The Claremont-Mudd Scripps Stags are set to take on Redlands University tonight in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. After defeating the Chapman Panthers 1-0 yesterday, the Stags face off against the Bulldogs for the fourth time this season. Redlands won both regular season match-ups, but CMS bested Relands in a Penalty Shootout (4-2) to become the SCIAC tournament champion for the third year in a row. The winner of today’s game advances to the NCAA third round game against Calvin College on either Friday or Saturday.

Live Broadcast

The live audio and video coverage will begin at 4:50 PM as play starts at 5:00 PM. You can catch all of the live action on this page in the embedded media player! Today’s broadcast will be brought to you by Ari Zyskind (CMC ’12).

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

Coverage by Matthew Kwok

Live Broadcast

The live audio and video coverage will begin at 6:55 PM as play starts at 7:00 PM. You can catch all of the live action on this page! Today’s broadcast will be brought to you by Matthew Kwok (PZ ’15).

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

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

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.

The Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens host the La Verne Leopards in a showdown between SCIAC foes.  La Verne enters the game with a 2-4 record, but boasts the #1 national ranking in strength of schedule according to D3Football.com.  The Sagehens are led by the #2 rusher in all of college football (all divisions!): junior Luke Sweeney, who averages 185 yards on the ground per game.  After rushing for a personal record 265 yards against Occidental, Sweeney was featured by the Los Angeles Times for his excellence on the football field and in the classroom.  Sweeney followed that up with another monster effort last week, rushing for 246 yards against Whittier.  Watch the high-scoring Sagehens take on their neighboring La Verne rivals in this great matchup of SCIAC squads!

Live Broadcast

The live audio and video coverage will begin at 6:55 PM as play starts at 7:00 PM. You can catch all of the live action on this page! Today’s broadcast will be brought to you by Anderson Wright (PO ’12) and Rishi Sangini (PO ’15).

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

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

Here’s a recap of CMS sports highlights for the Spring of 2011:

BASEBALL

Credit: cmsathletics.org

The Stags 4th place finish does not do them justice. They went 17-11 in SCIAC (23-17 overall), led the nation in double plays per game, and had a pitcher drafted by the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners drafted Alex Sunderland (CMC ‘11)  in the 38th round after finishing his CMS career with a 20-7 record and a 3.94 ERA. He remains humble after the news: “I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity. I realize that not many people get a chance to play sports for a living, so I know I will make the most of it. Getting drafted has been a goal of mine for a long time and I’m so happy that all the hard work has paid off.”

The young team suffered early losses, but won nine straight games in the middle of the season to jump back into contention. Sunderland credits good defense with the team’s success: “Almost all of our lineup from last year had graduated, so a lot of young players had to step up and produce. Even though we weren’t as explosive offensively, we made up for it by playing great defense and pitching well. The double play combo of Brian Gose (CMC ‘12) and Scott Witte (CMC ‘14) up the middle played particularly well as they were largely responsible for us leading the nation in double plays turned.”

SOFTBALL

Credit: Gary Stephenson

Great sequels are rare. The Godfather II, Toy Story 2, and CMS Softball 2011. Coming off the best season in school history last year, the Athenas’ encore performance this year was even better.  The team recorded the best overall record and most wins in program history (35-12), their second consecutive SCIAC Championship and the first Back-to-Back SCIAC Championships in program history (2010, 2011). It was the Athenas’ second year in a row to earn the #1 seed/host for the SCIAC Tournament, and the most players in program history (8) earned All-SCIAC awards. Those players were Rebecca Gularte (SCR ‘12), Katerina Yale (CMC ‘11), Emily Lopez (CMC ‘12), Michelle Harvey (CMC ‘11), Megan Morris (CMC ‘12) and Amanda Banducci (CMC ‘12), Emma Friedenberg (SCR ‘12), and Harmony Palmer (CMC ‘13).

