September 2011 Archives

Univrsity of Redlands senior wide receiver/kick return specialist Tyler Aubrey has been named as a semifinalist for the 2011 National Football Foundation William V. Campbell Trophy, which honors the sport's best scholar-athlete in the nation.

Aubrey aksi remains in the running as one of possible 16 recipients of the NFF Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Award of $18,000. The Campbell Trophy, endowed by Health South, increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total postgraduate scholarship of $25,000.

Aubrey joins 126 other candidates from all levels of collegiate football, including 29 from NCAA Division III. He is the sole representative of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the West Coast.

Candidates for these awards must be in their final year of eligibility, boast a minimum GPA of 3.2, possess outstanding football ability as a significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

With a cumulative GPA of 3.563, Aubrey continues his work toward a degree in Financial Economics while pursuing minors in Accounting and Business Administration. Among his scholarly achievements, the six-time Dean's List member landed on the 2010 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District First Team and collected his third of likely four UR Scholar-Athlete awards.

As a football player, Aubrey played an integral role in the Bulldogs' historical 8-1 run during the 2010 campaign. He made 20 catches for 183 yards, including a long of 41 and one touchdown. He also led the team with 12 kick returns for a total of 300 yards. Among these, he uncorked an impressive 83-yard return into the end zone during the team's 21-17 victory over Chapman University.

Earlier this season, Aubrey made strong contributions to the Redlands' upset win over then-third-ranked North Central College (IL), as well as the solid road victory of familiar foe Whitworth University (WA).

Beyond football, Aubrey consistently gives back to the community while revealing his compassionate leadership skills. During the 2010 May Term break, he organized and participated in Bulldog football's Strong Hands, Soft Hearts campaign for Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times®. He specifically coordinated housing, meals, and work crews for 75 teammates whose work continues to benefit 1,700 children with cancer and their families each year.

He also served as an active participant in the Benevolent Bulldog program, which takes $100 seed money and grows it into as much as possible for a worthy cause. Aubrey joined forces with three teammates to raise a combined $5,900 for the Susan G. Komen San Diego Breast Cancer Research Fund during the past two summers.

Redlands penned Aubrey as its nominee earlier this September and looks forward to the official announcement of the NFF Scholar-Athletes on October 26. All honorees will attend the 54th Annual NFF Awards Dinner on December 6 in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria where one member of the group will be announced live as the winner of the coveted Campbell Trophy.

Senior forward Luis Gonzalez of Cal Poly Pomona has been named the Wilson/CCAA Soccer Player of the Week for games ending Sept. 25.

The 2010 All-American scored the lone goal in Cal Poly Pomona's 1-0 win over Sonoma State and concluded the weekend with three goals, including the game-winner, in a 5-1 victory over Humboldt State.

Gonzalez played just 18 minutes Sunday in the rout of the Lumberjacks and scored three times in that short span, raising his season total of goals to a conference-best eight and his career total to 20 for a tie for fourth on the Broncos' all-time leaderboards.

This marks the second time that Gonzalez has earned the CCAA weekly honor. Last year he received selection for the week of Oct. 18 to Oct. 24 after setting a new single-match record for the conference in points with 10 against Cal State East Bay.

Cal Poly Pomona is next in action on Friday when it hosts Cal State L.A. in a battle of the South Division's top two teams.

Wilson/CCAA Men's Soccer Player of the Week

Aug. 29 - Sept. 4: Antti Arvola (Cal State L.A.)

Sept. 5-11: Trevor Hurst (Sonoma State)

Sept. 12-18: Taylor Varnadore (Sonoma State)

Sept. 19-25: Luis Gonzalez (Cal Poly Pomona).

The University of Redlands football program moved up the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association Top-25 polls, marking improvement on every poll so far this season.

Redlands gains its highest ranking in its NCAA Division III history by rising two spots to No. 13 on the third D3football.com list of 2011. The Bulldogs also jumped into the No. 18 position on the second AFCA poll of the season, improving four spots during their idle week.

Redlands enjoyed a bye week this past weekend after defeating regional opponent Whitworth University (Wash.), 30-20, on September 17.

Against the Pirates, junior quarterback Chad Hurst and sophomore wide receiver Taylor Irwin headlined the offense attack with Hurst tossing four touchdowns and Irwin leading the team with 99 yards on eight catches and one score.

On the defensive side of the ball, Redlands forced three Whitworth fumbles, two of which led to scores for the Bulldogs. Junior linebacker Jordan Garcia came up with a team-leading 10 hits, including two for a loss of six yards.

