CMC plans on accepting fewer than 600 of these applicants in order to avoid housing shortages. According to their calculations, this would place CMC’s acceptance rate for next year at just 11.7%. The admission rate for the Class of 2015was 13.8%.  CMC could be the most, or one of the most, selective liberal arts colleges in the nation.

Photo by Karan Malik

Last year, Pomona College just barely beat out CMC’s 2015 acceptance rate with 13.6% admittance but, as early reports indicate, growth in Pomona’s number of applications has essentially remained flat. The Office of Admissions also pointed out that Amherst college, last year’s most selective liberal arts college in the nation, had an acceptance rate of 12.8%. Swarthmore College admitted just under 15% of its applicants to the Class of 2015.  Williams College, the top liberal arts college in the nation, announced a 17% admission rate in 2011.

Over the past few years, CMC’s acceptance rate has been plummeting, and this year is a good sign that we might see that trend continue. In 2010, the school accepted 17.2% of applicants, and last year, when 4,481 applied to be a part of the class of 2015, the acceptance rate fell to 13.8%.  If those were great years, the next one may be amazing.

CMC benefits from a dropping acceptance rate. Although the administration may have to say no to more potential Stags and Athenas, increased selectivity will hopefully produce a stronger freshman class, composed of great students and promising leaders. This is just one more sign pointing to a bright future for CMC.  As it continues to grow more selective and appears higher and higher in the rankings each year, it will draw more attention from all corners of the country.  That means more public interest, more renown, and, hopefully, the end of that “I swear it’s not a community college” conversation for non-Californians.

For students here at CMC, there isn’t any doubt that we are attending one of the best school’s in the country. With any luck, this unprecedented admittance rate will force others to take notice as well. For anybody interested in watching CMC take its proper place at the forefront of America’s elite colleges, the Office of Admissions’ announcement is great news.

It was a busy semester at CMC.

CMC moved up in the rankings to the 9^th best Liberal Arts College in the country.

The Kravis Center officially opened to students and faculty.  The Living Room (affectionately known as ‘the Kube’) attracted students’ attention  after some technical difficulties and the administration’s initial decision to limit access to students. This was all before the Kube became home to one Pomona student’s temporary interpretive dance studio.

The fall semester also celebrated and embodied student leadership at CMC.  Students started a movement to do a better job of cleaning up after parties and led an effort to change our campus conversation about sex and gender norms. Trying bridge the gap between our Building Attendants and their residents, the Forum got to know some of CMC’s friendliest staff members. CMCers led a campaign to be more environmentally friendly on campus and coordinated a day of reflection on 9/11. Others took the lead in social activity planning, expanding student involvement with Dean of Students and creating the College Programming Board (check out the big name they are bringing to campus). Student initiative also brought the popular TED talks to the Claremont Colleges, hosting a TEDx conference in September.

CMC also faced a number of challenges in the fall of 2011: an unexpected over-enrollment of students forced the conversion of two popular study spaces into four-person rooms and a large number of students returning to CMC in the spring from fall study abroad programs led to an on-campus housing crisis.  The story behind the “Marks Squatter” brought some humor to a rather-serious-but-now resolved issue of on-campus visitors.

The Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College was hard at work all semester, advocating for students on issues such as increased study spaces, building a better quality of life, and providing some much needed snack time.

The Occupy Movement swept the nation this semester and arrived at the doorstep of our Claremont Colleges. Students were active in the protests in Claremont, Los Angeles, and the rest of the nation. Indeed, two Pitzer students were arrested for their involvement in the Occupy LA protests.  Political dialogue was alive and well, especially towards the end of the semester, when CMC welcomed former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to our campus. Many 5C students, however, had a different plan in mind and formed an “unwelcoming” party for Rice’s visit. The planned protests forced a change in venue for Rice’s speech, which triggered an outcry from students. While the protests stirred up quite a controversy, the civility and political discourse throughout the evening exemplified students’ diversity of thought, without provoking violence or hostilities.

The Forum sat down with our very own college president Pamela Gann and discussed her current and future projects for the school, which included a revamp of the beloved North Quad and expanding the new Center for Civic Engagement.

But it wasn’t all business this semester at the Forum. Speaking with Paul Zak, a.k.a Dr. Love, the Forum got to hear the Doctor’s thoughts on love, life, and how giving 8 hugs a day will make the world a better place. Those student globe-trotters enjoying their study abroad experience took time to write home to CMC and share their experiences from far-off lands such as Washington D.C., South America, Italy and Oman. And for those bright-eyed freshmen, returning students and Dean Spellman gave them their two cents (sometimes musically) on how to navigate their first semester and discover how great this college really is.