“We are always seeking to better our ‘best mark’ and we did just that,” says head coach Betsy Hipple, “to win SCIAC back-to-back years is quite extraordinary and we are proud of that achievement.  To win an elimination game at Nationals against the reigning national champions (and #3 in the nation), we are very proud of that.  To put 8 players on the All-SCIAC team, we are delighted with that.  So, our growth and development was significant this year and, I believe, will support even more success in 2012.”

MEN’S GOLF

Credit: cmsathletics.org

As Tiger Woods collapsed last year, Tain Lee (CMC ‘12) surged, winning the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship. This year, he won the conference championship tournament, was selected to first team SCIAC, All West Region, first team All-American, and placed second at the NCAA Championship. Also notable, Freshman Jordan Stein (CMC ‘14) was named to the All-SCIAC second team. Overall, CMS finished third in SCIAC, and second in the championship tournament.

As for next year, head coach Bim Jollymour is optimistic: “We are looking forward to next season returning 11 letter winners, along with incoming freshmen Ben Ho (Vancouver BC), Matt Biggar (Los Altos CA) and Phillip North (Hilton Head Island SC). Additionally we have transfer Brad Shigezawa (Northwestern) coming to CMC.”

Women’s Golf

There is big news for the Athenas: next year, Women’s Golf will officially be added to the SCIAC conference. This means that in 2012, CMS will fight for a SCIAC championship for the first time. As far as the 2010-2011 season, the team played extremely well, and had a number of noteworthy individual performances.

As a team, CMS competed in ten events. In four of those events, an Athena won. The team also recorded two 2nd place finishes, two 3rd place finishes. At the prestigious Pasatiempo Golf Club in a tournament hosted by UC Santa Cruz, CMS finished 3rd as a team.

Next year the team looks very promising, with juniors Lauren Buchanan, Brittany Isobe (CMC ’12), Emma McConville (CMC ’12), Sophmore Kristina Block (SCR ’13) and first year players Maya Reddy, Jackie Ketner, Elizabeth Diebel (SCR ’14), and Ingrid VanValkenburg (SCR ’14) all returning.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Credit: Joshua D

The CMS women were perfect in SCIAC play during the 2011 season, going 10-0 (just like they did last year), while finishing 16-3 overall. They won the SCIAC championship tournament, then beat the Redlands Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament’s first round, but lost to Gettysburg College (the eventual tournament champion) in the second round. The Athenas’ season included a #1 regional ranking, their second consecutive SCIAC championship, and third trip to the sweet 16 portion of the NCAA tournament.

Individually, Sarah Dick (CMC ‘11) and Madi Shove (SCR ‘13) were named 3rd team All-Americans as well as 1st team All-West Region, while Rachel Darby (SCR ‘13), Madi Shove, and Laura Hagen (CMC ‘11) were named 1st team All-SCIAC. On top of all this, Sarah Dick was also named SCIAC player of the year.

 

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

Credit: cmsathletics.org

 

CMS finished 3rd in SCIAC after going 7-3 in conference play (15-12 overall). Candace Filippelli (CMC ‘14) and Abigail Woodruff (CMC ‘11) were named 1st team All-SCIAC, while Kristina Norrgard (CMC ‘12) was awarded 2nd team All-SCIAC. Only two games behind the SCIAC champion Occidental Tigers, the Athenas fought all the way to the end, and defeated Pomona-Pitzer both times they faced them.

 

 

 

 

MEN’S TENNIS

Credit: cmsathletics.org

Stags tennis dominated once again. They won their 6th straight SCIAC title after going undefeated in conference play (27-4 overall), were highlighted in a Wall Street Journal Article about the prowess of DIII sports, and, to cap it all off, Zhenya Pereverzin (CMC ‘14) and Ronald Wu (CMC ‘11) made it all the way to the NCAA championship match, where they took second to a team from Bowdoin college. Alex Lane (CMC ‘13), Zhenya Pereverzin (CMC ‘14), and Ronald Wu (CMC ‘11) were named All-Americans, and Alex Johnson (CMC ‘13) was named 1st team All-SCIAC.