The Bulldogs (2-0) travel to Thousand Oaks for the opening Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game of the season on Saturday. Redlands kicks off against Cal Lutheran University, which boasts a ranking of 20th on the aforementioned polls.

Game time is set for 7 p.m.

 

Senior goalkeeper Kyle Pokorny of Pomona-Pitzer was named the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Co-Player of the Week.

Pokorny shared the honor with fellow goalkeeper Michael Wishart of Santa Clara.

Pokorny earned this week's award after a key role in helping the Sagehens defeat No. 15 Navy on Saturday evening. He had seven saves in the pivotal third quarter alone, when Pomona-Pitzer outscored the Midshipmen 3-0 to turn a 5-4 halftime advantage into a commanding 8-4 lead.
 
The win helped the Sagehens vault into the No. 1 spot in the Division III national rankings, as well as move them into the receiving votes category for the overall national poll (all divisions). All eight of Pomona-Pitzer's opponents have been nationally ranked so far this season.

The Sagehens will next be in action against yet another ranked team, when it faces No. 7 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 3 p.m. It will be third meeting between Pomona-Pitzer and the Gauchos, who faced each other on Sept. 3 at the UCLA Invitational, which UCSB won 16-4, and on Sept. 10 at the Inland Empire Tournament, which the Gauchos captured 12-7. 
 
 

Cal Poly Pomona senior Dwayne Fells received NCAA Division II Preseason Honorable Mention All-American honors from the Sporting News.

The 6-foot-6 forward finished the 2010-11 season with the fourth-best field goal percentage in the conference at .563. Fells started all 28 games for the Broncos, as the team went 17-11 overall and 13-9 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).

Fells paced CPP in rebounds with an average of 5.9 per game. That mark ranked 10th on the league leaderboard. The Fullerton native poured in a career-high 24 points on Jan. 8 in a narrow 64-62 road loss at Humboldt State. He grabbed nine rebounds on two different occasions, the first coming Jan. 18 against Cal State San Bernardino and the second coming Jan. 28 against Cal State Monterey Bay.

Joining fellow senior Matt Rosser, Fells is one of the two returning starters for the Broncos in 2011-12. Also expected to make key contributions is Mitchel Anderson, a junior guard who split time last season between the starting and reserve roles.

One other CCAA player received mention: Humboldt State's Randy Hunter, who previously played at Citrus College.

Sporting News NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Preseason Top 10

1. Bellarmine (KY)
2. Lincoln Memorial (TN)
3. West Liberty (WV)
4. Alabama-Huntsville
5. BYU-Hawaii
6. Benedict (SC)
7. Missouri Southern
8. Augustana (SD)
9. Metro State (CO)
10. UMass-Lowell

Sporting News Preseason All-America Team
First Team
Phillip Brown (Georgia Southwestern)
Jet Chang (BYU-Hawaii)
Braydon Hobbs (Bellarmine)
Jeremy Kendle (Bellarmine)
Josh Magette (Alabama-Huntsville)

Second Team
Marcus Goode (Benedict)
Desmond Johnson (Lincoln Memorial)
Trevin Parks (Johnson C. Smith)
Taylor Rohde (Alaska-Anchorage)
Cody Schilling (Augustana, SD)

Honorable Mention
Jason Adams (Missouri Southern)
Daniel Bailey (Queens, NC)
Stefan Bonneau (C.W. Post)
Shammel Brackett (UNC Pembroke)
Alvin Brown (USC Aiken)
Zane Campbell (Alabama-Huntsville)
Kyle Caiola (Findlay)
Xavier Collier (Benedict)
Dan Comas (Chestnut Hill)
Jarrell Douglass (Limestone)
Brent Eaton (Hillsdale)
Brent Evans (Queens, NC)
Reggie Evans (Metro State)
Dwayne Fells (Cal Poly Pomona)
Gerald Fulton (Missouri-St. Louis)
Patrick Grubbs (Pitt Johnstown)
Rob Gutierrez (St. Rose)
Ali Haidar (Michigan Tech)
Alex Hall (Drury)
Trevon Hamlet (Southern Connecticut)
Ahmad Harris (Bloomfield)
Cedric Harris (West Liberty)
Greg Hayes (Mount Olive)
Mike Hollingsworth (Wayne State, MI)
Randy Hunter (Humboldt State)
Travis Hyman (Bowie State)
Thomas Manzano (New Mexico Highlands)
Cameron McCaffrey (Augustana)
Adrian Moss (Indianapolis)
Andy Poling (Seattle Pacific)
Da'Ron Sims (West Georgia)
Ashton Smith (Indiana, PA)
Derek Staton (Mount Olive)
Isaac Thornton (Fairmont State)
Liki Turner (Francis Marion)
Odell Turner (Wingate)
Clayton Vette (Winona State)
Anthony Young (Kentucky Wesleyan)

The 8-0 Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes' volleyball team remains in the third position in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top 25 poll.

