Game Day, Part II: Behold the Valley, and much more at AU

Hanover College has the Ohio River overlook, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has Speed Lake, and the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne has Mirror Lake. All three are striking, iconic features of those respective campuses.

Anderson University has a landscape gem of its own, and water has nothing to do with it. At AU they simply call it the Valley, a hilly, beautifully landscaped campus center generously but judiciously bedecked with trees of all varieties.

I was so fascinated with the Valley that I returned to it periodically so I could take it in from as many perspectives as possible as I made my way around. One of those perspectives is featured in the photo leading off this post, and you'll see a few more among the shots below.

AU is a Christian liberal arts school affiliated with the Church of God. It was established in 1917 as the Anderson Bible Training School and has undergone three name changes since -- Anderson College and Theological Seminary, Anderson College and finally, in 1988, its current Anderson University. The school hosted the training camp for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts from 1984-98 and again since 2010. 

I've described many campuses I visited on my seven-year-long "Game Day" tour as compact; in retrospect, I suppose that should be a given. After all, these are small-enrollment institutions. But I think it's a valid term because most places on these institutions are easy to reach, and their accessibility is why buildings are where they are. At most schools, for example, the library and student union are somewhere along or around the traditional green mall. That is the case at AU, although the Valley substitutes for the traditional, flat central mall.

At AU, athletic facilities -- including the keystone athletics teaching facility, Kadetzke Wellness Center (right) -- and a handful of residence halls are on the northeast side of campus. A sizable green mall and the equivalent of about two city blocks of physical space separates that area from the rest of campus to the southwest, where the majority of other academic buildings, the fine arts and performance center and, yes, library and student union surround and overlook the Valley. As I write this, it is so vivid in my memory -- a good two and a half weeks since I visited -- that I was able to remember the general campus layout without referring to a map.

On the Fifth Street side of Decker Hall, the university has an eternal flame (left) that was dedicated in 1992 to commemorate the school's 75th anniversary. AU is preparing centennial observances and activities for 2017. The flame was originally designed to be part of the Helios sculpture, another campus icon, that is surrounded by fountains and overlooks the Valley outside Hartung Hall. In the end, the school dedicated separate spaces on campus to the flame and sculpture. 

I came across various degrees of tailgating at all the colleges during my visits, which began in 2009. Schools that seemed to have the most tailgating activity and/or most enthusiastic tailgaters were Wabash, DePauw, Hanover, Taylor and Rose-Hulman. I should note that when I was at Rose-Hulman, it was homecoming weekend, which might account for a good share of the crowd sizes, gatherings and festivities on the grounds that day. 

For a look at a full gallery of shots from my swing through AU's campus, visit my site at SmugMug.com. And as always, for a larger and sharper view of a photo, click on the image. This is especially important for people accessing the post from a mobile device.

Photo geek stuff: I shot all of the campus shots with my Canon 6D equipped with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens. I bracketed each composition for three exposures that I later melded to one in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. I set my aperture to f/8 and my ISO at 320, using the shutter speed as my exposure variable. Occasionally I adjusted the ISO upward when confronted with predominantly dark lighting, such as the photos inside Kardatzke Wellness Center.

Above and next four below: More views of the Valley.

Above and below: If the Valley is the iconic locale at AU, then the sculpture Helios, surrounded by fountains, is the school's iconic symbol. It was created by AU art professor Arlon Bayliss in 1992 for the university's 75th anniversary. Original plans called for the sculpture to include an eternal flame, but university president James Edwards persuaded Bayliss to make separate creations. Helios overlooks the Valley outside Hartung Hall, while the flame burns eternally on the Fifth Street side of Decker Hall. 

Above and below: When you look up inside Kardatzke Wellness Center, you can find these examples of pattern art.

   

Above: For several years I've enjoyed photographing different benches as I come across them. This one and its twin in the background sit outside Kardatzke Wellness Center.