The domination doesn’t appear likely to end any time soon either. Earlier in June, tennisrecruiting.net ranked the Stags’ recruiting class the best in the nation at the Division III level. The recruits were deemed 7th best out of all mid-major schools as well, which includes schools over fifteen times its size.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Credit: cmsathletics.org

 

If you haven’t yet heard of Kristin Lim (CMC ‘13) or Crystal Lim (CMC ‘14), you will. The unrelated underclassmen were spectacular both individually and together. As a doubles pair, the tandem was the USTA-ITA DIII Small College National Doubles Runner-up, and throughout the season ranked the #1 pair in the West.

Individually, Crystal was named the 2011 ITA National Rookie of the Year, 1st team All-SCIAC, #13 in the Western region for Singles, and, to top it off, an All-American.

Kristin Lim did it all. In addition to her doubles performance, and distinction as an All-American, she won the NCAA Division III singles title. That’s an amazing accomplishment for a sophomore, and the SCIAC player of the year admits that it wasn’t easy: “Winning the championship was I guess you could say a dream come true. From the start of the season winning the NCAA title was one of my goals but achieving it felt so hard to do. The NCAA Title motivated me to push hard and give 100% in every single practice and match. Winning the title made all my hard work and sacrificing all worth it, and I was extremely fortunate that I had my teammates, friends, and family watching me throughout the tournament. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

 

The Athenas won the SCIAC championship with a 9-1 record (21-4 overall) which is all the more impressive considering 10 of the team’s 16 players are freshmen.

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Credit: Craig Isaacs

After 19 years of consecutive SCIAC championships in Men’s Track and Field, the Stags’ streak ended this year, when they finished 2nd behind Redlands University. That said, CMS finished 27th in the nation, was named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, and yielded many outstanding individual performances.

Taylor Berliant (CMC ‘11) was named an All-American for the second time, not to mention an All-Academic Individual as well. He went to the NCAA National Championship Meet where he placed 3rd in the Hammer Throw with a throw of 202 feet, a season best. He also set the school record in the Shot Put by a foot with a toss of 55 feet 11 inches.

 

Kris Brown (CMC ‘11) was the SCIAC champion at 5,000 meters. At the NCAA National Championship meet, he ran the 10,000 meters, and took 9th out of 19 despite being seeded 17th. If your mind isn’t blown by his time of 30:45.33, you should go try running 6.2 miles at under 5 minute/mile pace and then try and say that’s not crazy.
Jeff Macdonald (CMC ‘13) ran a 48.89 in the 400m prelims to place 13th in NCAAs, Grant Hefferman (CMC ‘11) threw the Shot Put 51 feet 1.5 inches to finish 15th in the country, and Georgi Dinolov (HMC ‘11) ran the 1500m and finished in a time of 4:02.32.

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Credit: Craig Isaacs

The Athenas easily defeated the Redlands Bulldogs in the SCIAC championship meet to secure the 2011 SCIAC title. Led by All-Americans Reny Colton (CMC ‘12) and Jennifer Tavé (SCR ‘12), CMS went 6-1 in dual meet competition, culminating in three SCIAC champions: Reny Colton 100 Hurdles, Long Jump, Triple Jump; Madeleine Miller (SCR ‘11) 400 Hurdles; Koko Huang (CMC ‘13) Pole Vault.

The women were the top ranked team from the Western region heading into nationals. Eight athletes flew to Ohio to compete in the NCAA division III championship:

Reny Colton (CMC ’12) finished 7th in the Long Jump with a jump of 18 feet 4.25 inches. In Triple Jump she finished 14th after leaping 36 feet and 11.75 inches.

Jennifer Tavé finished 8th in the 10,000m in a time of 36:21.98 and the next day ran the 5,000m in 18:31.08. In other words, after running 6.2 miles at 6-minute pace, she slept, ate, cured cancer, then came back and ran 3.1 more miles in 6:10 pace.

