Recently in Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Category
With spring sports in full swing now, there are a lot of sporting events in the area from which to choose. Here's the rundown on what's going on locally . . .
WEDNESDAY
Men's basketball
Chaffey at College of the Desert, 7 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley at Rio Hondo, 7 p.m.
Barstow at Mt. San Jacinto, 7 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Victor Valley, 7 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
Occidental at Redlands, 7:30 p..m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Caltech, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
San Bernardino Valley at Rio Hondo, 5 p.m.
Chaffey at Desert, 5 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Victor Valley, 1 p.m.
Barstow at Mt. San Jacinto, 5 p.m.
Baseball
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Azusa Pacific, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY
Women's basketball
Redlands at Whittier, 7:30 p.m.
La Verne at Occidental, 7:30 p.m.
Caltech at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Pomona-Pitzer, 7:30 p.m.
Baseball
Azusa Pacific at Cal State San Bernardino (at Fiscalini Field), 2 p.m.
FRIDAY,
Men's basketball
Cal State Dominguez Hills at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m
Cal Poly Pomona at Chico State, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal State Dominguez Hills at Cal State San Bernardino, 5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Chico State, 5:30 p.m.
Baseball
Whitworth (Wash.) at Pomona-Pitzer, 2 p.m.
St. Martin's (Wash.) at Cal Poly Pomona, 2 p.m.
Cal State San Bernardino at Azusa Pacific, 2 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley and Chaffey at College of the Desert Tournament
Victor Valley at Grossmont, 2 p.m.
Softball
Cal Baptist at Cal State San Bernardino (DH), noon
Redlands at Azusa Pacific, 5 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
Cal State Los Angeles at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Stanislaus, 7:30 p.m.\
Victor Valley at Chaffey, 3 p.m.
Antelope Valley at San Bernardino Valley, 3 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Barstow, 3 p.m.
La Verne at Cal Lutheran, 7 p.m.
Redlands at Pomona-Pitzer, 7 p.m.
Whittier at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal State Los Angeles at Cal State San Bernardino, 5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Stanislaus, 5:30 p.m.
Antelope Valley at San Bernardino Valley, 1 p.m.
Victor Valley at Chaffey, 1 p.m.
Cerro Coso at Barstow, 1 p.m.
La Verne at Cal Lutheran, 5 p.m.
Whittier at Clarmeont-Mudd-Scripps, 5 p.m.
Redlands at Pomona-Pitzer, 5 p.m.
Baseball
La Verne at Biola, 1 p.m.
St. Martin's at Cal Poly Pomona (DH) 11 a.m.
Azusa Pacific at Cal State San Bernardino (at Fiscalini Field) , 1 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley, Chaffey at College of the Desert Tournament
Victor Valley at Southwestern, noon.
Softball
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Azusa Pacific, noon
Pomona-Pitzer at vanguard, noon.
Swimming and diving
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Redlands, 10 a.m.
Caltech at La Verne, 10 a.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Occidental, 10 a.m.
SUNDAY
Baseball
St. Martin's at Cal Poly Pomona, 11 a.m.
Chaffey at Desert Tournament
Softball
Redlands at Concordia-Irvine, 11 a.m.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men slipped a bit from No. 12 to No. 15 in the D3Hoops.com poll released on Monday. The Stags (15-1) were dealt their first loss on Saturday falling to Whittier 88-85 in double overtime.
That's not the worst thing that can happen. A loss takes some of the pressure off and sometimes helps a team refocus. CMS will get anothet shot at Whittier anyway and the SCIAC automatic playoff bid is decided in the conference tournament anyway.
The Stags were also coming off a high from the previous game when they slipped past local Pomona-Pitzer on a last-second layup the previous game. So a letdown was not all that unexpected.
Here's this week's poll:
| 1 | Middlebury (24) | 16-0 | 623 | 1 |
| 2 | UW-Whitewater (1) | 17-1 | 595 | 5 |
| 3 | Hope | 16-1 | 549 | 7 |
| 4 | Emory | 15-1 | 514 | 8 |
| 5 | Virginia Wesleyan | 13-2 | 511 | 2 |
| 6 | MIT | 16-1 | 488 | 3 |
| 7 | Amherst | 15-2 | 482 | 4 |
| 8 | Cabrini | 16-1 | 446 | 10 |
| 9 | Franklin and Marshall | 16-1 | 409 | 13 |
| 10 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 16-1 | 403 | 6 |
| 11 | Whitworth | 14-3 | 339 | 9 |
| 12 | Birmingham-Southern | 16-1 | 323 | 14 |
| 13 | Williams | 15-3 | 296 | 15 |
| 14 | William Paterson | 16-2 | 256 | 18 |
| 15 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 15-1 | 247 | 12 |
| 16 | UW-Stevens Point | 14-4 | 222 | 11 |
| 17 | New York University | 14-1 | 192 | 23 |
| 18 | Eastern Connecticut | 14-1 | 155 | 25 |
| 19 | Wooster | 14-3 | 147 | 24 |
| 20 | Augustana | 13-4 | 136 | 19 |
| 21 | Illinois Wesleyan | 14-3 | 128 | 17 |
| 22 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 14-3 | 123 | 22 |
| 23 | Wabash | 14-3 | 115 | 16 |
| 24 | Rhode Island College | 14-2 | 76 | -- |
| 25 | Transylvania | 15-2 | 68 | -- |
Dropped out: No. 20 St. Thomas, No. 21 Wittenberg.
Others receiving votes: Lake Forest 49; WPI 48; Oswego State 40; Wittenberg 36; Randolph-Macon 20; St. Thomas 19; Bethany 16; St. Joseph's (L.I.) 9; Christopher Newport 8; UW-River Falls 7; Washington U. 7; Albertus Magnus 4; Lycoming 4; St. Mary's (Md.) 4; Wesleyan 4; Western Connecticut 4; DePauw 1; Grinnell 1; Hampden-Sydney 1.
Want to check out some of the local college sports action? Well there are a lot of contests to choose from!
MONDAY
Women's basketball
Cerro Coso at Chaffey, 5 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Men's basketball
Chaffey at San Bernardino, 7 p.m.
College of the Desert at Barstow, 7 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Victor Valley, 7 p.m.
La Verne at Caltech, 7:30 p.m.
Occidental at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7:30 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Whittier, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal Lutheran at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
Chaffey at San Bernardino, 5 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Victor Valley, 5 p.m.
College of the Desert at Barstow, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY
Men's basketball
UC San Diego at Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.
Cal State San Bernardino at San Francisco State, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
UC San Diego at Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
Cal State San Bernardino at San Francisco State, 5:30 p.m.
Redlands at Occidental, 7:30 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Pomona-Pitzer, 7:30 p.m.
Whittier at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Baseball
Westmont at Pomona-Pitzer, 2 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
Cal State San Bernardino at Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.
Barstow at Chaffey, 3 p.m.
Mt. San Jacinto at San Bernardino, 3 p.m.
College of the Desert at Victor Valley, 3 p.m.
La Verne at Redlands, 7 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Occidental, 7 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal State San Bernardino at Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
Mt. San Jacinto at San Bernardino, 1 p.m.
Desert at Victor Valley, 1 p.m.
Barstow at Cerro Coso, 1 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 5 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Occcidental, 5 p.m.
La Verne at Redlands, 5 p.m.
Swimming and diving
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer, 11 a.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Cal Lutheran, 11 a.m.
Redlands at Whittier, 11 a.m.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team has moved up five spots to No. 12 in the latest D3Hoops basketball poll. The Stags are 14-0. While talent in the SCIAC is up across the board, CMS still has a pretty good shot at running the table. It is that good.
Here is the latest Top 25:
| # | School (1st votes) | Rec | Pts | Prev. |
| 1 | Middlebury (22) | 14-0 | 622 | 1 |
| 2 | Virginia Wesleyan (2) | 13-1 | 595 | 2 |
| 3 | MIT (1) | 16-0 | 575 | 3 |
| 4 | Amherst | 13-1 | 547 | 5 |
| 5 | UW-Whitewater | 15-1 | 500 | 9 |
| 6 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 15-0 | 494 | 8 |
| 7 | Hope | 14-1 | 450 | 11 |
| 8 | Emory | 13-1 | 448 | 4 |
| 9 | Whitworth | 13-2 | 428 | 10 |
| 10 | Cabrini | 14-1 | 388 | 13 |
| 11 | UW-Stevens Point | 13-3 | 343 | 15 |
| 12 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 14-0 | 319 | 17 |
| 13 | Franklin and Marshall | 14-1 | 310 | 7 |
| 14 | Birmingham-Southern | 14-1 | 266 | 19 |
| 15 | Williams | 13-3 | 237 | 12 |
| 16 | Wabash | 13-2 | 211 | 14 |
| 17 | Illinois Wesleyan | 13-2 | 206 | 25 |
| 18 | William Paterson | 13-2 | 159 | -- |
| 19 | Augustana | 11-4 | 120 | 6 |
| 20 | St. Thomas | 10-3 | 103 | -- |
| 21 | Wittenberg | 12-3 | 99 | -- |
| 22 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 12-3 | 97 | -- |
| 23 | New York University | 12-1 | 87 | -- |
| 24 | Wooster | 12-3 | 60 | 16 |
| 25 | Eastern Connecticut | 12-1 | 57 | -- |
Dropped out: No. 18 Puget Sound, No. 20 Rhode Island College, No. 21 Buffalo State, No. 22 Oswego State, No. 23 Western Connecticut, No. 24 WPI.
Others receiving votes: Rhode Island College 56; Oswego State 47; Transylvania 42; Washington U. 39; Bethany 37; Western Connecticut 26; Lake Forest 24; Worcester Polytech 18; Hampden-Sydney 16; Ohio Wesleyan 16; UW-River Falls 16; Hardin-Simmons 16; Wesleyan 10; Christopher Newport 6; Puget Sound 6; St. Joseph's (L.I.) 6; Mary Washington 6; John Carroll 5; St. Mary's (Md.) 4; Randolph-Macon 4; Grinnell 2; DePauw 1; North Central (Ill.) 1.
Here's what's happening in local college sports this week
MONDAY
Women's basketball -
San Bernardino Valley at Cerro Coso, 6 p.m.
Chapman at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
TUESDAY
Men's basketball
San Francisco State at Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
San Francisco State at Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Men's basketball
Rio Hondo at Chaffey, 7 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley at Barstow, 7 p.m.
Victor Valley at Mt. San Jacinto, 7 p.m.
Whittier at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Pomona-Pitzer, 7:30 p.m.
Redlands at Occidental, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
San Bernardino Valley at Barstow, 5 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Chaffey, 5 p.m.
Victor Valley at Mt. San Jacinto, 5 p.m.
THUSRDAY
Women's basketball
Occidental at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7:30 p.m.
La Verne at Caltech, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Men's basketball
Humboldt State at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Dominguez, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
Humboldt State at Cal State San Bernardino,5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Dominguez, 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
Sonoma State at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Chaffey, 3 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley at College of the Desert, 3 p.m.;
Barstow at Victor Valley, 3 p.m.
Clarmeont-Mudd-Scripps at Whittier, 7 p.m.
Redlands at Caltech, 7 p.m.
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer, 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Sonoma State at Cal State San Bernardino, 5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Chaffey, 1 p.m.;
Victor Valley at Barstow, 1 p.m.
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer, 5 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Whittier, 5 p.m.
Redlands at Caltech, 5 p.m.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team moved up a spot from 22nd to 21st in the D3Hopps.com Top 25 poll. The Stags (9-0) have 114 points, just one fewer than No. 20 Marietta (Ohio).
CMS is the only SCIAC school to be mentioned.
Middlebury (Vt.) remains No. 1.
CMS returns to action on Dec. 30 when it will host Babson College (Mass.) at 7:30 p.m.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's basketball team has moved into the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll at No. 22. The Stags improved to 9-0 with a win on Saturday over Point Loma Nazarene.
CMS is the only SCIAC team earning mention.
The Stags have been bolstered by the return of two-time SCIAC Player of the Year Chris Blees who sustained a season-ending knee injury in the second game last season. He is averaging 15 points and 8.8 rebounds to lead the way.
Here's the Top 25 rundown:
| # | School (1st votes) | Rec | Pts | Prev. |
| 1 | Middlebury (24) | 7-0 | 624 | 1 |
| 2 | Virginia Wesleyan (1) | 6-1 | 560 | 3 |
| 3 | Augustana | 7-1 | 556 | 4 |
| 4 | MIT | 11-0 | 511 | 7 |
| 5 | Emory | 8-0 | 490 | 9 |
| 6 | Amherst | 8-1 | 480 | 2 |
| 7 | Williams | 8-1 | 477 | 8 |
| 8 | Whitworth | 6-1 | 417 | 6 |
| 9 | Marietta | 6-1 | 396 | 10 |
| 10 | Franklin and Marshall | 9-0 | 392 | 11 |
| 11 | Cabrini | 7-0 | 360 | 12 |
| 12 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 6-0 | 305 | 13 |
| 13 | UW-Whitewater | 8-0 | 279 | 19 |
| 14 | St. Thomas | 7-1 | 235 | 16 |
| 15 | Puget Sound | 8-0 | 227 | 20 |
| 16 | Birmingham-Southern | 7-0 | 214 | 18 |
| 17 | Wabash | 8-0 | 212 | 25 |
| 18 | Hope | 8-1 | 189 | 23 |
| 19 | Wooster | 5-2 | 188 | 5 |
| 20 | WPI | 8-1 | 124 | 15 |
| 21 | Buffalo State | 6-1 | 85 | 14 |
| 22 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 9-0 | 84 | -- |
| 23 | Rochester | 8-2 | 82 | 24 |
| 24 | Oswego State | 8-1 | 75 | -- |
| 25 | UW-Stevens Point | 6-2 | 63 | 21 |
Dropped out: No. 17 Wheaton (Ill.), No. 22 William Paterson.
Others receiving votes: Edgewood 60, Washington U. 60, Wittenberg 60, Rhode Island College 53, Wheaton (Ill.) 52, William Paterson 35, Ohio Wesleyan 27, Western Connecticut 27, Grinnell 22, Bethany 21, St. Mary's (Md.) 18, Hardin-Simmons 16, Transylvania 14, Texas-Dallas 9, UW-River Falls 8, Rose-Hulman 7, Hobart 5, New Jersey City 4, Hartwick 1, Salem State 1.
The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps chalked up a 20-17 win over University of La Verne in the SCIAC opener for both teams on Saturday. But it wasn't without a cost as senior quarterback Patrick Rooney sustained a broken leg and it lost for the season.
Coach Kyle Sweeney said the injury occured in the first quarter when a La Verne played jumped offside and slammed into his quarterback before the offical blew the whistle.
The Stags have used two quarterbacks the last three years with Rooney noted as the batter passer and junior Peter Kimmey more of a weapon in the rushing attack.
Ironically, Rooney was also hurt last year which left Kimmey as the sole signal-caller for the last four games. The Stags should be able to draw upon that experience and proceed the same way.
"They won games with him so he can do the job," Sweeney said.
CMS will play at Chapman at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Practice begins this week for most area college football teams. It should be quite an interesting season in the SCIAC. There are plenty of story lines.
Cal Lutheran is a heavy favorite. The Kingsmen are looking for a third straight conference title. They return 18 starters and will be playing in a brand-spanking new facility so the program has considerable momentum.
After that it will be a crapshoot. The University of Redlands is always in contention but the Bulldogs did finally graduate quarterback Dan Selway as well as their "quarterback" on the other side of the ball in defensive back-kick returner extraordinaire in Mike Nicolini.
The Bulldogs open the season a week earlier than usual and will have a tough first-week foe in North Central (Ill.) which is the favorite in its conference. Beating that team might be a tall order with question marks in such key positions.
There are three new coaches - Kyle Sweeney at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Chris Krich at La Verne and Kirk Jellerson at Whittier. Sweeney is in the best situation with a lot of returning starters from a team that went 7-2.
For Krich and Jellerson a three-win season would mean progress.
Then there is Occidental, looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristic losing season.
If that weren't enough, Chapman joins the SCIAC this year although the Panthers won't be eligible for a conference title in the first year. They play the SCIAC schools anyway so they may as well be in the conference.
On a sad note - condolences go out to the family and friends of former Occidental quarterback Andy Collins who collapsed and died while running on a treadmill in Florida. He was just 27 and had been married one week earlier. He was a three-time SCIAC Player of the Year.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer are hosting the NCAA Division III national tennis championships all week. While the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps teams didn't fare well, individuals are more than holding their own.
Sophomore Alex Lane of CMS just steamrolled past his two foes, losing a grand total of three games. Have you ever watched a sporting event and one side was playing so well you felt sorry for the other? That was the case. Lane said after his second match he was playing with a chip on his shoulder after a loss in the team competition earlier in the week.
He looks like he is going to be hard to beat now.
Tommy Meyer of Pomona-Pitzer also advanced to the qaurterfinals with a pair of straight set wins.
Sophomore Kristin Lim of CMS has been the star on the women's side. She too is in the quarterfinals.
All the action today is at Pomona-Pitzer beginning at 9 a.m. There is no charge and its a great venue to wander around and watch competition on different courts in a relaxed atmosphere.
It's that time of year when teams are battling for survival. A whole host of local teams were in action on Friday. Oh where to start . . .
The toughest loss of the day was that by the University of Redlands softball team which lost to host Texas-Tyler in a 15-inning extravanganza. The Bulldogs were on the brink of defeat until Sarah Beeman knocked in two runs with a double in the seventh and Redlands led 5-4.
Not so fast. Tyler then scored one. On they went.
In the ninth Lizett Casillas hit a grand slam home run, 9-5 visitors lead. Home team answeres with four. On they went.
Tyler eventually won it in the 15th on a solo home run. The Bulldogs played the equivalent of two games and must somehow find the energy to play a morning elimination game on Saturday.
It wasn't good news for the other local team playing there. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps lost to Louisiana College 8-3 and are one loss from being done.
On a brighter note, the Cal State San Bernardino softball team picked up a huge win in its regional playoff opener, upending defending national champion Hawaii Pacific 3-2 in eight innings behind the pitching of senior Cassidy Lee.
In baseball, Cal Poly Pomona remained alive, turning back Sonoma State 11-4 behind the hitting machine that is Travis Taijeron. The Broncos are in the loser's bracket playing Chico State in an elimination game.
