Early mornings can only be made better with the breakfast of champions: Frosted Flakes. Well, according to Brooks Ayers (jr), that is. Being part of the Indiana Wesleyan University men’s tennis teams, Ayers knows all about being a champion.

His freshman year, the team won conference. His sophomore year the Wildcats tied for second place and this past season the team tied for third. Next year he’s looking for redemption.

But redemption does not come from laziness.

“Next year we want to win conference and go to NAIA Nationals in Alabama,” Ayers said. Our goal is to win a round of Nationals, which is extremely hard to do.”

With this as his motivation, Ayers is trying to make sure that he his in the best condition he can be in.

“It’s tough because there aren’t any indoor places,” Ayers said. “We practice right now two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday from like 9:30–11:30-ish at night because that’s the only time we can get in.”

This offseason has obviously not been a walk in the park. With tennis practices twice a week and almost daily 45-minute runs, it’s been busy.

The tough workouts help keep Ayers physically strong, but he is also mentally strong, proving to be a leader on the tennis team.

Men’s tennis coach Keith Ruberg describes Ayers as reliable.

“Basically he follows up,” Ruberg said. “Whatever he says he follows up with. And unfortunately a lot of leaders today don’t do that. The most effective leadership is by example.”

With Ayers helping lead the tennis team this spring and next fall, there’s no telling where the squad will end up.

Heading into next year.

Mornings don’t come easily to everyone though. Kylie Dial (jr) of the IWU women’s soccer team prefers to get her workouts in other ways.

“I am like a zombie in the morning,” Dial said. “I just don’t function.”

Fortunately, she finds other ways to get in her workout. She spends two sessions every week with the team working on skills and the rest of her workouts with a group of two other young women. In these groups they are responsible for weightlifting one day and working on overall fitness the next.

Wildcats coach John Bratcher explained what productivity can look like when the team isn’t playing games.

“Growth in the offseason can be measured in many ways,” Bratcher said. “It can be technical, tactical and/or physical. We want to be better players, teammates and have better match flow or chemistry in order to be a more successful team the following season. This also involves the growth of leadership for the upcoming seniors.”

Dial’s work ethic and determination do not go unnoticed by her coach.

“[Dial] demonstrates one of the highest work rates in any women’s player I have coached,” Bratcher said. “At the same time, she is aware of her teammates and can give them a verbal encouraging word, instruction or admonition to pick it up.”

Despite the name, “offseasons” can be stressful. Losing players to graduation, the pressure of classes and papers to write is enough to test the toughest of athletes. But Dial uses her soccer skills to relive her stress and sharpen her play. Her favorite stress reliever? Juggling a ball between her feet.

“Juggling is a big stress reliever for me,” Dial said. “I’ll usually just grab a racquetball court and juggle and listen to music.”

While all  the physical preparation does Dial good there is also a mental aspect that she enjoys. Working out with her team strengthens the Wildcats’ bonds and helped Dial step into a greater leadership role. A roll that may be vital to a team looking to make waves with a new coaching staff.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday. And it’s just less than two hours away from Indiana Wesleyan University. Big deal, right? If history has taught us anything, more than 100 million people will tune in to watch the two best teams in the NFL engage in a battle of epic proportions for football’s highest honor. Sure, some people claim to watch just for the $3 million commercials, but without the game, there are no commercials. From the students I’ve talked to here at IWU, I would guess about two-thirds of our campus will be tuned in along with everyone else.

So apparently, it is a big deal.

Of course, I’ll be on the edge of my seat with everyone else. And you should be too. Because at the very least, what Monday-morning class isn’t going to take at least a couple minutes to discuss the game, the inevitably underwhelming halftime show and yes, the commercials?

I’m as excited as anyone to watch this game. But all of the hype, even just at IWU, made me think about the level of excitement for this Sunday’s Patriots-Giants matchup versus that for Wildcat athletics. If the same number of IWU students who watch the Super Bowl would come to just one basketball game, Luckey Arena would need another addition of bleachers.

Admittedly, I’ve been banging this drum pretty hard this year, but it’s because of the great things the Wildcats have accomplished and will continue to do throughout the rest of each team’s respective schedule. I think that if we can get excited about a sporting event that has little impact on us or the people around us, shouldn’t we be even more enthusiastic about victories that would actually bring something to our own campus?

The Super Bowl will happen, and it will be big just like it always is. IWU students will half-heartedly attempt to do homework while watching the game (or is that just me?) and probably talk about it the next day at the proverbial water cooler (because no one really uses water coolers anymore). By mid-week, we will all have posted our favorite commercials from the night on Facebook, and aside from the stray fan of the winning team (cough, Patriots, cough), that will be the end of our Super Bowl XLVI experience.