We uncovered the top 5 companies that hire CMC students, brought Words with Friends lovers the 10 most useful Scrabble words, and suggested 8 classes to students that might have overlooked some academic treasures. Students contributed to the ongoing discussion on topics such as art, film, pop culture, public radio, music and concerts. And despite the delicious unveiling of a new Ath menu, the Forum offered some tips on how to stay healthy, even in the face of all those Rice Krispie treats.

A-Mitch even appeared for an encore.

ASCMC hosted a number of events this semester, improving on past traditions—Monte Carlo—and even starting some new ones—The Boardwalk Empire party and No Shave November. We know you can’t wait for the Wedding Party next spring—and neither can we. Expect even bigger surprises next semester.

Our tech guru offered some awesome tips on his #CMCTech blog, including advice on how to make your work faster and more effective, thoughts on the Semester in Silicon Valley Program and even a holiday gift guide (it’s never too late to get that perfect present).

The Forum also better incorporated sports into our publication. The Forum now offers live broadcasts of all home CMS athletic games, complete with video and audio from student broadcasters.  We celebrated triumph, defeat and the utter domination at SCIACs.  The publication also took and in-depth look at sports at CMC and uncovered how SCIAC rules hurt CMS recruiting high school athletes and what many are doing to save the Intramural program.

Outside of the CMC bubble, the Forum checked in with our beloved Claremont village, celebrating the once-in-a-century Zipcode Day (9/17/11=91711) and partaking in the delicious festivities at the California Beer Festival.

It was a busy semester and time for reflecting has just begun. First, we would like to thank you, our readers, for your support, comments, advice, kindness, crudeness, humor and thoughtful discussion. But, we have one more request. The Forum has grown considerably in the last semester but we want to know how we can continue to improve. Below is a short survey that we hope you will fill out so we can make this publication stronger. We look forward to hearing your constructive thoughts, suggestions and comments.

The Forum wishes you a wonderful break and a restful holiday. We promise to bring you the best in news, opinions, and insights from Claremont College students as we enter our spring semester. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading with us this fall, and we’ll see you in 2012!

by Matty Kwok
Men’s Pre Game
CMS is expected to win the SCIAC this season. And so far, they lived up to their billing. Ask the Afghan national men’s basketball team, Trinity, Southwestern and Pacifica, teams that lost to the Stags by at least 9 points. It’s even more impressive given that the two games were on the road.
What is the reason for such a good start? Beat-em-up defense and a decent offense. In those three games the Stags shot around 47% from the field and limited opponents to under 41%. The Stags also outrebounded opponents to death, 38-22, hence explaining why the Stags are so dominant despite averaging a modest 69 points per contest.

Out of those 69 points, nearly half of which come from 2 players: Chris Blees and Mani Maceira. Blees leads the team with 17 points and 7 boards a contest, while Maceira sits at 13 points and 6 boards. Both players form an incredible tandem in the frontcourt.

Meanwhile, their opponent, St. Olaf, has just recently begun their basketball season, so it is difficult to evaluate them in this matchup. They’ve played only 2 games coming in, the 71-50 win coming over Betheny. Sterling Neville had 17 points on 8 shots (2 of them from 3 point range) while also having 8 rebounds. All-freshman pick Connor Gunderson didn’t slack off either, scoring 11 points and grabbing 5 boards. Sterling Nielson had 14 points and 6 boards.

The game will be played at Rains Gym in the Pomona Campus at 5 pm.

 Women’s Pre Game

After falling to UW-La Crosse in their debut game, the Athenas managed a 1 point win over Il. College. The CMS women’s basketball team hope to produce the latter result, not the former, as they take on UC Santa Cruz in the David Wells Classic.

Out of 58.5 points per game for CMS, over half of them come from 2 players: Frannie Hemmelgarn averages 17 points while also grabbing 7 boards per game, and Kimberly Scamman averages 13.5 points per game and has 11 steals total. One concern for the Athenas concerns their ability to put the ball through the basket. So far they are averaging 34% from the floor and an anemic 19% from 3 point land.

If it makes the Athenas any happier, the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz aren’t a great scoring team either. They shoot under under 30% from the floor in their 3 contests. Meanwhile, there is only one player that averages double figures: Sarah Mackey, who averaged 11 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. Both of them lead the team. Leah Parrish averages 7 points and 5 rebounds per game.