In golf Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Tain Lee finished second in the national championship tournament in Greensboro, N.C. He was ninth as a freshman and won it last year as a sophomore. That's quite a resume already.
University of Redlands was 10th, making its sixth top 10 finish in right years. University of La Verne was 15th.
For the second straight year Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will host the SCIAC's post-season softball tournament.
The Athenas (32-8, 19-5) and the University of Redlands (31-9, 19-5) finished tied for first in the regular season but CMS gets the top seed and right to host based on its 4-0 record against the Bulldogs.
Action begins at 9 a.m. on Firday with CMS squaring off against No. 4 seed Whittier (23-17, 11-13), whom they just swept to complete the regular season. Then at 11:30 a.m. Redlands faces off with No. 3 La Verne (25-14, 18-6).
It is a double elimination event so the winners of the first two games will play at 2 and the loser's will play at 4 in an elimination game.
Play also starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday with an elimination game. The championship game is set for 12:30 p.m. with the if necessary game to follow.
Last season the Leopards won the tournament as the No. 3 seed, the same scenarion they face this year.
The winner gets the conference automatic playoff berth. Last year CMS and Redlands were both granted at-large bids despite not winning the conference tournament.
There are six games left in the SCIAC baseball regular season and a couple of contenders have fallen by the wayside. A week ago five teams were still in the hunt. None of those have beem mathematically eliminated but both Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps suffered losses on Friday that will make it difficult for them now.
The defending champion Sagehens were dealt a 5-1 loss by the University of La Verne while CMS fell to Cal Lutheran 12-4. It is unlikely that either of those can leapfrog enough teams in front of them now.
Pomona-Pitzer and CMS play each other on Saturday, so the loser of that can definitely mail it in.
Redlands survived against a lower-tier team in Occidental 13-9. The Bulldogs trailed 8-0. So give them credit for having the guts to come back. But it shouldn't have been that hard.
In other games today La Verne will battle Whittier and Redlands will travel to Cal Lutheran. Its a chance for the Bulldogs to put a dagger in the Kingsmen.
A VERY big game looms on Sunday when Redlands travels to La Verne. Stay tuned!
| Redlands | 22 | 17-5 | 23-8 | |||||||||
| La Verne | 22 | 16-6 | 21-12 | |||||||||
| Cal Lutheran | 21 | 14-7 | 20-13 | |||||||||
| Pomona-Pitzer | 22 | 13-9 | 23-10 | |||||||||
| Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 22 | 13-9 | 19-15 | |||||||||
| Whittier | 22 | 8-14 | 16-17 | |||||||||
| Occidental | 21 | 6-15 | 10-22 | |||||||||
| Caltech | 22 | 0-22 | 0-25 |
The SCIAC baseball race just a got a whole lot closer.
Not only did Pomona-Pitzer defeated Redlands 4-2, but Claremont-Mudd-Scripps upset University of La Verne 7-6. So now the four teams are separated by just two games. Redlands and La Verne remain tied for first with Pomona-Pizter one gane out and CMS two out,
The Bulldogs and Sagehens played one of the best games I have seen since I started covering colleges full-time in 2004. It was a great pitching matchup with Pomona's David Colvin opposed by Redlands's Derek Johnson.
The Bulldogs got to Colvin early and were up 2-0. But they didn't maximize their opportunities. Twice they had runners at third with one out and couldn't get another run home. They had a runner gunned down at the plate trying to score on fly ball to shallow right.
The Redlands defense was nothing short of spectacular in the first six innings, making several highlight-reel plays. They had two in the fifth, the first coming when shortstop Chase Tucker leaped as high as humanly possible to come down with a line drive off the bat of Nick Gentili that appeared headed into left field.
One batter later Teddy Bingham hit a line drive to second that was nabbed by Cameron Lowe who threw to first to double up a runner there.
The Sagehens fimally broke through with one in the seventh, then manufactured three in the eighth. There were four hits and a walk in the inning. A double down the left field line by Kyle Pokorney tied the game at 2 and a single by Timonthy Novum snapped the tie.
It was a little bit of redemption for Johnson, although his team came out on the losing end. The last time he was on the mound against the Sagehens he gave up seven hits and six runs and lasted two innings in a game that was pivotal down the stretch last year.
Colvin was Mr. Steady. In the games I have witnessed this season he seems to give up a couple early, but the later it gets, the tougher he gets. Get to him early or you won't get to him at all.
This race is going to go down to the final game!
It's the last week of play for area college football teams but only a couple have anything on the line.
The most important game will have San Bernardino Valley College (6-3, 4-0) traveling to East Los Angeles (4-5, 3-1) for a 6 p.m. showdown with a win bringing the Wolverines an American Division Mountain Conference title. Coach Kevin Emerson's squad is already guaranteed its first winning season since 1998.
Emerson inherited an 0-10 team in 2009 and went a respectable 5-5 last year in his first at the helm. Now he's on the brink of a conference title. That's a quick turnaround.
The other team with something on the line is the University of Redlands. The Bulldogs (7-1) will be hosting nonconference foe Chapman at 1 p.m.
Coach Mike Maynard's team can not earn a SCIAC automtic bid because of its head-to-head loss to Cal Lutheran. So Maynard is hoping for an at-large berth. It's a stretch though. A SCIAC runner-up hasn't gotten one in at least the last 20 years. I have a hard time believing it will happen this year either.
The Peace Pipe game will see Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-2, 3-2) cross the street to face Pomona-Pitzer (1-7, 1-4) for a 1 p.m. neighborhood tussle. It's all about bragging rights.
The University of La Verne (0-8, 0-5) will face Whittier, also at 1 p.m. If the Leopards don't pull it off they're going to have to go through another off-season thinking about an 0-9. La Verne has lost 19 straight games but maybe there is something in that fact that the last time the Leos one back in 2008, Whittier was also the foe.
Chaffey rounds out the regular season by hosting Antelope Valley at 6 p.m. I am guessing this goes down to the wire. It shouldn't. The Panthers have way more talent. But every other Chaffey game has followed that pattern.
Victor Valley (2-7) will be at Mt. San Jacinto. Coach Dave Hoover is just happy this season is about over.
It was good news and bad news for the Cal State San Bernardino men's soccer team.
The Coyotes (13-5-1) made the postseason for just the third time in history. The bad news, though, is losses in the last two matches cost the Coyotes the right to host a game, so they'll be hitting the road.
Chico State will host the Super Region 4. The Coyotes will be facing Pacific West champion Grand Canyon (14-2-2) at 4 p.m. Friday in the first round while the host Wildcats (13-6) will play CCAA North foe Sonoma State (14-5-1) at 7 p.m.
"Our guys are excited about the opportunity," said Cal State San Bernardino coach Noah Kooiman, this year's CCAA Coach of the Year. "It's a little disappointing we're not hosting, but it's the playoffs. "We got a taste of it last year, so we're better prepared this time around."
The Coyotes have been ranked as high as No. 3 in the country and were No. 1 in the West Region the last three weeks, but Cal State lost its regular-season finale to Cal State Dominguez Hills 1-0 and its CCAA tournament semifinal to Sonoma State 1-0.
Sonoma State won the event by beating Dominguez in the final. Kooiman thinks Sonoma State winning tipped the hosting right to Chico. Had Dominguez gotten in, the South would have had two teams and the Coyotes likely would have been the host team.
"We'll never know, but that's how we think it would have worked out," Kooiman said.
It will be the third playoff berth for the Coyotes, who were beaten last year by Cal State Los Angeles 5-3. The previous berth was in 1991, when the school was competing at the Division III level.
The Coyotes haven't played Grand Canyon this season. They defeated Chico State 2-1 and lost to Sonoma State twice, 3-1 and 1-0.
Division III women's soccer
Surprise SCIAC tournament winner University of Redlands has drawn a first- round playoff matchup against Chapman on Thursday.
The Bulldogs (10-9) were seeded fourth for the SCIAC tourney but earned the conference playoff berth by upsetting top- seeded Cal Lutheran and No. 2 Occidental in the conference tournament.
Redlands hasn't given up a goal in more than 285 minutes dating back to its 5-0 victory over Whittier on Oct. 30. It has seven shutouts.
Chapman (12-6), which competes as an independent, gained one of 21 Pool B/C bids to the NCAA tournament. It defeated Redlands 3-2 in nonconference play earlier this season.
Division III men's soccer
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (14-3-2) will be the SCIAC's lone postseason representative and compete in a four- team sectional. The Stags will play host team Texas-Tyler University (12-3-1) on Saturday.
The winner of that game will face the winner of the game between Trinity-Texas and Pacific.
Claremont-Mudd finished second to the University of Redlands in the regular season but upended the Bulldogs 1-0 in the SCIAC tournament to earn the automatic bid.
Division III volleyball
For the first time since 1999, the University of La Verne will not be participating in the postseason.
Regular-season champion Cal Lutheran won the SCIAC's automatic bid by also winning the conference tournament.
The Leopards (19-11) were 11-9 in mid- October but went 8-2 over their last 10 matches to make a push for an at-large bid, then lost the tournament finale to Cal Lutheran.
West Region representatives Cal Lutheran, Colorado College and Whitworth each received automatic bids into the 63-team field by virtue of winning their respective conferences. Puget Sound (18-6) earned the West's lone at-large berth.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team had a chance to make the playoffs if it could run the table and win its last three games. That won't happen.
Cal Lutheran (6-1, 4-0) took it to the Stags, winning 41-14 at Zinda Field today. The Stags had two big problems. The first problem was they couldn't throw the ball, not even a little. Cal Lutheran put nine men in the box and dared them to do so and they could not.
That also made it hard for CMS (5-2, 2-2) to run the ball which is traditionally a strong suit.
The second problem was on defense they couldn't cover anyone. That is an equally big issue. The Stags had two starting safeties out with injuries and their absence was exposed early as Cal Lu receivers were wide open all day.
CMS is a good football team. But this makes losses to two of the top tier teams in Cal Lutheran and Redlands. So maybe it is not quite at that level yet.It has a game left with Occidental next week. A win in that game will be evidence the Stags are making strides and getting close to shrinking the gap between the top teams and middle teams. A loss and they're relegated to second-tier status.
Also in SCIAC play Redlands beat La Verne 27-7. The Bulldogs likely experienced a letdown after last week's emotionally and physically draining 51-7 thrashing of Occidental.The Bulldogs could still make the playoffs but they need help.
Pomona-Pitzer faltered at Whittier, losing 37-17. That sets up a battle of winless teams next week as the Sagehens will play at La Verne.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps had a surprisingly tough time with Whittier but prevailed 30-27, the difference being a Chet Corcos field goal with 4:05 left.
There are a lot of games to choose from for area college football enthusiasts.
Cal Lutheran (1-1) at Redlands (2-0), 7 p.m.
Transfer U comes in to take on the Bulldogs in what should be one of the biggest games in the SCIAC this season. Cal Lutheran has looked more potent on offense than Redlands which tends to start slowly but wake up in the third quarter. The Bulldogs can't afford a slow start in this one. The running game must also do better than it has in the first two games. Slight edge to the visiting Kingsmen in this one.
La Verne (0-2) at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-0), 7 p.m.
A turning point game for both programs. CMS has played considerably weaker foes than the Leopards to this point. La Verne has lost 13 straight games and this a foe that shouldn't be out of its class if it wants to make a leap to respectability, CMS has looked solid but they haven't played anyone yet. Have to call this one for the Stags.
Pomona-Pitzer (0-2) at Chapman (0-2), 7 p.m.
Two teams still looking to get into the win column. The Sagehens need to improve on defense because Jake Caron and R.J. Maki can't carry the team. Chapman can also be a tough place to win. We're probably looking at a Panther victory.
In the community college ranks . . .
Riverside (2-1) at Chaffey (3-1), 6 p.m.
The Panthers have been lucky. Coach Carl Beach is the first to admit that and in this one he doesn't have room for error. Riverside is back on the way up and has some talented game-breakers. Chaffey has won some low-scoring games so trading touchdowns with the Tigers might be tough. Give RCC the edge, based on previous results.
Citrus (1-2) at San Bernardino Valley (1-2), 6 p.m.
The first Emerson Bowl with SBVC's Kevin Emerson facing his former team. He wants this one bad. His team wants it too. If Kristin James hangs on to the ball, it shouldn't be a problem. I'll go with the Wolverines at home.
Victor Valley (0-3) at Desert (1-3), 6 p.m.
The Rams have been beaten up physically by top-notch nonconference foes. They have the talent to win this one but coach Dave Hoover is worried about his team's mental state after the tough start. If the Rams lose this one it's going to be a very long season. If they can pull one out, it should them some momentum heading into conference play. Because of uncertainty at the quarterback position I have to go with Desert.
Football player Dan Selway of the University of Redlands and runner Jennifer Tave of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps have earned Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Athlete of the Week honors.
Selway earned accolades on the men's side for his effort in Saturday's 23-7 win against Whitworth (Wash.). The senior captain connected on 23 of his 35 attempts without an interception for a total of 214 passing yards, which included all three touchdowns. Selway also reverted back to his receiving days as a freshman, and caught a pass in the end zone for the two-point conversion on the second touchdown of the game.
The Redlands quarterback has helped the Bulldogs to a 2-0 start, compiling 360 total passing yards with a 69.5% completion rating and five touchdowns.
Meanwhile Tave led the Athenas to a ninth place finish (second among non-Division I teams) at the UC Riverside Invitational.
She finished 29th overall with a personal best time of 17:49.0 which is fourth best in CMS history. She finished nearly 20 seconds ahead of the closest SCIAC competitor. Of the 28 runners in front of her, 22 were Division I, 3 post-collegiate, 2 NAIA and one JC.
There aren't a lot of games to pick from if you want to take in a local college football game this weeekend.
The University of La Verne (0-1) and San Bernardino Valley College (0-2) are idle and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-0), Pomona-Pitzer (0-1) and Chaffey College (2-0) will all be on the road.
The University of Redlands (1-0) will host Whitworth, Wash. (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Ted Runner Stadium. The Bulldogs opened their season with a 21-10 win at East Texas Baptist last week. That looks like a good win given that team's big win the previous week.
This will be the second straight week the Bulldogs will be defending a star player. Not that you want to focus and entire game plan on one player, but Whitworth does rely on all-everything back Adam Anderson much the way East Texas revolved around its quarterback Sed Harris.
Redlands has the benefit of a solid quarterback and leader in Dan Selway, who is finally exhausting his eligibilty - foes in the SCIAC wil be happy to know. The Bulldogs do need to develop a running game, something coach Mike Maynard says has been a focal point in practice this week.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is going up to Pacific (Ore.) for a 1:30 p.m. game. That team is probably worse than the Lewis & Clark team it beat last week. Expect the Stags to move to 2-0. How good they are is still anybody's guess given the level of competition.
Pomona-Pitzer, which lost to Whitworth 35-7 last week, goes up to Lewis & Clark. So the Sagehens and quarterback Jacob Caron have a good shot at win No. 1.
In the junior college ranks Victor Valley (0-2) will be at Riverside (1-0) for a 6 p.m. showdown. The schedule makers did the Rams no favors. Don't get coach Dave Hoover started on that subject!
Chaffey (2-0) is off to an impressive start too but will face a tough task in marching down to Mission Viejo to square off against Saddleback, the No. 14 team in the state.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) cross country teams are both ranked highly in the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) preseason rankings which were released on August 24.
The men, the defending West Region champions, are ranked first and the women, who finished third in the region last year, are ranked second. The USTFCCCA preseason national rankings will be released on September 1.
The Stags return five runners from their region-winning team: Kris Brown, Georgi Dinolov, Brian Kopczynski, Kramer Straube and Brian Sutter. All five earned All-SCIAC honors last year with Straube, Kopczynski, Sutter and Dinolov also earning All-Region honors. In addition to winning the region, CMS also won the SCIAC and went on to place 15th at the NCAA Championships.
The Athenas return six runners from last year's regional squad: Kate Crawford (SO, Seattle, WA), Julia Rigby, Ashley Scott, Jennifer Tavé, Laura Wyatt and Aubrey Zimmerling. Tavé, Rigby and Scott earned All-SCIAC honors with Tavé and Rigby also earning All-Region honors. Tavé was runner-up at both the SCIAC and Regional meets and earned All-American honors with her 27th place finish at the NCAA Championships.
The Athenas tied for second in the SCIAC, but were the top finishing SCIAC team at the regional. They finished 22nd at the NCAA Championships, second of three West Region teams.
CMS opens their season with a dual meet against Westmont College along the beach in Santa Barbara on September 4.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps has been awarded the right to host the 2011 California-Nevada Collegiate Track and Field Championships in the spring.
The prestigious meet for four-year colleges and universities in the two states has a history dating back to 1994. The meet, which will be held March 26-27, has been hosted by UCLA the past two years.
CMS will be the first Division III host for the championship in its 18-year history. The championship is the only meet held in either state which offers scored competition between all three NCAA Divisions as well as NAIA schools.
"It's a great opportunity to showcase our school and our facility," said former coach John Goldhammer, who was instrumental in bringing the meet to Claremont. "There hasn't been a lot of confidence in Division III schools when it comes to hosting this type of event so we're honored to be given the chance."
The bidding process came down to CMS and Division II power UC San Diego with CMS winning a vote of member coaches by a wide margin.
"We have bid for it before," Goldhammer said. "Maybe we just wore them down and they gave in. But we're looking forward to putting on a nice event."
The will not be more representation from the local schools just because it will be held near by though. To make the field athletes must be ranked in the top 27 in the field events or top 36 for track event.
The 2010 team champions were UCLA for the men and Cal State Northridge for the women.
The Pomona-Pitzer baseball team has fallen one game short of playing for the NCAA Division III West Region championship for a second straight year. The Sagehens were sent home from the 2010 event by a 6-5 loss to Mississippi College Saturday afternoon at Linfield University in McMinnville, Ore.
The disappointing thing is that the decisive run was the result of a Sagehens error in the ninth inning. Coach Frank Pericolosi says defense was an issue the entire tournament. Official scoring was generous, with many hits called as such that should have been ruled errors.
The tournament got off to such a promising start with the Sagehens winning their first two games and being the last team handed a loss in the double-elimination tournament. The wheels started coming off on Friday in a 10-0 loss to host Linfield. Two errors in the first inning led to four unearned runs and the Sagehens were never in the game.
The Sagehens (31-11) do have a lot to be proud of this season. Last year they were No. 1 in the country heading into the tournament so not winning then was more disappointing than it has to be this season.
