s domination over UK, but once again, their efforts came up just short as the Midshipmen took home another regional crown.

Despite another second-place finish, the Cats captured three individual titles and three runners-up this weekend at the National Collegiate Boxing Association’s Midwest Regional at the Buell Armory.

As a result of the Cats’ strong showing, UK will send six boxers to the NCBA Collegiate Boxing Championships in Reno, Nev., starting on April 12.

Navy boxer Ruben Zweiban takes a jab from UK’s Jamyle Canon during the 147 weight class championship bout yesterday morning in the Buell Armory. Photo by Ed Matthews | Staff

Boasting one of the more talented squads in recent years, the Cats took the tournament by storm, sending boxers in six different weight classes to the finals. Freshman Cliff Cornett, a first-time champion, joined defending champions Tyler Sexton and Jamyle Cannon at the top of their weight classes.

Sexton, the two-time defending regional champion at 119 pounds, defeated Huy Troung of Navy to claim his third-straight regional championship. But Sexton, who will be making his third trip to nationals, isn’t satisfied with being regional champ.

“I’m glad to do it again,” Sexton said. “But I want the guy from Army. (The national championship) was stolen from me last year and I want that back.”

Arguably the biggest accomplishment came from Cannon, who changed weight class before the tournament. Fighting three relatively unknown opponents in as many days was something new for the junior, who moved from the 139-pound weight class to 147.

UK boxer Jamyle Canon’s arm is raised after winning the 147 weight class championship bout yesterday morning in Buell Armory. Canon will now travel to Reno, Nevada to compete in a national tournament. Photo by Ed Matthews | Staff

But Cannon, who knocked out his first opponent in 45 seconds Friday night, still took home the title of champion.
“It’s a big deal to me,” Cannon said. “There’s a lot of power difference between the weight classes. Coming in and winning is a big accomplishment.”

And though a bevy of bigger opponents that Cannon has never faced before awaits him at nationals, he isn’t worried about what lies ahead.

“I feel I’m technically superior to anyone I fight against,” Cannon said.

In addition to the three champions, UK’s Phil Heavrin (156 pounds), Conor Thomas (185 pounds) and Bojan Simic (heavyweight) received automatic invites to nationals for reaching the finals for their weight class.

While head coach George Ginter expects Sexton to be the favorite in his weight class at nationals, Ginter said he expects all six of the boxers to make it to at least the semifinals.

Ginter was particularly pleased with the performance of Thomas, who few expected to reach the 185-pound finals this weekend.

“Sexton is the favorite,” Ginter said. “But Thomas, I do like his chances at nationals.”
In the end, Navy’s depth landed them another regional title, but not as easily as the Midshipmen had hoped for. UK posted an overall winning record of 9-8 while challenging for the regional title, but Navy placed a fighter in almost every championship fight to tip the title scales in their favor.

Even with the Cats losing another regional title, the squad is excited to send six fighters out to Reno — double the number the squad sent last year.

“We’ll get in the gym,” Sexton said. “If we can get six All-Americans that will be great, we’ll get noticed.”