The game will be played at Ducey Gym in the CMC Campus at 7 pm.
Live Broadcast

The live audio and video coverage will begin at 4:55 PM as play starts at 5 PM. You can catch all of the live action on this page! Today’s broadcasts will be brought to you by Matty Kwok (Pitzer ’15).

You can see the video on the embedded player below! or this link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cms-athletics

If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions about Sports Broadcasting at the Claremont Colleges, please email Broadcasting@ClaremontSportsConnection.com

Forward Chris Blees

Men’s Basketball

This year’s Men’s Basketball team is hungry for another SCIAC title after falling in last year’s tournament title game to Redlands. The Stags will be more formidable this year, as two-time SCIAC player of the year and Preseason All-American Chris Blees returns this year from a knee injury that sidelined him most of last season. CMS went 16-10 overall last year with an 11-3 record in conference, and with a full and healthy team led by Blees, Joseph Anderson (CMC ’12), Mani Maceira (CMC ’12), and Tyler Gaffaney (CMC ’14), the Stags look poised to make another run to the SCIAC championship.
Head coach Ken Scalmanini is entering his 14th season as head coach of the Stags basketball program, and with a wealth of returning players the CMS Men’s Basketball team will be ready and raring to go in search of their fourth straight title.

Women’s Basketball

Forward Frannie Hemmelgarn

Unfortunately, an injury epidemic seems to have struck the Athenas this year. They’ve already lost three experienced players to injury for the season in Aria Krumwiede (CMC ’12), Taylon Johnson (CMC ’12), and Jen Najjar (CMC ’13). The team will need some younger players to step up this season. Coach Jodie Burton said, “We will need other players to step up in leadership as well as in three point shooting. Aria and Taylon were both captains, leaders on the floor, and three-point shooters,” said Burton, who’s in her 32nd season coaching the Athenas.
Just like the Stags, the Athena’s fell in last year’s SCIAC championship matchup against Occidental and they’ll be looking to rebound after the tight loss ended their season. While the team has been hampered by injury, they had no graduating players on last year’s 20-7 (9-5 in SCIAC) squad, so the team has a wealth of experience –and solid newcomers– to build off of despite its health troubles. Look for Frannie Hemmelgarn (CMC ’13) to build off her team high in points (13.7 ppg) last season. “Frannie is a major player, period,” said Burton. “She plays hard the entire game.” Hemmelgarn also led the team in rebounds last year with 8.4 per game and will continue to be a big presence down low this season. She’ll be joined by senior starters Kalika Tullock and Jennifer Ringoen on the block, and together they form a strong frontcourt on which the Athena’s can rely on. Seniors Elissa Ronquillo and Anastasia Jones filled roles last year that also contributed to team success. Despite the many returning players, the SCIAC is a very tight league, and the Athena’s will need everything they have to pull through. “In a league loaded with talent, it will take our entire team and their extraordinary effort for us to compete for the title,” Burton concluded.

Breaststroker Vincent Pai

Swim and Dive

With 73 total swimmers and divers, the CMS Swim and Dive team is one of the largest teams on campus. In addition to being heavily populated, Swim and Dive is also on a historic run. The Athenas are going for their 10th consecutive SCIAC championship after having dominated the league since 2003. Meanwhile, the men are looking for their fifth consecutive championship. Head coach Charlie Griffiths, who coaches both the Stags and Athenas, has a combined 125-11 record in SCAIC combining both Men’s and Women’s meets, and his teams this year have the capacity to better that record even further.

All members of the Swim and Dive team are fantastic, but make sure to look out for Jordan Lieberman, Vincent Pai, Blake Weber, and Drake Escrofani on the men’s side and Michele Kee, Katie Bilotti and Emma Jones on the women’s.

There’s lots of exciting sports action going on with Fall postseason play and the Winter season just getting underway, so make sure to go out there and support our teams!

Editors Note: This article was updated on November 21 at 10:05AM.

A Queen crowned at the traditional 3C Starlight Ball

This year Monte Carlo, which will take place on Saturday, November 12, reverts to its namesake theme and will see the revival of many past traditions as well as the beginning of a few new ones.  Connor Barclay, class of 2013 president, explains that this year’s Monte Carlo is all about “recapturing tradition.”