Pericolosi started as many as four freshmen and three sophomores this season.So this team will be back. The key losses will be catcher James Brunswick, one of the team's more underrated players, and shortstop James Kang, who seemed to come up with every clutch hit.
Some players also emerged that few might have expected. Guy Stevens got throw into the fire Friday night after sophomore starter Leo Rosetti struggled. Stevens is just a freshman and had seen little mound time this season, That was a pretty pressure-packed situation. But he threw five scoreless innings before running out of gas and giving up a couple in his sixth inning of work.
The same can be said for senior Lucas Fogarty, the tough-luck loser today.He too had not been called on much but was solid in hs outing.
With three SCIAC titles and regional appearances in the last four years, it is clear that Pomona-Pitzer is the standard by which others in the conference will be measured in coming years.
The All-SCIAC honors have been doled out in baseball. Not surprsingly, Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands dominate the selections as the teams finished first and second in the conference.
The Sagehens are the lone team left playing.
FIRST TEAM
Pitchers
David Colvin, Jr., Pomona-Pitzer
Derek Johnson, Jr., University of Redlands
Alex Sunderland, Jr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Catcher
Mike Surina, Sr., University of La Verne
Infielders
Nick Frederick, Jr., Pomona-Pitzer
John Hattabaugh, Sr., University of La Verne
Chase Tucker, So., University of Redlands
Steve Dannaway, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Zach Braband, Sr., University of Redlands
Outfielders
Nate Carlson, Jr., University of Redlands
Erik Munzer, Fr., Pomona-Pitzer
Max Rose, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Designated hitter
K.C. Judge, Jr., California Lutheran
SECOND TEAM
Pitchers
Matt Baudino, Jr., University of La Verne
Robbie Selden, Sr., California Lutheran
James Brunswick, Sr., Pomona-Pitzer
Ian Durhan, Jr., California Lutheran
Catcher
Jefre Johnson, Sr., University of Redlands
Infielders
Victor Peinado, Sr., University of La Verne
Eric Schropp, So., Caltech
Outfielders
Matt Martin, Sr., California Lutheran
David Spiller, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Jacob Storrer, Fr., Whittier
Designated hitters
Nick Gentili, Fr., Pomona-Pitzer
Brett Sandford, Sr., University of Redlands
Utility
Michael Lessig, Sr., University of Redlands
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps golf standout Tain Lee brought home a national championship today at the NCAA Division III championships in Hershey, Penn. But it gets better than that . . . senior Mitchell Fedorka of the University of La Verne finished second, giving the SCIAC the top two individuals in the country. That is some feat!
Lee led from wire-to-wire which is pretty impressive. Fedorka pulled into a tie with him during Thursday's third round but he had a triple bogey late in the round that gave Lee the lead back. He never gave it up.
The win was nice for Lee which might be of some consolation to Fedorka, who lost in a playoff for medalist honors last season.
La Verne finished a respectable fifth in the team competition which was won by Methodist University of North Carolina. Had it not been for a bad opening round, the Leopards would have been right in the thick of the team competition too.
The SCIAC is one of the top conferences in the country when it comes to golf. CMS and the University of Redlands were ranked among the top 10 teams in the country all season long but La Verme got the automatic bid. And only three at-large bids are awarded nationwide so both those teams were left at home when they were probably better than some teams that won their conference.
According to CMS coach Bim Jollymour, the rules are changing next year so that six at-large berths will be awarded. That should bode well for the SCIAC.
The announcement of playoff pairing for the NCAA Division III softball tournament were announced and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne and Redlands are all in, Now let's hope the teams do a little better than last year when the same three got in to the same six-team regional and they were THE first three teams eliminated.
La Verne got the automatic bid by winning the SCIAC tournament. That looked like it was going to knock Redlands out of the running because few believed the SCIAC was going to get three teams in again this year and CMS seemed like a sure bet because it beat Redlands head-to-head in three of four meetings,. And it should have won the other game too.
Redlands coach Laurie Nevarez seemed to think her team's chances weren't good, and said as much after her team lost the SCIAC title game to La Verne.
But after all that the Bulldogs might have the best draw of the three local teams, who are headed to separate venues.
La Verne got the short end of the deal. But then again it was third to the other two in the regular season. The Leopards (27-18) will play at Louisiana College and face the host team in its opener. Louisiana (41-6) also happens to be ranked first in the country. No. 2 Texas-Tyler and No. 10 East Texas Baptist are in the same field. That's a tall order!
CMS will be off Simpson College in Iowa. The Athenas are seeded fourth and will face fifth-seed Central (Iowa). Going by the rankings, the biggest obstacle looks like No. 8 Linfield, Ore. Central is No. 15 while host Simpson is No. 14.
Redlands will play in an eight-team regional at Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Bulldogs (32-120 will face Augustana, Ill. in its first game. That shouldn't be an overwhemling task for a team with considerable playoff experience. No. 5 Luther (Iowa) is the highest ranked team in the group.
The SCIAC has announced the 2009-10 All-SCIAC honors in men's tennis. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, coached by Paul Settles, repeated as team champion. The Stags had three players named to the first team and one selected to second.
The complete list of honors are as follows:
Player of the Year: Andrew Giuffrida, California Lutheran University
Team Sportsmanship Award: University of La Verne
FIRST TEAM
Nick Ballou, California Lutheran University
Robbie Erani, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Mikey Lim, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Eric MacColl, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Tommy Meyer, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Cameron Spearman, University of Redlands
SECOND TEAM
Frankie Allinson, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Russell Brockett, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Jeff Hammond, University of Redlands
Ryan Lassila, California Lutheran University
Anish Nanda, University of Redlands
Uday Singh, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Kevin Wong, University of Redlands
Ray Worley, California Lutheran University
|
The SCIAC has announced the 2009-10 All-SCIAC Women's Tennis teams, Player of the Year and Team Sportsmanship Award and area schools are well represented. Pomona-Pitzer, coached by Ann Lebedeff, had the most players selected, although the Player of the Year is Paige Sumida of the University of Redlands. Here is the list of the entire team. FIRST TEAM
Holly Beaman, California Lutheran University Team Sportsmanship Award: California Institute of Technology |
University of Redlands sophomore Collin Gladys has been named Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Men's Athlete of the Week for the week of March 15-21.
Gladys won the program's second-ever NCAA Division III national title when he clocked the winning time of 1:48.55 in the men's 200 individual medley at the 2010 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday, March 17, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
That time eclipsed the former school record of 1:49.53, which Gladys established at the 2010 SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships on Feb. 21. By virtue of his finish, he earned All-America honors. Gladys also took fifth in the men's 100 breaststroke (55.29), setting a program record and gaining All-America laurels in the process. In addition, he received Honorable Mention All-America recognition for his contributions to the 16th-place 200 medley relay (1:34.70), the 15th-place 200 freestyle relay (1:24.71) and the 14th-place 400 freestyle relay (3:06.55).
Annie Perizzolo of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges captured the SCIAC Women's Athlete of the Week honor after winning two national titles at the 2010 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. Perizzolo touched first in both the women's 100 and 200 breaststroke events.
The SCIAC Athletes of the Week are voted on by the eight conference sports information directors on a weekly basis,
The season ended for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps basketball teams as the Stags were turned back by Chapman 58-47 on Thursday in a first round playoff game. The win avenged an earlier loss as the Panthers were beaten by CMS by a one point early on.
It was a great atmosphere for college basketball. The Hutton Sports Center was packed with fans from both schools. Students on the Chapman side didn't sit down even once.
SCIAC Player of the Year Chris Blees had a particularly bad night scoring just seven points on 2-for-13 shooting from the field. He shot an air ball on a 3-pointer in the first half and pretty much heard it from the crowd every time he touched the ball after that.
Welcome to playoff basketball on the road.
The CMS followers returned the favor when one of the Chapman players did the same.
The game was even at 44-all but CMS managed just three points in the last seven minutes., It was a combination of everything - turnovers, missed free throws, not getting the key rebound.
CMS coach Ken Scalmanini was going for his 200th career win in his 12 years at the school. He'll have to wait until next year. CMS ends a still-solid season at 21-7. Chapman improves to 24-2.
Chapman has a couple of area players, both pretty good ones. Griffin Ramme had 21 points while Justin Riley had six points, seven rebounds, three steals and a monster block. Both are out of Damien High School.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men and University of Redlands women's basketball teams now know the opponents they will be facing in first-round playoff action this week.
The Stags (21-6) will stay close to home and head to Chapman University (23-2) for a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday. The winner of that game will then travel to Whitworth (Wash.) for a second-round game on Saturday.
It was the scenario that coach Ken Scalmanini predicted the night before the draw was announced. He doesn't like it but understands the logic.
"It really doesn't have the whole playoff feel to it," he said. "It's a team we play every year. There is something about getting on a plane and making a trip that gives it more of a playoff feel."
The two teams did play earlier this season with the Stags prevailing 57-56.
Meanwhile the University of Redlands women, making their first playoff appearance in school history, will play the University of Puget Sound (23-4) on Friday at George Fox University.
The Bulldogs (22-5) survived two thrillers in the SCIAC tournament, winning their games by a total of three points, one in overtime.
"It might be our first time there but we're not just happy to be there. We want to win," Redlands coach Rich Murphy said. "The girls are determined. They aren't just happy showing up."
Redlands has not seen Puget Sound this season but did lose to the Loggers in a nonconference game last year.
Now that the dust has cleared, pairings for the SCIAC men's basketball tournament have been determined.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (19-6, 11-3) is the top seed and will host Occidental on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The other game will feature Cal Lutheran (15-10, 9-5) at Pomona-Pitzer (13-12, 9-5).
Going into the last game of the season Redlands, Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer were all tied for third so two of the three were going to make it in. Redlands looked to be the shoe-in with a game against seventh-place La Verne but the Bulldogs lost. They lost their last four games of the season so they didn't deserve to get in.
Meanwhile Pomona-Pitzer beat Oxy 55-54 and Cal Lutheran upset Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 74-67.
The championship game will be on Saturday with the highest seeded team hosting.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps basketball player Cameron Hanson is this week's SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week.
The senior center averaged a double-double as CMS went 2-0 to secure a spot in the SCIAC tournament after being three games down with four to play.
In Thursday's must-win at Whittier, she had 12 points, nine rebounds, six steals and three blocks as CMS won 80-61.
In Saturday's home finale against Pomona-Pitzer, she scored 10 points and added 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals as CMS won 65-51. She shot 61% (7/13) from the field in the two games. In SCIAC play, she averages 8.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
The University of Redlands baseball team began SCIAC play the past weekend by taking two out of three games against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the last coming in walkoff fashion.
Senior catcher Jefre Johnson has led the offense thus far, hitting .429 (9-for-21). He has four doubles, a triple and a home run.
Junior outfielder Nate Carlson already has collected 11 RBI, three of those coming on a home run in the ninth that was the difference against CMS in the series finale on Saturday.
Next up for the Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) is a three-game set against traditional power University of La Verne (2-3, 0-0). Redlands will host the single game at 2:30 p.m. on Friday with the twinbill at La Verne on Saturday getting underway at 11 a.m.
Sophomore Tyler Harp of the University of Redlands men's swimming & diving team garnered Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Male Athlete of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 1-7, as announced today by the conference office.
Harp captured two individual events and added a memorable anchor leg on the meet-winning relay in a thrilling 124-119 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Saturday in Claremont to help the men's team remain undefeated in SCIAC competition.
He cleared the NCAA "B" qualifying standard in the 200 freestyle, blitzing the field with a winning time of 1:41.76. Harp then went on to take the 200 butterfly (1:57.80) later on in the contest. In the meet's final event, the 400 freestyle relay, he helped the Bulldogs' "A" squad finish first (3:08.54), anchoring with a 45.65.
This marks Harp's second SCIAC Male Athlete of the Week recognition. He also gained the honor on Feb. 19, 2009 following his Male Athlete of the Year performance at the 2009 SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Emma Jones, a member of the Athenas' swimming & diving team, gained Female Athlete of the Week laurels. She won two individual races and competed on the event-winning 400 freestyle relay in a 139-104 triumph over Redlands.
Redlands (6-2, 6-1 SCIAC; 7-1, 7-0 SCIAC) hosts the SCIAC Dive Prelims this Saturday and Sunday at the Thompson Aquatic Center. The meet is scheduled to commence at 11 a.m. on both days.
The SCIAC Athletes of the Week are voted on weekly by the conference's eight sports information directors.
Three local college soccer teams are in the hunt for national titles.
Pairings for the NCAA Division II and II men's and women's field were announced today. Cal State San Bernardino made the men's field for just the second time in school history and the first since 1991.
The Coyotes (15-5-1) will play tournament host and top seed Cal State Los Angeles (17-3-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday. They lost to the Eagles twice - 3-1 and 3-2. But the second of those was in overtime after LA tied it at 2-all with a penalty kick in the closing seconds of regulation.
The Coyotes have nothing to lose and sometimes those are the most dangerous teams to play.
In Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will host UC Santa Cruz in an 11 a.m. match on Saturday. The Athenas were by far the best team in the SCIAC. They were the regular season champion and they won the SCIAC Tournament.
The CMS will hit the road to play UC Santa Cruz on Saturday. The Stags are the reason many like the idea of a conference tournament. They were fourth but finished with a flurry, upsetting regular season champion Pomona-Pitzer and perennial title contender Redlands to earn the berth.
Tight end Robert McNitt caught a 23-yard scoring pass from receiver R.J. Maki in overtime to give the Sagehens a victory in their season opener in Tacoma, Wash., in their season opener.
The Sagehens tallied 397 yards offense with quarterback Jacob Caron throwing for 293. Colin Regan caught 13 passes for 11 yards while Maki hauled in eight for 105 highlighted by a 6-yard toss from Caron that gave Pitzer a 14-7 lead. Russell Oka led the ground game with 64 yards.
CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS 22, LEWIS & CLARK 7
Andrew Segal rushed for 125 yards and quarterback Scott Yingling threw for 163 as the Stags turned back the Pioneers in their season opener.
Chet Corcos had field goals of 31 and 35 yards. Yingling had a 1-yard touchdown run and D.J. Lillard scored on a 2-yarder.
CMS rolled up 405 yards offense while limiting the host team to 55.
About the only thing missing on the resume of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior Larry Wang is a win at the NCAA Division III Championships. He went a long way in remedying that with two victories on the first day of the singles draw Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.
It is Wang's fourth appearance in the national event and he failed to win a match the first three years. He entered this year's event seeded No. 2 with the added pressure of playing on his home court.
But Wang delivered, coming from behind to defeat Steven Sullivan of Bowdoin 7-5, 6-2 in the round of 32, then advancing to the quarterfinals with a 5-7, 6-2 6-3 win over John Pelton of Hope College (Mich.).
Wang is the last hope for a local winner as freshman teammate Robbie Erani lost a three-setter to Ben Stein of Bates College 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.
The University of Redlands duo of junior Mike Reading and sophomore Cameron Spearman fell to the No. 4 seeded team of Zack Lerner and Moritz Koenig of Amherst College 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
"I was kind of nervous, playing on my home court and being our last hope," he said. "I just needed to settle in and start playing my game. I was really just focused on the first round and getting past that."
Wang trailed 5-3 in the opening set against Sullivan, but reeled off the next four to win the set. He cruised in the second.
His match later in the day was just the opposite. He surged out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, then dropped five of the next six games with Pelton securing the set when Wang netted a forehand return.
Wang also got out to a 4-1 lead in the second set but didn't falter at that point again. Pelton held serve to make it 4-2 but Wang held the next game, then got a set-ending service break when Pelton netted an overhead.
"He did a good job of adjusting to my game," Wang said. "I just had to do a better job of executing my shots."
Wang dominated the third set, getting the key break to go up 5-3 when Pelton returned a serve out. Wang then won his serve at love, closing out the match with an overhead as Pelton was running in.
Wang squares off against No. 5 seed Michael Goodwin of Emory (Ga.) today at 9 a.m. The two have played twice this season, splitting matches. Earlier in the week, Wang was named West Region Player of the Year while Goodwin was the South Atlantic Player of the Year, then nabbed the overall National Player of the Year honor.
"I'm going to have to bring my 'A' game and I can't get off to a slow start," he said.
UC Santa Cruz won the team title, beating Amherst 5-0. It was the seventh championship for the Banana Slugs who defeated CMS in the West Region final, preventing it from playing for the team title on its home court.
CMS coach Paul Settles had mixed feeling about that. Santa Cruz and CMS have played in the past four regional finals, splitting those. Both are consistently in the top five in the country, but playing in the same region prevents both from advancing.
"It's frustrating because both of us deserve to be here. But that's the way it is," he said. "We all know the situation going in."
While Wang is a veteran at nationals, both Redlands players were making their debut. The team is a relatively new one with Spearman transferring in from Nevada-Reno this season.
They came back from a one-set deficit to force a third. With the pivotal set tied at 3, the Amherst duo reeled off three straight games, winning the last at love and all the points coming on return errors by the Bulldogs. They finished the season 15-7.
"It was a great experience to come and play in championship environment," Reading said. "It was nice to come back and make it a match. Both of us have big serves and we used that to get back in it." "It takes time to build a rapport and a relationship," Bulldogs coach Geoff Roche said. "This was a great showing for them to get this far in their first year playing together."
The Lady Tigers (38-7), regular season champions of the American Southwest Conference East Division, advance to face rival Louisiana College at 2 p.m. Friday.
The Athenas (28-15) will face SCIAC rival La Verne in an elimination game Friday at noon.
ETBU exploded for four runs in the second inning without ever getting the ball out of the infield. Stacy Jordan started things with an infield single, and came around to score the game's first run on Dani Miller's groundout.
Kaleigh Mushinski walked to push across the second run, and Adrienne Meier delivered a rare two-run infield single latr in the inning.
ETBU added five more runs in the fourth inning, all coming with two outs. Back-to-back singles from Brooke Martin and Meier started the rally, and Jordan made it 5-0 with an infield single.
Jones followed with a two-run single to center for a 7-0 lead, and Miller capped the win with a two-run double to right-center for the run-rule victory.
ETBU's Ayrika Henderson (18-3) allowed just four hits and struck out five in getting the five-inning victory. Ericka Weingart (10-8) took the loss for the Athenas, allowed four earned runs on three hits and four walks in 1 2/3 innings.
