February 2005

PCC women win basketball tourney

FEB. 2, 2005 — A team from Palmer College of Chiropractic won first place in the women’s division of the U.S.S.S.A. Hall of Fame World Championships 3-on-3 basketball tournament, held January 15-16 in Orlando, Fla.

The team consisted of 2004 Palmer College of Chiropractic alumna Jackie Hunter, DC, who works as a recruiter for the college, along with students Erin Caviezel, Heather Livingstone and Shauna Van Horn.

The women won a regional tournament held in Palmer’s hometown of Davenport, Iowa, in the spring of 2004. This win qualified them for the world championship tournament in Orlando, originally scheduled for September 2004. Weather watchers will remember the string of devastating hurricanes that hit Florida last fall, which meant the tournament was rescheduled for this January.

The Palmer women are a seasoned team, having played basketball together since 2001. “Several of us had played college basketball during our undergraduate days and so we came together to start a women’s basketball league at Palmer,” said Hunter. “We began playing regularly and won first place in women’s basketball at the Chiro Games in 2001, 2002 and 2003.”

The team prepared for the Orlando tournament with practice and fundraising to offset travel expenses. “Palmer supported the effort and we had lots of bake sales,” Dr. Hunter added. “We practiced several times a week for many months to prepare, and the hard work paid off in Orlando. We went undefeated in the tournament with a record of 7-0, but the championship game was intense. We played a team from Memphis, Tenn., that was pretty good.”

Three-on-three basketball games are played on a non-stop 30-minute clock. The first team to reach 20 points or who has the most points at the end of 30 minutes is the winner. “About half of our games went 30 minutes,” said Hunter. “It’s grueling, physical play, especially outdoors in the rain as most of our games were.”

She added that playing basketball with her teammates complements their Palmer experience quite well. “It’s a lot of fun and a great stress-reliever. You always have something to look forward to and work toward, like the Chiro Games or this tournament. It’s an opportunity to represent your school and to bond. You develop friendships that last far beyond the school setting.”

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