The Coyotes are in the poll for the 156th straight time and inside the top 10 for their 71st straight appearance.

Coach Kim Cherniss will lead her team Wednesday night as it steps outside of CCAA play with a match at NCAA newcomer, but longtime foe Cal Baptist. The match is at 7 p.m. at CBU.

CSUSB completes the week with matches Friday (Chico State) and Saturday (Cal State Stanislaus) at home. Matches for both nights are also at 7 p.m.

Concordia St. Paul remains at the top this week and Tampa is second.

Cal State's biggest CCAA rival, UC San Diego (8-0), is ranked 10th.

Ryan Carrell and Tiffany Dinh of the Cal Poly Pomona men's and women's cross country teams earned selection as the conference's Runners of the Week of Sept. 12 to Sept. 18.

Competing in the Broncos' season opener on Saturday at the UC Riverside Invitational, Carrell and Dinh turned in dominating performances.

Carrell, a sophomore from Westminster, finished the 8,000-meter course in 24:28.3. That mark is about 30 seconds faster than his top 2010 time for the same distance and it also stands as the third-fastest time in program history since 2000.

On Saturday, Carrell crossed the line less than a second behind UC Riverside's second-best runner, while still beating out top finishers from other Division I programs such as Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara. Carrell's performance helped the Broncos' men's squad place 13th overall.

Dinh, a junior from Norwalk, placed sixth out of a field of 167 runners at Saturday's UCR Invitational. Along the way, she shattered the program record for a 6,000-meter race with a time of 20:54.8. That topped her personal best, set at the 2010 conference championships and also the top all-time best for the Broncos, by more than 42 seconds.

After helping CPP's women's cross country team reach the 2010 NCAA Division II National Championships for the first time since 1985, Dinh got off the 2011 season off to a strong start as one of seven Broncos placing in the top 100 in the season opener.

The University of Redlands football team moved up two spots to No. 15 on the most recent D3football.com Top-25 poll. The Bulldogs also cracked the inaugural American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) at No. 22.

The Bulldogs are 2-0 after a 30-20 win over Whitworth (Wash.) on Saturday. They opened the season on Sept. 3 with a 36-29 win over then-No. 4 North Central (Ill.)

The Bulldogs are idle this week but return to action on Oct. 1 against reigning SCIAC champion Cal Lutheran, which is ranked No. 20 by D3football.

The University of Redlands football team moved up three spots on the D3football.com Top-25 Poll to No. 17 after receiving 218 votes.

The Bulldogs enjoyed a bye this past week in preparation for their match-up against regional opponent Whitworth University (WA) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Spokane, WA.  Redlands owns a 5-3 record against the Pirates, highlighted by victories in the past four contests.

A panel of coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the nation vote on the D3football.com Top-25 Poll.

In additional notes, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) member Cal Lutheran University sits at No. 19 with 168 total votes.

Cal State San Bernardino Director of Athletics Dr. Kevin Hatcher has been named to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee.

The assignment is a five-year stint and includes chairing the NCAA West Region championship.

"I am honored for this opportunity and to be a part of Division II's March Madness,'' Hatcher said. "The West has represented itself very well over the last three seasons with each of its teams reaching the championship game and earning Final Four berths in the last four seasons.''

The committee is comprised of eight individuals who represent each of the tournament's regionals.

The 2012 Elite Eight will be played in Highland Heights, Ky., and hosted by the University of Northern Kentucky.

Hatcher replaces Northwest Nazarene Director of Athletics Rich Sanders, who fulfilled his five-year commitment this past March. 

Hatcher also is a member of the NCAA Softball West Regional committee.

The Cal State San Bernardino volleyball team moved up from third to second in the American Volleyball coaches Association Top 25 poll.

The Coyotes went 4-0 over the weekend as a tournament they hosted. The most noteable win was over No. 17 Western Washington.

Cal State jumped over Central Missouri which lost twice, one of those to No. 1 and reigning national champion Concordia St. Paul. Central Missouri lost 3-0 so it probably didn't deserve to be No. 2 anyway.