Freshman Ellyn Erving placed 20th in the Long Jump with a jump of 17 feet 1.25 inches. She also jumped 36 feet 7 inches in the Triple Jump.

Madeleine Miller finished the 400m hurdles in 1:03.05, while Laura Sauvage (CMC ’14) the 5000m in 18:31.08.

Also, new coach Kendra Reimer was named West Region Women’s Coach of the Year and Jason Romero was named West Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year by The United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association. Next year CMS will host the NCAA National Championship Meet.

 

Want more articles by Nathan Falk? You may also enjoy his article on David Brooks’s visit to Scripps, his piece on the CMC Trailers, or his GOP Political Report Card.

Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez breaks free from the WKU defense in his first start.

It was a Saturday for the ages. Perhaps most notably of all the upsets and storylines that came out of this college football weekend, South Carolina came out swinging against the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide and outmuscled them in a 35-21 statement win. Alabama’s streak of 19 straight wins was snapped, and quarterback Greg McElroy lost his first game since 2001, when he was only in middle school! Nick Saban’s bunch doesn’t look so ferocious now.

With all due respect to the glorious Gamecocks’ defeat of the top-ranked team in the land, I would like to shift the focus to another potentially receding tide: the fact that no freshman has ever won the Heisman Trophy. Thursday may seem like a distant memory in light of all of Saturday’s buzz, but under the lights and ESPN cameras in Manhattan, Kansas, Nebraska’s freshman sensation quarterback Taylor Martinez put on a show in a 48-13 shalacking of K-State. He called his own number 15 times and racked up 241 rushing yards in the game, including TD runs of 14, 35, 41, and 80 yards. Kansas State was unbeaten and backed by a tenacious home crowd, but none of it mattered. Nebraska’s vaunted Blackshirts, as their defense is known, stuffed the Wildcats’ run-heavy offense to put the ball back in Martinez’s hands early and often. To say the least, he delivered.

What’s more, Martinez has already had three other dominant rushing performances this season in his other outings against FBS schools: 127 yards and 3 TD against Western Kentucky, 157 and 2 scores against Idaho, and 137 and 3 trips to the house on the road at Washington. He’s led the Cornhuskers to a 5-0 record, an average of 41.6 points per game, and an average margin of victory of 28.8 points per game. There is no question that the kid has ice water in his veins and lightning in his shoes, and he has brought passion and explosiveness to the position that was the weakest link for Nebraska last season. He has the fifth-most rushing yards in the nation so far this season and has shown leadership beyond his age on the field, so what is not to like about Martinez’s Heisman chances?

Quite a bit, actually. And the crux of the matter can be read on any Nebraska roster: “#3, Taylor Martinez, quarterback.” In five games, Martinez has only 64 passing attempts, including a measly 7 in Thursday’s contest, and has converted only 39 of them, giving him a pedestrian 60.9% completion rate. By contrast, established Heisman hopeful Kellen Moore of Boise State is 91 for 135 (67.4%) against roughly the same level of competition. Martinez only has 3 passing TDs on the year and just as many interceptions. “What kind of QB does he think he is?” is a reasonable question, and he will have to answer it with conviction if he wants to gain ground in the race for the Heisman. Moore, Arkansas’s Ryan Mallett, Stanford’s Andrew Luck, and true dual threats Cam Newton of Auburn and Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State are all in the mix as well (sorry, Michigan fans; Denard Robinson gave us a fun ride, but Saturday reminded us all that the UMasses and Bowling Greens of the world are long gone. If he’s not brilliant against Iowa, we can drop him out of the race entirely). With all of this competition breathing down his neck, Martinez cannot afford to continue to neglect his arm if he wants to impress the voters as a quarterback.

Tim Tebow was the first sophomore Heisman winner. Can Taylor Martinez do it this year as a freshman?