In most sports the SCIAC does well to get two teams from the conference in the playoffs so it was a pleasant surprise that three have been selected to the double-elimination Division III West Regional to be hosted by East Texas Baptist starting Thursday.
The University of Redlands (30-10) got the automatic bid by winning the four-team conference tournament but the Bulldogs also won the regular season. They will be the No. 4 seed in the seven-team event.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (28-14), the SCIAC tournament runner-up), received the No. 6 seed while the University of La Verne (28-18) is the No. 7.
"I'm very excited that we got three teams in and all are deserving," Redlands coach Laurie Nevarez said. "I think we're going to surprise some people."
Athenas coach Betsy Hipple agrees.
"The object is to take the best teams in the West Region," she said. "I don't see how you can not take all three teams."
Joining host and No. 3 seed East Texas Baptist (37-7) are top-seed Linfield, Ore. (36-4), No. 2 Louisiana College (36-7) and No. 5 Texas-Tyler (34-8), which hosted the event in 2008.
As surprising as the fact that three SCIAC teams got in is that three got in and Redlands still was not awarded the right to host. The school did submit a bid and the NCAA typically gives that honor based on finanical concerns. The fewer teams that need to fly, the better.
Even though the three SCIAC teams are closer in proximity, four teams were going to have to fly in to either location.
"They were ranked higher than we were most of the season so I guess they didn't think they could take it away from them," Nevarez said.
La Verne was the second seed in the SCIAC tournament but lost a 13-inning game to CMS in the loser's bracket that resulted in their elimination.
What likely helped get the Leopards in was a 5-4 win over Linfield, the No. 1 ranked in the country. Five of the seven in the field are ranked with East Texas at No. 3, Louisiana at 11, Texas-Tyler at 14 and Redlands at No. 25.
The teams will leave today and practice at the venue on Wednesday.
Division II men's golf
The University of Redlands will join the University of La Verne at the Division III national tournament which starts May 13 at the PGA Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
La Verne, ranked second nationally, was the SCIAC's automatic qualifier. Redlands received one of just two at-large bids handed out.
The Bulldogs success on the national stage seems to warrant that as they have finished as the national runner-up four of the last five years. The year that Redlands didn't go, 2007, La Verne was the runner-up giving the conference a streak of five straight second-place finishers.
"We're glad to get the chance to go again," Redlands coach Art Salvesen said. "Winning the conference is nice but it isn't our main goal.
Redlands is ranked ninth nationally. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is No. 12 and had a shot at earning an at-large bid as well but the Bulldogs likely secured a bid by finishing one spot ahead of the Stags at the SCIAC 36-hole tournament, the last event of the regular season.
Methodist (N.C.) is ranked No. 1 but Salvesen likes La Verne's chances.
"I think they're the team to beat, I really do," he said. "They're talented and have some veteran players that have been there before."
It will be the first time La Verne has made the trip without veteran coach Rex Huigens, Salvensen's close friend, who retired after last season. The Leopards are now coached by Joe Skovron, a former player at the school.
Chaffey baseball
The Panthers (29-13) drew the No. 18 seed and will travel to No. 15 Ventura (26-16) for a first round playoff game at 2 p.m. today. It will be the sixth straight playoff appearance for coach Jeff Harlow's team.
The Panthers finished third in the Foothill Conference behind Mt. San Jacinto (31-10) and Rio Hondo (24-16) which drew the No. 7 and No. 16 seeds respectively.
"It was pretty much what I expected," Harlow said. "We had the highest RPI of the teams in the Southern region so we deserved to get in. We had a good practice yesterday (Sunday) so the guys are ready and excited."
Freshman right-hander Colby Gurney (10-0), out of Alta Loma High School, will get the start for the Panthers.
CMS women's lacrosse
The Athenas (12-1) were selected for the 26-team NCAA field and will travel to Cortland State for a first-round game on Wednesday.
CMS has qualified for the NCAA Championships three straight years. The team is led by the scoring trio of sophomore Sarah Dick (41 goals), senior Courtney Cronin (41 goals) and junior Colbi Brawner (40 goals).
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By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
REDLANDS -- The young Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team knew it faced a formidable challenge in having to face traditional power University of Redlands in the championship game of the SCIAC tournament Saturday afternoon.
It didn't help that the Athenas had to fight through the loser's bracket, outlasting La Verne in 13 innings, only to play Redlands an hour later.
Experience paid off as the top-seeded Bulldogs posted a 5-1 win in the title tilt. Redlands (30-10) now awaits word on where it will head for the Division III West Region while CMS (28-14) is hoping the strong showing will result in an at-large berth. The SCIAC did get two teams in the regional last season.
"They have a championship culture and we're still trying to build one. We went a long way in doing that today," CMS coach Betsy Hipple said. "That game took a ton out of us but we still had to stay the course. We knew it was going to be an uphill battle."
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 25 by the NFSCA, had their ace in the circle as junior Olivia Ellis hurled every inning of all three of her team's games in the event. She set down the first 13 hitters she faced with the first hit being a single by Emily Lopez with one out in the fifth.
By then Redlands had already surged out to a 5-0 lead with senior second baseman Dory Baga knocking home four of those runs. She clubbed a three-run home run off an 0-2 pitch from Julia Cruz in the third that followed singles by Kayla Peterson and Lizett Casillas.
"I was looking for something inside," Baga said. "We have been focusing on swinging hard and it paid off. It was nice to have a lead but we respect the game and we know anything can still happen."
Redlands, the visiting team despite playing on its home field, added to that in the fifth with the same players doing the damage. Peterson and Casillas singled with Peterson scoring on Baga's second hit of the day. Lindsay Henry then drove home Casillas with a single and the Bulldogs were not threatened again.
Ellis surrendered just four hits and one run while striking out six.
CMS, which finished the game with four freshman and five sophomores on the field, prevented the shutout with a run in the seventh on a run-scoring single by sophomore Chelsea Baker.
Ellis was also backed by a defense that played error-free.
"Our first goal was winning the regular season and the second was the conference tournament," Redlands coach Laurie Nevarez said. "We're going to savor this today and tomorrow refocus on a regional championship."
Redlands will find out its destination for the regional on Monday. It has submitted a bid to host but everything depends on what teams qualify and how many will have to be flown in.
Hipple will be on the call as the conference rep.
"I hope we get a shot to keep playing but I'm proud no matter what happens," she said.
CMS 3, La Verne 2
Michelle Brody stroked a run-scoring single in the 13th inning to boost the Athenas past defending champion La Verne in loser's bracket play.
The game tookl more than three hours. CMS managed 13 hits and La Verne collected 12. Each team finished with 13 runners left on base with CMS loading the bases in the eighth and ninth with no outs but failing to score.
Brody and Jessica Vaughn had three hits each for the Athenas. La Verne got two each from Melissa Carlson, Diandra Burns and Daryn Schively.
Last year the University of Redlands softball team was fortunate. The Bulldogs finished first in the SCIAC during the regular season, only to lose the tournament final and the automatic playoff bid to University of La Verne.
But the Bulldogs made it into the Division III West Region tournament with an at-large bid.
They are hoping it doesn't come down to that this season.
The Bulldogs host the four-team double-elimination event today and Saturday. No. 2 La Verne (27-13, 16-8) will face No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (26-12, 15-9) at 9 a.m. with No. 1 Redlands (27-10, 20-4) following against No. 4 Whittier (24-16, 11-13).
The loser's bracket game is slated for 2 p.m. with the winners following at 4:30 p.m. Action gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday with a loser's bracket game.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 25 by the National Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association, went 4-0 against the Poets this season with two games ending early on the mercy rule.
Redlands leads the conference in hitting and fielding and ranks second to CMS in pitching.
Junior outfieler Kayla Peterson (.434) leads the team in hitting with sophomore first baseman Lizett Casillas (.419) and junior catcher Nicky Neumann (.383) among the other valuable offensive weapons. The Bulldogs have also gotten a boost from freshman Lindsay Henry (.393), named the SCIAC Rookie of the Year.
Junior Olivia Ellis (20-5, 1.70) and Amanda Doeppel (7-3, 1.93) have handled the bulk of the pitching.
The Leopards split both doubleheaders they played against the Athenas this season. Coach Julie Smith thinks her team is peaking at the right time.
It is led by senior outfielder Melissa Carlson (.462) who led the conference in hitting, runs scored and stolen bases. She earned SCIAC Player of the Year honors even though her team finished second.
Among the other La Verne standouts are freshman outfielder Diandra Burns (.443) and sophomore shortstop Ashley Paul (.384), also a starter on the basketball team.
"We're loose. We're confident. We're ready to go," she said. "I think we're in a good place right now."
Smith said the turning point for her team likely came halfway through the season when junior Sabrina Garcia (7-2, 2.68) joined the team. Sophomore Delaney Baylor (15-7, 2.36) had shouldered much of the load in the pitching circle but the team didn't have a consistent No. 2.
Garcia was at the school, having transferred from NAIA Hope International. She planned on playing next year but Smith enlisted her help midseason.
"It's in how you present it," she said. "I just told them she is giving up more than she's taking because she is giving up a year of eligibility to help us now."
Redlands won three of four games against La Verne and split four games against CMS.
CMS is led by junior pitcher Julia Cruz (13-5, 1.18) and senior pitcher Erika Weingart (10-6, 2.80) and sophomore outfielder Gizelle Pera (.379).
Damiani went undefeated during the two-day event, competing at No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles. She played a pivotal role in the Bulldogs' share of the conference championship and upset of No. 7 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the tournament final.
Damiani joined forces with teammate junior Rachael Miller and posted doubles wins over Whittier (8-1), Cal Lutheran (8-2), and Pomona-Pitzer (8-5).
In singles, Damiani captured a 6-1, 6-3 victory over her opponent from Cal Lutheran during the semifinal round and then clinched the match win, conference championship, and NCAA automatic bid for the Bulldogs with her come-from-behind 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 showing against the Sagehens.
For her contributions during the season, Damiani earned First Team All-Conference honors.
The male athlete of the week was Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges' tennis player Larry Wang.
The double-elimination tournament begins at 9 a.m. on Friday with the second-seeded University of La Verne Leopards taking on the No. 3 Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
As the No. 1 seed, the Bulldogs face off against the No. 4 Poets of Whittier College at 11:30 a.m.
The losers compete again at 2 p.m., followed by a winners' duel at 4:30 p.m.
Play continues on Saturday with games at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and then at 3 p.m. if necessary.
Admission is free. Fans are reminded that pets are not permitted at the "Field of Dreams", per University of Redlands policy.
For additional information, please log onto http://www.goredlands.com/sports/sball/2008-09/SCIAC_Postseason.
Methodist (NC) ranks #1 in the poll followed by La Verne, Huntingdon (PA), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Skidmore (NY) to round out the Top 5.
The Golfstat ranking is based on head-to-head competition between respective schools. The Leopards have an overall Division III mark of 255-2 and are 4-0 against Division III Top 25 teams thus far in 2009. La Verne has also posted four tournament wins this season.
Additionally, three Leopard players are ranked among the Top 10 in the Golfstat individual player rankings. Mitchell Fedorka is ranked #2 overall along with teammates Rizal Amin (#6) and Andrew Kramer (#9).
The Leopards also moved up one notch to #8 overall in the latest Golfworld/Nike Golf Division III Top 25 Poll.
La Verne will next compete at the West Region Invitational held April 5-7 in Austin, TX.
The No. 19 University of Redlands baseball team rebounded from its loss against Rutgers University-Newark (NJ) from earlier in the afternoon, defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 11-4, in non-conference action at The Yard on Sunday.
With the win, Head Coach Scott Laverty earned his 200th victory at the helm of the Bulldog baseball program and became just the third coach in the team's history to accomplish that feat. Laverty won his first game on Feb. 11, 2000 by a 13-1 score against Whittier College. Jeff Tape '00 earned the winning decision on the mound in Laverty's first triumph as head coach.
Both teams scored early as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps posted one run on no hits and two errors in the first while Redlands responded with an RBI single by senior infielder Tony Stutevoss (Portland, OR) in the bottom of the inning.
Redlands took a 2-1 lead due to sloppy play by the Stag infield. Stutevoss singled through the right side to start out the inning, but he ended up advancing to second on an error by the pitcher on a failed pickoff attempt and went home on an erroneous throw by the first baseman.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps equaled the score in the sixth, but the Bulldogs emerged victorious in the end due in large part to a productive offense in the bottom in the inning.
Senior utility player Will Wetmore (Santa Cruz, CA) doubled to right field with one out, and senior catcher Brett Sandford (Santa Barbara, CA) walked, giving the Bulldogs two men on board. Senior pitcher/infielder Evan Dunn (Portland, OR) grounded out and advanced the two runners, giving Redlands what looked like a dreary situation with two outs. The scoring started when junior shortstop Zack Braband (Alameda, CA) plated Sandford and Dunn with a double to right center, and Braband advanced to third on a passed ball in the ensuing at bat. Senior outfielder/catcher Kyle Rizzo (Redlands, CA) brought in Braband with a single through the right side and then stole second while Stutevoss was at bat. Stutevoss singled to third, which moved Rizzo over, and he lucked out with a botched catch in a steal attempt. Junior catcher Jefre Johnson (Canby, OR) cleared the bases with a single to centerfield, and senior outfielder Cory Vane (Simi Valley, CA) continued the offensive outburst with a single to third. Finally, senior outfielder Matt Goldstein (Lincoln, CA) closed out the fireworks with an RBI triple that scored Johnson and Vane.
The Stags scored once more in the top of the seventh, but the Bulldogs one-upped their opponent with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Dunn reached on an error by the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps shortstop and eventually stole second and third before scoring on a passed ball. Rizzo, who walked after Dunn stole second, came home via Stutevoss in the following at bat.
Rizzo scored an impressive three runs on one hit and two walks and notched one RBI. Batting a solid 4-for-5, Stutevoss fortified the offense with two runs and two RBI. Vane stretched his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games with a 2-for-5 showing while Braband also recorded a multi-hit game.
Junior pitcher/infielder Michael Lessig (Fountain Hills, AZ) pitched solidly for seven full innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out seven. Senior pitcher Kevin Bissell (Orange, CA) and sophomore pitcher Derek Johnson (Canby, OR) held the lead in relief, combining for one strikeout and one surrendered earned run. The Stags' Kyle Shipley shouldered the loss.
Redlands (15-6) continues on with Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play on Friday when it hosts red-hot Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 3 p.m.
The University of Redlands swimming & diving teams finished as runners-up to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in both the men's and women's competition following the third and final day of competition at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships.
Freshman Tyler Harp (San Bernardino, CA) received the conference's Athlete of the Year honor following a meet where he set three program records and one conference record individually and four program marks and one conference standard as a relay member. With "A" qualifying standards in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, he receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship meet, which takes place in Minneapolis, MN, from March 18-21.
The Redlands record book got torched throughout the three-day meet as the men set a total of eight program records while three program marks fell on the women's side.
Saturday's finals session featured a timed-final heat of the women's 1650 freestyle, and three Bulldogs managed top-eight finishes in the event. Sophomore Michelle Camburn (Sunnyvale, CA) stopped the clock at 18:16.25, taking sixth. Camburn's swim bested the program's former record of 18:16.60 in the event, which Cathleen Penney '07 set in 2006. Sophomore Kayla Desai (Lakewood, CO) and junior Danielle Caver (Highland, CA) finished seventh and eighth with times of 18:54.20 and 18:58.71, respectively.
Sophomore Alec Alders (Los Angeles, CA) completed the trifecta, winning his third event of the meet with a decisive 16:05.58 victory in the men's 1650 freestyle. Alders flirted with the program record in the event (16:04.99) but earned an NCAA provisional qualifying time with the performance nonetheless. Senior Marc Hicks (Granada Hills, CA) caught Occidental Colleges' Michael Wade at the 800 mark of the race and earned a fifth-place finish (16:47.88) while junior Ned Voytovich (Salt Lake City, UT) powered through the back half of his race to gain a seventh-place time of 17:01.21.
Utilizing her endurance, senior Hillary Nicholson (Santa Cruz, CA) maintained a solid spot in the middle of the pack in the women's 200 backstroke throughout the entirety of the race and took fourth with a time of 2:11.16.
Backstroke depth again helped the men earn points as the Bulldogs placed sixth through eighth in the men's 200 backstroke. Junior Ian Starkie (Arroyo Grande, CA) took sixth with a 2:01.41 time, sophomore Mike Reilly (Coral Gables, FL) finished seventh with a 2:02.78 mark and junior Chad Kyffin (San Jose, CA) stopped the clock eighth with a 2:02.95 standard.
Two young sprint talents allowed the Bulldogs to make a strong presence in the women's 100 freestyle. Freshman Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) took advantage of a surge in the second half of her race to gain a fifth-place finish (54.91) while freshman Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR) had a competitive showing as well, taking eighth with a 56.00 time.
Harp became the first-ever SCIAC swimmer to crack the elusive 45-second barrier in the men's 100 freestyle as he lowered Greg Milton '96's program and conference record of 45.07, which he set back in 1993 when he won the event at the NCAA Championship meet. Harp's swim also cleared the NCAA automatic qualifying time by .01. His teammate, sophomore Miran Terzic (Mostar, Bosna i Hercegovina), finished right behind him with an NCAA provisional cut time of 45.44. Two additional Redlands swimmers placed in the top eight as well. Senior Buddy Olds (Murrieta, CA) touched the wall at 47.07 for fourth place while junior John Floersch (San Jose, CA) captured seventh (47.50).
Three Redlands student-athletes swam in the championship final of the women's 200 breaststroke, and freshman McKenzie Nakamura (Kenmore, WA) led the way with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark and a program record of 2:23.85 in her second-place showing in the event. Cathleen Penney '07 clocked the former gold standard of 2:25.70 back in 2006. Sophomore Jo Navarro (Chandler, AZ) tapped in at 2:33.30 for sixth while sophomore Kelley Cooper (San Antonio, TX) finished eighth with a time of 2:34.70.
Freshman Mike Grant (Weston, MA) took out his first 100 in a 1:03.30 and pushed through the final half of the race to give the Maroon and Gray a fifth-place finish in the men's 200 breaststroke (2:17.60). Rounding out the top eight finishers was Hicks who clocked an eighth-place 2:20.31.
Despite having just two Bulldog representatives in finals, Redlands took advantage of its depth as it accounted for six of the eight consolation finalists in the men's 200 butterfly. Freshman Jesse Lieberman (Princeton, NJ) clocked a lifetime-best 1:57.82 for sixth in the championship final while sophomore Sonny Morin (Seattle, WA) managed a time of 2:02.43, which earned him eighth.