While last year’s party was still well attended with almost 800 students, the vast majority of them were from CMC. This year ASCMC hopes to see higher attendance from Harvey Mudd and Scripps College students alike, encouraging both schools to join in the festivities. The aim is to bring back the camaraderie that used to be pervasive in the event. As such, Barclay explains that ASCMC has been coordinating an effort to increase awareness, excitement, and participation from the other two colleges. He notes, “This was the one time a year that the three schools really came together and we have lost that.  We are trying to recapture that spirit this year.”

With tradition in mind, ASCMC is announcing the revival of the Monte Carlo Homecoming Court – for the first time in decades, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps students will be able to nominate and vote on homecoming Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses.

The Forum will hold write-in nominations through Wednesday, November 9 at midnight, followed by run off elections for the top four nominees for each class at Monte Carlo on Saturday night. “Each class will be able to vote for a prince and princess – endearingly termed Royal Fawns – who will be chosen by a vote tally at the end of the night,” says class of 2012 president Mary Doyle. The Senior class nominees with the most votes will be crowned the Stag King and Athena Queen.  Each class will only be allowed to vote for winners within their own grade – however, anyone within the 3c’s may nominate or be nominated to win. You can nominate the Royal Fawns here.

Another, perhaps even older tradition will be returning as well this year. Going stag isn’t stag tradition – and this year “ASCMC is encouraging students to break from the norm and bring a date with a contest,” says Barclay. This year there will be a contest for the most creative Monte Carlo “asking” by 3c students. Between Tuesday and Thursday students can email hhyatt12@cmc.edu to inform us of the time and place they will be asking their date to Monte Carlo, and the Forum will send a photographer to take pictures of the affair. On Friday, the photos will be posted online and open to a vote by the Claremont community. Whichever couple is voted the most creative asking will receive two free tickets to the event and be announced alongside the homecoming court.

As always, guests from outside the 5Cs are welcome.  Barclay reminds students that they must register guests with their Resident Assistant before Saturday, November 12.

The event itself boasts 45 casino tables and dealers from Atlantic City Gaming, and will feature the band “The Trip” who played at Wedding Party 2011. Fully tented and set up at the old tennis court, the event will have a full dance floor, chocolate fountain, and all the normal accoutrements. Among the host of prizes, will be a two-day, three-night trip to Vegas for two, which will be awarded to the student who wins the most money throughout the night. The other prizes, including a trip to Paris, will be given out through a raffle among the remaining students.

Before the nighttime festivities, the Stags Football team will take on Pomona-Pitzer.  The two teams will battle over the Peace Pipe at 1:00pm on Zinda Field.  ASCMC is also hosting a tailgate party outside Duecy on the outdoor basketball courts.  The tailgate will start at 11:00am. If you are interested in going, please send your meal card numbers to criva13@cmc.edu.

Monte Carlo is this Saturday, November 12, at 9:30pm on the Smith Tennis Courts. You may purchase tickets here. You may also nominate the “Royal Fawns” here.

This is one of the major recruiting regulations placed on the SCIAC that seriously hinders teams in the conference from recruiting at the same level as other teams across the nation. The focus then for teams in the conference is to get recruits to campus on a visit. “The best way for us to secure a recruit is to get them here on a campus visit,” says CMS Athletic Director Mike Sutton. “I can talk to recruit on the phone as much as I want, but rarely is a prospective athlete going to commit without coming on a visit beforehand.”

SCIAC specific recruiting regulations also complicate this process by restricting coaches from paying or even helping to pay for a recruit’s travel expenses. These regulations hurt  SCIAC teams because a lot of recruits don’t have the means or funds available to travel to southern California for an official visit. This reinforces local recruiting and makes it the major focus within SCIAC athletics. “We try and work around the regulations,” says Sutton and “really focus on local recruiting remembering the general rule of thumb that college athletes want to go to school within less than a day’s drive of their home town.” For example looking at California Lutheran’s football roster, a team who has won back-to-back conference titles and is currently ranked #12 in the nation, there is a clear focus on in-state recruiting. This year only eight out of over one-hundred players are from out of the state.

The effect that these restrictions have on the national success of SCIAC teams is difficult to determine because there are so many other factors that play into how well our teams do in the playoffs. Location is a large factor that makes playoffs a more difficult road than for other teams across the country. In the past SCIAC teams have had trouble securing a home game in the playoffs and often have had to travel hundreds of miles for a first round game. Strength of schedule also brings about its own challenges for SCIAC teams.