Above: A closeup of leaves on a plant just outside Olt Student Center's entrance from the Valley.

Above: The facade of the York Performance Hall and Galleries, which is adjacent to the Krannert Fine Arts Center.

Above: The steeple on Park Place Church of God, which had housed the university's music department until Krannert Fine Arts Center opened in 1979. The church still holds occasional university performances, and AU students use the church's pipe organ for practice. 

Above: The Church of God Ministries' world headquarters had been located in this structure on Fifth Street on the Anderson University campus until this spring, when it moved to newer, but smaller quarters off I-69 at Pendleton. 

Above: The Falls School of Business is located in this complex along Fifth Street. 

This statue (above) of AU's first president, John A. Morrison, stands in front of the Welcome Center facing Fifth Street and looks toward Reardon Auditorum (below) across the street. The cast bronze statue was designed by artist-in-residence Kenneth Ryden in 1987 and dedicated on June 13, 1988.

Above : One of the arching roof and drainage panels near the dance studio adjacent to O.C. Lewis gymnasium.

Above: The main court inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.

Above: The walk leading to Smith Hall near the athletic facilities in the northeast part of campus.

Above: Solar panels between the library and School of Theology.

Above: Nicholson Library, facing the Valley.

Byrum Hall (above) serves as theater headquarters at AU. The 450-seat facility is used for plays, opera and musicals, such as the production "Gypsy" promoted during my visit at the end of September. 

Above and below: Two views of Olt Student Center. 

Above: One of the buildings in the York Seminary Apartments on the southside of campus.

Above: The printing on the title tells you what you need to know.  

Above: The Fifth Street entrance to Hartung Hall.

Above: It didn't seem right to end this post without one more look at the Valley.

Game Day, Part I: Final small-college football 'tour' stop finds Ravens on short end of 49-25 score

 

The last stop on my years-long tour of Indiana small colleges and universities that field football teams took me to Macholtz Stadium at Anderson University on Sept. 24.

The "tour" project, which I've named "Game Day," ended on a record note, you could say. That's because in its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game against Hanover College that day, AU wide receiver Jarrett Dickey set a school record for single-game reception yardage. But in the end, it was Hanover and its bruising running game that prevailed on the day, 49-25.

Dickey had seven receptions for 291 yards, including touchdowns of 88 and 86 yards on passes from Triston Anderson. Dickey's total reception yardage comfortably eclipsed the previous mark of 272 set 26 years ago -- in 1990 -- by Brad Lamb, who would later play with the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

As it turned out, the long scoring strikes to Dickey were among few highlights of the game for the host Ravens, who had 373 yards in the air. But the stingy Hanover defense allowed Anderson only 11 yards on the ground. On the upside, both Triston Anderson and Jarrett Dickey are freshmen, so Ravens fans will be able to see that tandem connect for a long time. The two are featured in the photos leading off the post, shots taken on the same play in the second half that went for a nice gain.

Hanover running back Tee Hart also is a freshman, and he and teammates Justin Conners and Nate Hein led a Panthers rushing attack that amassed 244 yards and scored six touchdowns. Conners had three of TDs. Panthers quarterback Adam Gutermuth threw 30 yards to Ricky Windell in the second quarter for the other touchdown.

The win was Hanover's first of the season and leveled its HCAC record to 1-1 (1-3 overall); Anderson dropped to 1-1 in the HCAC and was also 1-3 for the season. Both schools the lost their respective games the following weekend, so each is now 1-2 (1-4).

Players and spectators were blessed with very comfortable temperatures, thanks to thick cloud cover throughout the morning and into the late afternoon. Sunshine finally appeared early in the third quarter.

The game was AU's turn in the HCAC to participate in the annual Samaritan
Feet observance in which coaches go barefoot to draw attention to the fact that 300 million people in the world go without shoes. AU head coach John Sala did just that on Sept. 24.