He also faces the unfortunate stigma of being a freshman in this race. Not only has there never been a freshman winner of the Heisman, there has only been one freshman to finish as the runner-up for the award, and it was Adrian Peterson in his electrifying 2004 campaign. That year, Peterson set NCAA freshman rushing records for carries (339), rushing yards (1925, third in the nation), consecutive 100-yard rushing games (9), and total 100-yard rushing games in a season (11). In 1999, the better of his two seasons at Virginia Tech, Michael Vick only managed to finish third in the Heisman voting as a freshman, despite posting what was then the third-highest passing efficiency on record (180.4) and leading VT to the national championship game; Ron Dayne won the award that year. Though the last three winners—Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and Mark Ingram—all won the Heisman as sophomores, Martinez must convince the voters that he not only is the best player in the country but also that he does not fit the typical freshman mold. Also, the very nature of being a first-year player is likely to cause skepticism among the voters. Unfortunately, his inconsistency as a passer suggests that he fits the raw, undeveloped stereotype just fine.

There is yet another obstacle standing in the way of the young X-factor as well: running backs. There are only four players in the country with more rushing yards than Martinez, but one of them is Oregon’s fearsome halfback LaMichael James, a fixture of the Heisman conversation. Since Martinez has not shown that he can handle increased responsibility throwing the ball, he will have to impress the voters by outrunning running backs. He has to maintain his status in the nation’s top handful of rushers and continue to scramble into the end zone all year long if he wants to convince voters that he deserves a place among the best players in history.  It will be a tall order, though, since he is also the field general of this team and will be blamed accordingly for any losses or other offensive glitches Nebraska suffers throughout the season. We’ll see a microcosm of this dynamic on Saturday, when all eyes will be watching as the Texas Longhorns roll into Lincoln. Martinez is more than capable of rising to this, his greatest test to date, but he must seal the deal on the field; Texas’s struggles thus far mean that the Huskers have no excuses if they lose, and any costly turnovers will make a stain on Martinez’s rep that will be hard to wash out.

Whatever the voters may decree, though, Martinez deserves to strike the Heisman pose if he continues to play at his current pace. The Huskers’ offense was dysfunctional last year with Zac Lee at the helm; he was the reason why Nebraska barely missed the list of the nation’s best teams in 2009, despite a defense that almost won the team the Big 12 title game last year and smothered the potent Arizona offense in the Holiday Bowl, which they won 33-0. Nebraska can maintain a perfect season, but whether they do rests squarely on Martinez’s success. If he keeps on running circles around his conference opponents, and this team goes 13-0, Martinez belongs in New York  on December 11 for the Heisman presentation. Nebraska will sit firmly in the top 5 in the BCS standings, and perhaps play for a national title if some of the other undefeated teams suffer losses between now and then. Regardless of ranking, though, Martinez will have taken a defensively minded team and turned it into a well-rounded powerhouse, fearsome on both sides of the ball. In addition to the huge wins he has already racked up, he will have beaten the likes of Texas, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and most likely Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, and he will either have continued to dominate as a rusher or succeeded in becoming a better passer, or both. And if that is not worthy of a Heisman, I’d like to know what is.

Thanks to Taylor Martinez, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are back, and the Big 12 has value this year in an otherwise dreadful season for the conference. Never mind the freshman tag; it is time for this tide to roll away.

Fortunately, the College Basketball Conference Tournaments condense seasons into one the most competitive and entertaining weeks in sports.

In the Big East Conference Tournament, fans pack Madison Square Garden to watch the Gerry McNamaras of the world carry their 10^th seeded teams to the title game on pure heart and determination. Rivalries are taken to a new level as team’s match up for the third time.  Emotions run high, and fans are given a reason to cheer. Mediocre teams are given a reason to play hard all season long, even when they only have 5-7 conference records in February.