Regardless, the reality is that SCIAC athletics have had little success on a national level. Looking at football, men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, and men’s basketball the SCIAC has been practically silenced by the rest of the nation. Division III men’s basketball, women’s soccer, and football have never seen a team from the SCIAC conference even compete in a national championship. Since a Division III national championship was implemented for baseball in 1976, only twice has a SCIAC team played from the championship. You have to go back to 1995 when the University of La Verne defeated Methodist or 96’ when Cal Lutheran lost 6-5 to William Patterson. The 1983 CMS men’s soccer team has been the only school from the SCIAC to compete in a Division III men’s soccer championship. The Stags ended up losing 3-2.

So what is the future for our conference? Lifting these restrictions from the SCIAC would be difficult to say the least. “There needs to be a compelling argument that proves that every team in the conference will benefit from the rule change,” says Sutton. Persuading a committee would be tricky because there are definitely rules that affect certain programs more than others. In this particular situation, most SCIAC programs are not affected by the restrictions that limit funding official visits because most teams don’t have enough funding to even pay for traveling expenses. However, for CMS and Pomona-Pitzer funding visits is an expense that could possibly become feasible based on the caliber of the recruit. At the same time, universities in the SCIAC with lower admission standards could possibly become even more dominant in local recruiting if contact restrictions with recruits were removed.

“These are all factors that we need to think about before making a decision like this,” says Sutton. For now, there seems to be no real desire brewing to have these restrictions lifted so in the mean time SCIAC athletics will have to focus on what has worked for them in the past and continue to do their best in securing recruits within the guidelines that currently stand.

Looking at CMS and Pomona-Pitzer we expected a strong defensive showing with several bursts of high-octane speed offense and a close, down to the last minute game. While the first two certainly held true, in a shocking turn of events, CMS shut out Pomona-Pitzer 3-0 guaranteeing themselves a place in the championship game this Saturday against Cal Lutheran, who won 3-1 over 4th place Redlands.
For a game that ended so lopsided, it certainly didn’t tip its hand in the first half. Both CMS and Pomona-Pitzer played good defense, pushing the ball back and forth and allowing neither team to possess the ball. However, there were several pulse-pounding moments; early in the first half Tracy Lopez, Pomona-Pitzer’s top scoring senior center forward, broke away from the defense twice; however, when matched up against CMS freshman keeper Molly Freed alone, Freed got the better of Lopez both times, cutting off her angle the first time and blocking the shot back out onto the field the second. After those breakaways, CMS switched around its defense to insure that there was always one person covering Lopez with another giving support. While Lopez ended up with over five shots on the game, after those first two plays she didn’t get any other major scoring opportunities. Senior captain Rosa Ahn also deserves a great deal of credit for the shut-out; she was constantly switching between covering Lopez and the extremely fast Pomona-Pitzer striker Allie Tao. Despite this, she consistently made plays on the ball and broke up many scoring opportunities before they even got started.
Though the CMS defense certainly deserves credit, the offense also showed that it has some spark. After having several outside plays broken up, a cross in the middle led to the multi-talented Kerry Moller (listed as an outside mid, outside forward, and outside defender) striking the ball into the net late in the first half. By scoring first, CMS forced Pomona-Pitzer to break away from their defensive MO, opening up cracks in Pomona-Pitzer’s hybrid 4-5-1/4-4-2 formation. Early in the second half, CMS struck again, this time with a beautiful corner kick from Madi Shove. Streaking just over the fingertips of Pomona-Pitzer keeper Emma Wolfarth, Senior Lizzie Van Buskirk jumped on the ball, pounding it into the back of the net and giving CMS a commanding 2-0 lead. Finally, with about 30 minutes left to play, Madi Shove broke down the sideline. After beating a defender and getting a step, keeper Emma Wolfarth was forced to come out of the goal and nearly made a beautiful sliding tackle. However, somehow Shove was able to retain the ball and fired off an incredible left-footed shot that flew between two defenders on its way to the back of the empty net. This incredible personal effort by Shove shows why she not only has scored a goal in every game this season against Pomona-Pitzer, but also display why she’s CMS’s leading scorer, with 8 goals on the season.