The CCAA is also represented by No. 15 UC San Diego. Cal State Los Angeles was in the receiving votes category.

The Coyotes open CCAA play this weekend with San Francisco State on Friday and Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday, both at Coussoulis Arena where they have won 50 straight matches.

The University of Redlands football team has moved into the D3Football.com national poll at No. 20.

That comes as a result of the Bulldogs 35-29 win over No. 4 North Central (Ill.) on Saturday at Ted Runner Stadium. It was the highest-ranked team the school has ever beaten.

North Central fell to No. 15

The SCIAC is also represented at No. 16 by Cal Lutheran.

Redlands is idle this week but returns to action on Sept. 17 with a game in Spokane (Wash.) against the Whitworth Pirates.

There are wins. Then there are big wins.  For the University of Redlands they don't get any bigger than the 35-29 win over North Central (Ill.) Saturday in front of 2,170 spectators at The Runner. Coach Mike Maynard says it is the highest ranked opponent the Bulldogs have ever beaten.

The ramifications are many. First, the West Coast gets little respect when it comes to Division III football and the SCIAC is particularly looked down upon. Well the Bulldogs just struck a blow for both.

The victory is huge for the Bulldogs in terms of stength of schedule, a big factor when it comes to the playoff draw. Last year the Bulldogs went 8-1, the lone loss to nationally ranked Cal Lutheran by two points with a last-second field goal blocked and it wasn't good enough for an at-large bid. This win helps their cause should they finish second again.

It will likely boost the Bulldogs into the national rankings since they were already in the "receiving votes" category.

No player came up bigger than junior QB Chad Hurst who was making his first collegiate start. You would have never known. The game featured five lead changes in the last 16 minutes and Hurst brought his team back time and time again like a poised veteran. He ended up throwing for 275 yards, running for TD's and passing for two. He did have three interceptions but chalk them up to inexperience.

Other relative newbies came up big too. Mark Richardson had 103 yards in receptions. Kicker Kevin Grady was stellar too.

The Cardinals left a lot of points on the table, something you can't do against a good team. They had three red zone possessions in which they managed just six points - They got inside the 10 twice and settled for field goals. They got a pic in the closing seconds of the first half and got to the 17, then missed a field goal as the half ended.

The key came early as the visitors led 13-0, scoring and moving at will on their first three possessions. Then a punt pinned the Bulldogs at their own 3. Give the ball right back and the Cardinals have a short field, probably score again and its 20-0.

Instead Hurst drove the team 97 yards for a touchdown, 13-7 and Redlands was back in it, now confident it can play with North Central, who went 12-1 a year ago the lone loss coming to the eventual national champion in the playoffs.

I like the play-calling of new offensive coordinator Jim Good. I like the poise with which Hurst played. And I liked the intensity of the defense led by Justin Butler, Josh Herrera, and especially Jordan Garcia.

It is probably the best college football game I have covered in seven years. The atmosphere was electric and that was even though the students aren't back yet.

 

 

 

The University of Redlands is busily preparing for its season opener on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Ted Runner Stadium against North Central (Ill.), ranked fourth nationally by D3Football.com. That's one heck of an opener!

Would have liked to have seen this matchup last year when the Bulldogs had a veteran quarterback in Dan Selway. But it is what it is.

The Bulldogs will have junior Chad Hurst at quarterback. He was Selway's backup last year. He played in four games and went 4 of 9 throwing but you can't read much into that because his time was in mop-up duty and the Bulldogs weren't going to be throwing and most of the time didn't have their other first-teamers in the game either.

This one will be tough for the Bulldogs to pull off, not just because of the caliber of the foe and having a new quarterback but because they are opening the season a week earlier than usual.

Coach Mike Maynard had six quarterbacks in the mix but went with Hurst because he was the backup last year so he has a better grasp of the offense. He also executed it better on the practice field.

Other local college games this week:

- San Bernardino Valley College at Chaffey, 6 p.m.

The Wolverines also have a new QB and all-world running back Kristin James is gone. SBVC's success will depend on the showing of the newbies. The defense also must perform better than it did last year because it will tough to have the same offensive production.

Chaffey lacked consistency on offense last year. Coach Carl Beach hopes to have remedied that problem. Charles King will be over center. But the Panthers will be without receiver Alex Jeffries.

- Victor Valley at Mt. SAC, 1 p.m.

You have to feel sorry for the Rams. This just isn't a fair fight. Let's hope the powers that be have a little mercy on the Rams when picking nonconference foes next year. Hopefully Dave Hoover's team can keep their collective headds up and not get too down after the first game.