For mid-major teams a conference tournament is like a mini-March Madness. A season is compressed into a win or go home format, and excitement and player determination is higher than in any other part of the season. I mean let’s be honest, how much excitement can you build up if you were to crown a conference champion based on regular season wins and losses? Where’s the hype? Where’s the Cinderella story? Where’s the number two team getting the chance to square off against the favored number one? Where’s the sense of urgency?

The NBA is struggling to find a way to make teams like the Knicks and Timberwolves play hard all season long.  But can you blame the players?  I wouldn’t be closing out on the defense when my team is 20 games out of 8^th place.

ESPN writer John Hollinger has proposed a NBA playoff  system where the 8^th through 14^th place teams in each conference would be thrown in a bracket and the winner would take the 8^th seed.

Although it might be a little ridiculous to include the words, “Golden State Warriors and playoffs” in the same sentence, this format would be a significant step forward.

College Basketball Conference tournaments have put meaning into a normally boring college basketball conference season.  Excitement is compounded, rivalries are heightened, and meaning is restored.

It’s time for other competitive sports markets to notice the superiority in the College Basketball Conference Tournaments and for once maybe we can actually care about the NBA before June.

Editor’s Note: This sports column is a regular feature from “The Nightcap” crew,  made up of Ari Zyskind, Ned Schooler, Nathan Barnett, Dan Campbell, and Kevin Shuai, a group of 5Cers who air a weekly radio talk show on KSPC. You can listen in online at KSPC.org (click “Hear us Online via Live365”) every Monday from 8-10 PM.

N.B.: The Nightcap is holding it’s very own, free, March Madness Pool. The winner will receive a collector’s item: a custom made, Nightcap t-shirt signed by the whole crew in addition to a 90 second, uninterrupted, rant on the show. If you are interested, e-mail Ari Zyskind at hzyskind12@cmc.edu or Nathan Barnett atnathansbarnett@gmail.com requesting an invitation to the pool.

Men’s Basketball

Stags basketball has picked up right where they left off after their SCIAC championship season by going 15-3 in division III play, including 8-1 (1st) in SCIAC play. Reigning SCIAC player of the year Chris Blees CM ’11 is averaging 18.5 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game to lead the team in both categories. The team had a huge win at Redlands for first place in the SCIAC last week. After blowing a 6 point lead with 1:09 to  play, the Stags rebounded in overtime to outscore the Bulldogs 16-8 and take sole possession of 1st place in the conference. The SCIAC champs have won 11 of their last 12 games, the lone exception being a tough 36-47 loss at Pomona-Pitzer two weeks ago in which the men made only 23% of their shots from the field. The team faces Cal Tech at home on Wednesday, then faces La Verne and Whittier, before a huge showdown at home vs. P-P a week from Saturday.

Women’s Basketball

The Athenas got off to a strong start this year, winning 9 of their first 11 games, but the conference schedule has been tough on the women. Aira Krumwiede CM ’12 was named MVP of the CMS-CalTech classic in late December, and has continued that torrid pace, averaging 14.5 points per game, shooting 36% from beyond the arc, and leading the team in steals. Cameron Hanson CM ’10 has been a dominant inside presence, shooting 57% from the field and grabbing 7 rebounds a game. They currently sit at 12-9, 3-7 in SCIAC (5th) with three games remaining, including a home game against P-P the same Saturday night as the men.

Nick Ostreim and the CMS swim team hope to repeat their success of last year. Photo Credit: Christopher Mitchell / Sport Shot Photo

Men’s Swimming & Diving

The two time defending SCIAC champion aquatic Stags once again have gotten off to a strong start in league play, besting CalTech, Pomona-Pitzer, Whittier, La Verne, Occidental, and Cal Lutheran before falling last Saturday in a tight one to Redlands. In the losing effort, Andrew Fevery CM ’13 and Garrett Smith CM ’11 won the 1m and 3m diving events, respectively, Brant Kersten CM ’12 set a pool record in the men’s mile, Nick Ostreim CM ’11 won the 200 backstroke event, and Vincent Pai HM ’12 set a pool record in the 200 breaststroke. The men will have a chance to avenge their loss at the SCIAC championships starting February 21.