While CMS has to be absolutely thrilled with this win, they can’t let themselves get carried away; this weekend they play a very tough Cal Lutheran team that has beaten them twice, led by SCIAC top scorer Taylor Will, who added another two goals tonight against Redlands. That game will be this Saturday at 7PM at Cal Lutheran

Pre Game Coverage

With any luck, this year’s game will be as good as the last time these two teams met in the postseason. After 2 halves of regulation and two overtime periods, it went into penalty kicks, with CMS winning in the 18th round. This year’s matchup has the potential to be just as good; CMS and Pomona-Pitzer were second and third respectively in SCIAC play this year, with both having records of 7-4-1. Because of their first meeting, where CMS jumped out to a two goal lead within the first 15 minutes and won 3-1, CMS gained home field advantage. However, this Pomona-Pitzer team has grown quite a lot since that first meeting; four weeks ago they tied with CMS after 2 overtimes and ended the season with a close 1-0 loss to Cal Lutheran, the 20-1 first place team (with a whopping +67 goal differential on the season). Playing a 4-5-1, Pomona-Pitzer has played excellent defense all year, never allowing more than 3 goals and posting 7 shutouts.

Talking about a team that’s growing, CMS has more freshmen (10) on their team than juniors and seniors combined (4 and 5 respectively). And after tying their first two games and then getting walloped by Cal Lutheran 4-0 at home, they have had a + 13 goal differential since, losing twice to Redlands by one and two goals and losing again to Cal Lutheran by one. Their two keepers have posted a 71 save percentage, allowing more than 3 or more goals only three times, with one of those being a blowout 7-3 win over Whittier. One player to watch especially is Madi Shove. CMS’s leading scorer, she has one goal in each of CMS’s past two games against Pomona-Pitzer, with the second one being an equalizer in the second half to force overtime.

The level of talent in this game, combined with the local rivalry, should make it an excellent game, with the winner going on to play in the finals against either 1st seeded Cal Lutheren or 4th seeded Redlands.

Live Broadcast

The live audio and video coverage will begin at 6:50 PM as play starts at 7 PM. You can catch all of the live action on this page! Today’s broadcast will be brought to you by Tristan Fitch (HMC ’15).

You can see the video on the embedded player below! or this link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cms-athletics

If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions about Sports Broadcasting at the Claremont Colleges, please email Broadcasting@ClaremontSportsConnection.com

Two weeks of the NBA season has already been cancelled, and the owners are really the ones holding things up. Last season the players were guaranteed 57 percent of BRI, but now the owners are insisting on a 50-50 split. In ESPN.com’s 5-on-5, David Thorpe described the situation as “a lockout, and only one side is in control of the lock”.

The players have countered the owner’s offer, proposing a minimum of a 52-48 percent split, but the owners have stood their ground, insisting upon the even split. Granted the sides in the NFL lockout weren’t as far apart as in the NBA lockout, but they were able to agree upon the even split on the gridiron.

Owners in small and mid-markets claim to have been hit hard by the down economy, going so far as to say that they’ve dipped into the red. The new salary cap agreements will help the smaller markets from losing money. NBPA Executive Director Billy Hunter recently said that it all depends on ‘how receptive the NBA is and whether or not they want to do a deal’.

It isn’t as if the players have asked for some exorbitant asking price; in fact, they’ve conceded 5 percent to the owners. The owners have locked the players out for the difference of 2 percent, and it feels as if it’s more about the principle of an even split than it is about the 2 percent of BRI.

As a result, the players have created international tours. They’ve participated in street ball classics. They’ve even threatened to take their talents abroad, though it’s unlikely we’ll see a player of significance risking his body in meaningless games. Most of the talk about Kobe Bryant or Dwight Howard going abroad has been a negotiating tool. Don’t be sad though, Allen Iverson will still have a roster spot in whatever country he wants that’s not called America.

Without sounding cliché, the real losers of this lockout aren’t the players or the owners. How can you sympathize with either one when the former is fighting over millions and the latter is fighting over billions? The real losers in this situation are the fans–the ones who are paying the money in the first place. And yet the irony of the situation is that now we can keep the money we’d be spending on tickets in our pockets. Always helps to save up during a recession, because surely the owners aren’t the only ones feeling strapped in a down economy.

Men’s Soccer

The Stags soccer team fell to Whittier last Wednesday, October 25, which allowed Redlands (undefeated in conference play) to secure their 11th straight conference championship. Whittier put in two goals in the first twenty minutes of the match and became only the third team to shut out CMS this season. The Stags bounced back this weekend with a decisive 8-1 win over La Verne. Junior forward Jared Bernstein, who is having a break out year for the Stags and currently leads the team in goals, recorded his first career hat trick. With the win, CMS clinched a spot in the SCIAC tournament and will enter the tournament with the second or third seed depending on the results of their final games.