Posted by Brad Luttrell | Filed Under Sports | Leave a Comment

Hillary makes rounds through Kentucky

March 30, 2008

By Juliann Vachon

LOUISVILLE — Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign stopped in Louisville on Saturday afternoon for a rally with energetic supporters who believe, like she does, that the Kentucky Democratic primary matters this year.
“I can’t do any of this without your help,” Clinton said in front of a crowd of about 2,500 at duPont Manual High School’s gym. “You know, Kentucky counts.”
Clinton made a call to young voters, encouraging them to get engaged not only the election, but also the country’s future.
“It’s so important we get young people involved,” she said.
Manual students made signs that hung throughout the gym and read “We found our new star” and “Students for Hillary.”
Many view Clinton’s opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, as the young person’s candidate. But younger voters, including UK students, lined the front row of the crowd on the floor and sat behind Clinton on stage waiting to hear her views on ending the war in Iraq, lowering the country’s debt and providing universal health care.
The New York senator’s promise to “make college affordable again” drew a big applause from the crowd.
She promised to provide more need-based aid, increase Pell Grants and forgive student loans for people who enter public service jobs such as teaching or public health positions.
Clinton also touted plans to let students borrow money from the federal government at low interest rates like she did when she was in college.
When she asked people in the crowd to raise their hands if they paid more than 20 percent interest on their student loans, one man yelled that he paid 24 percent.
A UK student at the front of the crowd said Clinton picked up on his response as well.
“She heard me yell 18 percent and repeated it to the crowd. UK representing!” said Anthony Tanner, a vocal music performance junior. “I just hope it hits home to all students that her loan forgiveness and financing programs are the best.”
Former President Bill Clinton, who won Kentucky in his 1992 and ‘96 presidential victories, was in the state campaigning for his wife Tuesday. The couple’s campaign stops are out of the ordinary for Kentucky, whose late primary date typically attracts little attention from potential party nominees.
Obama leads Clinton in pledged party delegate votes, which will determine who goes on to face Sen. John McCain in the presidential election. But Clinton said she is not done yet.
“I do not discourage easily, in case you haven’t noticed,” she said.
Clinton talked for about 40 minutes without notes and took jabs at President George W. Bush’s administration, calling it a “government of the few, by the few and for the few.”
“If you give me the honor of being your president, we will put America back on the right track,” she said.
Clinton never mentioned her opponent’s name during the speech but did allude to her campaign’s previous claims that Obama’s message lack substance.
“This election isn’t about the speeches we give, it’s about the solutions we offer,” Clinton said.
Her health care plan would allow those not covered or unhappy with their plans to opt into one of the plans offered to members of Congress while keeping everyone’s premium rates low and based on household incomes, she said.
She promised to get rid of tax breaks for companies that export jobs out of the country and provide benefits for those that keep jobs in America.
Clinton also focused on energy policy, calling for more “green-collar jobs,” such as weatherizing homes, retrofitting buildings, installing solar panels and working on alternative fuel solutions such as clean coal and biofuels.
The federal government also needs to take back control of building and maintaining its infrastructure, Clinton said, instead of outsourcing the jobs to private companies.
“We’ve got to ask ourselves, ‘what do we need to do to make sure our security is in American hands,’ ” she said.
UK student Jess Kropczynski, who attended the Obama rally at the Lexington Center in August, said Clinton has Obama beat in terms of her specific policy proposals.
“Obama was just full of empty phrases,” said Kropczynski, a doctoral sociology student. “Hillary actually came out here and had a plan.”

Posted by Brad Luttrell | Filed Under Beyond Campus, Mixed Media | Leave a Comment

Even if you don’t like politics, these rallies can be fun

March 30, 2008

New technology

For the past month I have been putting much of my photography emphasis on learning video.

To some I suppose it’s not even the same thing, but I see them to be very similar. What I’m quickly learning though is all the ways they are not similar, and possibly why many photojournalists are not happy with trying to do both.

On Saturday when Hillary Clinton came to Louisville, I knew this was a great opportunity to truly test out my new found abilities. I was very excited to use all of the Kernel’s new gear. What I had only thought about for a few short moments was how hard it would be to carry all of this gear.

Walking into the high school gymnasium, I looked at Juliann, the reporter for the story, and said, “It’s really here. That whole convergence thing is real. A newspaper photographer looks just like a broadcast cameraman.” It was a feeling I thought I wouldn’t experience for several years. But after only a few seconds of the feeling of awe, I was back into storytelling mode and not caring what my appearance was.

I am not ashamed to admit that most of my video did not turn out nearly as good as I had hoped. I felt like a new photographer when I was having focusing problems. But I toughed it out and managed to get enough to make a three minute mixed media piece for us out of what I shot.