Women’s Swimming & Diving

The seven time defending SCIAC champions have once again clinched an undefeated SCIAC record with their victory over Redlands this past Saturday. This past weekend, the Athenas dominated the 400 m relay, Carmen Lundell CM ’13 took 1st in both the 1m and 3m diving events, Whitney Dawson CM ’12 toasted the Bulldogs in the 1650, and Annie Perizzolo CM ’11 and Emma Jones CM ’12 both posted NCAA B-cut times in the 200 breast and 200 free respectively. Other event winners included Jones in the 100 free and Jenni Rinker HM ’11 in the 200 backstroke. Next for the Athenas are SCIAC diving prelims this Saturday and then SCAIC championships February 21st.

Andrew Cosentino (CMC JR) was named to the All-SCIAC first team for the second straight year. Photo Credit: Gary Stephenson.

Women’s Volleyball
A young team, graduating only one senior (Jamie Matusiak (CMC)) finished a rocky season at 14-15 overall and tied for 5th in SCIAC competition with a 6-8 conference record. Allie Macy (CMC JR) OH and Taylor Jones (CMC FR) S were named to the All-SCIAC second team.

Women’s Soccer
One of the most dominant seasons in Athena’s soccer included a nine-game winning streak, an undefeated SCIAC campaign, and a second straight SCIAC tournament title before falling in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament. Laura Hagen (CMC SR) was selected as SCIAC Player of the Year, leading the league in assists, and 2nd in goals scored.  First Team All-SCIAC selections included goalie Camila Friedman-Gerlicz (CMC SR), defender Stefanie Chan (CMC JR) and midfielder Nicole Sady-Kennedy (CMC SR). Defender Courtney Funk (SCR SR), midfielder Kirsten McAfee (HMC JR), forward Giselle Galanto (CMC SR) and utility player Julia Nishioka (CMC SO) were named to the Second team.  We finished 16-3-2 overall and 10-0-2 in SCIAC play.

Men’s Soccer
After a fourth place finish in the regular season, the Stags knocked off top seed Pomona and second seed Redlands to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000. They continued their magic run in the NCAAs, winning at Santa Cruz before falling in the round of 32 to Whitworth.  Goalie Ryan Fahey (CMC SR), defender Tomislav Zbozinek (CMC SR), midfielder Michael Nguyentat (CMC JR), and forward Harrison Doyle (CMC FR) were named to the All-SCIAC first team. Midfielder David Taylor (CMC FR) was a Second Team All-SCIAC selection.  We finished 12-8-2 overall and 8-5-1 against SCIAC foes.

Football
After a 2-0 start, including the seniors’ first victory over regional rival Puget Sound, the Stags went into a mid-season funk, losing four of their next five games. However, strong performances by the defense, QB Pat Rooney (CMC SO) and DJ Lillard (CMC SR) helped the team win their final two games, clinching a winning season and retaining the Peace Pipe. First team SCIAC selections were running back DJ Lillard, linebacker Dan Picciotto, (CMC SR), and defensive back Brock Olson (CMC SR). Offensive tackle Matt Pautler, (CMC JR) and defensive lineman Rory Baird, JR, (CMC JR) were named to the second team. The Stags finished 5-4 overall and an even 3-3 in SCIAC play.

Men’s Cross Country
The men finished a strong season in 15^th at NCAAs after winning the West Region and SCIAC titles. All-Region honors for the men included Kramer Straube (HMC JR) 4^th, Brian Kopczynski (CMC JR), Florian Scheulen (HMC SR), Brian Sutter (CMC FR), Georgi Dinolov (HMC JR) and Matt Kurtis (HMC SR). First Team All-SCIAC selections were Straube, Kopczynski Kris Brown (CMC JR), and Sutter. Second Team All-SCIAC selections for the Stags were Scheulen, Kurtis, Dinolov, and Dillon Ayers (HMC JR).