Women’s Volleyball

The Athenas finished the week with three conference wins and extended their winning streak to seven games. On Tuesday, October 25, the Athenas beat rival Pomona-Pitzer in three straight sets. CMS went on to win back-to-back road games on Friday and Saturday over Redlands and La Verne. Against a team that they lost to back in September, the 3-1 win over La Verne was crucial and moved the Athenas into a tie with Occidental for second place in the conference. The win also improved the Athenas’ chances at a high seed in the SCIAC tournament.

Football

The Stags kept their playoff hopes alive on Saturday, October 22, with a come from behind victory at Whittier College. The Stags’ defense, which has been generally tough against the run this season, gave up three long drives in the first half that led to scores and CMS went into the half down 17-7. Things didn’t look like they were going to get better after the Stags gave up a 65 yard drive in 11 plays on Whittier’s  opening possession of the second half. The drive was capped off by a nine-yard touchdown pass and CMS found themselves down 24-7. However, on CMS’s next possession junior running back Corey Bickler broke free for a 66-yard run to put the Stags back in the game. On the ensuing kickoff junior kicker Chet Corcos recovered his own onside kick, which gave the Stags the momentum. With the great field position the Stags found the end zone again and pulled within three of the Poets. In the fourth quarter Whittier responded with a 45-yard touchdown pass (missed extra point) to put them up 30-20. Unable to respond with a touchdown of their own on the next drive, the Stags settled for a field goal and with only eight minutes left on the clock decided to try for another onside kick. The Stags recovered successfully for the second time in the game and drove down 54 yards capped off by junior quarterback Peter Kimmey’s third touchdown on the day to put the Stags up 31-30 and seal the come-from-behind win.

Women’s Soccer

CMS hosted Whittier on Wednesday, October 26, and came back after a shaky start to defeat the Poets 7-3. Whittier scored in the third minute of the game off a corner and although sophomore Shauny Ullman responded with a goal for the Athenas two minutes later, Whittier put in a second goal of their own in the same minute and went up 2-1. However, in the 17th minute junior midfielder Laurel Phillips scored and sparked a run of three unanswered goals for CMS. The Athenas were able to take control of the match and went on to win 7-3. On Saturday the Athenas traveled to La Verne and secured a playoff birth with a 2-0 win over the Leos.

Men’s Water Polo

Stags polo put together back-to-back conference wins this past week with a 10-8 win over rival Pomona-Pitzer and a 18-5 win over Cal Tech. CMS rallied from behind against the Sagehens and scored four straight goals in the second quarter to take control of the game. Sophomore John Holland finished the game with four goals. The Stags are currently undefeated (4-0) in conference play and stand alone at the top of the SCIAC.

Upcoming

Men’s Soccer

Following a 3-1 loss to Redlands last night, the Stags are looking to secure the number 2 seed in the SCIAC tournament in their final game of the season at Cal Tech on Saturday.

Women’s Volleyball

Coming off their eighth straight win on Monday, the Athenas look to finish their spectacular season with 20 wins. Currently tied for second place, CMS will be at Cal Tech on Friday. The game starts at 7:30.

Football

The Stags playoff chances will be decided on Saturday at Cal Lutheran. CMS needs to pull off an upset against the Kingsmen who are currently undefeated in conference if they want a chance at making the playoffs. The two teams kickoff at 1:00.

Women’s Soccer

The Athenas finished conference play last week and secured a spot in the SCIAC tournament. CMS finishes the regular season with two non-conference matches in Santa Cruz against William Jessup and UC Santa Cruz on Friday and Saturday.

Men’s Water Polo

The Stags will be looking to stay undefeated in conference play at Cal Lutheran on Saturday at 11:00.

Cross Country

This Saturday is the men’s and women’s SCIAC championships in Chino, CA. Races will start at 8:30 am.

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Women’s Soccer

The Athenas faced off against Occidental for the second time this season on Wednesday night. Coming off three straight losses and a shutout against California Lutheran, CMS was looking to keep their hopes of a playoff birth alive against a team they shutout 2-0 back on September 17th. Although the Tigers were able to apply pressure early and put in an equalizer to tie the game at one, senior forward Michelle Barnhill regained the lead for CMC with a go ahead goal five minutes later. Michelle’s younger sister Ashley put in a goal of her own and CMS went on to win 5-1. On Saturday, the Athenas took on rival Pomona-Pitzer looking to move into second place in the conference. The Sagehens scored in the first half off a follow up shot and went into halftime up 1-0. The Athena’s leading scorer Madi Shove responded five minutes into the second half off an assist from senior forward Lizzie Buskirk and put in the equalizer. Both teams had their chances during the remainder of the match, but neither side was able to capitalize and the match finished in a 1-1 tie. The two teams are now 5-3-1 in conference play and tied for second in the SCIAC behind Cal Lutheran.

