Working for University Recreation (UREC) is a broad description, which can include being a challenge facilitator, fitness instructor or being involved in UREC marketing.       Senior Reilly Costello works in another area of UREC as an Intramural/Sport Club Supervisor.  Reilly’s work with UREC takes him to different places on campus outside of the Student Recreation Center.  Intramural games can even happen in Martin Stadium!  Some of Reilly’s responsibilities are different than you’d expect, while others make sense based on his title.  “I am the first aid responder in emergency situations and facilitate games and sport club events so everything runs smoothly,” Reilly said.  He also trains officials and helps them throughout the season.       He’s in his third year of working for UREC and credits his older cousin for his employment with UREC.  “My cousin did this job when she was at WSU in the early 2000’s,” Reilly said.  Although that was just how he knew about the position.        Reilly explained that his reasoning for working with UREC was due to the organization’s dedication to help patrons live a healthy lifestyle.  “I specifically like my job because it lets college students continue competitive sports,” Reilly said.  Meeting and working with people while they’re having fun with sports is another good take away from working with UREC.       “I think it’s one of the cooler places on campus to work and the people you meet and work with are interested in wellbeing and the wellbeing of other people,” Reilly said.  For Reilly, a health-oriented person before working for UREC, it’s a nice to work in that kind of environment.       Working for UREC is even helping him with his future endeavors.  When I asked if w... [More]

Submitted by: Paul Lund, Cougar Crew Historian The Washington State University Men’s Crew team was represented by five oarsmen at the Northwest Indoor Rowing Championship, Ergomania!, Saturday February 4th in Seattle. The outcome was an impressive five medals and five personal best race results. In the Collegiate U23 Men’s Open 2000 meter event sophomore Jeff Rhubottom, Jr. (Burien, WA) took an early lead and stayed ahead through the first 500 meters. Junior Eric DeMaris (Snohomish, WA) opened a little more conservatively, but steadily closed the gap to his teammate, Rhubottom, Jr. Demonstrating why his consistency has earned him the stroke seat in the Varsity 8+, DeMaris stayed at the same pace until the last 250 meters when he built up to a sprint. He finished first in 6:28.5, and was followed by Rhubottom, Jr. in 6:35.6. Racing in between his fellow oarsmen, senior Joe Sudar went out aiming to improve his personal best by over 20 seconds. He was on pace well past the half-way mark, but the aggressive start caught up as he saw his speed slightly slow down. Sudar finished in 6:48.0, and took the last spot on the podium. In the second to last event of the day, the Men’s Open 2000 meter, Paul Lund (Harstad, Norway) and Orion McCabe-Gould (Olympia, WA) were hoping to show the result of their significant winter training in Pullman. Lund came out firing and jumped ahead of the pack, while McCabe-Gould was between 3rd and 4th for the first 250 meters. Seeded first, Austin Nichols from Pocock Rowing Center, passed Lund and took the lead once they crossed the 500 meter mark. Towards the 1,000 meter mark McCabe-Gould moved up and was within a few meters of his teammate. Nichols maintained his strong drive and stayed ahead with a comfortable margin going into the last 500 meters. With less than 300 meters to go, McCabe-Gould passed Lund for the first time in the race, and Lund was not able to respond. Nichols finished in 6:08, followed by McCabe-Gould in 6:... [More]

This fall I will be joining a Flag Football team. I will be on a team with the marketing team here at UREC. This will be my first time playing since it was a requirement in 7th grade PE. Back then it was not terribly fun only because I was the designated “Stand to the Side” position. I am looking forward to playing again and this time in a more competitive environment. While my football skills are not the best, I do look forward to playing on my first Intramural team besides volleyball. When deciding to play, I had to put aside my potential embarrassment at my lack of football skills and adjust my mentality to one of playing just to have fun. Now that I have shifted my mentality, I am ready to get on the field. It will be a great way to stay active as the fall progresses as well as get to know my co-workers better. The schedule of games comes out soon and I will write more as the season gets going. Stay tuned for the UREC Marketing Flag Football updates!

I personally have only competed in two sports, running and soccer. So, naturally, I decided to register for two five on five teams, a co-ed and men’s team. Intramurals are wonderful because they allow you to not only get a good fun work out in, but spend time with your friends from school. In the past, I have been captain of some good teams getting as far as the semi-finals in soccer. This summer most of my players are out of town, so I decided that I would just ask whoever to play. So, I signed up for the Recreational brackets of both divisions. Our Men’s team played hard, but unfortunately we were edged out and lost 3-4. One of our best scorers, Zak, had all 3 goals, but right near the end of the game our opponents, a team named “Just Epic”, were able to sneak one by. In the Coed game, I twisted my ankle, but not bad enough to stop playing on—just a minor discomfort. On the other hand, Zak, who had just recovered a month or so ago from a snowboarding accident that led to a shattered femur left the game on a bad ankle sprain. Turns out that his ankle sprain was actually a break and he was out for a month. Even though we won easily in our co-ed game 6-2, it became clear that I would need to find more players for my men’s team. Our next game was even more painful for our men’s team. Although the game started close, we were only down 2-4, it ended miserably and we lost 3-10, having the 7 goal mercy rule end the game early to team “S&E”. Our co-ed game was even worse. We were thoroughly dominated by the “Coug City Sounder” 7-0 and also losing by the mercy rule. My teams were struggling. I continued looking to recruit as the players that I had originally recruited to play began to lost interest as we had lost a few games in a row. Luckily I was able to recruit some excited players. In week 2, we were excited to rebound as a few of my Orientation Counselors friends had just gotten in town. We lost our ... [More]