The Redlands women closed out the weekend with a fifth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. Sripramong led off the relay with a 54.90 split, setting the pace for the quartet. Freshman K.C. Hughes (Gig Harbor, WA), Cooper and Nakamura followed suit and registered a final time of 3:41.52.
Perhaps none of the broken records of the weekend resonated as much as the Bulldogs' victory in the men's 400 freestyle relay. With the bleachers on the starting end of the pool packed with swimmers cheering on their teammates in the final event of the meet, a loud atmosphere ensued, setting the stage for a final curtain call by the Redlands sprinters.
Olds led off the relay with a time that was nearly a full second faster than that of his 100 freestyle in the championship final an hour prior, clocking a 46.26. Terzic extended the lead over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the second leg with a 45.25 and handed a two-second lead off to Floersch. With a strong first lap to set the tempo, Floersch muscled his way through the 100 in 46.03 and gave the large lead off to the individual champion in the 100 freestyle, Harp. With the race already in hand, Harp battled the clock and turned in a remarkable anchor split of 44.92 to give the team a total time of 3:02.46.
Their collective efforts earned a quality NCAA "B" cut while erasing a 26-year-old SCIAC record (3:03.10) and a 16-year-old program record (3:05.31).
The Athenas won the women's meet with relative ease, raking in a whopping 1004.5 points throughout the meet. Redlands finished second with 621 points while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges settled for third (547).
For the second consecutive year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the men's meet. Despite elite performances from both sides, the Stags edged the Bulldogs in the end by a 932.5-871 score. Pomona-Pitzer emerged in a three-team battle for third with 402.5 points.
Both Harp and Terzic possess NCAA "A" cuts and earn an automatic invitation to the NCAA Championship meet, which is held in Minneapolis, MN, from March 18-21. Those who possess "B" qualifying times are placed in an at-large pool but are not guaranteed a spot at the meet.
The NCAA will announce a psych sheet for the NCAA Championship meet after the conference championship season is completed. Further information on additional invitees to the national championship meet will be posted on www.goredlands.com.
Last year Occidental and Cal Lutheran were the premier men's basketball teams in the SCIAC during the regular season but neither even made it to the conference tournament final. It was Pomona-Pitzer taking the tournament and automatic playoff bid.
It was that kind of topsy-turvy season.
The 2009 race begins with all eight teams taking the court for their conference openers Saturday. CMS will be at Redlands while La Verne treks to Whittier. Pomona-Pitzer will host Caltech.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-3) has emerged as the frontrunner. The Stags served notice by winning the Lee Fulmer Tournament at Redlands in December. Their most noteworthy win in that event came over No. 15 Whitworth (Wash.) which is 11-1 and hasn't lost to anyone else.
"We have played some teams out of that Northwest Conference which is a pretty decent barometer of where you stand," said CMS coach Ken Scalmanini, in his 11th season. "I like my team. The guys play hard and we're pretty deep. I think we have a little more offense than we have had in the past and we can score both inside and outside."
CMS currently has four players averaing double figures led by sophomore forward Chris Blees (12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg), the MVP at the Fullmer Tournament.
Joining him are junior guard Conner Faught (11 ppg), senior guard senior guard Austin Soldner (10.5 ppg) and junior guard Jason Toney (10.3 ppg). Senior center Tejas Gala (5.5 ppg) rounds out the starting lineup.
Cal Lutheran (8-3) also looks like a formidable foe led by returning first-team All-SCIAC selection Andy Meier (18.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg). The Kingsmen recently dropped a close game to No. 8 Buena Vista (Iowa) 68-65.
Much-improved Whittier (6-5) and Pomona-Pitzer (3-8) should also contend.
"I think those are the four top teams right now," second-year La Verne coach Richard Reed said. "That doesn't discount the others because anything can happen in this conference. There is a lot of balance."
The Sagehens upended CMS in the SCIAC tournament finale a year ago, then lost a first-round playoff game Occidental. Pitzer's record is a bit deceiving. The Sagehens had four players, three of whom are starters, go abroad for the fall semester and they just rejoined the team in December.
"Anyone overlooking them is making a big mistake," Scalmanini said of his cross-street rival. "They just got their whole team together and they're going to be as tough as ever."
Most coaches like having a conference tournament, pointing out the atmospehere it creates. The Sagehens downed the Stags in last year's final.
"It's always crazy when we play," Scalmanini said. "Now throw in that a playoff spot is on the line. It was one of the greatest atmospheres I've seen for a game at this level."
The Leopards were a good example of a team that benefited from it, although they didn't make the four-team field.
"We were 2-5 in the first round of conference so we would have been mathematically eliminated," Reed said. "Because we had a tournament, we had something to play for right up until the last game. It gave a lot of kids a chance to compete in a playoff environment."
"I also think it's good because then the conference is being represented by the team playing the best at the end of the season."
Defending regular season champion: Occidental
Tournament champion: Pomona-Pitzer
Current records: Cal Lutheran 8-3; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 8-3; Whittier 6-5; Occidental 4-7; La Verne 4-7; Redlands 4-7; Pomona-Pitzer 3-8; Caltech 1-10.
New coach: Oliver Eslinger (Caltech).
10 players to watch: Cal Lutheran - Andy Meier (18.4 ppg, 11.4; rpg); Caltech - Matthew Dellatorre (15.2 ppg); CMS - Chris Blees; (12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Austin Soldner (10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg); La Verne - Kyle Luhnow (14.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg); ; Occidental - Henry Meier (12.1); ppg, 8.6 rpg); Pomona-Pitzer - Adam Chaimowitz (Sr., G, 6-1, 21 ppg, 6.2 rpg), David Liss (Sr., G, 6-0, 14.7 ppg, 3 rpg); Redlands - Matt Dietrich (17.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg); Whittier - Michael Archuletta (15.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
Comment: Last year CMS and Pitzer met in the SCIAC tournament final, upsetting the No. 1 and 2 seeds respectively. The Sagehens picked up the win and advanced to the playoffs, only to lose a first-rounder to Occidental which had gotten an at-large playoff bid.
Saturday's games: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Redlands; Caltech at Pomona-Pitzer; La Verne at Whittier; Cal Lutheran at Occidental (All games 7:30 p.m.)
Staff Writer
Before last season University of La Verne women's basketball coach
Julie Kline wasn't sure she liked the idea of a conference tournament
to decide the postseason representative.
But because the SCIAC had one last season, her team advanced to the
playoffs and Occidental stayed home.
The race for the 2009 regular season title gets under way again
Thursday as all eight schools will play their SCIAC openers.
Occidental, La Verne and University of Redlands, the three teams that
battled to the finish line last year, are again the top contenders.
``It's one of those things. If it helps you, you like it. If not
you don't like it,'' Kline said. ``It worked to our advantage last year.
But it does keep things interesting for more teams longer. Almost
everyone still has something to play for late in the season.''
Occidental, which won the regular season title for the first time
since 1980, returns most of its key players, the most notable being
reigning SCIAC and West Region Player of the Year Brianna Brown. The
senior averaged 15.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and also led
the team with 76 steals, 26 blocks and 70 assists.
The Tigers are one of three schools who changed coaches during the
offseason. Heidi VanDerVeer has taken over for Jaime Hoffman who
assumed the athletic director role. VanDerVeer is a former head coach
of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and assistant with the Seattle Storm.
La Verne got off to a 6-0 start before dropping a pair of games in
Arizona in December. The Leopards are led by senior Trenecca Jones, a
Chaffey High product. Jones is a three-time All-SCIAC selection and
was Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Kline's other offensive weapons are junior Emily Carrillo and
sophomore Ashley Paul. La Verne does boast a a talented starting
lineup but lacks some firepower coming off the bench and will rely on
a rotation of six players.
Redlands finished second a year ago at 17-9, just missing out on a
possible first-place finish after a double-overtime loss to
Occidental late in the season. That strong showing came even though new coach
Rich Murphy got hired too late to recruit. He comes in with a full year
under his belt and a roster full of promising newcomers, seven of
them freshman.
``You'd have to look at Oxy and La Verne as the frontrunners. We're
young but I think we'll be in the mix,'' Murphy said. ``A lot of
teams have improved so it should make for some better games.''
Most agree the SCIAC competition should be improved this season,
siting the improvement of teams that struggled last season.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps went just 4-20 last season thanks in part to
injuries. It has already won more games than it did last year,
picking up its seventh win in a nonconference game at Southwestern (Ariz.)
Monday.
Pomona-Pitzer has also already equaled its win total of a year ago.
``CMS and Pomona-Pitzer have both really improved,'' Kline said.
``I
am most concerned about Pomona because I have them first. They're
athletic and big and they will be tough.''
SCIAC WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Defending regular season champion: Occidental
Tournament champion: University of La Verne
Current records: La Verne 8-2; Occidental 7-3; Redlands 7-3; Whittier 7-3; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7-4; Pomona-Pitzer 4-6; Caltech 3-8; Cal Lutheran 1-9.
Coaches poll with 20070-8 record: 1. Occidental (21-6, 12-2); 2. University of Redlands (17-9, 10-4); 3. University of La Verne (20-8, 11-3); 4. Whittier (12-13, 7-7); 5. Cal Lutheran (13-12, 8-6); 6. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (4-20, 3-11); 7. Pomona-Pitzer (4-21, 3-11); 8. Caltech (4-21, 2-12)
New coaches: Heidi VanDerVeer (Occidental), Brad Durchslag (Whittier), Roy Dow (Cal Lutheran).
10 players to watch: Cal Lutheran - Kourtney Jones (So., G, 5-5, 13.6 ppg); Caltech - Lisa Yee (Jr., F, 5-7, 11.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg); CMS - Aria Krumwiede (Fr., G, 5-3, 9.2 ppg); La Verne - Trenecca Jones (Sr., F, 5-9, 15.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg), Ashley Paul (So., G, 5-8, 13.3 ppg); Occidental- Brianne Brown (Sr., G, 5-8, 10.4 ppg, 2.5 spg); Pomona-Pitzer - Diedre Chew (Jr., G, 5-6, 20.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg); Redlands - Courtney Carroll (Fr., F, 6-0, 12.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Meghan Yetman (Jr., F, 5-10, 9.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg); Whittier - Kourtney Zilbert (So., F, 5-9, 12.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.4 spg)
Comment: Occidental lost the SCIAC tournament final to La Verne, giving the Leopards the playoff berth . . . Oxy's Brown is the reigning conference and West Region Player of the Year but has started just three of 10 games . . . Dow has taken over the reigns at Cal Lutheran
after having previously served as head coach of the Caltech men's team the last six years
Thursday's games: Occidental at Redlands; Pomona-Pitzer at La Verne; Caltech at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; Whittier at Cal Lutheran (All games 7:30 p.m.)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps basketball player Chris Blees has been named SCIAC Male Athlete of the Week.
The sophomore forward from Carmichael was named MVP of the Lee Fulmer Memorial Tournament after he led the Stags to a 3-0 record and the title. In the three games, he scored 61 points, had 20 rebounds, seven assists and three steals while shooting 26-34 (.765) from the floor.
He had 10 points and four rebounds in the team's opening round 75-48 win over Southwestern College. He had 16 points and seven rebounds in the team's 73-68 semifinal win over #15 Whitworth University. He was a force in the championship game, scoring 35 points on 15 of 19 (.789) shooting with nine rebounds and six assists, as CMS beat Whitman College 79-78.
Blees currently leads the Stags in both scoring (15.0/g) and rebounding (6.7) and is shooting 68.7% (46-67) from the field. CMS is 6-1 overall.
CAL LUTHERAN (6-2, 4-1) at REDLANDS (7-1, 4-1)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: KMET (1490-AM)
About Redlands: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 25 by D3football and No. 21 by the AFCA and need to win to still have a shot at an at-large playoff berth. The Bulldogs rank No. 2 nationally in total defense and No. 1 in sacks for a loss and net punting. Senior DE Brock Arndt, LB Ian Sluss and DB Mike Nicolini head the effort on that side of the ball. Junior QB Steve Smith has progressed each week since taking over for Dan Selway. Zack Schafer is the top rusher in the SCIAC.
About Cal Lutheran: The Kingsmen also rely on defense and rank fourth nationally led by DE Jacob Calderon, last year's player of the year. Cal Lu ranks first nationally defending the pass and has not yielded a touchdown pass through the air in conference play. Elusive QB Jericho Tolilolo is the catalyst of the offense and is good at making things happen on the run. The Kingsmen also boast a reliable place-kicker in Jackson Damron.
LA VERNE (2-6) at CHAPMAN (4-4)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
About La Verne: The Leopards have already surpassed their win total of 2007 so another win would be an added bonus. The passing game has been the most consistent part of the offensive attack with junior Anthony Andre at the helm, averaging 163.6 ypg. The defense has been spearheaded by senior LB Jason Carpenter and junior DB Taylor Hart. According to D3football.com the Leos have played the 14th toughest schedule out of 228 Division III schools.
About Chapman: The Panthers, a Division III independent, are coming off a 21-7 loss at Redlands. They tend to play up to the competition and down as well. They are 3-3 against teams from the SCIAC. The Panthers are averaging 322 yards a game on offense and are giving up 306 per game. They prefer to throw the ball with senior QB Eric Marty directing the offense. Daniel Hartigan and Chino product Garrett Earls lead the defense.
POMONA-PITZER (2-6, 1-4) at CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS (3-5, 2-3)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Pitzer: The Sagehens have been totally reliant on a passing game that averages 294 yards a game. Sophomore Jacob Caron threw for 507 yards last week with Kevin Kelley, last week's SCIAC Athlete of the Week, catching 16 for 272 yards in a 62-33 loss at Occidental. R.J. Maki has been a steady performer on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Success here depends on whether or not the rushing game can contribute.
.
About CMS: The Stags snapped a three-game losing streak with a 31-6 win over Whittier last week. D.J. Lillard ranks third in the conference in rushing and is coming off a 113-yard effort against the Poets. Senior DB Brock Olson leads the SCIAC in interceptions (6) and senior LB Ashton Clarke ranks second in tackles. CMS has 15 interceptions as a team, tied for first with Redlands.
CHAFFEY (5-4, 2-3) at MT. SAC (8-1, 4-1)
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
About Chaffey: The Panthers are coming off a 27-14 loss to College of the Desert that spelled the end of any postseason Bowl hopes. A number of Panthers are playing through nagging injuries including leading rusher Mark Chase (96 yards) who missed some practice time this week with a sprained ankle. Edward Heath is the team's leading tackler.
About Mt. SAC: The Mounties fell from No. 1 to 3 in Southern California after losing to Cerritos last week 44-38. They can clinch the Central Conference with a win. Freshman Nick Lamaison (2,631 yards, 29 TDs) is the catalyst of an offense that averages 428.7 yards a game. Other key players are WRs Jesse Canada and Matt Austin and RB Iosefa Burton. Sophomore DB Dominique Gaisie, of San Beranrdino, and sophomore LB Alfred Rowe lead the defense.
VICTOR VALLEY (3-6, 3-3) at MT. SAN JACINTO (2-7, 1-5)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Victor: The Rams snapped a three-game losing streak with a 39-17 win over Compton. They have gotten solid play out of freshman QB O'Ryan Bradley who averages 236 yards a game passing. The Rams are down to five healthy linemen however. Victor Valley's biggest struggle has come in the secondary and it will be facing a team that averages 212 yards a game through the air.
About MSJ: The Eagles have played better of late, winning two of their last three games with one of those wins coming over a team the Rams lost to. They have used four quarterbacks but freshman Carmen Boyer worked the entire game last week. Other key players on offense are RB Butch Tuvale (562, 6 TDs) and WR Daniel Chamberlain (673 yards, 6 TDs). Freshman DB Clarence Laster is the leading tackler.
SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY (0-9, 0-7) at L.A. HARBOR (2-7, 1-5)
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
About SBVC: This is the last chance for the Wolverines to chalk up a win and snap a 14-game losing streak that dates back to last season. The bright spot for coach Pat Meech's team has been the improvement of freshman QB Danny Laugen. Meech also singled out the play of WR Robert Anderson, LBs Cordell Nugent and Shawn Borden and DB John Lewis.
About Harbor: The Seahawks rank first in the South in passing (329.4 ypg) with QB Andrew Trudnowski but don't do much of anything else. They average 148 on the ground. Chris Mathews is his favorite target. Harbor has lost three in a row and six of its last seven.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
CLAREMONT - Pomona-Pitzer sophomore Jacob Caron is looking forward to a chance to redeem himself. Last year he threw an interception after driving his team 80 yards to the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 10 with time running out. The Sagehens lost 27-22.
It wasn't just any old loss. It was CMS, the cross-street rival. So when the teams meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pomona-Pitzer to play for the Peace Pipe, the sophomore standout will be looking for a little poetic justice.
``There were a couple throws in that game he'd like to have back and that was one of them,'' said Pitzer coach Roger Caron, also Jacob's father. ``He definitely has some added incentive.''
Neither team is going anywhere in the standings with Pitzer at 2-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play and CMS slightly better at 3-5 and 2-3. But that doesn't lessen the intensity of the rival which started in 1959. CMS holds a slight 27-23 edge overall, although there is some debate as to when the teams actually started playing for a prize.
``There is always a buzz around here when it comes to that game,'' Caron added. ``There were good teams here that were expected to win that game and lost and vice versa. As coaches we don't have to say much about it because the kids are already talking about it.''
Stags coach Rick Candaele agrees.
``There are very few rivalries where the other team is 20 yards up the street,'' he said. ``It may be Division III but it would be like Ohio State being able to go 20 yards to play Michigan. It's a big deal for us.''
The Sagehens look to have the advantage because of the emergence of Caron. He threw for 1,659 yards with seven touchdowns and 15 interceptions as a true freshman but has improved to the tune of 2,359 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season. He threw for 507 last week in a loss to unbeaten Occidental.
The CMS secondary has been solid led by SCIAC interceptions leader Brock Olson. He will be tested as will teammates Landon Patoc, David Spiller and Blake Kos.
``He (Caron) presents a problem,'' Candaele said. ``He's tall and got good vision downfield and he gets rid of the ball pretty fast. We're going to have to put some pressure on him and limit the damage.''
CMS will be led by senior quarterback Ryan Larsen, who has struggled with a shoulder but appears healthier now.