Men’s Soccer

CMS won back-to-back games this week defeating Occidental on Wednesday night 5-1 and rival Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday 5-1. Junior forward Harrison Doyle scored twice against Oxy in a five-minute span recording his fifth and sixth goals of the season. Senior midfielder Sam Ullman and freshman forward Jake Bishop had their own pairs of goals in the 5-1 win at Pomona. CMS increased their playoff chances with the two wins this week and are now 6-2-1 in conference play and in second place in the SCIAC behind undefeated Redlands.

Football

Redlands and Cal Lutheran were the pre-season favorites to win the SCIAC and both teams are currently ranked in the top 25. CMS took on #14 Redlands on Saturday and proved that they shouldn’t have been looked over as conference contenders. The Stags recovered their opening onside kickoff and scored on their opening drive, pulling all of the tricks out of the hat including a half back pass. Senior running back Alex Wheatley capped off the opening drive with a four yard touchdown run. CMS dominated the majority of the first half until Redlands picked off a pass in the final two minutes. The turnover turned into a Redlands score, but the half ended with CMS still on top 21-10. With a comfortable lead the Stags offense played much more conservatively in the second half, but never found the red zone. Their only score of the second half was a 49 yard field goal put in by junior Chet Corcos. Redlands busted off a huge 89 yard run in the opening minutes of the third quarter and went on to tie the game 24-24 with a 31 yard touchdown later in the quarter. Both teams battled it out in the fourth quarter and the game looked as it if would go into overtime, but with one second left on the clock Redlands was able to get off a 42 yard Hail Mary that somehow found wide receiver Taylor Irwin. Due to the heartbreaking loss, CMS now must win their last four games including an away game against #12 Cal Lutheran if they want to make a playoff appearance.

Cross Country

The Athenas upheld their #4 ranking with a first place finish at the SCIAC Multi-Dual meet on Saturday and finished with five runners in the top seven. Senior Jenifer Tavé lead the team in the women’s 6k with a second place overall finish (22:14.97) and was followed by fellow senior Breanna Deutsch (22:35.86) who finished fourth overall and sophomore Adele Eslinger who finished fifth and set a personal best with a time of 22:48.49. Having only one runner in the top ten really hurt the Stags. Rafer Dannenhauer lead the team with a sixth place overall finish, but CMS was forced to settle for third overall in the meet.

Women’s Volleyball

The Athenas competed in the Cal Lutheran tournament on Friday and Saturday. CMS played all non-conference games and finished 4-0 with wins against Widener, Lycoming, Mary Washington, and Wisconsin Lutheran. The Athenas are currently in third place and three games behind Cal Lutheran who are undefeated in conference play.

Men’s Water Polo

The Stags opened up conference play on Sunday at home against Whittier. Sophomore John Holland put in the first goal for the Stags off a 5-meter penalty shot and sparked the offense who went on to score 7 goals in the first half and take a 7-1 lead over the poets. A six goal third quarter helped the Stags seal the win over Whittier. Seniors Brian Chong and Vincent Schiavoni finished the match with four goals each and CMS went on to defend their 2010 conference championship with a 17-8 win.

Upcoming

Women’s Soccer

The Athenas continue their second round of conference play this week taking on Whittier at home on Wednesday at 7:00 pm. You can listen to a live broadcast of this game here. On Saturday they travel to La Verne to take on the last place Leopards. CMS is currently tied with Pomona-Pitzer for second place in the conference.

Men’s Soccer

Second place CMS plays at Whittier on Wednesday and hosts La Verne on Saturday at 1:00. You can listen to a live broadcast of this game here.

Football

The Stags look to keep their playoff hopes alive this weekend on the road against Whittier. Kickoff is at 3:00.

Volleyball

The Athenas are on the road Friday and Saturday with back-to-back conference games against Redlands and Laverne. The Athenas face off against Redland on Friday at 7:30.

Water Polo

The Stags will look to defend their conference championship this week with two conference games against rival Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday and Caltech on Saturday. You can listen to a live broadcast of these games here.