This Week In Warrior Athletics

September 3, 2006

EVENTS: 

Sept. 9: Men’s and women’s cross country at Hampton Inn Fall Harrier Classic, Nampa.

Sept.10-12: Men’s and women’s golf at Montana Tech Tournament, Butte, Mont.

VOLLEYBALL: 

The Warriors won’t play a match this week, but will use the time to help prepare for their Frontier Conference season opener on Sept. 15 at home against Carroll College.

LCSC stands at 2-7 overall after going 0-4 in the tough Concordia University 20-team Crowne Plaza Labor Day Festival last weekend. In the pre-determined format, LCSC fell to three ranked teams in the NAIA preseason poll, including No. 1 California Baptist 30-14, 30-20, 30-19, and No. 2 Fresno Pacific 30-14, 30-15, 30-9. The Warriors also dropped matches to No. 27 Biola 30-20, 30-20, 30-25, and to Hope International 32-30, 30-21, 30-19.

The Warriors remaining schedule features only two non-conference matches, a home-and-home series against Walla Walla College. The remaining matches are all Frontier Conference matches, including the 7 p.m. contest against Carroll. On the following day, LCSC will play host to Rocky Mountain College at 2 p.m. 

GOLF:

The Warrior men and women kick off the golf season on Sunday in the three-day Montana Tech Tournament in Butte.

Because the weather in Montana is better suited for golf in the fall than in the spring, the Frontier Conference plays an unusual fall and spring season. Most conferences just play a spring season, but most Montana courses don’t open until late in the spring, which would allow only a few conference tournaments.

The Frontier Conference also uses a combined score from the tournaments to determine the overall champion.

Last year, the LCSC women’s team won the conference title, finished second in the Region I tournament, and took seventh at the national tournament. The team lost only two players and returns four of its top five performers from a year ago, including sophomore Juanita Villa, who tied for 10^th overall at the national tournament.

The men’s team won four of the seven tournaments it entered and took first in the conference, but then wound up fourth at the Region I tournament and missed the cut for the national tournament. The men wound up ranked No. 27 in the country. Two of the top five players from last year return.

LCSC coach Paul Thompson feels the women’s team could be the best in the history of the program and the future looks bright with only one senior on the squad. He also feels the men’s team, despite being young, should also be among the region’s top teams.

The Warrior teams will participate in four tournaments this fall, including three conference tournaments in Montana, all this month.

CROSS COUNTRY: 

The Warrior men and women kick off the season in Nampa at the Northwest Nazarene University’s Hampton Inn Fall Harrier Classic on Saturday.

Both teams enter the season with high expectations. The men are ranked No. 18 in the NAIA preseason poll after finishing at No. 21 a year ago. The women’s team also is ranked No. 18 after finishing one spot lower in the final rankings last year.

Both squads return six letterwinners from a year ago. The men were seventh in the regional meet, which is considered the toughest region in the NAIA. Ciprian Nitol, a senior from Romania, represented the Warrior men at nationals a year ago and finished 157^th after placing seventh at the region meet. Senior Anton Sousa and junior Aaron Galbraith also are key returnees.

The women placed third at regionals last year, and return five runners who placed at nationals a year ago. Seniors Taryn Joyce-Mendive of Minden, Nev., and Darrah Hocum of Clarkston lead what is expected to be a strong unit.

The Warriors have one home meet this year, the LCSC Invitational on Oct. 21 at Hells Gate State Park.