Elsewhere La Verne rounds out the season with a nonconference game at Chapman at 7 p.m. The big clash will be at Redlands where the Bulldogs and Cal Lutheran will square off, with the winner having an outside shot at an at-large playoff spot.
In the community college ranks Chaffey will be at Mt. SAC at 6 p.m. and San Bernardino Valley will be at L.A. Harbor, also at 6 p.m.
University of La Verne volleyball standout Brianna Gonzales has been named the 2008 SCIAC Player of the Year after helping lead the Leopards to their ninth straight conference championship and second consecutive undefeated league mark.
Gonzales was joined by four other Leopards in the All-Conference awards as Crista Jones and Anna Calmer were First Team All-SCIAC selections while Yesenia Lopez and Ashley Morgado each earned Second Team nods.
Voting for the all-conference teams was conducted among the league's coaches.
Gonzales paced La Verne She tallied a team-high 310 kills (3.92 per game) while also collecting 274 digs which ranked second-most on the Leopard squad. She had a .268 overall hitting percentage on the season while hitting .304 in conference matches from her outside
hitter position. Gonzales also reached double figures in both kills and digs in 14 matches this season.
A senior from Whittier, Gonzales repeats as SCIAC Player of the Year from last season and becomes La Verne's first two-time Player of the Year since Amy Kratochvil (2002, 2004). Her selection marks the 16th time a La Verne student-athlete has earned SCIAC Player of the Year honors in volleyball.
Jones led La Verne in hitting percentage at .353 in all matches while hitting .397 in conference play. The junior middle blocker also tallied 225 kills (2.85 per game) in addition to leading the team in blocks with 72. Jones makes her third appearance on the All-SCIAC squad after a First Team selection in 2006 and a Second Team nod in 2007.
A sophomore from La Habra, Calmer earns her first selection to the All-SCIAC team after making a successful transition from setter to rightside hitter for the Leopards. Calmer finished the regular season with 157 kills, an average of 2.01 per game.
A junior from Hacienda Heights, Morgado makes her first All-SCIAC selection after collecting 123 kills. The middle blocker also registered 58 total blocks this season.
Lopez dished out a team-high 721 assists. The junior setter from West Covina helped La Verne record the highest team hitting percentage in the conference (.250) while averaging 8.90 assists per game which ranked second in SCIAC play.
La Verne finished the regular season with a 23-2 overall record including a 14-0 mark in the SCIAC to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Leopards are currently ranked #3 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
Division III Top 25 Poll.
The team includes:
Anna Calmer OH ULV SO
Emily Hudson OH CMS FR
Summer Plante-Newman OH CLU JR
Crista Jones M ULV JR
Allison Kerr M CLU SO
Linsdey Benson S CLU SR
Ruchi Patel L PP SR
Second Team
Corri Hayes OH CLU JR
Helena Bottemiller M CMS SR
Ashley Morgado M ULV JR
Alex Harrison S CMS SR
Yesenia Lopez S ULV JR
Chelsea Arcaris L UR SO
Erin Exline M CLU SO
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
REDLANDS - The first two times the women's soccer teams from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and the University of Redlands squared off, one goal made the difference. Each team won on its home field. So no one could be surprised that was the difference in the rubber match.
It was Athenas sophomore Laura Hagen chipping a shot in from 20 yards out 20 minutes into the second half to give the third-seeded CMS squad a 1-0 win over the top-seeded Bulldogs in the SCIAC Championship at Farquhar Field Saturday night. The win sends CMS (11-8-1) into the playoffs as the conference representative.
Redlands (14-5-1), which topped the conference in the regular season, will have to wait and see if it gets an at-large bid.
The Bulldogs had a 21-10 edge in shots, many of those coming in the last 10 minutes in which they dominated play but nothing got past keeper Camila Friedman-Gerlicz.
``I think I've aged 10 years in the last 10 minutes,'' CMS coach Keri Sanchez said. ``They're a great team and we knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle. It was a relief to score the first goal but we knew they were going to battle.''
The Bulldogs had not allowed a goal since a 1-0 double overtime loss to Pomona-Pitzer on Oct. 11. They came in with a streak of seven straight shutouts that included a 3-0 win over the University of La Verne in Wednesday's tournament semifinal.
CMS lost four of its last five regular season games and needed a penalty kick shootout to get past Cal Lutheran 3-2 in the semifinal.
``We definitely felt like the underdog coming in,'' Hagen said. ``They had been playing very well and we kind of backed in. It feels good to get one when it really matters.''
Twelve minutes after the Athenas made it 1-0, the Bulldogs had a great chance. A shot by Becky Willis was knocked away by a diving Friedman-Gerlicz. The ball deflected back to Emily van den Bosch but her shot was just over the crossbar.
The Bulldogs had even better chances in the second half. A shot by Kelsey Kimmel from 25 yards out with 5:03 was wide left. A minute later Kaily Benanti dribbled toward the net but the ball she never got a good swing at the ball and it slipped off the left corner of the net.
Then in the last minute and Redlands in desperation mode a direct kick by Chelsea Hafley went right of the goal and out of bounds before a teammate could catch up to it. That proved to be the Bulldogs last chance.
Friedman-Gelicz made nine saves while Redlands counterpart Tenley Rawlings made seven.
The Division III playoff draw will be announced Monday. It will be another wait-and-see for the Bulldogs who have won the regular season two of the last three years, only to lose in the tournament.
``The SCIAC hasn't been very lucky when it comes to getting a second team in,'' Redlands coach Suzette Soboti said. ``This is disappointing because we had so many good chances. We were just a little unlucky.''
For the seventh consecutive match, the No. 20 University of Redlands women's soccer team shut out its opponent, taking out the University of La Verne by a 3-0 score in the semifinal round of the 2008 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament on Wednesday at Farquhar Field.
After a scoreless first half, sophomore midfielder Jessi Hoyt (Boise, ID) took a pass from freshman midfielder Jaimie Morton (Boise, ID) and chipped a shot over Leopard keeper Tatiana Gutierrez's head for the first goal of the match.
Freshman midfielder Fionna Connolly (Salem, OR) tacked on the second score of the contest with a goal off of a through ball from senior forward Erica Jahn (Davis, CA) while sophomore defender Chelsea Hafley (Redlands, CA) secured the victory at the 85-minute mark from a shot driven well outside of the box, marking the third time she has found the back of the net this season.
The Bulldogs outshot the visiting Leopards by a 26-9 margin and received seven corner kicks to La Verne's three.
With Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges advancing on penalty kicks (3-2) after a 0-0 tie against Cal Lutheran University in the first semifinal round game, Redlands (14-4-1, 9-3 SCIAC) will host the Athenas on Saturday, Nov. 8 at a time to be determined. The winner of the match on Saturday will get the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
The University of Redlands women's soccer team paid tribute to its four seniors in the grandest way possible, winning the 2008 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship with a 1-0 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
Prior to the start of the match, the team recognized senior forward Erica Jahn (Davis, CA), senior midfielder Steffany Becker (Las Vegas, NV), senior midfielder Becky Willis (Escondido, CA) and senior midfielder Lauren Matta (Holyoke, MA) for their years of service to the Bulldog women's soccer team.
Two seniors combined to generate the match's lone goal as Willis scored in the 23rd minute off of a long pass by Jahn. That score was enough to lift Redlands to its fourth-ever SCIAC title and its second in three years.
Junior goalkeeper Tenley Rawlings (Salt Lake City, UT) kept a clean sheet between the pipes, stopping all four shots on frame.
The Bulldogs held the shot advantage 18-11 and outchanced the Athenas on corner kicks as well (3-2).
Coming into the match, the team needed at least a tie to claim the title outright. A loss would have resulted in a shared title with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Head Coach Suzette Soboti, who is now in her 11th year at the helm of the squad, has coached all four SCIAC-champion Bulldog teams.
Redlands (13-4-1, 9-3 SCIAC) hosts the semifinal games of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament on Wednesday, and the maroon and gray will play in the second of two games against the No. 4 seed, the University of La Verne. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Farquhar Field. The winner of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
When the University of Redlands lost to Occidental three weeks ago, hopes of a playoff bid appeared bleak. It might be natural to suffer a letdown, but the Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) have lived up to their billing, beating two foes by a combined 101-14. Next up is a 1 p.m. contest Saturday at Pomona-Pitzer (2-4, 1-2).
"I have been proud of this team because that does show a lot of character," Bulldogs Coach Mike Maynard said. "That was a huge, disappointing loss but it shows nothing can keep us down."
Pitzer coach Roger Caron has been impressed with the way the Bulldogs regrouped after their loss.
"They're going out and playing to the bitter end and letting things play out," he said. "That's a tribute to their kids and coaching staff that they have played that well after such a big letdown."
This is yet another game that looks like a mismatch. The Bulldogs got back in the American Football Coaches Association poll at No. 25. More importantly they are ranked seventh in the West Region.
Redlands is ranked second in the country in total defense. Senior end Brock Arndt is tied for second nationally in both sacks and tackles for loss.
While the Sagehens have not fared well overall, they do boast a passing attack that ranks first in the SCIAC and 26th nationally.
Sophomore quarterback Jacob Caron, the coach's son, is the catalyst. He has the two top receivers in the conference in senior Kevin Kelly and sophomore R.J. Maki.
Maynard said he plans to mix up his defenses to try and keep Caron off balance.
"He's a very good quarterback and his receivers are solid," Maynard said. "He's very savy. He's a coach's son so they talk about coverages over the dinner table."
Caron knows that they key to that passing will whether or not the smaller offensive line can withstand a bigger, more physical defensive front.
Redlands will dress 100 while Pitzer, which also has smaller players physically, will dress 40.
"We're going to have to go out and play way over our heads," Caron said.
In SCIAC play elsewhere La Verne (1-5, 1-3) will be at Whittier (1-5, 1-2) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-4) will play nonconference foe Chapman (3-3).
On the community college front, Chaffey (4-3, 1-2) will host Riverside (2-6, 0-4) at 1 p.m. and San Bernardino Valley (0-7, 0-4) hosts first-place Southwestern (5-2, 4-0).
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Chaffey: The Panthers need a win to keep even a remote shot at
a bowl bid alive. The Panthers have damaged their own cause with
penalties. They had 185 yards called against them in last week's
costly 27-20 loss to Citrus. Chaffey continues to use two
quarterbacks buy Greg Sprowls will get the start this week. DT David
Williams is the latest injury casualty. The Panthers have some depth
there with Garrett Haro and Chris Ramos, both out of Claremont,
likely to see more action. RB Mark Chase and WR-KR Aaron Mays
continue to be the bright spots for coach Carl Beach.
About Riverside: The Tigers have found the going tough in the
National Division Central Conference. They have lost six straight
games, the last four all conference games. Cedric Foster (366 yards,
5 TDs) is the team's leading rusher. Redlands High product Coy Glass
(1,246 yards, 11 TDs) directs an offense that averages 312 yards per
game. Miller grad Jacob Slouka is the top receiver. RCC has big-play
potential on special teams with James Calhoun on punt returns and
Corey Ham on kick returns. Sophomore SS Jamell Murry and Anthony
Caruthers (Redlands East Valley) lead the defense.
SOUTHWESTERN (5-2, 4-0) at SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY (0-7, 0-4)
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
About Southwestern: The Jaguars had traditionally been a bottom tier
team in the old Foothill Conference but have emerged as the
frontrunner in the new American Division Mountain Conference. They
have won five straight games, the eye-opening one a 14-10 win over
nonconference foe Grossmont. The rushing game revolves around Kenslow
Smith (694 yards, 9 TDs) with QB Ryan Nelson (1,820 yards, 16 TDs)
directing the aerial game. His favorite target is George Bell (847
yards, 8 TDs). David Ferris (51 tackles) is the team's top defender.
About SBVC: The Wolverines came up just short last week, falling to
Mt. San Jacinto 34-28. Freshman QB Danny Laugen(434 yards, 5 TDs)
has made great strides since taking over for injured Mike Stadler
three weeks ago. Other key offensive players arew RB Devon Libran and
WR Eric Charles. Freshman SS Dexter Reed had 12 tackles and two
interceptions to earn conference defensive player of the week honors.
Freshman SS Ricky Pesquera and freshman LB Shawn Borden are the
team's leading tacklers.
VICTOR VALLEY (2-5, 2-2) at SAN DIEGO MESA (3-4, 3-1)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: 910-AM
About Victor: The Rams are looking to bounce back from a 41-19 loss
to conference leader Southwestern. Starting QB O'Ryan Bradley has
been sidelined with a hip flexor but is expected back this week. The
Rams rely on balance with Deandre Glasper (234 yards, 3 TDs) and Mel
Carmichael (204 yards, 4 TDs) sharing the workload out of the
backfield. Kenyatta Smith (383 yards, 2 TDs) is the top threat in
the passing game. Joshua Hudson (70 tackles) is the top defender. The
kicking game has been a bit inconsistent as well.
About Mesa: The Olympians have won three of their last four. Included
in that streak is a 31-27 win over L.A. Harbor, a team the Rams lost
to. Mesa averages 194 yards through the air with Philip Staback
directing the attack. Other prominent players in the offense are WR
Michael Medina (36 catches, 570 yards, 9 TDs) and RB Braxton Welford
(450 yards, 2 TDs). Sophomore LB Michael Johnson and ophomore DB Matt
Collins lead the defense. Mesa is in contention for a playoff berth
in the Mountain Conference (American Division).
REDLANDS (5-1, 3-1) at POMONA-PITZER (2-4, 1-2)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: KMET (1490-AM)
About Redlands: The Bulldogs boast a balanced attack, led by junior
QB Steve Smith who is coming off his best game as a starter. Zack
Schafer (602 yards, 9 TDs) is second in the SCIAC in rushing while
Jeff Stewart (403 yards, 4 TDs) is fifth. The Bulldogs rank second in
the country in total defense led by senior DE Brock Arndt, freshman
LB Ian Sluss and sophomore DB Mike Nicolini. The teaqm had six sacks
last week with Arndt getting three of those. Special teams are also
solid with punter Wes Norris and kicker Joe MacMillan.
About Pitzer: The Sagehens are all about the pass as QB Jacob Caron
(1,637 yards, 10 TDs) leads the conference and wide receivers Kevin
Kelley (51 catches, 729 yards, 5 TDs) and R.J. Maki (43 catches, 572
yards, 3 TDs) are 1-2 in receiving. Pitzer ranks sixth of seven teams
in rushing although Russell Oka is coming off a good showing in last
week's win over Whittier. Senior TE Robert McNitt (ankle) is out for
the second week. Senior DB Taylor Barbour is second in the
conference in interceptions (4).
LA VERNE (1-5, 1-3) at WHITTIER (1-5, 0-3)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
About La Verne: La Verne's losses are to teams with a combined record
of 25-8. The Leopards are coming off a 40-27 loss to unbeaten
Occidental. Despite that loss coach Andy Ankeny was pleased with his
team responded down 34-0. Backup QB Christian Winnewisser played well
in relief of starter Anthony Andre. Seniors WRs Charles Lacy and Phi
Van Le have come up big in the passing game which has helped since
the Leos rank last in the conference running the ball. Senior LB
Jason Carpenter has been the steady leader on defense.
About Whittier: The Poets boast the leading rusher the conference in
Anthony Pomponio (686 yards, 8 TDs) but they have been erratic with
the passing game. It has a true freshman at the controls in Chino
product Taylor Fallon. Senior Shawn Briggs (24 catches, 347 yards, 4
TDs) is ninth in the SCIAC in receiving. Leading defenders are senior
LB Sean MacNeil, senior LB Steffen Santos and junior LB Brandon Boehm
(Serrano HS).
CHAPMAN (3-3) at CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS (2-4)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Chapman: The Panthers are an independent but play all of the
SCIAC schools and are 2-2 against them thus far. They average 346
yards per game offense, 197 of that through the air. Senior Eric
Marty (1,183 yards, 9 TDs) runs the offense. Other key players in the
offense are RB Mike Christensen (648 yards, 8 TDs) and WR Kaleo Perez
(24 catches, 299 yards). Daniel Hartigan (46 tackles) is the top
tackler. Chino product Garrett Earls (40 tackles) is also a key
contributor.
About CMS: The Stags are coming off a 48-0 loss to Redlands.
Quarterback has been issue. Coach Rick Candaele said he plans to
start Scott Yingling, who is returning from a shoulder injury. Ryan
Larsen is the backup but will see action. The best performance last
week was turned in by Landon Patoc who had two interceptions, Brock
Olson is the SCIAC leader in interceptions (6).
The game started with multiple chances for the Stags to put one in the net and grab the lead and finally did so with help from Stefan Gonzalez (JR, San Gabriel in the 17th minute. Kevin Festini (SR, Fremont) sent in a dangerous cross that deflected off the CLU keeper Braden Hoyt to Gonzalez who expertly headed the ball into the goal.
The Stags doubled their lead in the 40th minute as Chris Lowen (FR, Cherry Hill, NJ) stayed onside and found himself one-on-one with the keeper after Ryan Weaver (SO, Monument, CO) played a beautiful ball over the Kingsmen defense. Lowen recorded his first collegiate goal as he ripped a shot from the edge of the box that found the side netting and left Hoyt helpless.
CMS took 11 total shot attempts on the day and forced three saves out of Hoyt. Center backs Tomislav Zbozinek (JR, Paradise Valley, AZ) and Nick Sparks (JR, La Cañada) kept the Stags defense strong with outstanding play. Goalkeeper Ryan Fahey (JR, Bellevue, WA) earned the shutout for the Stags with three saves.
With just two games left in SCIAC play, the Stags (6-3-3) are in a good position to reach the SCIAC tournament, but still need good showings against Occidental and Redlands this week to ensure a good seed. CMS will travel to Occidental College on Wednesday afternoon in its final regular season road contest to take on the Tigers (6-5-1).
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women and Occidental men came out on top at the SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet Saturday at La Mirada Park.
The Athenas (7-0) were led by individual winner Evelyn Ross (22:15.86) and second-place finsiher Julia Rigby (22:20.42). Sophomore Ashley Scott (23:23.35) and senior Kathleen Harris (23:23.81) finished sixth and seventh.
The Sagehens claimed fourth through sixth places with Anna Scharfen (22:47.93), Maddy Kieselhorst (23:11.99) and Rose Haag (23:17.31).
Pitzer was without its top runner Alicia Freese who has been sidelined with a stress fracture the last three weeks. Coach Kirk Reynolds isn't sure when she will be able to run.