It also was the day all coaches for schools that are members of the AmericanFootball Coaches Association wore Coach to Cure MD patches (right) on the sleeves of their shirts to raise awareness of Parent Project Muscular Distrophy, the largest charity devoted exclusively to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Technically, I suppose, I will have one more college to visit in two years, when Indiana Wesleyan in Marion launches its new football program and opens with a full schedule of game. I'll cross that bridge when we get to it; for now, anyway, I can say that I've visited every one of the schools I put on my list and photographed the campus landscapes as well as the games at each.

The "tour" started on Sept. 26, 2009, at Franklin College in what I still consider the most thrilling of all the contests I've photographed on my journey. Franklin, down 23-10 in the third quarter, rallied to upset undefeated and 22nd-ranked (Division III) Trine University 30-29.

After skipping a year, I added visits to Hanover, Wabash, DePauw (Monon Bell game) and Marian (NAIA Tournament playoff game) in 2011; Franklin again, Taylor, UIndy, Wabash again (Monon Bell game) and St. Francis (NAIA playoff) in 2012; St. Joseph's and Rose-Hulman in 2013; Manchester in 2014; Trine in 2015; and Earlham and Anderson in 2016. My reports on those visits -- both on the football games and the campus landscape shots -- can be found under the game day tag.

Photo geek stuff: I shot the entire game with may Canon 7D (a change from the past couple games, when I used my 6D). The 7D, which helped me address the burst buffer delay I wrote about in the game report from Earlham earlier in September) was equipped with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens and Canon 1.4x extender. I set my camera to manual shooting mode, my shutter speed at 1/800 and aperture at f/4.0. There was solid cloud cover throughout the first half, enabling me to set my ISO at 320 throughout the half and the beginning of the third quarter. When the sun came out midway through the third quarter, I lowered the ISO accordingly. To keep my shot volume down, I used the slower burst speed until the fourth quarter, when I used the 7D's top burst mode (8 fps) for what it was intended to do -- burst quickly. I also used a high-capacity (105/mbs) 32GB SanDisk CF memory card to help avoid buffer delay.

For a full gallery of shots from this game, visit my site at SmugMug.com. As always, to view a larger, sharper version of the photos in posts at this blog, click on the image. This is especially helpful if you access Photo Potpourri with a mobile device.

Next post: Game Day, Part II will take a look at the AU campus landscape

Above and next two below: Anderson quarterback Triston Anderson (19) and wide receiver Travis Williams (6) bobbled this first half exchange, and the loose ball in the backfield was pounced on by Hanover's Zach Dauer (34). In the fourth quarter, the two would connect on a short pass for the Ravens' final touchdown of the game.

Above and next two below: Late in the first quarter, Anderson connected with Dickey on this 88-yard catch and run for the home team's first TD.

Above and below: Travis Williams closed the Ravens' scoring with this pass reception in the fourth quarter. 

Above and next two below: Hanover's Tee Hart (Warren Central High School graduate) made Anderson defenders work hard for their tackles, and when the 220-pound running back had the ball running at full steam and staring you square in the eye -- with a blocker in front of him -- or hurdling defenders on the turf, it was anything but easy. 

Above: Anderson's defense had its best success when it could gang tackle, like it did here, stopping Justin Conners (28) after a modest gain on a pass reception.

Above and next three below: Hanover's Justin Conners was successful a lot against Anderson, here breaking free from an Alec Monte tackle and running for a 29-yard third-quarter score. Conners would lose the ball in the end zone, but game officials ruled he had crossed the goal line while still in possession of the ball.

Above: Conners added a touchdown run from 3 yards out in the fourth quarter.

Above and below: After making this reception, Hanover's Ricky Windell (80) hit the ground hard and needed some attention from the trainer.  

Above and below: The Ravens' defense had perhaps its best moment in the second half when the front line pressured Hanover quarterback Adam Gutermuth into making a bad throw that was intercepted by Shahid Hunt, who returned it 11 yards.