But if the Wildcats won a historic championship, our own version of the Super Bowl, there would a party on IWU’s campus that lasted for weeks. At least, that’s how long I would be celebrating.

So yes, watch the Super Bowl this Sunday. It’s an American staple and will be a great game. But you know what you should do then? Go to the IWU men’s basketball game on Tuesday. Go to the women’s basketball game next Saturday. Heck, even go the to the indoor track and field event at IWU this Saturday. If you can find the heart to yell and scream at a TV showing people you’ve never met playing football, you can certainly yell and scream for your own IWU Wildcats.

And that’s a big deal.

He thinks he might have been 5-foot-10 since the day he was born. He grew up a self-diagnosed baseball knucklehead who eventually married an artist who doesn’t have one athletic bone in her body. To top it off, he fluently speaks a language he calls “ghetto.”

Steve Babinski is also the new Indiana Wesleyan University softball coach – the first one in more 24 years.

IWU Athletic Director Mark DeMichael hired Steve Babinski after longtime softball coach Sue Bowman retired from athletics in May of 2011. DeMichael said Babinski stood out above the other applicants because of his heart for sports as a ministry and his history of success.

Babinski played baseball for most of his life and was voted Grace College’s Athlete of the Year. He was a player on the team for four years and a paid assistant his fifth year.

Babinski worked as a paid assistant at Grace for one season, then moved on as an assistant coach at Bowling Green State University. From there, he was hired as head coach for the MidAmerica Nazarene ladies softball team, the Pioneers.

He now lives in Marion with his wife Rachel and their four children, Corianna, Alizzia, Benjamin and Emi to kick off his first season with IWU softball.

During his years with the Pioneers, he received two notable coaching awards. Babinski was named Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and NAIA Region 5 Coach of the Year in 2006. Four years later, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association named him Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

DeMichael said he has confidence in Babinski’s ability to help athletes hit their potential, the way he did when he helped transform the Pioneers from mediocre to NAIA qualifiers—the first time in the history of the program.

Kelsey Decker (sr) is one of the Wildcats’ leaders and has been impressed with “coach Babs” and his mind for the game.

“His knowledge of the sport is better than anyone that I’ve ever played for – or even against,” Decker said.

Babinski is taking over a program that Bowman created in 1987 and was the coach of since its inception.

He laughs when people ask him what it’s like to follow a woman with such a big legacy.

“It’s not about filling shoes; it’s a relay,” Babinski said. “Sue passed the baton to me, and I’ll pass it on to whoever’s next.”

How’s he feeling about his first season?

That’s another question that makes him laugh.

“I know a lot of people are wanting to know wins and losses, but that’s not who I am,” Babinski said. “Basically, what I’ve seen is my girls get better every day. From day one to right now, everyone on our team is better. On the field, off the field, in the classroom: as people. So it’s already been a successful season.”

If ever the Indiana Wesleyan University men’s basketball team needed a win, it was Tuesday night. Grace College stormed into the Wildcats’ lair as the fourth-ranked team in the NAIA. But there was a black hole waiting in the Luckey Arena stands, and the Lancers would not come out unscathed. The Wildcats rode an early lead to a huge 82-74 victory.

“I think that was the most excitement I’ve seen from the fans in a while,” guard George Jones IV (jr) said after the game. “It was really intense the whole 40 minutes, it was nuts. I just had a lot of fun.”

It was blackout night in Luckey, and IWU fans showed up in hordes to cheer on a Wildcat team that has been struggling of late. According to Jones, the buzz brought back some of the fun that might have been missing from the team’s play.

“That was fun basketball and I like that,” Jones said. “We’ll be definitely playing like that for the remainder of the season.”

Jones had a career day, shooting a perfect seven-of-seven from the field, scoring 16 points and hauling in seven rebounds. Jordan Weidner (so) added 16 points of his own while Patrick Hopkins (jr) scored 12. Even D.J. Bettinger (fr) made waves in the win, scoring nine points on a trio of three-pointers.

Bettinger’s point total was the same as his last four games combined, and Wildcats coach Greg Tonagel said the freshman takes advantage of the time he gets on the court.

“D.J. is one of the hardest workers,” Tonagel said. “You’ll find him in the gym late at night or in the morning. When you do that, you get the opportunity to make the most of it, and I think he makes the most of his opportunity.”

The Wildcats’ team has an opportunity to turn its season around starting with this pivotal win. That’s a chance Jones says he plans to make the most of.

“I think it gave a lot of guys confidence that we kind of lost as of late,” Jones said. “We’re going to just take it as a steppingstone to get better. We know how good we can be, so we’re just going to keep getting better.”

IWU is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 28 when Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) comes to Luckey to take on the revitalized Wildcats.