On the men's side Eric Kleinasser (26:11.26) of Occidental took individual honors.
Pitzer (6-1) was second and CMS third (5-2) in the team competition. Senior Torrey Olson of Pitzer was second (26:16.14) with junior teammate Brian Gillis fourth (26:36.38). The best finish for CMS was the sixth by junor Florian Scheulen (26:52.75)
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The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team went into last weekend's Leopard Invitiational with nothing to lose and everything to gain and gain they did.
The Athenas upset No. 1 ranked Juniata, Penn. 3-2 (27-25, 17-25, 27-25, 18-25, 15-6) on Saturday. That was part of a weekend that saw them play the top three teams in the country. They lost to No. 2 Emory (Ga.) 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 17-25 25-23) and No. 3 La Verne 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-21).
"We looked at it as a great opportunity to showcase our skills," said CMS coach Dianna Graves, in her 10th year heading the program. "How often do you get a chance to play the top three teams in the country? It was great competition and we rose to the occasion."
Graves didn't think her team's win was a case of the more highly touted opponent not respecting her team.
"I don't think it was a matter of them looking past us," she said. "They had played the two really emotional matches against La Verne and Emory. It's hard to come back a third time so soon."
Graves credited senior setter Alex Harrison and senior middle blocker Helena Bottemiller for being the steadying influences the younger players rallied around.
Senior libero Greer Donley and freshman outside hitter Emily Hudson represented the Athenas (14-9, 5-2) on the all-tournament team. Senior Brianna Gonzales and junior Crista Jones of La Verne (14-2, 7-0) were also selected.
The University of La Verne volleyball team has a big weekend coming up. The No. 3 Leopards (12-0) will host a four-team tournament Friday and Saturday that will feature local foe Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (12-7), as well as No. 1 Juniata, Penn. (17-1) and No. 2 Emory, Ga. (19-3).
"I can't wait," Leopards coach Don Flora said. "It's not often you get to play the top two teams in the country on the same weekend."
On Friday the Athenas will play Emory at 4 p.m. while La Verne playes Juniata at 7 p.m.
Then on Saturday La Verne and CMS will play at 11 a.m. The rest of the schedule will pit Juniata against Emory at 1:30 p.m., CMS against Juniata at 4 p.m. and La Verne against Emory at 6 p.m.
There is no admission charge for spectatots.
Starting quarterback or no starting quarterback, the University of Redlands is still a formidable foe. That seems to be the prevailing thought among coaches in the SCIAC.
Conference play begins today and the Bulldogs (2-0) will trek to Ortmayer Stadium for a 1 p.m. showdown against the University of La Verne (0-2).
The Bulldogs will be without junior quarterback Dan Selway who earned SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2007 but sustained a broken foot in a win over Whitworth (Wash.) two weeks ago.
He threw for 489 yards and five touchdowns in the first two games. His spot now goes to junior Steve Smith with freshman Dylan Barrera elevated to backup status. Smith did see some mop-up duty in the first two games. He also played the entire second half of Redlands' playoff game last year at St. Johns (Minn.).
"They're a good program and they're deep at every position," second-year Leopards coach Andy Ankeny said of the Bulldogs. "We don't shy away from tough competition. We want to play them at their best because there's no better way to find out where your progam is. We wish he (Selway) was in there but don't expect less of a game because he isn't."
The Bulldogs were idle last week, giving Smith an extra week to prepare. Redlands coach Mike Maynard said his team won't alter its game plan even though it has the luxury of a three-pronged rushing attack ignited by seniors - Tom Romaine, Zack Schafer and Jeff Stewart.
"We do what we do. We're not going to change anything, he said. "He has been here so he knows the offense. He has had a good week of practice and we have all the confidence in the world in him."
Selway was also the Bulldogs' punter. Maynard said freshman Wes Norris and senior Kraig Kraning are battling for that job.
The biggest factor in the game will likely be how the La Verne running game fares against a Redlands defense that ranks first nationally against the run.
The Leopards have managed just 101 yards total in two games on 75 tries with their leading rusher being freshman Curtis Puli with 61 yards.
The Bulldogs, led by senior defensive end Brock Arndt and freshman linebacker Ian Skuss, have held their first two opponents to minus-24 yards.
"We can't let our quarterback sit back there and get tattoed," Ankeny said. "Our young pups are going to have to hold up. That's obviously a big factor. If we can do that we have a chance."
Redlands is averaging 452 yards offense. The La Verne defense, led by senior linebacker Jason Carpenter, is giving up and average 453.
While the game looks one-sided on paper, Maynard is leary of the Leopards.
"They're a hungry team and it's the conference opener so they're going to be ready," said Maynard, who was at La Verne's game last week against Willamette (Ore.). "They have made a lot of progress even though it may not show in th win column. We're expecting a battle."
The other SCIAC teams will also be in action. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-1) will be at Occidental (2-0) to play a team it nearly upset a year ago. Pomona-Pitzer (1-1) will be at Chapman (1-1) for its final nonconference tuneup. Both the Stags and Sagehens are coming off byes.
Area community colleges will also be in action. Chaffey (3-1) will host Cerritos (3-1) in its National Division Central Conference opener at 6 p.m.
In American Division Mountain Conference play San Bernardino Valley (0-4) will be at San Diego Mesa (1-3) at 6 p.m. and Victor Valley (1-3) will host Golden West (2-2) at 1 p.m.
The University of Redlands finished 30th out of 430 Division III colleges in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA) U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup.
This honor is presented annually by NACDA and USA Today to the nation's best
overall collegiate athletics programs in each division as well as the NAIA.
Williams College (Mass.) was the winner in Division III. Redlands chalked up 438.5 points to finish 30th in the standings. It was the highest finish of any Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) school.
The University of La Verne came in 73rd, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges took 81st and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 98th. In addition, the Bulldogs surpassed various schools from the West Coast, including Whitworth University (41st), the University of Puget Sound (59th),
Linfield College (68th), and UC Santa Cruz (75th).
"We earn points and remain competitive because of the quality of our programs across the board," Director of Athletics Jeff Martinez said. "This is a great tribute to our student-athletes, coaches, and support staff, who work diligently to help make us the best we can be
every day."
This is the fifth straight season Redlands has been in the top 30. The Bulldogs' best finish came in 2004-05, when they earned 458.5 points for 16th place.
| Defensive tackle Gavril Gabriel of the University of Redlands landed on the Consensus Draft Services Division III Preseason All-American second team. Gabriel, who will be a junior in the fall, helped the Bulldogs win their 28th Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship and advance to the NCAA playoffs for the fifth time in school history last season. He led the Bulldogs with 15 tackles for a loss of 69 yards, including nine sacks for a loss of 58 yards. Overall, Gabriel tallied 52 tackles to rank third on the team while recording eight quarterback hurries. Earlier this year, he earned first team All-SCIAC accolades and second team d3football.com honors. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps linebacker Ashton Clarke earned honorable mention. He was the leading tackler in the SCIAC last season. |
This is the first title for both and CMS' fifth doubles championship. Schils and Wang reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships in 2006 and the quarterfinals in 2007.
The pair had their most difficult match in the first round as they beat Dan Greenberg/Bret Thacher from Williams 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. They beat the #4 seed - Randy Loden/Kaz Murata of Mary Washington 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and the #1 seed - Jared Kamel/Marc Vartabedian of UC Santa Cruz 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) in the semifinals.
Wang and Schils had played all four teams earlier this season. They lost to the Williams (March 29) and UC Santa Cruz (April 13) teams and beat the Mary Washington (March 5) and Gustavus Adolphus (March 26) teams earlier this season. In the team championships, they beat the UC Santa Cruz team in third round play and the Williams team in the quarterfinal round.
Earlier in the week, CMS finished third in the team competition, beating Middlebury in the consolation final, one day after losing in the championships semifinals.
2008 All-SCIAC Baseball Selections Announced
May 14, 2008
The 2008 All-SCIAC Baseball Selections have been announced. University of La Verne Leopards claimed the SCIAC Conference title. Scott Marcus, a senior from La Verne has been named Player of the Year. The First and Second All-SCIAC Teams are listed below.
| Player of the Year: | Scott Marcus, SR | University of La Verne |
|
First Team | ||
| Pitchers | Tim Jolly, SO | University of La Verne |
| Michael McCarthy, SO | University of Redlands | |
| Nolan Nicholson, JR | University of Redlands | |
| Catcher | Jefre Johnson, SO | University of Redlands |
| Infielders | Andrew Blomberg, JR | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| Anthony Cappelletti, JR | Whittier College | |
| Paul Hartmann, SO | California Lutheran University | |
| Drew Hedman, JR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Brandon Huerta, JR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Jack Mehl, SR | University of La Verne | |
| Outfielders | Charles Acker, SR | Whittier College |
| Kyle Rizzo | University of Redlands | |
| Alex Weber-Shapiro, SO | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | |
| Second Team | ||
| Pitchers | David Colvin, FR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
| Matt Jones, JR | Occidental College | |
| Jimmy Wilfong, SR | University of La Verne | |
| Catcher | Adam Franks, SR | Occidental College |
| Infielders | Trevor Boucher, SR | University of La Verne |
| David Iden, JR | California Lutheran University | |
| James Kang, SO | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Mike Moretti, JR | University of La Verne | |
| Travis Nishioka, SO | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | |
| Brian Schumaker, SR | University of Redlands | |
| Outfielders | Glenn Gray, SO | Occidental College |
| Michael Joannides, SR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Zachary Mandelblatt, JR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
HEAD COACH: LAURIE NEVAREZ
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: NICKY NEUMANN, UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: MOLLY YRIARTE, WHITTIER COLLEGE
|
FIRST TEAM | ||
|
Pitcher |
Katie Brnca |
University of Redlands |
|
Pitcher |
Julia Cruz |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges |
|
Catcher |
Alyssa Corley |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
1st Base |
Melissa Munoz |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges |
|
2nd Base |
Dory Baga |
University of Redlands |
|
Shortstop |
Ashley Paul |
University of La Verne |
|
3rd Base |
Lynsey Padilla |
University of La Verne |
|
Outfield |
Michelle Harvey |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
|
Outfield |
Vicky Ovieda |
Whittier College |
|
Outfield |
Remy Kawaguchi |
University of Redlands |
|
DP |
Amanda Doeppel |
University of Redlands |
|
Utility |
Billy McGrane |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
At-Large |
Melissa Carlson |
University of La Verne |
|
SECOND TEAM | ||
|
Pitcher |
Olivia Ellis |
University of Redlands |
|
Pitcher |
Lizzy Chacon |
California Lutheran University |
|
Catcher |
Emily Robertson |
California Lutheran University |
|
1st Base |
Nicole Acevedo |
Whittier College |
|
2nd Base |
Trish McCormick |
University of La Verne |
|
Shortstop |
Melanie Hamlin |
University of Redlands |
|
3rd Base |
Christine Calderon |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
Outfield |
MacKenzie Smith |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
Outfield |
Kari Granger |
University of La Verne |
|
Outfield |
Mandy Brenner |
University of La Verne |
|
DP |
Alexis Garcia |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
Utility |
Erika Weingart |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges |
|
At-Large |
Gabriela Chavez |
Occidental College |
| By Michelle Gardner Staff Writer LAVERNE - The University of La Verne baseball team knew it didn't have a lot of room for error. Not with so few games left in the regular season and three teams in contention for the SCIAC title. But the Leopards stayed in the hunt with an 8-7 win over defending champion Pomona-Pitzer Friday at Ben Hines Field. It was an eventful game with the Sagehens scoring three in the ninth to tie the game at 7 and La Verne winning it on a walkoff RBI single by freshman Eddie Kalankiewicz in the bottom of the frame. It was the 10th win in the last 11 conference games for the Leos. The win keeps La Verne (23-14, 14-4) one half-game behind Redlands (27-11, 15-4) which beat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 8-5. Both teams will play a doubleheader today with La Verne at Pitzer (27-11, 13-6) and Redlands across the street at CMS. Both twinbills start at noon. "We all know the situation. We pretty much have to keep winning," La Verne coach Scott Winterburn said. "This conference is tough year-in and year-out. It just so happens we came down to the wire this year with three teams. It doesn't get better than this." La Verne took a 7-4 lead into the final inning but faltered in the ninth as the Sagehens loaded the bases with no outs on an infield single by James Kang, a solid single up the middle by Drew Hedman and a walk to Zach Mandelblatt. Mike Silva grounded out to second, scoring Kang and closing the gap to 7-5 and forcing reliever Grant Wheatley from the game. Michael Joannides then lined an offering from Jimmy Wilfong to the right side of the infield where Trevor Boucher made a spectacular diving stop and leaped to his feet in time to get the runner. But Hedman raced home bringing the visitors within one. Boucher's stop momentarily prevented Mandelblatt from scoring too but he did so when the next batter, Andrew Nino, blooped a check swing single into shallow right field to tie the game. Pitzer then got a double by Eric Thompson that advanced Nino to third. Wilfong then made the defensive play of the game to keep the go-ahead runs from scoring. Edward Pickett hit a scorching line drive that took the glove of Wilfong's hand. He scrambled for the ball a few feet away and unleashed a strike to first baseman Jon-Michael Hattabaugh that just nipped the runner and ended the uprising. Had Wilfong not knocked the ball down, both runners would have scored. "You have to give them credit because they made a couple of great plays in the last inning," Sagehens coach Frank Pericolosi said. "We hit a lot of balls hard all day. It was just one of those when none of them found a hole." La Verne retaliated quickly, starting its rally when Boucher lined a triple to deep center field over the head of Pickett for a triple. James Brunswick, who entered in relief of starter David Colvin in the seventh, walked the next two hitters intentionally to set up a force and set the stage for Kalankiewicz, who entered as a defensive replacement the previous inning. He then stroked a fastball away for a solid single through the left side over the drawn-in infield. "I was just trying to put the ball in play, execute, nice easy swing," he said. "It feels good to be able to come through in such a big game. Now we have to keep the momentum." La Verne won the game on the base paths with some daring moves paying off. Jack Mehl went first to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dimitre Mondette, then scored on a single by Scott Marcus in the sixth. It also pulled off a double steal in the fifth with Hattabaugh racing home when Jason Munoz took off for second. Meanwhile the Sagehens went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position before the ninth inning and the top four hitters in their normally potent lineup were 0-for-12 to that point. Pitzer, which was ranked as high as 15 nationally, now needs to win both games today and hope Redlands loses twice. It has lost six of its last seven games and came back to the pack after getting swept by Cal Lutheran last week. But Pericolosi said he won't be worrying too much about the other pivotal game nearby. "If we're worried about what someone else is doing we're not focused on ourselves," he said. "We need to go out and win two games tomorrow before that even matters." The other factor could be a game that La Verne has not finished with Cal Lutheran. That game, postponed from Feb. 22, was tied at 12 in the 11th inning. Redlands won the series with La Verne so it has the tiebreaker over the Leos. Athletic director Chris Ragsdale said it wouldn't be finished by Winterburn thought it would be if Redlands was a half game out and could pull even with a La Verne loss. |
By winning the 2008 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship, the Bulldog softball team earned the right to host the first-ever conference postseason tournament. The inaugural double-elimination event takes place on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, at the Softball Field of Dreams at the University of Redlands.
As the top seed, Redlands faces #4-seed Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The complete tournament schedule is listed below.
The winner of the postseason tournament earns the SCIAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday, May 8, at the University of Texas, Tyler.
Friday, May 2:
Game 1 9 a.m. #2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. #3 La Verne
Game 2 11:30 a.m. #1 Redlands vs. #4 Pomona-Pitzer
Game 3 2 p.m. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4 4:30 p.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Saturday, May 3:
Game 5 9 a.m. Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 6 11:30 a.m. Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 2 p.m. Only if necessary (first loss)
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
The University of Redlands women and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men will take to the tennis courts this weekend looking to keep their perfect SCIAC records in tact. On the line will be a automatic bids to the upcoming Division III West Regionals.
“The way it used to be it didn’t matter if you lost early. You really wanted to peak at the right time,” Bulldogs coach Jim Ducey said. “Now you still want to peak at the right time but those matches early are also important because of the automatic bids.”
The two schools will be hosting the eight-team tournament beginning today. The women’s competition will be hosted by Redlands with some matches aslo played at Redlands East Valley High School.
The Stags will host the men’s draw with matches also played at neighboring Pomona-Pitzer as well as the Upland and Claremont Tennis Clubs.
The automatic bids will be awarded for a combined finish in the regular season and the tournament. Both host teams head in with 7-0 marks but that is just a coincidence since hosting rights are rotated alphabetically.
On the men’s side the Stags (20-7, 7-0) are currently ranked eighth nationally and third in the West but that was before they upset No. 1 UC Santa Cruz last Sunday.
CMS is led by junior Larry Wang, who holds down the No. 1 spot. Claremont native Drew Sabater has pulled out some clutch wins in the No. 5 hole.
“We’re playing pretty well right now and we’re coming off a couple of big wins,” CMS coach Paul Settles said. “We’re hoping to keep that momentum in this tournament.”
Redlands (18-6, 6-1), led by No. 1 Matt Liebman and No. 2 Eric Wagar, is seeded second and lost a hard-fought battle to CMS 5-4 a week ago in the regular-season conference finale for both teams.
No. 2 seed Pomona-Pitzer (11-7, 6-1) is the defending champion on the women’s side and boasts the reigning player of the year in sophomore Siobhan Finicane.
Redlands (13-4, 7-0) is currently ranked third in the West Region and has five of its six singles players returning. The new addition is sophomore Rachael Miller, whose father played for the Bulldogs in 1976 with Ducey.
“You like to think if you’re ranked high enough you can get an at-large bid if you don’t win,” Ducey said. “But you can’t take any chances.”
There is no admission charge for spectators at any of the sites.
MEN’S SCHEDULE
Friday’s matches (All at 9 a.m.) - No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. No. 8 Caltech at CMS; No. 2 Redlands vs. No. 7 Whittier (at Pomona-Pitzer); No. 3 Cal Lutheran vs. No. 6 La Verne (at Upland Tennis Club); No. 4 Occidental vs. No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer (at Claremont Tennis Club).
Next round (All at 1 p.m.) - CMS-Caltech loser vs. Occidental-Pitzer loser (at Claremont TC); Redlands-Whittier loser vs. Cal Lutheran-La Verne loser (at Upland TC); CMS-Caltech winner vs. Occidental-Pitzer winner (at CMS); Redlands-Whittier winner vs. Cal Lutheran-La Verne winner (at Pitzer).