Being in the presence of a presidential candidate

I was actually surprised at the liberty the media had at this event. After going through a security checkpoint that is only a bit tighter than what I go through to get into Rupp Arena, we basically had free reign. For the three hours I was in the gym waiting for Hillary to come out, I was beginning to feel as anxious as the crowd. Not because I just wanted to shoot the assignment, but because I realized the significance of the event I was covering.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to make a photograph that is different from the one everyone else is going to make. I really worked this situation below, but just didn’t have a long enough lens to get the moment. I thought the younger child’s facial expression was so great and his body language was screaming that he was uninterested. I also really wanted to catch Hillary’s feet at the perfect moment when you could tell that this speaker was a woman. I think it’s even better that you can see the mom making eye contact with Hillary. But this is generally the type of photograph that just doesn’t work with the story, and never makes it to print. It did make it to our slideshow though. Check it out at the mixed media page.

Thinking about the future

If I ever worked for a bureau and was asked to follow a political campaign across the country, I decided yesterday that it’s something I would like to do. Maybe it’s because I have only recently truly started caring about politics, but I saw so many photographs that I wanted to take and think I could work better, now knowing what one of these events can be. This was so different from governor and mayor elections.

I think being behind-the-curtain with such a big name as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John McCain could produce some really great photographs that you only get the chance to do if you’re assigned to that candidate. Pete Souza’s photographs of Ronald Reagan are fantastic.

I just can’t see myself being able to turn an opportunity like that down.

Posted by Brad Luttrell | Filed Under Blog | 1 Comment

After win, Montell starts transition

March 28, 2008

Story by Katie Saltz | Staff

The crowd was smaller and quieter than last year, but there was still much celebration yesterday night when Tyler Montell was announced the 2008-09 Student Government president.

Montell and his running mate, Grant Mills, ran unopposed and won with a total of 1,940 votes.

After all of the time and effort spent planning and campaigning, Montell said the moments after the announcement seemed almost unreal to him.

“The responsibility is a bit overwhelming,” Montell said. “This is something we’ve been thinking about for months, and it’s here. But as overwhelming as it is, it’s encouraging too.”

SG president-elect Tyler Montell, left, celebrates with political science sophomore Ben Duncan in the Student Center patio last night. Duncan helped Montell and his running mate, Grant Mills, campaign. Photo by Brad Luttrell | Staff

Now that the race is over, Mills said he is ready to get to work as vice president.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” Mills said. “This is the first step to make a positive change on campus.”

There were more than 20 pages of write-in votes for the election. The leading write-in candidate, Spanish sophomore Peggy Ray, had 229 votes. Mills said he was anxious about the possibility of someone unexpectedly walking away with a presidential victory.

“Even though we ran unopposed, there was still a chance for a write-in,” Mills said. “There are a lot of people on campus qualified for a position like this.”

The total number of votes this year was 3,251, 22 votes less than last year despite the ability to vote from any computer for the first time in a spring SG election.

About 2,100 people voted for a presidential candidate compared to last year’s number of 3,133. The total number of presidential candidate votes reported included only those for Montell and Ray.

Final results were delayed about one hour because of the volume of write-in votes. The SG Election Board had to replace the original results as well after only 14 of the 15 senator at-large winners were included.

Only having one presidential candidate definitely affected voter turnout this year, Montell said. But not having competition for the presidential spot put more attention on the senatorial candidates, which Montell said was a great thing.

“Last year the climax of the results was about Nick (Phelps) and Scott (McIntosh),” Montell said. “This year it wasn’t about the presidential race. (Senators) are such a hard working body, and it’s good to put the emphasis on them.”

The referendum on this year’s ballot passed by several hundred votes. The referendum asked students if they were in favor of using $2 of student fees to provide free national newspapers, like USA Today or The New York Times, on campus.

Of the 36 senators elected, many have served in the Senate before. At-large-elect and current freshman Sen. Julie Colgate said to have senators re-elected to office is a great advantage to the Senate and student body.

“There are a lot of experienced senators for next year,” Colgate said. “That should bring some new ideas and some good, old ideas to the table.”