Women’s Cross Country
The women finished 22^nd at NCAAs, besting conference rivals Redlands and Occidental in their final two meets, after finishing behind these two in the SCIAC championships   Jennifer Tavé (SCR SO) finished 27^th to become the first Athena All-American runner since 2005, also earning First team All-SCIAC honors and All-Region honors. All-Region honors for the women also included, Julia Rigby (SCR SO), and Breanna Deutsch (SCR SO). Rigby and Ashley Scott (CMC JR) were named to the All-SCIAC second team.

Men’s Tennis
Robert Erani (CMC SO) won the West Regional tournament and finished in 3rd place at the ITA nationals to earn All-American honors for the first time in his  budding career.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the NCAA West Region Meet across the street at Pomona. The Stags took first place honors as the only team with three runners (Kramer Straube (HMC JR) 4^th, Brian Kopczynski (CMC JR) 6^th, Florian Scheulen (HMC SR) 9^th in the top 10. This was the first West Region victory since 2001 for the Stags, and qualifies the team for NCAAs. The women finished a promising 3rd, rebounding from a disappointing performance at SCIACs by finishing ahead of 1st place Occidental and 2nd place Pomona-Pitzer, and qualifying for NCAAs. Jennifer Tavé (SCR SO) 2^nd, Julia Rigby (SCR SO) 11^th anchored the Athenas as they have all season. The D3 NCAA championships are being hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, OH this Saturday, November 21. The men will look to improve on their 30th place finish from last year, and the women on their 20th place finish.

The men’s Water Polo team competed in the SCIAC tournament at home and had two big upsets before falling in the final. After a 10-8 victory over 4th seeded Cal Lutheran, the aquatic Stags drew the number one ranked team in division 3 in Whittier in the semi-finals. After falling behind 2-0 in the first quarter, the men rebounded to tie the score 3-all at the half. The back and forth game saw the Stags continue to jump ahead of the Poets, but it seemed as if Whittier had an answer for everything. However, after Whittier scored to tie the game at 5-5 in the fourth quarter, Greg Sanford (CMC JR) put the Stags up 6-5 on the ensuing possession. Whittier then brought the house on the Stags defense, not wanting to lose their undefeated season. The men held strong, shutting down the Poets, including a 6 on 5 advantage in the waning moments of the game, giving themselves a SCIAC final birth. Unfortunately the Cinderella run ended for the Stags in the finals, dropping a 4-2 tilt to Redlands in the SCIAC final.

Dan Picciotto and Brock Olson celebrate their win over Pomona-Pitzer. Photo credit: Gary Stephenson

In the Peace Pipe game, the Stags drew first blood on a 23 yd scramble by Patrick Rooney (CMC SO), but P-P responded, scoring twice to put the Sagehens up 14-7. At the end of the second half, the Stags drove 51 yards in two minutes, capped by a D.J. Lillard (CMC SR) Touchdown run, but the PAT was blocked, giving P-P a 14-13 advantage at halftime. After a pep talk by their coach, and and a pumped up 5c dance company performance, the Stags came back strong, with Mikey Hirokawa (CMC SR) catching a 39 yard TD pass after three consecutive P-P drives ended by interceptions, 2 by Brock Olson (CMC SR), and 1 by Dan Picciotto (CMC SR). After a two point conversion, the Stags went back up 21-14. P-P responded on their next posession to tie the game at 21, but Mikey Hirokawa returned a kickoff 73 yards to the P-P 3 yard line, and Nick Marineau (CMC SR) caught a Pat Rooney pass for the final score of the game. P-P threatened on their final drive, but could not get past the CMS defense. The Stags won the peace pipe for the third year in a row and finished with their first winning season since 2003 at (5-4, 3-3 SCIAC).