ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop baseball program recently held the first annual Eagle Challenge, which helped conclude the first fall practice season under head coach Tom Riginos.
The five-day contest consisted of five different teams captained by Winthrop players. The five teams were: Team D'Angelo, Team Lake, Team Newman, Team Rohan and Team Sullivan.
“I was very happy in the way our guys competed that week,” said Riginos. “The Eagle Challenge tested our guys mentally and physically. It also tested our toughness and developed some team unity which I hope it carries over to the spring.”
Each day of the contest concentrated on specific parts of the body and was broken down into team and individual events. The first three days involved every member of the team participating in the Eagle Challenge, day four was individual events and the fifth day was the team relay race. The events for the Eagle Challenge were:
Day 1 – Upper Body Strength, Shuttle Runs
Day 2 – Lower Body Strength, Conditioning
Day 3 – Grip Strength, Speed
Day 4 – Tire Flips, Farmers Walk, Tug of War
Day 5 – Team Relay Race
After finishing the first day of competition, Team Rohan led the overall standings by two points each to Team D'Angelo, Team Lake and Team Newman, while holding a four-point advantage over Team Sullivan. Team D'Angelo captured first place in Upper Body Strength, while Team Rohan won the Shuttle Drills competition.
Day two saw Team Lake take the lead with a total of 30 points and Team Sullivan moving from last place up to second with 28 points. Team Sullivan won the Trap Bar Squat exercise and Team Lake won the Lake Run.
Team Sullivan gained the overall lead with 53 total points after day three despite winning a team event. Team Rohan was victorious in the Farmer's Walk, and Team Lake grabbed the win in the Tire Flips and Tug-of-War. Team Lake remained four points back in second place, Team Rohan was in third place, while Team D'Angelo and Team Newman were in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Teams Rohan (Plate Hold) and Team Sullivan (Speed) won both events on the fourth day of the Eagle Challenge. Team Sullivan ended the day with a seven-point lead over Team Rohan heading into the final event of the competition.
Despite Team Rohan winning an event for the third straight day, Team Sullivan finished in second place to capture the first Eagle Challenge. Team Sullivan was followed by Team Lake in second place, Team Rohan in third place, Team Newman in fourth and Team D'Angelo in fifth.
Team Sullivan consisted of Tyler Donovan, Justin Hopper, Daniel Hyatt, Justin Newport, Thomas Olesczuk, Matt Pierpont, and Sean Sullivan.
Sophomores Matt Pierpont and Patrick Gamblin were the winners in the individual events. Pierpont was the top position player in the individual events, while Gamblin was victorious in the pitcher's individual events.
Final Standings
Place Team Points
1st Team Sullivan 96
2nd Team Lake 83
3rd Team Rohan 79
4th Team Newman 60
5th Team D'Angelo 52