Creating a staff is one of Montell’s first priorities once in office, Mills said. When it comes time to make administrative decisions, he said he hopes to keep communicating with students around campus.

“We’re going to be listening to students’ concerns,” Mills said. “We’ll make sure the student body is part of any decision we’re making.”

The pair will be sworn into office in April, but Montell said he plans to start working tomorrow.

“It’s time to take these ‘what ifs’ and turn them into realities,” Montell said.

E-mail ksaltz@kykernel.com.

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Cats look to sink Midshipmen in weekend tourney

March 28, 2008

For the past eight years, Navy has dominated the Midwest Regional of the National Collegiate Boxing Association, knocking off perennial runner-up UK every year.

But with three national championship contenders on this year’s squad, UK boxing club head coach George Ginter thinks the tide may finally be turning against the Midshipmen, favoring the Cats.

For the second straight year, the UK boxing club is host of the Midwest Regional tournament. Last year, the tournament was held at the Four Seasons off Winchester Road. This year the club has moved the tournament on campus to the Buell Armory.

Fights start tonight and will run through Sunday. With the on-campus location, Ginter hopes students can show up to create a hostile environment for the other teams.

“Since Navy will be there, I think all of the Army ROTC guys are going to show up to make some noise,” Ginter said, referring to the athletic rivalry between Army and Navy.

With nine squads comprising the Midwest region, UK will have its hands full with more than just the Midshipmen. Ginter expects Miami (Ohio), West Virginia, North Carolina and The Citadel to all bring quality competition to the tournament.

“Navy’s number one,” Ginter said. “We’re the second best team. Miami will put four guys in, and they can all fight. West Virginia will bring four champions and UNC has one guy.”

The UK Boxing Club, seen here practicing in the basement of Alumni Gym on Feb. 5, will host the National Collegiate Boxing Association’s Midwest Regional in the Buell Armory this weekend. Photo by Britney McIntosh | Staff

UK’s best chance at landing a national champion falls on the shoulders of junior Tyler Sexton, Ginter said. Sexton, who fights at 119 pounds, has made it to nationals in Reno, Nev., the past two years but has fallen short of winning the entire tournament. Ginter said that junior Jaymle Cannon, who fights at 147 pounds, and freshman Chris Cornett also have the potential to be the top fighters in their respective weight classes.

“We have a legitimate chance for a national champion,” Ginter said.

As a former wrestler at Henry Clay High School, Sexton is used to being around a mat, and all that experience inside the wrestling ring has helped two-time All-American improve inside the boxing ropes.

“It absolutely helped,” Sexton said. “When I first joined, one of the guys said he hates wrestlers because they pick (boxing) up so easily.”

Sexton isn’t the only former wrestler on the team. Cornett, who is also Ginter’s stepson, wrestled at Henry Clay. In fact, going to Cornett’s wrestling matches is where Ginter got his first peep at Sexton.

Of all UK boxers, Cornett has the most experience, Sexton said. Cornett has been boxing since he was 8, giving the freshman experience that even most seniors lack.

“Chris is going to come in and surprise some people,” Sexton said.

But if UK has any hope of getting past Navy for the team championship, it’s going to have to improve on the last time the two teams got together. Less than a month ago in Louisville, Navy swept the Cats in all six fights during a match. And while the beating still lingers in UK’s mind, Sexton says that the Feb. 29 fight was a mismatch.

The premiere fight of the regional may be a rematch of the two top fighters at 147 pounds. UK’s Cannon and Navy’s Antoine Aku have fought multiple times since last year’s championship fight, which Aku won. Cannon lost to Aku again during the fight in Louisville.

While the tournament does land on a weekend, Ginter suggests a solution for everyone.

“Show up at 8:30,” Ginter said. “Watch boxing, then celebrate at Two Keys with the guys that just lost.”

E-mail kcolston@kykernel.com

Posted by Brad Luttrell | Filed Under Sports | Leave a Comment

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