Saturday’s matches (All at 9 a.m.) - Seventh place match (at Claremont TC); Fifth place (at Upland TC); Third place (at Pitzer); Championship - (at CMS).
WOMEN’S SCHEDULE
Friday’s matches (All at 8:30 a.m.) - No. 1 Redlands vs. No. 8 Caltech (at Redlands); No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer vs. No. 7 Whittier (at Redlands); No. 3 CMS vs. No. 6 Cal Lutheran (at Redlands East Valley HS); No. 4 Occidental vs. No. 5 La Verne (at REV).
Next round (All at 1:30 p.m.) - Redlands-Caltech winnner vs. Occidental-La Verne winner (at Redlands); Pitzer-Whittier winner vs. CMS-Cal Lutheran winner (at Redlands); Caltech-Redlands loser vs. Occidental-La Verne loser (at REV); Pitzer-Whittier loser vs. CMS-Cal Lutheran loser (at REV).
Saturday’s matches (All at 10 a.m.) - Championship and third-place matches (at Redlands); Fifth and seventh place matches (at REV).
He finished second at the California/Nevada Championships in the javelin throw on Saturday with a throw of 192-0.
The meet is open to schools from all three NCAA Divisions as well as NAIA teams and there were five Division I (including the winner) and five Division II competitors in the final. His qualifying mark in Friday's prelims was a personal best of 202-4. This mark qualifies him for the NCAA Championships, is third best in CMS history and 10th best in SCIAC history and is currently ranked second in the nation.
In Saturday's finals he led the competition until the second to last throw in the final round. All six of his throws would have taken second place and five of them were better than the NCAA-qualifying mark.
The Pomona-Pitzer baseball team remained in first place in SCIAC with a 13-8 and 9-8 sweep of local rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Sagehens (23-5, 10-2), ranked 18th nationally have a one-game lead over La Verne which swept lowly Caltech.
Shortstop Brandon Huerta supplied the power in the opener, stroking two grand slam home runs, opne ion the fourth and one an inning later.
Zach Mandelblatt, returning to leftfield after missing three weeks with a wrist injury, had two hits, as did Mike Silva and Michael Joannides.
CMS was led by Travis Nishioka with four hits and Andrew Blomberg with two home runs and four RBI.
The second game was closer with CMS taking an 8-7 lead into the seventh when the Sagehens got the tying and go-ahead runs. Drew Hedman walked and Mandelblatt doubled. After an intentional walk to load the bases and set up a double play, Nick Frederick knocked in two with a single to left.
James Brunswick (3-1) got the win in relief of starter Joannides.
The University of La Verne golf team earned yet another victory in SCIAC competition by taking top honors at the SCIAC #3 Tournament Monday at the friendly confines of Sierra La Verne Country Club.
The Leopards finished with a four-player team total of 294 to prevail over Redlands (297) by three strokes. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished third at 300 followed by Cal Lutheran (308), Pomona-Pitzer (309), Occidental (317) and Whittier (350).
Chris Davis earned medalist honors with the top individual finish of the day with a round of 72 (37-35). Teammates Mitchell Fedorka and Ryan Waring were among five players who tied for second one stroke back with respective rounds of 73, while Rizal Amin contributed with a 76.
The Leopards break from conference play to compete at the West Region Invitational held April 8 at Berry Creek Country Club in Texas.
The Athenas were led by the double All-American performance of Annie Perizzolo (FR, Aurora, CO). She finished second in the 200 breaststroke with a SCIAC record time of 2:18.31 and finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke with the second fastest time in SCIAC history (1:04.85).
In the 200, she broke her own SCIAC record in the prelims by 2.39 seconds to qualify third and then went 0.46 seconds faster in the final. In the 100, she swam a personal best of 1:05.18 in the prelims and then swam a lifetime best in the final.
Perizzolo also swam the breaststroke leg on both of CMS' medley relays. The 400 medley relay team of Jenni Rinker (FR, Eagle River, AK)-Perizzolo-Kevyn Klein (SR, Northridge)-Monica Brazelton (SO, Santa Clara) won the consolation final with a SCIAC record time of 3:56.01. The same four made up the 200 medley relay team that finished 11th.
The 800 free relay of Rinker-Brazelton-Perizzolo-Carliann Brashier (FR, Highlands Ranch, CO) finished 14th. All three of these relays earned Honorable Mention All-American honors for finishing ninth to 16th. Rinker also earned individual HM All-American honors by finishing 13th in the 200 backstroke. Rinker set the CMS and SCIAC record of 2:06.25 in prelims and swam just 0.01 seconds slower in the final.
Rinker also set the CMS record of 58.89 in the 100 backstroke while finishing 18th. The 200 free relay team of Brazelton-Rinker-Perizzolo-Klein finished 17th, the 400 free relay team of Brazelton-Rinker-Brashier-Klein finished 19th and Brashier finished 20th in the 1650 free and 38th in the 200 and 500 frees.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
It wasn’t a moment in the pool but one out of it that showed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps swimming coach Charlie Griffiths what freshman Nick Ostreim was made of.
Ostreim, 19, had just finished his best individual event at the SCIAC championships and hadn’t even had time to catch his breath when Griffiths asked him to swim the anchor leg in the 800 free relay which was coming up next.
Ostreim said he was ready to go.
“That’s a lot to ask,” Griffiths said. “Most guys would have tried to talk their way out of it or tell me to think about using someone else, especially on the anchor leg where there’s more pressure. He didn’t hesitate.”
Minutes later Ostreim was back in the pool, swimming that anchor leg and touching out a Redlands swimmer for first place in one of the more dramatic events of the meet. The win helped the Stags to a team title that ended the Bulldogs’ seven-year run.
“I’m really competitive. I hate to lose,” Ostreim said. “With swimming you really have to have that inner drive and personal motivation to keep you going.”
Griffiths thinks his standout also will be prepared when the stakes are higher this week. Ostreim will compete in the Division III national meet which starts Thursday at the University of Miami (Ohio).
He is the area’s lone representative and one of only three men from the SCIAC to qualify, the others being senior backstroker Dickson Fai of Occidental and senior fly specialist Manny Sanchez of Whittier.
Ostreim will swim the 200-yard individual medley Thursday, the 100-backstroke Friday and his speciality, the 200-backstroke on Saturday. He is seeded sixth in the 200 with a season-best time of 1:51.81. First place is nearly three seconds faster but second place is within reach.
The meet sets up perfectly for him with two events to get used to the venue and the championship atmosphere before he goes out for his best race.
Griffiths admits the freshman has done better than he expected. He has cut nearly six seconds off his times in the 200-backstroke and the 200-individual medley and a full second off his time in the 100-backstroke - all significant improvements.
What makes those drops more impressive is that Ostreim missed the first two months of the season with mononucleosis. It wasn’t until after Christmas that he was able to train.
“He worked out the first two weeks and looked very good. He was leading the team through everything,” Griffiths said. “Then, the next week he didn’t look quite the same. Then he missed a few days. When he came back from fall break we sent him to be checked out.”
Despite the slow start Ostreim won the 200-backstroke at last month’s SCIAC meet, placed second in the 100-ackstroke to Fai and was third in the 200 IM. His goals for this week’s meet are more about his time than a placement.
“I’d like to swim my best times and maybe break the school records,” he said. “I can’t control what someone else does so if I can go my best I’ll be happy, very happy.”
No matter what happens though, Ostreim has had a strong rookie season. He attended swimming power Brophy Prep in his native Phoenix, Ariz., and chose CMS over Lehigh (Penn.) because the weather is better and it is closer to home.
He first became familiar with the school through current teammate Alex Hill, who came out of Brophy Prep three years earlier.
Ostreim dabbled in other sports growing up including soccer and baseball. Swimming appealed to him because there is both an individual and team aspect to the sport.
“It is individual but it is also a team because you’re swimming relays and your there to cheer for you teammates,” he said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
2007-08 Women's Basketball All-SCIAC Awards
March 4, 2008
The 2007-2008 All-SCIAC Women's Basketball Honors have been named. The Occidental Tigers and Head Coach Jaime Hoffman claimed the title of Conference Champions finishing 12-2 in conference. Head Coach Julie Kline and the Leopards of La Verne (11-3, SCIAC) were crowned champions of the inagural SCIAC Tournament and will represent the SCIAC in NCAA post-season competition as they go on the road to face Puget Sound Friday night.
Player of the Year: Brianne Brown, Junior, Occidental College
Ed Baldwin Award Recipient: Lindsay King, Senior, California Institute of Technology
| First Team | ||||
| Stephanie Babij | FR | Occidental College | Ontario, OR | |
| Stacie Roshon | SR | Occidental College | Saratoga, CA | |
| Trenecca Jones | SR | University of La Verne | Ontario, CA | |
| Marissa Raya | SR | University of La Verne | Pasadena, CA | |
| Valerie Katayama | SR | University of Redlands | Huntington Beach, CA | |
| Kourtney Zilbert | FR | Whittier College | Burbank, CA | |
| Second Team | ||||
| Lindsey Shiomi | SR | University of La Verne | Cerritos, CA | |
| Mary Placido | SR | California Lutheran University | Chandler, AZ | |
| Rosario Rios-Aguilar | SR | Whittier College | El Rancho, CA | |
| Jennifer Osgood | SO | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | Vashon, WA | |
| Deirdre Chew | SO | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | Pacifica, CA | |
| Meghan Yetman | SO | University of Redlands | Danville, CA |
The 2007-2008 All-SCIAC Men's Basketball Honors have been named. The Conference Co-Champions and recipients of the Dave Jacobs Trophy were the Occidental College Tigers and California Lutheran University Kingsmen. Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens were crowned the SCIAC Tournament Champions.
David Wells Player of the Year: Connor Whitman, Senior, Occidental College, 6'1"
Ted Ducey Award Recipients: Jabarri Reynolds, Senior, Pomona-Pitzer, 6'4"
Matt Loretz, Senior, University of Redlands, 6'5"
| First Team | ||||
| Justin Sexton | SO | Pomona-Pitzer | 6'8" | Watertown, MA |
| Jabarri Reynolds | SR | Pomona-Pitzer | 6'4" | Chicago, IL |
| Dave Thomas | SR | University of Redlands | 6'3" | Santa Cruz, CA |
| Dan Winterbottom | SR | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 6'3" | Tempe, AZ |
| Andy Meier | SO | California Lutheran University | 6'7" | Parker, CO |
| Michael Archuletta | JR | Whittier College | 6'6" | Manhattan Beach, CA |
| Second Team | ||||
| Bryan Hires | SR | California Institute of Technology | 6'6" | Columbus, IN |
| Deshion Inniss | SR | California Lutheran University | 5'10" | Oxnard, CA |
| Juan Canas | SR | University of La Verne | 6'1" | Commerce, CA |
| Huston Conti | JR | Occidental College | 6'2" | Seattle, WA |
| Jeff McLean | JR | Whittier College | 6'6" | Hingham, MA |
| Mychal Owens | SO | California Lutheran University | 6'5" | Oregon City, OR |
This was the team's 28th title overall (most of any team in CMS history) and their first since 2000.
The Stags crowned three more champions on Saturday. They completed the sweep of all five relays at the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay with a team of Andrew Cosentino (FR, Greenwich, CT), Andrew Kishino (FR, Riverside), John Sloat (JR, Lafayette) and Ryan Kristensen (FR, Saugus). Cosentino completed a sweep of his own by adding the 100 freestyle title (46.42) to his wins in the 50 and 200 frees. Nick Ostreim (FR, Phoenix, AZ) swam the second fastest 200 backstroke time in CMS history (1:51.81) in the prelims and won the event in the evening final. Both Cosentino and Ostreim's times were NCAA-qualifying marks.
SCIAC Runner-ups on Saturday included Ian McGinnity (FR, Mesa, AZ) in the 1650 freestyle and Xavier Ramos (FR, Alta Loma) in the 200 butterfly.
CMS had 11 champions in the meet along with seven seconds and eight thirds in the 20 events at the Championships.
The women's swimming and diving team won their sixth straight and tenth overall SCIAC Championship on Saturday. They scored 938 points, 308 points better than second place.
Annie Perizzolo (FR, Aurora, CO) was named SCIAC Athlete of the Year at the conclusion of the meet. She won both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and had NCAA automatic-qualifying times in both events (she was the only swimmer, male or female, to hit an NCAA "A" mark in the meet). The 200 breast time was a SCIAC record and the 100 breast time was a SCIAC meet record. She was also on the 200 and 400 medley relay teams which both set SCIAC records.
CMS crowned two additional champions besides Perizzolo (200 breast) on Saturday. The 400 freestyle relay team of Quirina Mitchell (SO, Kingsburg), Monica Brazelton (SO, Santa Clara), Danielle Peebles (JR, La Mesa) and Jenni Rinker (FR, Eagle River, AK) swam an NCAA-qualifying time of 3:35.16 as did Carliann Brashier (FR, Highlands Ranch, CO) in winning the 1650 freestyle (17:29.52).
SCIAC Runner-Ups on Saturday included Rinker in the 200 backstroke. She also had an NCAA-qualifying time (2:08.28) as did both Chrysanthia Cheung Lau (FR, Ontario, 17:45.23) and Peebles (17:47.21) in the 1650 free.
CMS had nine champions in the meet in addition to seven seconds and seven thirds in the 20 events at the Championships.
The University of La Verne boasted the top four individual finishers and cruised to a a first-place team showing at the first SCIAC tournament of the season at the 6,628-yard par 72 Empire Lakes.
The Leopards, the national Division III runner-up a year ago, tallied 284 while Claremont-Mudd Scripps was second (305) and Redlands third (306). Pomona-Pitzer tied Cal Lutheran for fourth (319).
The Leos Mitchell Fedorka took medalist honors with a 70. Teammates Rizal Amin and Andrew Kramer were one stroke back while Chris Davis was two back. Also representing the school were Jordan Talah (75) and Kevin Smith (78).
John Morris had the best finish for the Stags (74) . His teammates included Luke Redfern (75), Kurt Scheline (76) and Kyle Cassella (80).
Ross Canavao was the top player for Redlands (75). Other finishers for the Bulldogs were Nick Giordano (76), Scott Pena (77), E.J. Stenftenagel (78) and Ryan Williams (79).l
Aex Nakao led the Sagehens (77).
GWEN KREMER
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Swimming
The lowdown: The senior backstroke specialist got off to a slow start because of sickness but has been a key to the Athenas success in the last four years. Won the 200 individual medley (2:19.55) in a recent dual meet against Whittier. Took third in the 200 back (2:17.01) in a dual meet with Division I Loyola Marymount. Is in her fourth year in the program, her best season being a sophomore year in which she earned all-conference honors in the 200 back and as part of the 200 medley relay.
Age: 21
Hometown: San Diego
High school: Rancho Bernardo High School, 2004
Major: Economics
Most memorable moment: Breaking a minute in the 100 backstroke.
Most embarrassing sports moment: My goggles fell off in a 200 backstroke race in college.
Role model: Jesus Christ
Person most influential in your athletic success: Steve Marksbury (cub swimming coach)
Last good book you read: Perelandra
Favorite movie: Remember the Titans
Can’t miss television shows: Law and Order: CI
Favorite vacation spot: Hawaii
Favorite food: Sweet potatoes
Best advice anyone has given you: Speed in the butterfly is distance over the water.
Pre-game ritual or superstition: A long warm-up
What’s in your CD player/iPOD? Jars of Clay
Other hobbies: Sewing
What do you want to be doing in five years?: Working on public policy research in Washington.
Offensive Player of the Year - Dan Selway, QB, Redlands
Defensive Player of the Year - Josh Richards, DL, Cal Lutheran
Newcomer of the Year - Jacob Caron, QB, Pomona-Pitzer
John Zinda Award - Zach Landman, LB, Pomona-Pitzer; William Wagner, Claremont-Mudd Scripps
First team offense
QB Josh Scurlock, Whittier
RB Zach Shafer, Redlands
RB Jason Haller, Occidental
TE Jake Lacey, Redlands
WR Kyle Godfrey, Redlands
WR Rocky Ciasulli, Occidental
WR Jesse Matlock, Cal Lutheran
OL Matt Rosen, Cal Lutheran
OL D.J. Tano, Redlands
OL Chris Kyles, Occidental
OL Max Hodge, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
OL Jared Schwass, Redlands
K Connor Pearce, Cal Lutheran
SPT Kyle Godfrey, Redlands
First-team defense
DL James Sabo, Occidental
DL Gavril Gabriel, Redlands
DL Brock Arndt, Redlands
DL Daniel Lopez, Whittier
LB Arlo Castelo, Whittier
LB Kris Richardson, Redlands
LB Ashton Clarke, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
LB Zach Landman, Pomona-Pitzer
DB Conor Drake, Redlands
DB Garett Redd, Cal Lutheran
DB Eddie Pickett, Pomona-Pitzer
DB Jerel Garcia, Redlands
P Alex Groh, Occidental
Second-team offense
QB Jericho Toillolo, Cal Lutheran
RB D.J. Lillard, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
RB Tom Romaine, Redlands
TE Anthony DeJager, La Verne
WR Shawn Briggs, Whittier
WR Colin Regan, Pomona-Pitzer
WR Danny Hernandez, Cal Lutheran
OL Chris Anderson, Whittier
OL Jeff Briscoe, Cal Lutheran
OL Joe Manfre, La Verne
OL Tom Gonzalez, Occidental
OL Brett Henderson, Occidental
K Neil Martin, Occidental
SPT Grady Thomas, La Verne
Second-team defense
DL Jacob Calderon, Cal Lutheran
DL Tim Creamer, Occidental
DL Victor Lopez, Occidental
DL Mitch Crocco, Redlands
LB Jared Izidoro, Whittier
LB Branamier Courtney, La Verne
LB Jason Carpenter, La Verne
LB Eddie Stamm, Redlands
DB Dan Picciotto, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
DB Sean MacNeil, Whittier
DB Daniel Tromello, Occidental
DB Chris Denton, Cal Lutheran
P Bryan Downs, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
About Michelle
Michelle Gardner has been a staff writer for The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin since 2002 and has covered the local college sports scene since 2004. She ventured West after working at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale for eight years and is a graduate of the University of Florida.
E-mail Michelle here.
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