The Sports Issue | Under the Arch Magazine
under the arch
The Sports Issue
Winter 2024
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letter from the editors
Dear readers,
New York City has an incredibly rich sports history with iconic teams ranging from hockey to baseball. However, despite the number of colleges in the city, collegiate athletics are not often included in its history. Within Division III sports, NYU Athletics has made a name for itself while cultivating an environment where student-athletes can thrive and play with passion and enjoyment.
In WSN’s latest issue of the Under the Arch magazine — our second print edition of the fall semester — our team of editors and designers sought to give an inside look into our university’s world of varsity sports. Coaches and athletes alike tell the story of their teams’ past seasons, shedding light on the ins and outs of the life of student-athletes at NYU.
Our cover story features two captains from the men’s and women’s soccer teams — both seniors, and both coincidentally named Bryce. Their conversation brings up the most relevant themes of our issue: building community through teamwork and the various opportunities for leadership in collegiate athletics. Passion is the driving force behind this issue — other stories share the perspectives of NYU Athletics’ coaching staff, and how love for athletics brought them to their career.
This issue would not have been possible without the help of our sports editors Jonathan Mak, Sidney Snider, Levi Langley and Logan Holland. A huge thanks to Emily Genova, Adrianna Nehme, Anna Baird-Hassell, Tina Nejand and Krish Dev for helping oversee the production of this issue. As always, to our copy team — Katherine Welander, Anjali Mehta, Isabella D’Erasmo and Lauren Donnelly — for helping edit each piece. A special shoutout to our multimedia editor Alisia Houghtaling, as well as our photo editors Julia Smerling and Kiran Komanduri for bringing this issue to life with their impeccable photography. Julia contributed further as both the photographer and coordinator of our cover photo shoot.
Finally, to our readers: WSN thanks you for supporting us, and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Sincerely,
Yezen Saadah
Editor-in-Chief
Karina Rower
Under the Arch Editor
Mikaylah Du
Under the Arch Editor
A tale of two Bryces
By Jonathan Mak, Sports Editor
Captains of the men’s and women’s soccer teams, Bryce Lexow and Bryce Chan, interview each other on their senior season.
‘Every practice, every game, every injury’: Off the court with NYU’s head athletic trainer
Matthew Devens talks to WSN about his commitment to student-athletes and personal dedication to his work.
Under the mask: A conversation with NYU’s trailblazing head fencing coach
Fencing head coach Ben Bratton, the first African American to win an epee fencing world championship title, is paving the way for future athletes.
It’s game day: A look inside the No. 1 Division III women’s basketball team
A photo essay of a home game with the NYU women’s basketball team.
By Kiran Komanduri and Levi Langley
Carrying the torch: How 3 coaches got their start playing as Violets
Former NYU athletes-turned-coaches spoke to WSN about their time at NYU as both students and staff.
NYU Athletics by the numbers
WSN rounds up all the statistical reasons to have Violet pride, from our high number of varsity and club teams to our various affinity groups.
Developed for web by Karina Rower
Julia Smerling is a sophomore studying photography and imaging, and is one of WSN’s Photo Editors. She is from West Palm Beach, Florida, and you can...