Our Voices: Episode 2 - Celebrating Black History Month

Redshirt senior right-hander discusses his first year as the Friday night starter and the highlights of the Gary Henderson’s inaugural season as head coach

Utah baseball is in the hunt for a Pac-12 Conference Tournament berth and a top-eight finish in the league. With two weeks remaining in the regular season, redshirt senior pitcher Matthew Sox joins the show to talk about the highlights of the season and what has led to his success. Sox, who spent three years at Whitman College, pitched out of the bullpen last season and now is the Friday night starter. He has made 12 starts this year with a 4-3 record and 5.40 ERA. Sox has recorded 54 strikeouts and just 19 walks in 73.1 innings.

Alexia Burch, a super senior from Sparks, Nev., and two-time team captain, is wrapping up her stellar career for the Utah gymnastics team. The three-time All-Pac-12 selection joins this episode of Utes Insider with Mike Lageschulte to look back on her time with the program and preview the NCAA Championships. She also talks about what has helped make Utah a dynamite beam team in recent years. Burch has already captured the Pac-12 vault title and NCAA Regional bars championship in 2022 after not taking up the latter event until last season. She scored three 9.95 scores on vault, bars and beam at the NCAA Regional semifinals.

The two RMISA champion Nordic skiers talk about their Olympic experience with Team USA in Beijing and look ahead to the NCAA Championships

Utah is hosting the NCAA Skiing Championships at Park City Mountain Resort and Soldier Hollow March 9-12. Host Mike Lageschulte is joined by Ute Nordic skiers Novie McCabe and Luke Jager to preview the competition. They also look back on a whirlwind couple of months that included racing with the U.S. Olympic team at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Both returned to the Utah team to compete at the RMISA and NCAA West Regional Championships, where McCabe won both women’s Nordic events in the freestyle and classical while Jager captured the men’s 20K freestyle.

Kelise Davis of track & field and women’s basketball player Dasia Young wrap up our Black History Month series with host Steven “Sly” Sylvester

As we wrap up the Our Voices Podcast series for Black History Month, host Steven “Sly” Sylvester is joined by Kelise Davis of the track & field program and Dasia Young from women’s basketball. Both grew up in predominately white areas and relate experiences of how connecting with members of the Black community helped them feel more comfortable in their skin. Things such as musical tastes, preference hair styles and the way they carried themselves were are times a challenge. The women also discuss influential figures in their lives and how welcoming the Salt Lake and University communities have been to them.

Gymnast Cammy Hall and track & field athlete Maya LeBar visit with host Steven “Sly” Sylvester in a salute to Black History Month

During this episode of the Our Voices Podcast, host Steven “Sly” Sylvester is joined by Cammy Hall from gymnastics and Maya LeBar of track & field. The two ladies vocalize the challenges they faced while growing up in predominantly white communities, from finding the right friends to being taught how to deal with police profiling. Both share their favorite figures in Black History and significant moments from their lives. Hall recalls watching the Trayvon Martin murder trial while LeBar talks about how a discussion on current day racial issues brought her Ute team closer together.

Episode 2

Lacrosse players Bryce Cheek and Branden Wilson join O.V.P. host Steven “Sly” Sylvester, discussing moments important to them in Black History. Cheek, from North Carolina, and Wilson, from California, share personal stories of experiencing racism while growing up and explain how racism does not only impact the Black community. Sly leads a discussion on ways we can evolve into a better, more-understanding society, and how simply treating people the way you want to be treated can make an impact.

Episode 1 

Former Utah linebacker and current sideline reporter Steven Sylvester debuts his new podcast, Our Voices: Celebrating Black History Month. The show is platform for student-athletes to voice their opinions. In this episode, he is joined by football players Micah Bernard and Clark Phillips.

The guys talk about the importance of teaching Black History in schools, experiencing incidents of racism, and the importance of understanding racial conflict and finding ways to educate in the process. They also discuss their favorite elements of Black culture and current racial related issues in our country.

The Red Rocks are primed to make a national title run in 2022. Returning 23 of 24 routines from last year’s lineup that lifted them to a third-place finish, including two-time national champion Maile O’Keefe, Utah has also added three gymnasts who made the trip to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics. Head coach Tom Farden joins host Mike Lageschulte to breakdown this year’s squad and talk about a major renovation of the Dumke Gymnastics Center, which gets underway this spring.

Seventh-year head coach breaks down a talented 2021-22 team and talks about why she entered the coaching profession

Following six years of running the women’s basketball program at Utah, Lynne Roberts has made it clear that “it is time for us to pivot to being great.” With eight letter winners and five starters returning from a year ago and four ESPN Top 100 recruits in the program, there are several indicators pointing toward a breakthrough season 2021-22. Roberts joins host Mike Lageschulte on this edition of Utes Insider to breakdown this year’s team and its emphasis on shooting threes. She also discusses how she got into coaching.